Moving right along in our “better late than never” draft grades series, let’s take a look at the AFC South.

Houston Texans: B-

The Texans are desperately trying to get out from under the shadow of the Indianapolis Colts and this year’s draft just may have helped their cause. Coming into the draft, they had two very obvious needs at the running back spot and in the secondary and both needs were quickly addressed. In the first round, Houston took Alabama CB Kareem Jackson, who was one of my favorite players in the draft. Jackson was a guy that was under the radar a bit due to his lack of interception numbers at Alabama. However, if you put on the tape, it was clear that Jackson didn’t get the picks because teams just didn’t throw to his side of the field. The bottom line is, Jackson comes from Keep Reading…

Our friends at College Football Geek do a great job every year at breaking down the top players for college fantasy football. This year is no exception to that rule. Here’s a breakdown of the top players at each position as projected by CFG: QB – Case Keenum, Houston RB – Jacquizz Rodgers, Oregon State WR – Ryan Broyles, Oklahoma TE – Lance Kendricks, Wisconsin PK – Grant Ressel, Missouri To see the top 50 overall at each position, head over to our friends at College Football Geek!

Moving right along in our “better late than never” draft grades series, Aaron Aloysius takes a look at the NFC South.

Atlanta Falcons: B

Since taking over the Falcons in 2008, GM Tom Dimitroff has focused on bringing in high character, self-motivated players. Unsurprisingly, that trend continued in this year’s draft, with the Falcons selecting several prospects who earned high marks for leadership and excellent intangibles.

In the first round, the Falcons selected Sean Weatherspoon, one of our Red Star players. Weatherspoon truly is the “complete package” – he’s an aggressive, rangy linebacker who fires up his teammates with his never-ending energy. Though Weatherspoon wasn’t quite as impressive at a bulked up 250 lbs. in ’09, the Falcons should be able to get him down to his proper weight and bring him back to his ’08 form. If that happens, Weatherspoon could be the leader of that Keep Reading…

Moving right along in our “better late than never” draft grades series, Aaron Aloysius takes a look at the NFC North.

Chicago Bears: B

The Bears were majorly short-handed this April, having traded away their first two picks for Jay Cutler and the late Gaines Adams. They still managed to bring in some promising prospects, in part because they drafted players who underwent injury, experience, or system-based draft slides. The major question, however, is whether the players they brought in are good fits for Chicago’s system. For a couple of their picks, the answer remains unclear. With their first pick, coming early in the 3rd round, the Bears brought in Florida safety Major Wright. Wright’s a hard hitter and proved to be a better athlete than expected during his Combine workout, but he declared after a junior season in which he didn’t make many plays or generate very Keep Reading…

Continuing our Draft Grades series, let’s take a look at the AFC North.

Baltimore Ravens: A

The Ravens have consistently been one of the best teams at navigating the NFL Draft since they came into the league in 1996. This year was no different. Baltimore gets an automatic bump in their grade after trading a 3rd and 4th round pick for Anquan Boldin, but that’s not what earned them the A grade. General Manager Ozzie Newsome and his team skillfully worked the draft, getting back the picks they spent for the big time receiver from Arizona. According to one of our sources, Baltimore was set to take Dez Bryant with the 25th pick until Dallas moved up to draft him. At that point, Baltimore even seriously considered taking Sergio Kindle with the 25th pick, but the trade offer from Denver was too good to pass up. After trading Keep Reading…