Brandon’s Take: 2008 NFL Draft

An NFL player’s second year in the league should be a season where an athlete takes another step in his development.  Here it is, the Top 5 players from the 2008 NFL Draft, brought to you by RookieBlitz.com.

Matt Ryan: The combination of Michael Vick’s Dog fighting saga coupled with the abrupt resignation of Head Coach Bobby Petrino; Atlanta was a broken franchise in need of a savior, then Matt Ryan was selected 3^rd overall in the 2008 Draft; the rest is history.  You knew Ryan was going to be special when his first NFL pass was a 62-yard touchdown to Michael Jenkins.  Since Dan Marino’s rookie season in 1983, no quarterback has had a better rookie campaign than Ryan.  He threw for 3,400 yards, 16 TDs, 11 Ints, while leading Atlanta to the playoffs with an 11-5 record.

Ryan’s sophomore season has been impressive as well. Through six games, Atlanta has a 4-2 record and Ryan has 1364 yards passing, 11 touchdowns, six interceptions and a completion percentage of 62.6.  While his numbers aren’t staggering, his leadership skills are that of a ten year veteran.  Atlanta will be an NFC contender year-after-year with this kid; he’s special.

Joe Flacco: Flacco was the #2 quarterback prospect behind Ryan in the 2008 draft, but wasn’t a sure thing to get drafted in the first two rounds.  The reason being scouts questioned whether Flacco’s success was due to his lack of competition at the University of Delaware.  The Ravens picked him with the #18^th overall pick and they are glad they took the chance.  Flacco’s rookie year was memorable throwing for nearly 3,000 yards and 14 TDs.  In addition, he was the first rookie quarterback to win two playoff games.

Flacco is outplaying his counterpart Ryan in his second season with Baltimore who has a record of 3-3 through six games.  Flacco has 1,674 passing yards (three 300 yard games), 11 touchdowns, five Ints and a completion percentage of 64.4.  Flacco has earned the nickname “Joe Cool” because of his uncanny stone-cold mentality while under pressure and as a result, the Ravens have been one of the better offenses in the league.

Chris Johnson: Coming off a season in which Tennessee went 10-6 and got knocked out in the first round of the playoffs; the team was lackluster and didn’t have a go-to-guy on offense.  The 2008 NFL Draft was packed with offensive firepower including Felix Jones, Darren McFadden, and DeSean Jackson.  The Titans had the 24^th pick and elected to go with Johnson out of East Carolina.  Johnson’s 40 time was 4.24 at the combine (that is world class speed, only a dozen current NFL players have had a faster time), which prompted Tennessee to pull the trigger knowing that no receivers had been taken off the board up until that point.  With Johnson leading the way (1,400 total yards, 10 touchdowns), the 2008 season was a success for the Titans as they finished with a 13-3 record.

In his second season, Johnson is 5^th leading rusher in the NFL with 596 yards rushing through six games including a 197 yard effort (284 total yards) Week 2 against Houston. Johnson has only two touchdowns because Kerry Collins is having an abysmal season; therefore, the scoring opportunities are slim.  He is the lone star on a Tennessee squad that has a 0-6 record including a 59-0 pasting by New England Week 6.  If he had a quarterback to take the pressure off him, the sky would be the limit for this exceptional runner.  At 24, Johnson has just scratched the surface of the player he could become in the future and it’ll be a joy to watch him continue to develop for years to come.

DeSean Jackson: Coming out of the University of California, Jackson had the reputation of being a coachable, but cocky receiver.  This red flag coupled with his small 5-10, 175 pound frame dropped Jackson all the way to the second round where the Eagles, in need of their first big-play threat since Terrell Owens, selected him.  The Eagles were rewarded for the selection because of Jackson’s ability to run by defenses on a regular basis, but his arrogance was also exposed during Week 2 of the ’08 season as Jackson had a sure touchdown, but flipped the ball as he crossed the one-yard-line and turned the ball over.  Overall, aside from his brash attitude, Jackson was impressive in his rookie year.  He caught 62 balls for 912 yards, 450 punt return yards and three touchdowns.

While Jackson’s rookie year was very impressive, he is on pace to exceed his numbers in his sophomore season.  Through six games, he has 21 receptions for 423 yards receiving (two 100 yard games) 115 yards rushing, and 158 punt return yards. Jackson is the total package and gives Donovan McNabb the confidence to open up the playbook with the Eagles having a deep threat, which they had been missing before Jackson’s arrival.  The combination of Jackson and rookie Jeremy Maclin will have the Eagles’ offense soaring in ’09 and if the defense is able to remain stable, Philadelphia will be a legitimate Super Bowl contender.

Jake Long: Here at RookieBlitz.com, we leave out offensive lineman because they don’t produce points for fantasy owners. However, if we are talking about prominent 2008 draft picks, we can’t leave out the #1 pick Jake Long.  Bill Parcells was hired as Executive Vice President at the conclusion of the Dolphins horrific 2007 season.  Parcells’ belief is that in order to rebuild a team, it must start with the offensive line.  While the Dolphins were in need of a starting quarterback at the time and Matt Ryan would have been available, Parcells stuck with his gut and took Jake Long with the #1 pick.  Long has been everything Parcells and the Dolphins had hoped for.  He is an all-pro tackle while protecting former starter Chad Pennington and current starter Chad Henne.  If a franchise makes the correct choice when picking an offensive lineman, that player will be your cornerstone for a decade.  A great offensive lineman allows the quarterback time to make the correct decisions to give the team a chance to win.  At the time of the draft, fans usually want a game-breaker with the #1 pick, but depending on the situation, it can be smarter taking the “safe” pick and that’s what the Dolphins did in 2008.  They went from the AFC basement at 1-15 to winning the tough AFC East with an 11-5 record.