NFL Draft Round One Is Complete

The first round of the NFL Draft is in the books. And it was a first round never seen before.

There were a total of nine trades in the first round, as teams are no longer afraid to trade up and take players because of the new rookie wage scale explains ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Teams knew the player that they wanted, and made moves to ensure that they got their guy.

However,  there were no surprises in the first two picks. Everyone expected Indianapolis to take Stanford QB Andrew Luck, and Washington to take Baylor QB Robert Griffin III, and that’s exactly what happened.

Minnesota held the third pick, and were expected to take tackle Matt Kalil, and they did eventually get him, but not before Cleveland came up and took RB Trent Richardson. Then the Vikings got their guy in Kalil.

Right behind the Vikings, Jacksonville decided to make a move. The Jaguars needed a receiver, and they hoped for top rated receiver in the draft. Justin Blackmon is now a Jag. NFL draft analyst for Yahoo Sports Doug Ferrar says Blackmon can be a difference maker.

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The Dallas Cowboys then jumped in front of Tampa to take LSU corner Morris Claiborne. This left Tampa Bay with Alabama safety Mark Barron. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports Barron is one of the guys the Bucs wanted all along, as the young safety gives Tampa depth to move around thier safeties and corners, shifting guys like Ronde Barber around the secondary and trying to develop a strong defensive back core.

The Bucs weren’t done yet, as they traded back into the end of the first round at pick number 31 to get RB Doug Martin. Ferrar says the Bucs have done incredibly well when taking into account thier free agent moves.

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The Dolphins take Ryan Tannehill with pick number eight after the Bucs. Owner Stephen Ross wanted to get a QB, and Tannehill was the guy he locked in on. Dolphins look to get some help at wide reciever and offensive line tonight in the 2nd and 3rd round.

Other notable picks inlcude Arizona taking Notre Dame WR Michael Floyd, Alabama CB Dre Kirkpatrick going to the Bengals, the Browns take Oklahoma State 28 year old QB Bradon Weeden, and the  Patriots trade up to get DE Chandler Jones and LB Dont’a Hightower. Alabama led the first round with four picks Thursday night.

For the first time since 1980, there were no first rounders from Florida, Florida State, or Miami. Ferrar says former Gators corner Janoris Jenkins has 1st round talent, but his off the field issues kept him from getting drafted last night.

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The other Gators in play tonight is RB Chris Rainey. Ferrar says Rainey is an incredibly versatile player.

Ferrar goes on to compare Rainey to another versatile player out of Florida who has already seen success in the NFL.

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The second and third rounds of the NFL draft resume tonight at 7, with the St. Louis Rams kicking things off.