It may be sunny and warm outside my window, but I'll be damned if this doesn't feel like Christmas morning.
I'm anticipating a fun draft, and I will be with you guys through every step of the way. Armed with a few select beverages, the NFL network and an insatiable lust for a quality draft, I will bring down the unholy thunder upon my keyboard for your enjoyment. Expect more or less instant analysis on every Falcon pick, as well as feedback from our fellow SBN bloggers. I'll also shamelessly rip every other team for absolutely no good reason.
A list of SBN live bloggers, to be updated through the day:
Mocking The Draft
Buc 'Em
Cat Scratch Reader
Windy City Gridiron
Buffalo Rumblings
Blogging The Boys
Field Gulls
The Phinsider Battle Red Blog
Music City Miracles
Arrowhead Pride
Mile High Report
Pride of Detroit
Click read more to get to the live bloggin' goodness. Don't forget to refresh your browser often.
6:57 p.m.: The Falcons take LB Curtis Lofton, completely confusing the hell out of me. I like Lofton a lot, but unless he's playing the middle for Brooking after this year he's completely useless to us. Am I the only one who hates this draft strategy?
With that, I think I have to get some dinner. I'll try to catch up on everything a little later. Discuss amongst yourselves to your heart's content!
6:51 p.m.: And Jordy Nelson? I'm completely and totally lost right now. I can barely keep up. Fine, take him! ENJOY HIM!
6:50 p.m.: Brandon Flowers for the Packers, which isn't good. I was hoping he might fall to the Falcons. No luck!
6:45 p.m.: And the Redskins pick Devin Thomas, who I don't care for but is clearly a better value pick than Donnie Avery. We could still have that pick, I might add.
6:43 p.m.: Somehow, the Rams just picked our first wide receiver and it is....Donnie Avery. Join me in saying "who the fuck is Donnie Avery?!" as we continue on with our lives.
6:39 p.m.: The Dolphins continue what might be the best draft already by picking DE Phillip Merling. Fantastic stuff, and suddenly I wish we had Parcells.
6:34 p.m.: With the last pick of the 1st round....the Giants take pick S Kenny Phillips. Good pick, though I would've preferred Dan Connor for them. Interesting is that guys like Connor, every single receiver and others have fallen out of the first.
6:29 p.m.: The Jets pick up TE Dustin Keller, which makes sense if you ignore the fact that they needed a QB and Brian Brohm was sitting there. Damn New Jersey Jets.
6:19 p.m.: The 49ers sprint to get Kentwan Balmer, which I think is an excellent pick. All the guys I would've wanted in the early second are going to be gone at this point.
6:17 p.m.: Seattle gets Lawrence Jackson to pair with Patrick Kerney, making for a pretty formidable end tandem. Assuming Kerney doesn't, you know, age 10 years at once.
6:10 p.m.: Nice pick by the Chargers, though I was hoping Antoine Cason would somehow fall to us. No dice, I guess.
6:05 p.m.: Texans pick project offensive tackle Duane Brown, which isn't an extremely sensible pick here. Maybe if he's playing right tackle?
6:00 p.m.: Cowboys pick up Mike Jenkins, and both of their picks so far have been solid. Like they needed the damn help.
5:51 p.m.: The Titans reaaaaaaaaaaaaaachhhh for Chris Johnson at #24. What an awful pick for Tennessee, who are building a diabolical stable of running backs named Chris.
5:44 p.m.: Rashard Mendenhall goes to the Steelers, who now have Willie Parker and Mendenhall. Not a critical need, but that's a ridiculous tandem.
5:39 p.m.: Felix Jones is still the pick for the Cowboys, and now Mendenhall is falling. Not what I expected.
5:36 p.m.: I hate to say it, but our guys are looking overmatched so far. The Falcons got back a 3rd and 5th, and the Redskins got two second rounders a fourth from us. I don't know if Sam Baker, as much as I like him, was worth two of our second round picks to jump up for. I really expected better from this team, and I continue to be disappointed.
5:30 p.m.: The Falcons figure the draft is getting too unpredictable and run up the draft to grab Sam Baker at offensive tackle. Great pick, but I really wish he would've lasted until the second round. I'll update this with what the Falcons gave up to get here.
5:28 p.m.: My god, when is this endless series of trades going to end? Now the Falcons are making one?! WHAT'S GOING ON!?
5:18 p.m.: Bucs get Aqib Talib at corner. With huge needs at wide receiver, this is perhaps not the best pick, but Talib has as much potential as any corner in this draft. Well done.
5:16: Panthers traded second, fourth and next year's first to get Otah. At least I can call one of the teams in our division dumb.
5:11 p.m.: Panthers picked up Jeff Otah. Makes the Stewart pick seem a little bit better, at least.
5:09 p.m.: What is this, goddamn Madden? So many damn trades!
5:02 p.m.: Ravens are continuing to jump around in this draft, reaching incredibly at #18 for Joe Flacco. I would've loved to have Flacco at the bottom of the first/top of the second, but this is a classic case of getting scared and grabbing high. Weird pick.
4:57 p.m.: Matt Millen continues to prove that he has no idea what a football team is supposed to look like, picking Gosder Cherilus wayyyyy ahead of where he was expected to go. Sam Baker better still be there when the Falcons pick.
4:53 p.m.: Cardinals pick DRC and Deion Sanders yells about his intangibles and upside. Listen, Prime Time: you judge players on their skills, not their intangibles. That's why Matt Ryan isn't a great pick. Do you hear me? Deion? Deion?
4:44 p.m.: Chiefs pull off a trade and jump up with the Lions to grab...Branden Albert. Fantastic pick, and the Chiefs are having exactly the kind of draft I wish we were having.
4:36 p.m.: Bears pick Chris Williams at OT, which gives them somebody to block for horrible running back Cedric Benson and horrible quarterback Rex Grossman. Well done, Chicago.
4:28 p.m.: Jonathan Stewart is a weird pick here, with the Panthers having more critical needs along the offensive line and in the secondary. Plus, I like Mendenhall better. In short, this is a great pick for the Panthers!
4:23 p.m.: Broncos get Ryan Clady, which is a safe and excellent pick to shore up their line. Damn them.
4:19 p.m.: The Bills make a fantastic pick here, grabbing Leodis McKelvin about five spots later than I thought he'd go. Someone on NFLN just made a McLovin joke, which means "Superbad" has sadly jumped the shark.
4:13 p.m.: Jerod Mayo goes about a round higher than in our SBN Mock Draft, to the Patriots. This team needed a cornerback but refuses to draft based on need. Dumb, dumb dumb.
4:07 p.m.: The Bengals pick up Keith Rivers at linebacker. Quality pick, but eh. The Bengals aren't going to be great next year even with him.
4:06 p.m.: Derrick Harvey for the 26th pick, two third rounders and a fourth? That's an unbelievably awful trade for the Jags. Bizarre.
4:04 p.m.: Been a weird draft so far, with two big trades and a pretty formulaic set of selections otherwise. Ryan still surprised me, though.
4:01 p.m.: The NFLN is having huge tech issues. Every pick sounds like it's being made by a Star Wars character, and in this case it's the Jags getting Derrick Harvey. Terrific pick, but why trade up?
3:59 p.m.: Patriots getting a verbal blowjob on the NFLN right now. Terrific stuff.
3:58 p.m.: Ravens move out of the #8 spot with the Jaguars. My head is spinning right round, baby, right round.
3:53 p.m.: We could've answered Sedrick Ellis with Glenn Dorsey, but screw that! The Saints likely gave up a lot to get here, but Ellis is going to be a huge help for that line.
3:52 p.m.: Saints trade up with the Patriots. Hopefully they pick someone awful.
3:40 p.m.: Jets fans are hilarious, aren't they? After the first couple seconds, you could hear a steady undercurrent of boos for the Gholston pick. I think he's an overrated workout warrior, but he could make an impact for a Jets team that ain't that great.
3:35 p.m.: If the Saints rumor was true, the Chiefs are bunch of damn fools all over again. If it's not, Glenn Dorsey is a great pick that I wish the damn Falcons had had enough nuts to make. Damnit!!!!
3:28 p.m.: With the help of my old friend Samuel Adams and the stupidity of Al Davis, I'm going to get past this travesty. Darren McFadden is a terrible pick for a team that already has at least two quality backs. Way to go, you decrepit bastard.
3:22 p.m.: The only positive thing I can say is that we need to watch how this draft unfolds from here. I'm not going to pretend I don't hate this pick for a second, but it's not like I want Ryan to bomb. Hopefully they'll assemble a quality team around him, start Redman next year, and he'll step in and surprise us all in year two. But man, this is such a depressing outcome.
3:18 p.m.: And I am officially disgusted. Dimitroff and Smith talked about playing smashmouth football, they talked about getting good value with that pick, and they did none of it. They picked an expensive QB whose major plus seems to be his intangibles, and they had damned well better get him a line. I want him to succeed desperately now, but I just don't see it. Unbelievable.
3:16 p.m.: SHIT! NOT RYAN!
3:13 p.m.: NFLN's Mike Mayock just strung together about 25 compliments about Chris Long. In a related item, somewhere in Radio City Music Hall, Howie Long has a sniper rifle trained on Mike Mayock. 3:12 p.m.: Chris Long is an excellent pick for the Rams, and it leaves Dorsey on the board. My god, I'm so nervous that I think I'm going to pass out.
3:11 p.m.: Pick handed in, so nobody's going to save us from ourselves. Let's see who the Rams take.
3:03 p.m.: Jake Long is soundly booed/cheered as Goodell announces him. He would've been a great Falcon, but no sense dwelling on that. He ought to be provide a keg cog on the offensive line for the Dolphins for years to come.
3:01 p.m.: Here we go. Lot of talk about the Raiders and Chiefs moving down, Ravens and Saints possibly moving up. They're about to put the 'Fins on the clock.
2:52 p.m.: We are minutes away from the draft, and the guys at NFLN are throwing around some terrifying rumors. Supposedly, the Rams are trying to scare the Falcons into trading into #2 to get Matt Ryan. If Atlanta does that, this regime is off to an awful start.
2:10 p.m.: The Ravens are apparently calling the Falcons bluff/saving us all from depression, as they're reported by the NFLN to be furiously attempting to move up in the draft. If they take Ryan at 2, Dorsey is the clear choice at #3 for the Falcons.
1:37 p.m.: Draft dead zone right now. I've got an interview coming up shortly, so I'll be scarce until the draft kicks off. Then there'll be more blogging action than you can shake a keyboard at, I promise.
12:54 p.m.: If Ryan is the pick, I have to know that this was made for football reasons. I have to know that Dimitroff and Smith decided this was the best move for the team. If it turns out Blank has a hand in this, I'm going to go completely ballistic.
12:42 p.m.: And suddenly, the blue skies are all gone, gone, gone. Adam Schefterloser from the NFLN is reporting that the Falcons selected Matt Ryan. This is, in my humble opinion, a huge risk at the #3 spot and something I'm going to spend months talking myself into. There's a small, small chance that this won't happen, but this is a huge bummer.
12:06 p.m.: The NFL Network ticker just listed Glenn Dorsey's big weakness as "getting washed too easily." Man, you hate a guy who fucking showers frequently.
12:04 p.m.: The NFL Network guy reported that the Rams didn't draft Dorsey in part because they were scared off by their own previous selections at defensive tackle. I'm not saying Dorsey is the second coming of LSU Jesus, but that's what I call punishing yourself for your own idiocy.
11:49 a.m.: ESPN's Michael Smith reports that the Rams are taking Chris Long. You may now jump around like an idiot or pee your pants in fear, because it's down to Glenn Dorsey or Matt Ryan. Please, God, let it be Dorsey!
11:42 a.m.:I'm getting ten million different reports on whether the Falcons are taking Dorsey or Ryan or the Rams are taking Long or Dorsey and shut the hell up, Mel Kiper! Consider the next couple of hours an enormous tax on our collective wellbeing.
11:21 a.m.: This link is NSF basically anyone, but if you need to get fired up for the draft, Kissing Suzy Kolber's Big Daddy Drew absolutely knocked it out of the park earlier this week. Fantastic.
11:06 a.m.: ESPN's John Clayton is reporting that the Ravens may target Chad Henne in the first round. That sounds utterly bizarre.
10:13 a.m.: Here's a trip down memory lane for you. Last year, I was crushin' on safety Laron Landry until he was stolen by the Redskins. I then advocated Amobi Okoye, which the Falcons promptly ignored. We ended up with Jamaal Anderson, who I still hope will be a great player one day but wasn't by any means a slam dunk. Ah, memories.