Winner: Tennessee Titans It's easy to label a team a "winner" when they pick first overall, but this is more about what Tennessee did after they picked Philip Rivers at the top of the draft (which was the correct decision). In order to protect their new franchise QB, they selected two OL that had dropped to the end of the first round in Jason Peters and Brian Rimpf. Both should start from day one and provide a large amount of protection for their newest million dollar man.
Loser: Pittsburgh Steelers I heard rumors of the Steelers trying to moving down and out of this draft, but in the end they couldn't get the type of deal they wanted, likely because they were asking too much. Then, they decided to draft Vince Wilfork, who is a sexy big name, but his attributes don't line up. For a nose tackle, you would hope his strength and athletics would be higher.
Winner: Arizona Cardinals GMs take note,
this is how you build a team for the future. Both seasons the Cardinals have been able to finagle a lot of top picks and then turn them into even more picks next year, allowing them to draft young studs (which they did well, even if they are raw) while still having ammo for next season. What beats me is why are people mortgaging their futures to Arizona when they know how it turns out? Arizona is a winner, but mostly because other teams are obvious losers.
Loser: Philadelphia Eagles And here we have the #1 contributor to the above winner -- the Philadelphia Eagles. Mind you, I'm ecstatic the Eagles won't have their first, and the players they selected are good: Steven Jackson and Landon Johnson, but the Eagles just traded a future 1st and a future 3rd for an undersized MLB who may or may not work (I think he will but the jury is split). It was a bad move that will likely cost the Philadelphia GM his job in 2-3 seasons.
Winner: New Orleans Saints There is a lot to be said about sitting and taking the BPA. I almost mocked Chicago here for their pick of Dansby (which is excellent), but I'm not a fan of Cedric Cobbs. The Saints however, stood pat and ending up taking Roy Williams, who word on the street is, skews up. If so, that provides excellent quality for a team that underperformed last season.
Loser: Denver Broncos If you're going to trade major resources to move up in the draft, it better be for a player that is going to make a difference. The Broncos thought that player was Nick Hardwick, but I heartily disagree. You move up for a stud center (Hardwick is not), if you need one. You don't when Tom Nalen is still on your team. To make matters worse, Nalen has been flipped to the Redskins for a 6th round pick. Poor planning by the Denver GM all around.