10.   Jermaine Gresham Will a Major Impact for the Bengals

No one ever gets excited about fullbacks or tight ends but few do more work behind the scenes than those two positions.  Want to have an explosive passing attack, get a tight end that can dominate in the middle of the field.  Having one changes a lot of what the secondary has to do.  It can dictate what coverages are called in certain situations and can really open up things for wide outs.  Suddenly,  the safeties are coming off the hash a little later because the tight end is not the guy they want to deal with the ball in their hands.  Gresham is dominant and has a great opportunity to fill that role for Carson Palmer and the Bengals.  The Bengals got 410 receiving yards from the tight end spot in 2009.  Watch that number double this year. At this point in his career,  this is just what Chad Johnson needed to keep his gums flapping and balls coming his way.

9.  Mike Iupati May End Up Being the Most Underrated Pick in the First Round

Guards are also another position that people pay very little attention to.  Everyone knows that Mike Singletary wants to punch the defense in the mouth with a strong running game.  That’s not possible without good guard play and the 49ers filled a big need.   Idaho’s Mike Iupati was part of a Vandals offensive line that blocked it’s way to 2,137 yards of rushing at an average of 4.7 yards in 2009.  In a 49ers uniform,  Iupati will be blocking for backs like Frank Gore and Glen Coffee.  San Francisco was 4-1 last season when they had a 100 yard rusher but they only had a 100 yard rusher in five of their 16 games.  With Alex Smith coming around and Michael Crabtree getting a NFL training camp under his belt,  finding running room behind Mike Iupati could be the thing the 49ers need to get back into NFL consciousness.

8. Buffalo’s Resurgence Can Begin with the Addition of C.J. Spiller

It has been a while since the Bills have had a player this multi-faceted and explosive.  Sure they have had running backs like Travis Henry,  Willis McGahee and Marshawn Lynch but not since Thurman Thomas have they had this type player that can line up in the backfield and do many other things.  Spiller can improve Buffalo’s special teams  right now.  He can also improve the running game and he can also come out of the back field and turn simple third down conversions into huge real estate gains.   With one player,  the Bills have improved their offense, special teams and as a result their defense because of the field position Spiller can turn around.  Spiller contributed 1, 212 yards rushing for Clemson last year.  He also added 503 yards receiving and 969 yards in returns.  Think about it.

7.  The Seattle Seahawks Had the Best Draft in the 1st Round

The 1st round of the NFL draft is one part getting impact players and one part filling needs.  Seattle accomplished both with their pair of 1st round selections.    Seattle was near the top last year in having their quarterbacks hit the deck with 41.  That’s close to three sacks per game.  With that in mind,  the Seahawks pick up Oklahoma St. left tackle Russell Okung.  Okung will aid the Seahawks in reversing the ugly sack number by providing better protection but also allowing the Seahawks to run the ball better and not allow teams to pin their ears back and crush Hawks QBs.   At number 14,  Seattle addressed another ugly stat for them in 2009 and that’s pass defense.  Seattle was 30th against the pass and only eight teams had less interceptions than Seattle’s 13 last year.  Only five of those 13 picks came from the safety position and three of those belong to departed secondary member Deon Grant.  The drafting of ball hawking safety Earl Thomas of Texas means Seattle can get better in that area right now.  Seattle picked up impact players in two areas of great need.  That’s executing a plan.

6.  Jahvid Best Will Be the Missing Piece to Take the Lions Offense to the Top of the NFL Rankings

I could make the argument that Detroit had a better draft than the Seahawk team that I just said had the best 1st round.  However,  Detroit has more holes to fill than Seattle.  They filled one of them in a big way with Jahvid Best.  Over the last three years,  the Lions have added an impact wide receiver,  quarterback and now running back through the draft.  This means Detroit is not only talented at these three key positions but young.  The Cowboys had the triplets in the early 90’s and Detroit is on their way to constructing something like that.  If they are wise enough to add quality talent in the supporting cast areas (OL, FB, TE) then Detroit can end their run at being the laughing stock of the NFL.  Best gives Detroit an explosive player at the running back position that they have not had since you know who.

5.  Demaryius Thomas Will Prove the Critics Wrong

Too much is being made out of the fact that Thomas,  drafted by the Broncos at #22,  came from a triple option attack at Georgia Tech.  He’s not playing quarterback,  he’s a wide receiver.  When they tried to cover him in college they couldn’t.  When they threw him the ball he caught it.  When they try to tackle him,  he broke it and when they tried to catch him,  they couldn’t.  Let’s not complicate their the receiver position now.  They will teach him the route tree,  send him deep and make teams get their safeties back.  He’s a physical specimen that would have dominated at Florida or Oklahoma had he gone there.

4.  Picking Another Cornerback Will Prove Genius for the Jets

Anyone looking forward to throwing against the Jets this season?  How bad will the offensive coordinator feel if he fails to gain a yard on the Jets on first down?  Rex Ryans knows that to cook up his recipe of blitzes,  he can’t have a receiver beating coverage off the line of scrimmage and streak down the field alone.  With the bevy of thieves he has accumulated through free agency and the draft,  he can be an even madder scientist when it comes to blitz schemes.   Picking Boise St.’s cornerback Kyle Wilson at #29 means that your three wide receiver set on offense has what amounts to a house arrest braclet on their ankle.  The NFL has turned into a pass happy league and this is Rex Ryan’s roach spray for this pesky problem.  Look for turnovers and a short field to make the offense look like big time overacheivers.

3.  Ndamukong Suh Will Spark the Rise of the Detroit Lions

Boy it really looks like I am getting excited by these Lions but it’s for good reason.  They have the bodies in place.  The only thing standing between them and the playoffs now is their ingrained mentality of losing.  Overcoming that allows a guy like Ndamkong Suh to turn around the defense  and defensive wins championships.  Suh can control a game as he showed in the Big-XII Championship last season.  There will be a learning curve as a rookie but his talent will shine through.  Suh gives the Lions a force against the run as well as a person who can pressure the passer from the inside.  Detroit was 25th in the NFL last year versus the run.  I bet you they finish better in the category this year and Suh will be a big reason why.  Improving in that area will translate into more wins and with their offense putting the chess pieces in place,  Detroit will move out of the category of “what a joke”.

2.  Ryan Matthews Will Make San Diego Fans Forget LaDanian Tomlinson

Well Tomlinson’s contributions won’t ever be forgotten but Matthews will keep San Diego fans from sitting in the stands this year with their hands propped under their chins saying “I wish LT was here.”  I have been touting this Matthews kid for quite some time now and while picking him 12th doesn’t quite allow me to call him underrated,  it’s clear that the Chargers saw in him what I saw.  You don’t see Fresno St. Bulldogs going this high in the draft on a regular basis and not from the running back position.  The last time I saw a player like this that not too many were talking about was Vincent Jackson who also wears a Chargers uniform.  Matthews will do for San Diego what Jackson has done.  He will be a force to reckon with and will allow the Chargers to conduct business as usual on offense.

1.  Tim Tebow Will Enjoy More Success in the NFL than Sam Bradford

I am not sold on Sam Bradford as a franchise quarterback.  Worse than that,  Bradford is going to purgatory.   St. Louis is a mess and they don’t have the necessary amount of paper towels to clean it up.  Bradford needs a lot more around him to get the job done there and it can be a while before he gets it.  Bradford was the first pick of the draft,  you don’t get long these days to get it together when you get picked this high and make this kind of money.  The Rams have not had a history of opening their wallets wide and by the time Bradford gets what he needs,  his ego and confidence can be as injured as his shoulder was against BYU this year.  Tim Tebow on the other hand gets to ease his way into Denver’s system and work on his imperfections without such a hot lamp on him.  I believe the Broncos drafted Tebow at this spot to use him in a certain way that the public does not have insight on.  As Tebow said,  he was asked to execute a certain kind of offense at Florida and he executed it better than anyone else ever has.  Denver will ask him to do some other things and Tebow has the intelligence, athleticism, determination and faith to execute.  No one will show a young quarterback video of Bernie Kosar, Phillip Rivers or Jake Delhomme if they are trying to show them how to throw a ball but all three QBs have enjoyed some serious success in the NFL.   Who throws a ball prettier than Carson Palmer,  David Carr or Kyle Boeller?    Enough said.   Too much is made about a quaterback’s delivery.  It’s the most over analyzed and scrutinized aspect in the game.  The most poignant thing said last night was by Steve Young for ESPN.  “Will Tim Tebow’s brain be connected to his arm.  Will he be able to anticipate the moves of the defense and put the ball in the spots that it needs to go. ”  That’s all anyone needs to concern themselves with and I say that Tebow will be able to accomplish that on a greater scale than Sam Bradford.