First Things First

To start things off lets take a quick look at the draft order for the first round of this years draft.
  
    1. Carolina Panthers
    2. Denver Broncos
    3. Buffalo Bills
    4. Cincinnati Bengals
    5. Arizona Cardinals
    6. Cleveland Browns
    7. San Francisco 49ers
    8. Tennessee Titans
    9. Dallas Cowboys
   10. Washington Redskins
   11. Houston Texans
   12. Minnesota Vikings
   13. Detroit Lions
   14. St. Louis Rams
   15. Miami Dolphins
   16. Jacksonville Jaguars
   17. New England Patriots (from Oakland Raiders)
   18. San Diego Chargers
   19. New York Giants
   20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
   21. Kansas City Chiefs
   22. Indianapolis Colts
   23. Philadelphia Eagles
   24. New Orleans Saints
   25. Seattle Seahawks
   26. Baltimore Ravens
   27. Atlanta Falcons
   28. New England Patriots
   29. Chicago Bears
   30. New York Jets
   31. Pittsburgh Steelers
   32. Green Bay Packers

When I take a look at this list there are immediately a couple things that jump out at me. First, with the Patriots being the only team this year with two first round picks, the rich will get richer. The Patriots reel in stud picks year after year, and with an additional pick this year don't expect things to change.

Next, the Rams and Lions are finally out of the top ten spots (or as records go bottom ten), and the Broncos and Cowboys have fallen into the top ten. Since the greatest show on turf fizzled out, their hasn't been much excitement in the Edward Jones Dome. Once the Marc Bulger "glory days"ended, their wasn't any excitement at all. Then last year with the first overall pick the Rams found their savior in young Sam Bradford. Bradford threw for over 3,500 yards during his rookie campaign, led the Rams to 7 wins, a playoff berth, and was able to pick up Offensive Rookie of the Year honors along the way.

Things appear to be looking brighter for the Detroit Lions as well, as they finished the year on a four game win streak, powered behind a tough D led by Defensive Rookie of the Year Ndamukong Suh. The Lions are loaded with weapons on offense, and if Matthew Stafford can stay healthy next year look out for big things to happen in the Motor City in 2011.

Before the 2010 season began the Cowboys were a hot Super Bowl pick, but after Romo went down, and a midseason coaching change, the Boys found themselves 1-7 midway through year. Luckily they were able to pull out wins in 5 of their last 8 games and somewhat save an otherwise brutal season. Likewise, the Broncos had much higher hopes for the '10 season, but ended with a 4-12 mark, leaving them with a top ten pick for the first time in over 15 years.