Yeah, it's way too early to judge this draft.  Then again, it's actually too early to judge the draft netted us Jay Cutler, Brandon Marshall, Tony Scheffler, etc.  This is mostly an excersize in fun or a form of venting, but it's something that I feel like doing and I hope you forgive me for endulging myself.  And so, without further ado, here's how I wish it would have gone down knowing all that we know now.

#12 - Ryan Clady, OT, Boise State: Yeah, I was on the Chris Williams bandwagon for a long while, but I get this pick.  Since the braintrust felt comfortable investing this much in him, I assume they believe he should be able to compete for the starting LT spot from Game 1.  He has a high ceiling and we needed an LT.  I wish we could have traded up for Sed Ellis or even Glenn Dorsey, but who knows if that was ever possible.  An RB would have made a bigger splash, but I believe in our current stabble.  This is a fine pick, in my book.

#42 - Dexter Jackson, KR/WR, Appalachian State: If we valued a return man this highly, I wish we would have taken a shot at the guy I believe will be the best one out of this draft.  I like his chances to become a viable slot receiver as much as Royal's and I believe his ceiling there is even higher.  I don't mind the Royal pick, I just would have gone in a different direction myself.

#108 - Dre Moore, DT, Maryland: There are serious questions about this kid and his motor, but his talent is undeniable.  We took a shot drafting Marcus Thomas and trading for Dewayne Robertson (not to mention all the other guys that have come and gone at the position) so why not go all in and gamble on a guy like this at this time?  Beats me.

#119 - Red Bryant, DT, Texas A&M: Here's another guy we thought about as a possibility in the second round at some point, so getting him here would have been exceptional value.  He's a run-stuffer extraordiare and we could have used someone like him.  The fact that we didn't get anyone like that is a tough pill to swallow, especially when we passed on him for a guy who will likely be nothing more than a special teamer.  I don't mean to demean that contribution, but we had bigger fish to fry and plenty of latter picks with which to address that need.  He would have been a nice compliment to the rest of our DT at this point.

#139 - Johnathan Goff, ILB, Vanderbilt: This has nothing to do with a Vandy connection or anything of that sort; this has everything to do with value and appropriate roster building.  I have faith in Niko, but we'd be foolish to put all of our eggs in one basket.  The braintrust saw a need for depth here, but waited to long and got someone with no real chance of pushing K2.

#148 - Durant Brooks, P, Georgia Tech: The only negative thing I've ever read about him as a punter is that he can put too much on kicks from time to time.  Great power for both distance and hangtime plus good placement equals a solid NFL punter.  It would have been nice to sure this position up for a long time to come.

#183 - Steve Justice, C, Wake Forrest: I'll give you that our braintrust wanted Lichtensteiger more and that he may well be the better prospect, but getting him here is at least equal value and would have allowed us to address more pressing needs earlier on.  He's a very good center in his own right and I think we were all comfortable with him much higher than this.

#220 - Josh Barrett, S, Arizona State: I have a soft spot for toolsy guys (I apologize for the baseball term) and this guy has awesome triangle numbers for a 7th round pick.  At worst he's good, young depth and has starter upside.  He's a solid special teamer in the meantime, I think

#227 - Brandon Coutu, K, Georgia: It'd be nice to wait and snag a guy like this as a CFA, but he didn't make it out of the draft.  He has a strong leg and is a good field goal kicker.  He's reasonably clutch, too.  Basically, he's an NFL caliber kicker who could be trying 60 yarders in Denver.  He would have been a good heir to Jason Elam.

CFA to target:  Eric Young (OG, Tennessee), Ezra Butler (OLB, Nevada), Jamar Adams (S, Michigan), Erin Henderson (LB, Maryland), Ali Highsmith (OLB, LSU), Wesley Woodyard (S/OLB, Kentucky), Marcus Griffin (S, Texas), J Leman (ILB, Illinois) and Mike Dragosavich (P, North Dakota State). We should also check in on Tommy Blake (DE, TCU) and Ben Moffitt (ILB, USF) to see if they got their heads on straight now, because they're plenty talented.

Hindsight is 20/20, but I think my draft would have jived better with our needs and gotten the most value possible.  In all honesty, I think our actual draft was acceptable because of the strength of the rest of our reloading season.  It'll be years before we can accurately judge what went on this weekend, but I'll take the risk of jumping the gun now.  I feel better because of it, maybe you should try it, too!