FanHouse AndreSmith

Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.

All joking about character risks aside, the Cincinnati Bengals needed to have a good draft. They've had some misses -- through bad scouting and bad luck -- with top picks in recent years, and they had to hit on their top pick this year. You can take as many shots as you want at his weight and conditioning, but when you watch a tape, there is no question the Bengals' first-round pick can play football.

Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.

The Buffalo Bills seemed destined to acquire a pass-rusher on the first day of the NFL Draft, and their 11th overall pick was a perfect place for that: with Tyson Jackson, Everette Brown and Aaron Maybin all available, the Bills weren't going to have a problem there.

We covered the all-time worst draft picks in a team-by-team fashion earlier this week. Thankfully, the first round of the draft is in the books and not only was it freaking awesome, it was chock full of mistakes -- which, obviously, made it that much more awesome.

We've decided to pick out the top five and mock them here. If you have decisions that you think were worse, by all means, leave them in the comments. Two things to remember: one, "mistakes" can equal a pick or a trade, and two, yes, "Al Davis is insane" is an acceptable comment.

SI.com's Peter King, the distinguished longtime football writer and recent defector from the great state of New Jersey, does us the favor of emptying out his pre-draft notebook on this dreary Monday here in the northeast.

I, a short-time football writer and New Jersey loyalist, hereby do you the favor of picking through Peter's notes and offering my own thoughts on them, for what those thoughts are worth. (Insert nasty crack here.)

Peter introduces his notes "in no particular order," so we'll go ahead and do the same:

Alabama offensive tackle Andre Smith was one of the best players in college football last year, and he looked like a sure thing to be a very high pick in this year's draft. And then came his terrible performance at the scouting combine and his terrible performance at his pro day, and all of a sudden there was talk that Smith could drop way down, maybe even out of the first round.

With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call The Perfect Draft.

Like their neighbors across the bay, the San Francisco 49ers are mired in a string of futility, failing to make the playoffs since the 2002 season. Thanks to a strong finish in 2008 and what is, perhaps, the weakest division in the NFL, there should be some optimism in San Francisco heading into 2009. What do the 49ers need to return to glory?

Three weeks ago, the Redskins' interest in quarterback Mark Sanchez was strictly pre-draft scouting and due diligence. Now, with the NFL draft 10 days off, it sounds a lot more like owner Dan Snyder has fallen in love. Again.

After losing out in the Jay Cutler sweepstakes -- and subsequently having to reassure Jason Campbell that he's the team's starter (for now) -- the 'Skins might be in the quarterback business come draft day. When I wrote about it last month, it seemed far-fetched; I even joked that Snyder had been taking his anti-insanity meds:

With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call The Perfect Draft.

I don't have to go out on a limb to say that 6-10 wasn't a goal for the Green Bay Packers in 2008. Yes, they lost Brett Favre to retirement/unretirement/trade. Yes, many thought the Packers would fall off from a 13-3 mark in 2007, even before Favre became a New York Jet. But last year was close to disastrous for the Packers, as a leaky defense blew numerous fourth-quarter leads, and the team slipped to third in the NFC North. Expectations are higher than that, and now there will be pressure on management, making its job even harder.