As we get ready for Super Bowl XLII, FanHouse is looking back at each team's 2007 first-round pick. Here's a look at the 16th pick in the draft, defensive tackle Justin Harrell.
Packers First-Round Review
Who They Took: Justin Harrell, DT, Tennessee
Who Else They Were Rumored To Consider: Everybody but Justin Harrell, DT, Tennessee
What Harrell Did: He was inactive for the first month of the season as he struggled to get in shape, but Harrell eventually played in nine games, had two starts, and registers 16 tackles (no sacks). And the two starts came in Week 16 and 17 because Ryan Pickett was out with an injury.
"But Harrell's regular-season totals ... have to be considered at least somewhat disappointing for a 16th overall pick who began training camp with his name alongside Pickett's atop the depth chart.
By comparison, 13 of the 15 players selected ahead of Harrell started at least eight games as rookies; the only player who played in or started fewer games was training-camp holdout quarterback JaMarcus Russell, the No. 1 overall pick by Oakland."
As we get ready for Super Bowl XLII, FanHouse is looking back at each team's 2007 first-round pick. Here's a look at the 30th pick in the draft, wide receiver Craig Davis.
Chargers First-Round Review
Who They Took: Craig Davis, WR, LSU
Who Else They Were Rumored To Consider: Calvin Johnson, WR (no, really), Brandon Meriweather, S
What Davis Did: He finished fifth on the team in receptions, hauling in 20 for 188 (a paltry 9.4 average) and scored one touchdown. I'm guessing the Chargers were hoping for a little more from their first-round pick. While Davis stumbled through his first year, it's not like the other Chargers pass catchers were lighting it up (those not named Gates and Tomlinson, anyway).
Looking Into The Future: With Vincent Jackson showing signs of finally turning the corner and Chris Chambers coming back for his first full season with the team, Davis will likely be the third wideout in '08 (depending on Eric Parker's status). That sounds about right -- no need to rush Davis into the lineup when he can ease into the job behind two veterans.
As we get ready for the Patriots-Giants Super Bowl, FanHouse is looking back at each team's 2007 first-round pick. Here's a look at the 10th pick in the draft, defensive tackle Amobi Okoye.
Who They Took: Amobi Okoye, DT, Louisville
Who Else They Were Rumored to Consider: CB Derrelle Revis, Trade down for OT Joe Staley, Trade down in general. Other rumored players were off the board by pick #10. What We Said At The Time:"[W]ith the Texans picking a defensive lineman in the first round for the 4th year in a row, you would hope that this fat salary cap money starts to translate into a pass rush....After the 9th pick, Mario Williams started texting the defensive line coach "Okoye Okoye Okoye" so apparently at least he appreciates having a potential playmaker next to him on the line instead of the street free agents that had to fill-in at defensive tackle for most of last season."
What Okoye Did: At the beginning of the season, I wondered whether this young, still developing player would be physical enough against the run and would be overwhelmed as a young guy playing with a number of other inexperienced players on the line.
As we get ready for the Patriots-Giants Super Bowl, FanHouse is looking back at each team's 2007 first-round pick. Here's a look at the 3rd pick in the draft, left tackle, Joe Thomas.
Who They Took:Joe Thomas, T, Wisconsin Who Else They Were Rumored to Consider: QB JaMarcus Russell, QB Brady Quinn, WR Calvin Johnson What We Said at the Time: "By landing its franchise offensive tackle ... in the same draft, Cleveland took a big step forward."
What Thomas Did: All he did was start 16 games at left tackle and be a part of one of the best offensive lines in the league. According to Football Outsiders, the Browns o-line ranked third in run-blocking and fifth in pass-blocking. More impressive: no team was better on running plays around the left end, and only two teams were better on runs behind left tackle.
The Browns allowed just 19 sacks all season (for comparison, the Steelers gave up 47), behind only the Saints (16) and the Bengals (17).
As we get ready for the Patriots-Giants Super Bowl, the FanHouse is looking back at each team's 2007 first-round pick. Here's a look at the first overall in the draft, quarterback JaMarcus Russell.
Who They Took:JaMarcus Russell, QB, LSU Who Else They Were Rumored to Consider: T Joe Thomas, WR Calvin Johnson What We Said at the Time: "Fair or not, Russell will always be compared to Brady Quinn and Joe Thomas because the Raiders could have done a similar move if they had selected Thomas first. Still this was a very productive day for the Raiders."
What Russell Did: For the first 12 weeks of the season, not much. Russell was an observer until the Dec. 2 Broncos game, when he made a brief appearance during the second quarter, completing 4 of 7 passes for 56 yards. He didn't dress the following week in Green Bay (too cold, coach's decision).
He did see action in the final three games, and started the season finale against the Chargers. Oakland was 0-4 over that stretch, but Russell gained valuable experience. He finished the year 36 of 66 for 373 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions. His numbers aren't particularly noteworthy, but at this point they don't need to be. More importantly, Russell showed improvement over the course of the season.
As we get ready for the Patriots-Giants Super Bowl, FanHouse is looking back at each team's 2007 first-round pick. Here's a look at the 31st pick in the draft, tight end Greg Olsen.
Who Else They Were Rumored To Consider: G Justin Blalock, OL Aaron Sears, T Tony Ugoh
What We Said At The Time: "TE Greg Olsen runs a 4.5-forty and will create a lot of matchup problems."
What Olsen Did: When they used him, Olsen did what the Bears expected. He was too fast for linebackers and too big for defensive backs which resulted in 39 catches for 391 yards and two touchdowns. He was invisible for long stretches of the season, however. 26 of his catches came in five games and the Bears didn't look to him nearly enough over the course of the season. He and Desmond Clark both provided good production at tight end but too often they were ignored pieces in the offensive game plan. He didn't add anything as a blocker but that wasn't why the Bears selected him, it was to be an impact receiver and Olsen made good on that.
As we get ready for the Patriots-Giants Super Bowl, FanHouse is looking back at each team's 2007 first-round pick. Here's a look at the 29th pick in the draft, guard Ben Grubbs.
What We Said At The Time: "Ben Grubbs was the best guard in the draft and he should be a starter Week 1."
What Grubbs Did: He wasn't quite the starter from day one but Grubbs did start 12 games as a rookie. It's hard to assess just how well he did. The Raven line was hampered by Jonathan Ogden's injury and ineffective play from Mike Flynn and Adam Terry. That left the team with three rookies starting for long chunks of the season. That helped the unit rank 27th in the league, according to Football Outsiders, which isn't good. It wasn't all their fault, though. The quarterback play was awful and the game plans ineffective so blaming everything on the line would be imprecise. Willis McGahee did have some fine games, so Grubbs and Co. were doing something right.
As we get ready for the Patriots-Giants Super Bowl, FanHouse is looking back at each team's 2007 first-round pick. Here's a look at the 17th pick in the draft, defensive end Jarvis Moss.
Who Else They Were Rumored To Consider: The Broncos traded up to get Moss, he was their guy.
What We Said At The Time: "The Broncos probably didn't have to give up any picks to move up to take Moss. That was kind of a panic move. But like the Chargers, the Broncos aren't very far away from the Super Bowl, so they can afford to burn some picks."
What Moss Did: Moss didn't do a whole heckuva a lot during his first year. He played just six games before breaking his shin in practice and earning a trip to injured reserve. He was just beginning to break into the top of the D-Line rotation, replacing the veteran Simeon Rice who never made an impact with Denver. Moss flashed the pass-rushing skills that made him a first-rounder but his injury makes it hard to judge how much progress he made in his initial NFL campaign.
As we get ready for the Patriots-Giants Super Bowl, FanHouse is looking back at each team's 2007 first-round pick. Here's a look at the 14th pick in the draft, cornerback Darrelle Revis.
Who Else They Were Rumored To Consider: The Jets traded up to 14 to pick Revis, indicating that he was the apple of their eye.
What We Said At The Time: "They traded up and grabbed cornerback Darrelle Revis and that will prove to be a huge move. Revis is going to become a shut down corner in his first season and will be a major piece of New York's secondary for a long time."
What Revis Did: Revis did pretty much as expected. He wasn't quite a shut down corner, although he was the closest thing the Jets have had in quite some time. He picked off three passes, defended 17 more and was second on the team with 87 tackles. Because Revis proved so good, teams began picking on the other side of the field more and more often, a sure sign that the rookie was making his presence felt.
As we get ready for the Patriots-Giants Super Bowl, the FanHouse is looking back at each team's 2007 first-round pick. Here's a look at the 9th pick in the draft, kick returner/receiver Ted Ginn.
Who Else They Were Rumored To Consider: Brady Quinn, QB.
What We Said at the Time: "We'll revisit if overvaluing Ginn and passing on Quinn is killing Miami in this draft. Though they did draft guys in need positions, those guys don't look to be in position to fill those needs. Also, it's not fun being the laughingstock of this draft ... but they miss out on a D because Miami was the team that made Mel Kiper's head explode. That counts for something."
What Ginn Did: He didn't set the league aflame ... but it wasn't all his fault. Ginn had three different starting quarterbacks, no innovation of the offense and was on a bad team. As a returner, he did fairly well ... though a couple of his kick returns that went for TDs were called back.
As we get ready for the Patriots-Giants Super Bowl, FanHouse is looking back 
As we get ready for the Patriots-Giants Super Bowl, FanHouse is looking back 
As we get ready for the Patriots-Giants Super Bowl, FanHouse is looking back 
As we get ready for the Patriots-Giants Super Bowl, FanHouse is looking back 
As we get ready for the Patriots-Giants Super Bowl, FanHouse is looking back 
As we get ready for the Patriots-Giants Super Bowl, FanHouse is looking back 
