Top Draft Picks- Where are they now?

1. Jake Long OT (Miami Dolphins) - Long is having a good rookie season and has certainly been a factor in Chad Pennington's low sack number- in 255 dropbacks, he's been sacked 13 times- 5%. By comparison Jason Campbell has been sacked 23 times in 296 dropbacks, or about 7.7% of the time.

2. Chris Long DE (St. Louis Rams) - Long has 28 tackles and 4 sacks on the awful St. Louis Rams. While part of this might be due to the Rams always being down by 20 points and his opponent running the ball the entire second half, Long seems to have adjusted to the NFL nicely. He says he doesn't talk to his dad about football. I don't believe him.

3. Matt Ryan QB (Atlanta Falcons) - A virtual lock for Offensive Rookie of the Year (if Vince "Emo" Young can win it completing 51% of his passes for 12 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in 2006...), the Falcons hit three home runs in Ryan, running back Michael Turner, and wide receiver Roddy White. These three are only going to get better, and should put the Falcons back on the map. This season he's started all 8 games, thrown 227 attempts for 133 completions and 1661 yards with 9 touchdowns to just 5 interceptions, but more importantly he has his team at 5-3 and is in the playoff hunt in the weak NFC South.

4. Darren McFadden RB (Oakland Raiders) - McFadden showed flashes early this year... against the miserable Chiefs. Then he got turf toe...and then he got it again in his other foot. Not sure what the Raiders practice on during the week, but the McAfee Colliseum is a grass field. Anyway McFadden's future looks bright, as Al Davis clearly drafted him to be the feature back for the Raiders even though Justin Fargas has been doing a fine job in the first half before the Raiders start getting blown out. One wonders if the Raiders really needed another injury-prone running back on the roster...

5. Glenn Dorsey DT (Kansas City Chiefs) - Dorsey has 22 tackles (17 solo), no sacks, and no fumble recoveries. In other words, with less than 3 tackles per game on a team that sees the run up the middle a lot, he's not exactly the difference maker the Chiefs thought he'd be. Looks like the Warren Sapp comparisons can be shelved for now.

6. Vernon Gholston OLB (New York Jets) - What a colossal bust to date. Linebacker is widely acknowledged as one of the best positions for a rookie to make an immediate impact, but Gholston has 7 tackles (4 solo) and nothing else. In fairness he was a full-time defensive end in college, but seriously. 4 solo tackles for a player compared to the second coming of Jack Ham? Please.

7. Sedrick Ellis DT (New Orleans Saints) - He was injured for 3 games, but otherwise has just 10 tackles (7 solo) and a sack. Nowhere to go but up. His job gets harder with the recent season-ending injury to defensive end Charles Grant and the possible suspension of defensive end Will Smith. He and offseason acquisition Jonathan Vilma (MLB) have kept the Saints at a slighty-worse-than-average 18th against the run this season.

8. Derrick Harvey DE (Jacksonville Jaguars) - After a holdout that would have made Lance Briggs jealous, he is clearly still learning the Jaguars' defensive schemes and has 6 tackles (5 solo) and no sacks. I guess the Jaguars will have to wait another year to see if it was worth trading all the way up to #8 to take him. Meanwhile fellow rookie Quentin Groves has 8.5 tackles (6 solo), 1.5 sacks, and a forced fumble. And Groves hasn't even started a game...

9. Keith Rivers OLB (Cincinnati Bengals) - Currently he's sitting on his couch watching the Bengals continue to suck with a broken jaw, courtesy of a massive block from Hines Ward. Before the injury he had 37 tackles (24 solo) and an interception. 5 tackles per game put him on pace for an 80-90 tackle season, which is respectable. Rivers should only get better.

10. Jerod Mayo MLB (New England Patriots) - Mayo leads NFL rookies with 59 tackles (46 solo) but has no sacks or interceptions. The problem is that most of his tackles come several in front of the line of scrimmage. According to KC Joyner, when teams run at Mayo they average 7.2 yards per attempt. Ouch. The upside for the Patriots is that Mayo is young, and with Teddy Bruschi and Mike Vrabel in the twilight of their careers youth is certainly a virtue.