NFL Draft: Selected storylines

It was a draft devoid of the usual drama: No invited guest shifting uncomfortably in his seat in the Radio City Music Hall green room as his stock plummeted (the six invited guests went in the first six picks, so there were no Matt Leinarts or Brady Quinns). No blockbuster trade ("Ocho Cinco" still calls the area code 513 home after the Cincinnati Bengals refused to cave to his trade demands, though Chad Johnson would look great in either silver and black or red and gold). And no Cincinnati Bengal getting arrested (well, the day is young).

But spectacle was still to be had. How could it not, what with the trade of the suspended Adam "Pacman" Jones from the Tennessee Titans to the Dallas Cowboys all but overshadowing the proceedings.

Nobody will know exactly what they got in this draft, in which teams had but 10 minutes to make their first-round picks, for at least a year, perhaps as many as two or three. And like recruiting in college serves as the lifeblood of a program, so too does the draft for the NFL.

Here, then, are five story lines from the weekend:

No glitz, all grit

There is little to no doubt among longtime football observers that games are won in the trenches. Tickets, however, are sold by the ultra-exciting skill position players. That Cal's Jackson, who seemed tailor-made for new 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Martz's quick-strike system, fell to No. 49, only portended the theme of the first round. For the first time since 1990, when Auburn's Alexander Wright was the first pick of the second round by Dallas, no wide receiver was chosen in the first round.

Meanwhile, 15 of the first 29 selections, including Miami's No. 1 overall pick Jake Long of Michigan, were linemen from both sides of the ball. If nothing else, the trend to pick the grunts over the playmakers showed how thin the draft was at the top and how deep it was in the middle. Teams were not as willing to gamble.

The strange saga of Aaron Rodgers

It wasn't so long ago – three years, to be exact – that Cal's Aaron Rodgers was bandied about as the possible top pick by the 49ers, an "honor" that eventually went to Alex Smith.

Rodgers, meanwhile, fell all the way to No. 24, where Green Bay lay in wait. So after three seasons backing up the indomitable Brett Favre, who announced his retirement after the Packers fell in the NFC title game in January, the job is finally his. Or is it?

The Packers used two of their nine picks on quarterbacks in Louisville's Brian Brohm, a one-time No. 1 overall prospect, in the second round, 56th overall, and LSU's Matt Flynn in the seventh round, 209th.

Since Favre is reportedly the next cover boy for the Madden video game, it looks like the Madden Jinx bounced off the retiree to curse his one-time understudy.

The Tom Petty "Free-fallin' " Award

Cal wide receiver DeSean Jackson. Quarterbacks John David Booty of USC, Colt Brennan of Hawaii and Andre' Woodson of Kentucky. Michigan running back Mike Hart. Last summer they would have made a nice quintet of Heisman Trophy candidates.

This weekend, though, they epitomized the falling fortunes of "name" players. Jackson was the only one of the lot to go in the first day, as Philadelphia snatched him up in the second round with the 49th overall selection.

Booty, who had NFL first-rounder written all over him when he skipped his senior year of high school to get his career started with the Trojans, lasted until the fifth round, with Minnesota taking him 137th overall. Brennan, who was third in the Heisman race, went in the sixth round, 186th overall, to Washington, while fellow sixth-rounder Woodson went 198th to the Super Bowl champion Giants. Hart also went in the sixth round, 202nd, to Indianapolis.

The winners?

Hard to look past Kansas City. Just don't tell its heated rivals in Oakland. No matter what you say about Chiefs coach Herm Edwards' ingame strategy, and leave no doubt there's much to be desired there, he seemed to nail it in the draft, where he had 13 selections to help rebuild.

Especially after the trade of sackhappy defensive end Jared Allen to Minnesota.

Kansas City came up with three immediate starters in its first three picks - LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, possibly the most complete defensive player in the draft, who went fifth overall and was passed over by the Raiders; Virginia offensive guard Branden Albert, who was No. 15; and second-round cornerback Brandon Flowers, No. 35, of Virginia.

It's not often a team can draft the first players it targets, as the Chiefs were able to do on the first day.

The losers?

Cleveland did not have a first-round pick. Nor did the Browns have a second-rounder, or a third. Rather, the trade-happy Browns were not on the clock until the fourth round, where they had the 104th pick.

They used it on UNLV linebacker Beau Bell, the Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year who many see as a poor man's Kirk Morrison, who also plied his trade in the MWC for San Diego State.

UNLV, though, is far from a football factory like USC despite supplying the NFL with such luminaries as Randall Cunningham, Ickey Woods and Keenan McCardell and bestowing upon the world Gangsta Rap kingpin Marion "Suge" Knight.

Sad thing is, while the Browns mortgaged this year's draft for the likes of defensive tackles Corey Williams and Shaun Rogers, their franchise second-year quarterback, Brady Quinn, is still listed second on the depth chart behind Derek Anderson.