Damn, that was fun. The 2008 draft is in the books, and it has the looks of a good one. Mickey Loomis was straight up rakin’ all weekend. While the draft might have been light on the expected fireworks (no Dorsey, no Shockey, only six picks) it was heavy on the beef, and it projects to be heavy on production, both long-term and just as importantly, short-term.

All six guys stand a better-than-fifty-percent chance of sticking. All six guys seem to fit the "value" theme, all of them fill needs (or potential needs) on the roster, one of them fills multiple needs, and at least one of them is a late-round immediate starter. A guy who helps you offensively by scoring points, and defensively by improving your field position. Now that’s value.

On first glance, this draft class sure does smack a whole lot more of 2006 than it does of 2007. And we should all be happy about that. Two perceived traits of this current regime that were beginning to become cliche (too-cute small-school infatuation and offense-over-defense-at-any-cost) were thoroughly debunked. And those who were fearing the idea of "mortgaging the future" should at least take comfort in the fact that there’s apparently a limit to how far down that road they’re willing to go. There seems to be a little something for everybody in this draft. Well… everybody who’s not a perpetually-miserable asshole, that is.

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