NFL Draft Day

NFL Draft Day will be kicking off in just a few minutes and ESPN is broadcasting non-stop the moves and maneuvers of NFL teams trading young rookies like poker chips.  And why not?  As the Sun leaves the sign of Aries and enters into Taurus, humanity turns inward to seek the value, meaning, and purpose of our own lives...”value” perhaps being the key word.

Some folks look at Taurus as being all about money...but that is really missing the mark. Taurus as a sign is about self-sufficiency and finding one’s own resources. And a person’s (or player’s) skills are just another type of available resource.  Placing a value on that is something a person needs to do for himself...though I guess agents can always help find the market value for young players who are as yet unsure (or have an exaggerated) sense) of their own value.

Taurus is also a good time to settle down and get ready for the long haul...Aries is all about starting new things; it is the fire of inspiration. But Taurus takes those new experiences discovered in an Aries period and takes stock of their value, meaning, and purpose in life...retaining everything useful in preparation for the next step of the journey.  With the NFL Draft, this is all about preparation for the future, folks.

Anyway, which teams are looking at the Draft with a Taurean state-of-mind?  Well, the pro’s generally talk the good talk about “building blocks for the future” but there are always moments of reactive madness.  Whenever you throw a time limit on picks, and have folks making last-minute deals and trades, things can get a little heated and the best laid plans can go awry.  How many contingency plans can someone really have?

A lot of course...in the pro’s, you hire people to assist your assistants.

So as of this moment, only two picks are for sure: Jake Long (tackle) going to Miami at #1 and Chis Long (defensive end) going to St. Louis at #2.   

Perhaps it is only fitting that Jake Long, as the 1st pick, is in fact a Taurus.  Miami is certainly hoping he’ll be a rock on their offensive line for a long time.  Based on the astrological chemistry of the ‘Fins current offensive line, he may not be able to make any kind of impact immediately...or perhaps HE will but the rest of the line isn’t going to support his play-style.  Oh, well, astrologically Miami’s a mess anyway...there are many reasons why they ended up last in the League last year, but the stars weren’t a great help either...anyway, it’s not going to turn around in a single season.

Chis Long on the other hand...well, this is a guy who may actually do some damage if he can win a starting spot on the Rams or if another team member goes down with injury.  An Aries, this is a guy who is going to try going it alone anyway...or at least will attempt to lead the charge (it IS a team sport, after all).  He’ll definitely have a different play-style than Leonard Little (a Libra), whom the Rams seem to want Long to eventually replace. Libra is the opposite sign from Aries...relying on team mates and contributing to the line himself.  We’ll see how long the transition takes.

One interesting thing about Long...as a Ram he’ll be facing the Seattle Seahawks twice a year (at least) as long as he stays in St. Louis.  His father  (Hall of Famer Howie Long) played the same position for the Raiders before re-alignment and thus also played against the Seahawks twice a year, when Seattle was still in the AFC West division.  The elder Long had a great career against everyone, but certainly had the occasional problems in Seattle (Dan Doorninck notably ran over him for 123 yards in the 1984 play-offs preventing the Raiders from returning to the Super Bowl).  I can only assume father will share his old war stories with his son...I wonder what he’ll tell him about Seattle.  Certainly, Chris will never have to play in the Kingdome, but Qwest Field is still a pretty tough venue for visiting teams....

As for the Draft un-knowables:

I don't agree with him on much, but Steve Young's analysis of Atlanta is spot-on.  If they don't pick up Matt Ryan as a QB for the future, the Falcons are going to have a tougher time with their re-building process.  Actually scratch that: Young is only right slightly more often than Ditka (which isn't saying much).  Atlanta does need to re-build and do need a QB, but Matt Ryan isn't necessarily the answer to their prayers.  I'll be interested to see what they do.

Washington Redskins were looking to pick up a Wide Receiver in trade from more than one team, and have got to be thinking WR in the draft.  Makes a lot of sense when you consider Jim Zorn is their new head coach.  Ex-Seahawk QB, ex-Seahawk QB coach...you think Snyder is saying, 'all right enough of this smash-mouth nonsense...we keep losing to the Seahawks in the play-offs?'  I think so.  I think he wants his own "greatest show on turf" and if there's a way to buy it, he will find a way to do so.

As for the Seahawks themselves...oh, man I was hoping Michael Turner (of the Chargers) would leave for free agency and that the Seahawks would pick him up.  He DID leave, but ended up with the Falcons.  All the newspaper pundits are talking about how Seattle needs a receiving Tight End, but rather than drafting one, I'd like to see them work out a trade for Jeremy Shockey. There's been much speculation that Shockey will be traded to the Saints in exchange for their number 10 draft pick; it's just too bad the Seahawks pick is only 25.  Astrologically speaking, Shockey (a Leo) will do no better with Drew Brees than he did with Capricorn Eli Manning.  But with Matthew Hasselbeck (a Libra)...well, that's a completely different story.