Round One has the Usual Surprises - Here are the Ones I See

FINALLY the much-hyped first round of the NFL draft is done with! David Gettleman selected Kelvin Benjamin, a very raw but very big talent from last year's national championship team, the FSU Seminoles.

Now, heads turn to rounds 2-3 this evening at 7 pm. Carolina drafts at numbers 2-60 and 3-92 after a wild, strange round one. It seems like every draft, we make our "mocks" which are always ALWAYS wrong, but do serve several purposes: They're informative as to team needs and illustrative of overall thoughts about the talent level of the players involved. There are always some surprises and and some head-scratchers.

Let's take a look at some of the more surprising choices as I see them:

Why the Panthers will Draft an Offensive Tackle in Round One

People that have been paying attention to David Gettleman and his ways have noticed one thing about him so far. He isn't shy about pulling in lower-end free agents.

There is quite a list of names there, including Ted Ginn, Jr., Drayton Florence, Quentin Mikell, Mike Mitchell and many others last year while pretty much anyone at WR with an NFL catch on the roster right now was signed just this this year.

Fans can "fan"tasize about the shiny newest model-of-the-week WR toy for Cam but after having signed what appears to be a "normal" haul of low-enders, Mr. Gettleman so far has neglected one area of great interest...and that is one of offensive tackle.

I'm not blaming him because the reasons are simple: There is a premium placed on pass rushers and even more of a premium on those who can stop most of them.

Have you noticed how, in recent years, the RB position has been devalued? The trend should continue in 2014's draft but instead of making a mistake in the top-five with a Trent Richardson (and a top-5 RB pick is an anomaly these days let alone to whiff on it), I would be very surprised to see any RBs taken in the first round at all.

The top-3 left tackles will be long gone by #28 overall. Even questionably-positioned tackle Zack Martin of the Fighting Irish should be gone.