Draft Overview | Early picks status quo, then trade winds blow

NEW YORK — Things were going so normally, so predictably at Saturday's NFL draft. All six players the league invited to the festivities hit the stage in the first half-dozen selections.

Yawn.

Then came the wake-up call: trade after trade after trade, affecting 14 of the 31 first-round picks.

At one point, five of seven selections had been bartered. A little while later, it was another five of six.

Jake Long just sat back and smiled — right from the outset.

The Michigan tackle already had signed with the Miami Dolphins as the top overall choice. He inked a five-year contract worth $57.75 million, $30 million of it guaranteed.

"I was a little more relaxed just knowing where I was going and just being here to make it official," Long said.

Chris Long of Virginia, Matt Ryan of Boston College, Darren McFadden of Arkansas, Glenn Dorsey of national champion Louisiana State and Vernon Gholston of Ohio State didn't have to wait long to walk under the floodlights, either. It was the first time since the NFL began inviting multiple prospects in 1993 that they all went at the very beginning of the proceedings.

So unlike last year, when Notre Dame's Brady Quinn had to wait hours to be chosen.

"It's great to see the green room empty," said defensive end Long, who went second to St. Louis.

"It's a blessing to be here, they only ask six guys to come," DE/LB Gholston added.

After St. Louis took the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Howie Long, Ryan, who could solve the quarterback problems in Atlanta, went to the Falcons.

Following a long-standing tradition, Oakland went for the gamebreaker in running back McFadden, prompting the fans to boo loudly. Many wanted the two-time Heisman Trophy runner-up to fall to the New York Jets at No. 6.

All-American defensive tackle Dorsey was taken fifth overall by the Chiefs. Dorsey patted his heart as he held up a No. 1 Chiefs red jersey that was so small he, frankly, could never fit into it.

"There was a lot of emotion," he said. "I told myself I was not going to cry, but you get the tears start coming and you can't control that."

The Jets wound up with Gholston of Ohio State, who must now learn to play in the 3-4 alignment the team prefers.

At the seventh overall spot, the bartering began, and never really stopped. Eight of the next 15 picks were involved in trades.

New Orleans moved up to No. 7 to get defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis of USC, who was recruited to the school by the Saints' new defensive-line coach, Ed Orgeron. New Orleans gave up the No. 10 overall spot to New England, and its third-round slot, and got a fifth-rounder along with the chance to take Ellis.

Then Jacksonville moved up from 26th overall to eighth, where it grabbed Florida DE Derrick Harvey. The Jaguars gave the Ravens four picks to get to that spot.

Everything moved at a good pace after the NFL cut the first round from 15 minutes per pick to 10. The first round took 3 hours, 30 minutes, an improvement over the five-hour marathons of previous years.

The Dolphins used only a few seconds to hand in their card. The Rams and Falcons didn't take much longer, but the Raiders used almost their entire time, as did Kansas City.

Jake Long became the first top overall pick from Michigan since Tom Harmon in 1941.

Then came another Long, who proudly held up a Rams jersey and pointed to the fans in the upper deck of the hall.

Ryan has an open course to starting in Atlanta, with Michael Vick in jail on dogfighting charges, and only journeymen Chris Redman and Joey Harrington to compete with.

"I have to go down and gain the respect of my teammates, do everything I can do to get on the field next year," Ryan said.

Asked about replacing Vick in Atlanta and whether he expected to play or watch as a rookie, Ryan added: "I'll go down there to do all I can to be successful, try to not be distracted, try to win."

McFadden joins a crowded backfield in Oakland, where Justin Fargas recently signed a new contract and Dominic Rhodes and LaMont Jordan are on the roster.

"The time I talked to the Raiders coaching staff, they tell me they're missing a playmaker from their offense," McFadden said. "I feel I can add to that with my big-play ability."

Cincinnati took USC linebacker Keith Rivers ninth, then the Patriots selected another linebacker, Jerod Mayo of Tennessee. Buffalo went for Troy CB Leodis McKelvin and Denver took Boise State tackle Ryan Clady.

Carolina, looking for a complement to DeAngelo Williams, selected Oregon running back Jonathan Stewart, a Timberline High of Lacey graduate, then dealt with Philadelphia to get Pittsburgh tackle Jeff Otah in the 19th position. The Panthers gave up next year's first-rounder in that trade.

Dallas, which came into Saturday with two first-round picks, used No. 22 for McFadden's backfield mate at Arkansas, Felix Jones, who also can return kicks. That began a run on runners, with Illinois' Rashard Mendenhall going to Pittsburgh and speedy Chris Johnson of East Carolina taken by Tennessee at 24.

In all, 14 of the 31 first-round selections — New England forfeited its own spot because of the Spygate scandal, but had a pick acquired last year from San Francisco — were involved in trades. The Jets finished off the swapping by moving into Green Bay's No. 30 slot for Purdue tight end Dustin Keller, bringing boos.

For the first time since 1990 and only the second time since 1967, there were no wide receivers taken in the first round.