Going into tonight with the Labor situation where it was, you expected that to be the item looming over the draft like a black cloud. Instead, teams used the lack of free agency to make an excuse to go nuts trading picks and moving around. Aside from that, team after team reached for draft picks that seemed absolutely crazy, including my team pulling the number 12 pick out of their ass. Im sure right now, the card companies are loving that 4 QBs were taken in the top 15 picks, and I guarantee you that if I had laid out the way this night has gone to someone a few weeks ago, I would have been written off as insane.

Starting with the story of the night, there werent many people that didnt expect Cam Newton to go number one. After that, its all been the exact opposite of what people expected. First, Jake Locker, the person I THOUGHT the Vikings were going to pick ends up leaping over Blaine Gabbert to the Titans at number eight, a pick that seems to be that much more of a reach than any other tonight. Locker, up until a few weeks ago was a projected second round pick, and now he is being taken OVER the guy some were rating as the best in the entire draft? Cmon.

Then, as if it could not get crazier, the Jags trade up to take Blaine Gabbert for some reason, giving up more than they should to do so. Garrard isnt a franchise QB, but you have to think he has enough for Jacksonville to fill some of the other gaping holes instead of trading picks to draft another guy.

Funny enough, Jacksonville didnt even give up the most to make their jump, as Atlanta must have determined that Julio Jones was worth mortgaging their future to get. Despite having a top receiver in Roddy White, they felt they needed a home run hitter like Jones on the opposite side of the field. They gave up 1st and 2nd this year, AND 1st NEXT year. Ridiculous.

On top of that, the Saints finally realized that a running game is the stuff legends can be made of, giving the Patriots EVEN MORE draft picks to jump back into the first round and take Mark Ingram. Thank you NFL, just give New England that many more picks to build a franchise that no one can beat. As if it werent bad enough.

In all reality, one of the highlights of the night actually came from a very unexpected place if you are someone like me, as Panini spent a good portion of the first round releasing 2011 Presitige rookie card pictures with new NFL team affiliations. The cards, which are thankfully SANS Pink, look pretty cool with the big team logos, as well as a good way of getting around the inability to use NCAA jerseys with some in helmet close ups of the players. Count me in on some of these.

You are all probably wondering what my reaction was to the Vikings picking Christian Ponder as the foundation of their rebuilding under Leslie Frazier, and Ill tell you now I was not happy. I guess if you are going to reach, you should reach for a QB, and I think after reading pages and pages of analysis, he may be a good fit. Ponder is a pretty smart guy, and he is prime for the West Coast offense the Vikings run, which means it may not have been a bad pick in the long run when you consider he was not going to be there when they picked in round 2. I actually pulled a Ponder auto out of Leaf Metal a few weeks ago, maybe I should have sniffed that the football gods were trying to tell me something.

On top of everything that went on today, I actually got my Jake Locker personalized helmet in the mail from Mill Creek Sports in Washington State.  They had a signing with the potential Vikings QB, now a Titan, and I couldnt pass up the cheap opportunity to get a cool piece for my collection. Even though Locker didnt end up in Purple, its still a nice thing to have.

When all is said and done, I have a feeling that the true winners of the Draft will be determined much further down the road than a few hours after the picks are made, and as always, the draft succeeded in keeping me glued to my seat all night. Now lets pray these rookies actually make it onto the field this year.