It was a case of brawn over flash Friday night in the second and third rounds of the NFL Draft.
Teams loaded up on offensive and defensive linemen early on the second night — even clubs that badly needed help at skill positions — as the value was too good to pass up.
That was obvious from the first choice of the second round, when the quarterback-needy Texans went with the highest-rated guard on the board instead in UCLA’s Xavier Su’a Filo a day after passing on passers with the No. 1 overall pick by taking South Carolina terror Jadeveon Clowney.
A total of 13 interior linemen or ends ended up being taken in the second round, and a skill position player didn’t go until the Raiders took quarterback Derek Carr of Fresno State with the fourth pick (36th overall).
Carr is the younger brother of former Giants backup quarterback David Carr, the failed No. 1 overall pick in 2002 by Houston.
The biggest surprise of the night came late in the second round, though, when the Patriots took Eastern Illinois quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo with the 62nd pick.
That isn’t exactly a position of need for New England, considering they have some guy named Tom Brady entrenched at that spot.
And the Patriots only heightened the confusion shortly after the Garoppolo pick when sources confirmed they plan to keep current backup Ryan Mallett instead of trading him to the Texans, as had been speculated in the days leading up to the draft.
But even more telling about the second-night priorities of most teams was the plight of the running-back position. A ballcarrier wasn’t taken until Washington’s Bishop Sankey went to the Titans with the 54th overall pick.
That was the lowest draft position ever for the first running back taken, and it continued to show how the position has been devalued in the age of the pass-happy offense. This already was the second year in a row in which a running back had not been chosen in the first round, extending the longest drought in the history of the draft.
The Cowboys, who normally have never met a college wide receiver or defensive back they didn’t like early in the draft, even traded up into the second slot in the second round to take a lineman — in this case, Boise State defensive end Demarcus Lawrence.
It was a case of trading one Demarcus for another, as Lawrence is expected to assume the left end position that was vacated when the Cowboys cut DeMarcus Ware this offseason.
Dallas’ trade itself also was unusual, as the Cowboys’ partner in the deal was the arch-rival Redskins. Clubs within the same division rarely make swaps so high in the draft.
The bigger surprise when it came to linemen was provided by the Browns with the third pick of the second round.
Cleveland would seem to have a glaring need at receiver with the Friday news that Josh Gordon is facing a year-long NFL drug suspension, but the Browns went for beef instead in Nevada guard Joel Bitonio.
Atlanta followed Oakland by going for line help, too, taking mammoth Minnesota defensive tackle Ra’Shede Hageman with the fifth pick to address a significant weakness.
It was only then that the skill-position players started to come off the board as the Buccaneers took Washington tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins and the Jaguars followed by selecting USC wideout Marqise Lee — thought to be a Jets target.