Tom Curran • E-mail

NEW YORK - The first round of the 2008 NFL Draft ended at 6:36 p.m. Eastern – 216 minutes after it began. When it was over, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell looked like he wanted to chest bump somebody. Given that it took 368 minutes to complete last year’s first round that wouldn’t end, that was no surprise. But there were some surprises among the first 31 picks this year. Here are the top eight stories of the 2008 first round.

1. NO RECEIVERS
The first round passed without a single wideout being selected. That’s the first time that’s happened since 1990, when the great Alexander Wright was the first receiver plucked (Cowboys, with the first pick of the second round). Three wideouts went in the first three picks of the second round — Houston’s Donnie Avery to the Rams, Michigan State’s Devin Thomas to Washington and Kansas State’s Jordy Nelson to Green Bay. Left waiting by the phone: Texas’ Limas Sweed, Oklahoma’s Malcolm Kelly and Desean Jackson from Cal.

2. CHALK AT THE TOP
All six players invited to Radio City Music Hall were selected with the first six picks. That’s the first time that’s happened and America was spared (or deprived, depending on your bent) the shots of an anguished-looking invitee watching millions fly out of his money clip.

3. DIAMOND JOE FLACCO
The Ravens wanted a quarterback. The Ravens tried to get up to No. 2 to select Matt Ryan before the Falcons could. When that didn’t work, they dealt down from No. 8 to No. 26 with Jacksonville, then jumped back up with the surprise pick of the first round — Delaware’s big-armed Joe Flacco. Interesting pick by the Ravens because their incumbent starter, Kyle Boller, was a guy with a similar set of skills coming out of California. Now Flacco, who transferred from Pitt to Delaware in order to get more playing time instead of calcifying behind Tyler Palko, finds himself running the offense for a team with no shortage of vocal players. He’s going to need to establish his presence quickly and that’s not going to be easy. 

4. DEFENSE FIRST
Three of the first four picks were on offense — Jake Long, Matt Ryan and Darren McFadden. Then the next seven picks were all defensive players. When the draft process began, it was projected that as many as three offensive tackles could go in the top 10. Didn’t pan out.

5. A RUN ON RUNNING BACKS
Starting with Arkansas’ McFadden going with the fourth pick to the Raiders, five running backs went in the first round. It took a little while for the second one to go — Oregon’s Jonathan Stewart went 14^th to Carolina — but then there was a quick run on them, with Dallas taking McFadden’s teammate Felix Jones at 22, Rashard Mendenhall going to Pittsburgh at 23 and the exceptionally fast Chris Johnson from East Carolina going to Tennessee with the 24^th overall pick.

Rotoworld's Fantasy impact     NFL Player News Saints select Sedrick Ellis No word on the terms yet, but the Bengals must be disappointed. The Saints weren't able to trade up to grab Glenn Dorsey, but they get a safe pick to anchor the middle of their line. Ellis has an excellent first step, instincts, and motor. He is solid in rush defense, but can make a difference rushing the passer. Along with Jonathan Vilma, New Orleans has upgraded their defensive talent. More on Sedrick Ellis

6. NFC SOUTH DEALING
The Saints, who broadcast their intentions to move up in this draft, made the day’s first noteworthy deal, going up to No. 7 to get USC defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis in a trade with the Patriots. The Falcons and Packers then jumped up from to take offensive tackles — Carolina going to 19 for Jeff Otah from Pittsburgh and Atlanta dealing with Washington to use the 21^st pick on USC tackle Sam Baker. The only NFC South team to stand pat was the Buccaneers who made Kansas corner Aqib Talib the 20^th pick.

7. CORNERING THE MARKET
There weren’t a lot of marquee corners with big conference experience at the top of this draft but four corners were good enough to catch the eyes of teams needing secondary help in the first round. The first to go was Troy State’s Leodis McKelvin who went 11^th to the Bills. Next came Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, the whippet-quick corner from Tennessee State who was drafted by the Cardinals at 16. Talib went next to the Bucs then Mike Jenkins from South Florida who went to the Cowboys.

8. DOUBLING UP
The Jets, Chiefs, Panthers, Cowboys and Falcons all got themselves two picks in the first round when all was said and done. It’s hard to quibble with the work done by any of these teams in the positions they moved into. New York got the explosive Vernon Gholston at No. 6 then added the best tight end athlete in the draft Dustin Keller from Purdue. Kansas City, which has a major rebuilding to deal with, did damage on both lines with LSU’s Glenn Dorsey and Virginia guard Branden Albert. Carolina and Atlanta both went offense, as we mentioned earlier. And the Cowboys did a terrific job at least on paper with the addition of the explosive Felix Jones and then Mike Jenkins at corner.

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