The 2008 NFL Draft, at least in the first two rounds, will be remembered for a few things.

One, the year of the linemen. Twelve of the first 21 picks were either offensive or defensive linemen as teams looked to build their teams from inside out.

Two, the year that quarterbacks fell. After the Atlanta Falcons selected Boston College QB Matt Ryan with the third pick, only one other QB went in Round 1 -- Delaware ’s Joe Flacco. And that was only after the Baltimore Ravens traded back from pick eight with Jacksonville to trade back up to pick 18 with Houston .

What about Louisville ’s Brian Brohm and Michigan ’s Chad Henne? Both were considered as possible late first-round picks, especially for teams looking to move up and grab them. Well, both lasted until the late second round. Henne went to Miami , one team who experts thought would move up for a QB, while Brohm went to Green Bay , possibly becoming a challenge for the spot held by incumbent Aaron Rodgers.

And finally, third, wide receivers. And lots of them. All in the second round. In a year where there was no elite WR, no Calvin Johnson, no Larry Fitzgerald, you figure at least one, maybe two might go in the first round. But nope, nada, not a single one.

But things were different in round two where 10 of them came off the board, including two -- Michigan State ’s Devin Thomas and Oklahoma ’s Malcolm Kelly -- to the Washington Redskins.

The Kansas City Chiefs, who entered the draft with 13 picks, were still dealing. But this time it was to move up in first round. After taking LSU DT Glenn Dorsey with the fifth overall selection, Kansas City traded up from 17 to pick 15 with Detroit to take Virginia OG/T Branden Albert.

“The key to me is we got both players,” Bill Kuharich, the vice president for player personnel for the Kansas City Chiefs, told The Associated Press. “I never thought in my wildest dreams we’d get the opportunity to get both of those.”

The Carolina Panthers, in no doubt a move to rectify the team’s offensive woes, made a splash by grabbing Oregon ’s Jonathan Stewart with 13th overall pick. Then, they traded with the Philadelphia Eagles, including giving up next year’s No. 1 pick, to move up to 19th and select OT Jeff Otah out of Pittsburgh .

“At 13 we had a handful of guys. After 10 we had a good feeling that one we wanted was going to be there. We took Jonathan Stewart, who we think is an excellent back and coupled with DeAngelo (Williams), we have two very good running backs,” Panthers GM Marty Hurney told CarolinaPanthers.com. “As we went down our plan was if there were certain players left, we were going to try to trade back up into the first round and get one of them. (Jeff) Otah is a big, physical offensive tackle. You don't have a lot of opportunities to get players like him, so we made a lot of calls and when we got to Philadelphia we were able to make the deal.”

But quite possibly the biggest surprise of Round 1 was the pick of Illinois ’ Rashard Mendenhall by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Considered one of the top three backs in this year’s draft, Mendenhall goes to a team that already has Willie Parker in the featured back role.

“Throughout this whole process, I didn't have any idea that I was going to end up with the Steelers. ... The draft, you never know, it's a poker game and you never show you what you're going to do,'' said Mendenhall, who ran for 1,681 yards and 17 touchdowns and caught 34 passes last season. “ Pittsburgh wasn't among them, Pittsburgh was out of nowhere.”

But as Steelers Director of Football Operations Kevin Colbert puts it, teams, nowadays, need two good running backs. Pittsburgh ’s running game was anemic last season after Parker was lost with an ankle injury.

“Most teams have two productive running backs they can count on,” Colbert said. “This is one who's a little bigger than Willie, and there's things he can do to complement Willie and that can only help us.”

As we prepare for Day 2 and Rounds 3 thru 7, a number of quality players remain on the board. Who will draft West Virginia running back Steve Slaton? Where will Florida wideout Andre Caldwell go? What about Penn State outside linebacker Dan Connor? And will Wisconsin kicker Tyler Mehlhaff get drafted, and if so, will it be the Denver Broncos?

Those questions will be answered Sunday.

Michael Hicks is the managing editor for Draft Stock and an associate editor for SportsBuff.com