OK, here's the first part of my much-anticipated, highly thought out final mock as we head into the final week before the draft.
1. Indianapolis, Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford - No surprises here. He's been the top pick all along and would have been the top pick last year had he come out.
2. Washington (from St. Louis), Robert Griffin, QB, Baylor - Again, no surprises. This is why the Redskins moved up, for the opportunity to take one of the top two QBs.
3. Minnesota, Matt Kalil, OT, USC - There has been talk in recent weeks that the Vikings are considering Justin Blackmon or Morris Claiborne here. Both would be good fits, but Kalil will be the pick.
4. Cleveland, Trent Richardson, RB, Alabama - Mel Kiper said in a conference call that the Browns have the worst skill position players in the league. Tough to argue that. Blackmon would help as well, but Richardson is the clear-cut best player at his position and receivers can be had later in the draft.
5. Tampa Bay, Morris Claiborne, CB, LSU - Tampa Bay gets a difference maker in the secondary. Who cares if he didn't test well on the Wonderlic. All he has to know is who to cover.
6. St. Louis, Justin Blackmon, WR, Oklahoma State - Blackmon has been described by Warren Moon as Dez Bryant with a brain. Good enough for me and a team with nobody who can get open down the field.
7. Jacksonville, Melvin Ingram, DE, South Carolina - Ingram is a solid pass rusher for a team that has been searching for a difference-maker up front for a number of years,
8. Miami, Ryan Tannehill, QB, Texas A&M - The Dolphins are in serious need of a quarterback and though Tannehill is going to take some time to develop, he's a tremendous athlete.
9. Carolina, Fletcher Cox, DE/DT, Mississippi State - The Panthers could put Cox at defensive tackle or end, it really doesn't matter. He's just a good football player.
10. Buffalo, Michael Floyd, WR, Notre Dame - Floyd has it all, size, talent and skill to be a great NFL player. Buffalo is beefing up its offense in the hopes that it can surround Ryan Fitzpatrick with studs that take him to the next level.
11. Kansas City, David DeCastro, G, Stanford - Kansas City's two biggest needs - other than quarterback - are interior linemen on both sides of the ball and at inside linebacker. DeCastro is a better player than Luke Kuechly, though Kuech could be the pick.
12. Seattle, Quinton Coples, DE, North Carolina - There are some character concerns with Coples, but when has that ever bothered Pete Carroll? The Seahawks need to generate a pass rush and Coples could do that.
13. Arizona, Luke Kuechly, LB, Boston College - Ken Whisenhunt gets a gift in a great, instinctive football player to plug into his 3-4 defense.
14. Dallas, Mark Barron, S, Alabama - Jerry Jones reportedly loves Barron, even though Stephen Gilmore would help his defense more. Nuff said.
15. Philadelphia, Stephen Gilmore, CB, South Carolina - It looks like Asante Samuel has played his last game with the Eagles, so there's a need. The Eagles could use linebacker help as well, so Courtney Upshaw makes some sense.
Tannehill that early is a huge reach, but that seems to be what the so called draft experts seem to think also. Teams do nutty things when they need a QB
ReplyDeleteI'm calling either Perry for Steelers if he's there, or Jerel Worthy if Perry is gone.
I agree Dale. I'd switch up Ingram and Kuechly. Jacksonville always takes the best player on "their" board, despite having high picks. Kuechly fills a need at ILB and defensive playmaker.
ReplyDeletePs: Any chance the Steelers take a look at UFA guard Chilo Rachal? Not sure how he did in SF, but I know that the steelers were looking at him at his draft.
That would depend on how they do in the draft.
ReplyDeleteRachal signed a 1-year deal with the Bears.
ReplyDeleteThen that would be a no go on Rachal.
ReplyDeleteOver or Under on if there's a 50% chance the Steelers take LaMichael James in rnd 2 ?
ReplyDeleteThought I was going crazy there. "Picks 1-16" goes all the way to...15. Did the Jets decline? :)
ReplyDeleteIt's the opposite of "This one goes to 11."
Philly is going to go Brockers or another DL and Dallas is taking Poe.
ReplyDeleteAlso, if the rumors about the Vikings not taking Kalil are true then everyone's mock goes out the window. That would shake things up.
I also think theres going to be a lot of trades at the top and I think Cleveland is going to be active. If someone trades up that high for Tannenhill, they are insane, but it might happen.
Ehh.. I think the Vikes would be stupid not to take Kalil. He wouldnt even be there if St. Louis didn't trade back, and he is arguably the only franchise tackle in this weak class of tackles. There's a huge drop-off between he and Reiff.
Deletedon't be surprised if Philly doesn't take Barron. Safety is pretty much the weakest position on the team.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you both - Kalil should be the pick, but theres reports they might take Blackmom or Claiborne.
ReplyDeleteAnd Philly probably should take Barron, but check Reid's draft history. In 2010 they traded up for Brandon Graham passing on Earl Thomas. Hindsight is 20/20 but everyone in Philly thought Thomas was the pick when the trade happened.
Brandon Graham is an edge rusher. Brockers is a DT for what that's worth. I don't think because they passed up a safety a couple years ago they'll pass up this one. If I remember correctly they picked up Nate Allen in the 2nd round in that draft, so maybe they were targeting him there all along. Obviously, that didn't pan out.
ReplyDeletewe should trade up. Wallace + Big Ben for the #2 pick and take RG-3
ReplyDeleteive seen him play he is the GOAT. think Marino + Vick combined
Couldn't think of a worse idea, but good comment.
DeleteRG3 is like Vick combined with Vick. Scrambler +deep ball.
i have a feeling the steelers are counting on foote/sylvester split time with sylvester becoming the long term answer.
ReplyDeleteif poe doesn't slide down to them, i see them taking zeitler at #24 then the next best NT in the second round.
Zeitler would be a huge reach at 1.24 particularly considering how many solid mid-round guards are in this draft. Why waste a first round pick on a guy who isn't much better than Brooks, Washington, Silotolu et al when you can get those guys in the second or third?
ReplyDeletethat's just what i think they will do, not what i think they should do.
ReplyDeletecolbert says 7-10 sure things in this draft. does that mean sure fire great players or you know exactly what you're gonna get? if it's the latter, i can see them taking zeitler and knowing he will be a productive OL for several years.
1st round reaches are not in the plans for the Steelers. I read the press conference and I am just about positive that they meant 7 to 10 can't miss NFL ready players. Zeitler does not meet that criterion. Dale's right, such a shallow talent pool will probably lead to lots of jumping around, even by the Steelers.
ReplyDeleteSo happy that the Cards took Floyd instead of a tackle or linebacker.
ReplyDelete