This is my first try at doing a mock draft. We can assume some of the orders will change due to some unexpected results in the final 4 weeks. Well here goes:
1.Carolina: Andrew Luck, QB Stanford. QB is the most important positon on the field, and the Panthers need one. And comparisons to Peyton Mannig are too good to pass up.
2.Bengals: Da'Quan Bowers, DE, Clemson . 11 sacks is good enough for last in NFL, and Bowers is a beast in the mold of Mario Williams
3.Lions: Patrick Peterson, CB, LSU. Best player available and a postion of need. Thought about Nick Fairley, but they are loaded on the D line. And Alphoso Smith SUCKS
4.Buffalo: Nick Fairley, DE/DT, Auburn . Simply put, too good to pass up. Completly dominated this season on an underrated Defense front.
5. Arizona: Cam Newton, QB, Auburn. He is a freak of nature and at a positon on need for the Cardinals
6.Denver: Marcell Dareus, DE/DT, Alabama. Best defensive player available for a team that needs help everywhere on D.
7.San Francisco: Ryan Mallet, QB, Arkansas. New coach means new QB especially when you inherit some crappy QBs. Mallet is a beast that shredded some really good SEC defenses
8.Minnesota: Jake Locker, QB, Washington. Brett Favre is old and Tavarios Jackson sucks. Enough said.
9.Dallas: Prince Amukamara , CB, Nebraska. One of the worst pass defenses in the league and he is a shut down corner.
10.Tennessee: AJ Green, WR, Georgia. Best WR is the draft, Randy Moss experiment did not work. I don't see him available here. But couldn't see a good fit with the above teams.
11.Washington: Julio Jones, WR, Alabama . Great WR and a major position of need. Most of their WRs are off the practice squad. Not a good thing.
12.Cleveland: Robert Quinn, DE/OLB, North Carolina . Complete steal at 12, top 5 talent that will fall due to "character" issues.
13.Seattle: Ryan Kerrigan, DE, Purdue . The guy is a beast.
14.Houston: Brandon Harris, CB, Miami. Putrid pass D that allowed D McNabb to pass for over 425 yds.
15.Miami: Mark Ingram, RB Alabama. Old running back and one that gets injured. Enough said
16.New England (via Oakland): Cameron Heyward, DE, Ohio State. Huge DE that will work wonders beside Wilfork
17.Jacksonville: Ras-I Dowling, CB, Virgina. The all name team that is potentially big enough to play safety as well.
18.Tampa Bay: Derek Sherrod, OT, Miss St. The best takle is too good to pass up at this spot.
19.Kansas City: Akeem Ayers, DE/OLB, UCLA . A senior caption that Pioli will love, can play two positions.
20.NY Giants: Justin Blackman, WR, Okla St. What looks like a position of excess for Giants, turned out to be a postion of need. The guy is a STUD. Can hopefully do it at the next level.
21.St. Loius: Jonathan Baldwin, WR, Pittsburgh. In urgent need to get Sam Bradford some weapons to go along side of Steven Jackson
22.Indianapolis: Adrian Clayborn, DE, Iowa . With Sherrod off the board, this guy will help free up Freeney. A no brainer
23.San Diego: Anthony Costanzo, OT, BC. Rivers was running for his life and Matthews kept getting demolished. A must pick for SD.
24.NY Jets: Von Miller, DE/OLB, Texas A&M. Huge career for a really good player, that will make a really good defense much better.
25.Chicago: Nate Solder, OT, Colorado. HUge man with a huge upside at a position that Chicago must address
26.Philadelphia: Gabe Carima, OT, Wisconsin. Assuming Vick is back, they will wont to keep him on the field. He is best available
27.Pittsburgh: Mike Pouncey, G, Florida . Match him up beside his brother and not worry for the next 10 years. They are that good.
28.Atlanta: Bruce Carter, LB, UNC. Huge talent that will fall due to being on a crappy team
29.Green Bay: Janoris Jenkins, CB, Florida. Woodson is turning 36 and they need to get young at this position.
30.Baltimore: Aaron Williams, CB, Texas . Defense isn't getting any younger. Really good cover corner
31.New Orleans: Allen Bailey, DE, Miami. Really good value this late in first round.
32. New England: Justin Houston, DE/OLB, Georgia. Great combo pick here for Pats. Thats why they have back to back picks here.
For All the Marbles
ReplyDeleteBy Adam Haynes
On Saturday, we were fortunate to have two close games. As unpredictable as this tournament has been, it's been a good ride up to this point.
It's Chess! Not Checkers
This is probably the most bizarre NCAA Tournament, I have ever witnessed. The highest seed in the Final Four is UCONN, who is a 3 seed. VCU gets in as an 11 seed, and was one of the last teams to get in the tournament. It's been a year of the Head Coach, as if it's a game of chess and the players are the pieces.
Future G.O.A.T?
Brad Stevens of Butler, has a reputation of being a grinder. His teams can play bad but still pull out the big wins. Those close to Stevens, say he doesn't miss any of the details. His teams might be less talented but with a coach like Brad Stevens, they will be the most prepared mentally you see on the court. It will be interesting to see what Brad Stevens has planned for Kemba Walker, who can single handedly carry a team on his shoulders.
Fueled by the Doubters!
The UCONN Huskies came into the 2010-2011 season unranked. Not for long though, as they came out of the gates swinging and jumped into the top 10 before the conference season started. UCONN had their hands full on Saturday night, but Kemba Walker seemed to have an answer to every run UK made.
2nd Times a Charm!
Butler has a great opportunity to make up for their half-inch, rimmed out loss to Duke last year. They'll have their hands full having to defeat UCONN, of course. Everybody likes to see the under dog come out on top. This Championship Game has the movie ''Hoosiers'', written all over it!