Since all that one seems to need is internet access and a passing interest in the nfl to be able to put up a mock draft I figured I would add my two cents into it. Feel free to critique(read: tell me I'm an idiot). Here is how it pans out to me. 1. Miami Dolphins: Chris Long (DE Virginia) The Dolphins need help at just about every position on the roster. They brought in Bill Parcells to run the FO and hired former Parcells lackey Tony Sparano as their head coach. Sparano's specialty in coaching has always been on the offensive line and both he and Parcells place great value in the trenches. While they could go for Jake Long to beef up what has mostly been a sorry oline for the last half decade, the smart money would be on Chris Long. Parcells loves defense and needs someone to replace the retirement home that is the Miami Dolphins defense. C. Long played for former Parcells assitant Al Groh and we all know how much Parcells loves passrushers. 2. St. Louis Rams - Vernon Gholston (DE/OLB Ohio State) The rams suffered a devestating string of injuries to their O Line this past season and could be a possible destination for Jake Long as well. With their best lineman, LT Orlando Pace, getting rather long-in-the-tooth (pun not inteded) taking a replacement here with the potential of Long's might seem like too good of a pick to pass up. However, the rest of their projected starters are all under 28 years old: LG Jacob Bell - 27 C Dustin Fry - 24 RG Richie Incognito - 24 RT Alex Barron - 25 It is hard to imagine such a slew of injuries hitting the Rams two years in a row unless these guys all suffer from an undiagnosed case of osteoporosis. The defense on the other hand is in desperate need of a shot to the arm. The Rams ranked 21 overall in the NFL, 11 in the NFC, 3 in the NFC West. With Leonard Little turning 34 in October and a defense that ranked 21 in the league in sacks, the Rams would be smart to add a pass-rusher to their roster and with Gholston's combine and pro-day workouts it would be hard to pass him up here. 3. Atlanta Falcons: Matt Ryan (QB-Boston College) Losing Michael Vick to the federal prison system turned out to be one of the devestating factors that lead to a dismal season for the Falcons. Former Times Square billboard fix Joey Harrington was spotty at best and David Garrard place-holder Leftwich was less than inspiring. Chris Redman did put up a 90.4 passer rating but completed less than 60% of his passes. Ryan is the top rated QB in the draft right now and could turn into something special given the right environment. While the loss of Deangelo Hall hurt the Falcons' defense, QB is the much more pressing issue here. Note: the loss of Rod Coleman and Grady could open the door for Glenn Dorsey or Cedrick Ellis, but Ryan projects to have a higher value. 4. Oakland Raiders: Darren McFadden (RB Arkansas) Here's the wild card. Granted, Oakland does have 4 servicable running backs on the roster right now in Dominic Rhodes, Lamont Jordan, Justin Fargas, and Michael Bush. However, Rhodes is 29 and never carried the load as a full time starter; Jordan had a promising future and was highly valued after his departure from the NY Jets but has only cracked the 1000 mark once (1025 yds, 2005), has been suffering from back problems for the past two years, and is rumored to hit the free agent market via a pink slip; Bush was once considered a first round lock until a broken tibia sidelined him for most of his senior season at Louisville, allowed him to slip to the 4th round of the draft, and kept him on the PUP list for the 2007 season. Fargas put up great numbers for his first 200+ carry season (1005 yards, 4.5 yds/carry). However, nfl teams love the two back system and McFadden could possibly have the abilities to re-encat Adrian Peterson's rookie season from last year. Keep in mind that Lane Kiffin doesn't exactly work for the most patient owner in the NFL and adding a player like McFadden could be the difference between a losing and .500 season as well as take the pressure off of developing QB Jamarcus Russell. The Raiders also need help at WR and OL but all of the receiver tallent is in the mid-bottom portion of the draft and the last time Al Davis chose a sure-thing OT was the last time anyone ever referred to Robert Gallery as "good". 5. Kansas City Chiefs - Jake Long (OT Michigan) We all know that Herman Edwards loves drafting anyone but OL help and that the departure of Ty Law has left a hole in the secondary so it would seem understandable if the Cheifs took Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie or Leodis McKelvin here at this spot. However, the Chiefs OL has struggled since the retirements of Willie Roaf and Will Shields. Larry Johnson has become quite unhappy with the Peterson-Edwards regime and his production plummetted in 2007 when he was actualy on the field (3.5 yds/carry down from 4.3 yds/carry the previous year). Adding Long would help boost the running game and could give Brodie Croyle a chance to actually play quarterback instead of running around trying to avoid getting sacked (17 times in 9 games, avg 1.89/game, with KC finishing 31 in the NFL with an adjusted sack rate of 10.1%. Listings here, explanation here.) Now, the problem with picking for your own team is that you always wind up putting your own, very biased opinion/philosophy into the draft. That being said... 6. New York Jets - Leodis McKelvin (CB Troy) After the flurry of FA signings the Jets would probably like to focus on some important but non-essential needs. The Jets lack a playmaker at the WR position, need to improve their pass rush by putting someone opposite Calvin Pace, and could also use some extra help at OL, ILB, CB, and FS. The safety talent just isn't there early in this draft so forget about that one until day 2 and most of the WR talent is in the latter portion of the first round so picking up anyone here would be a reach, ditto ILB. The two elite pass rushers would most likely be gone by this point so the only way to get hte propper value there would be to trade down (something a little too complicated for me to address here). That leaves the Jets with CB and OL to look at. Both positions are borderline here at value and while the value at either slot would still available at this pick it also will be there by the time the Jets' second pick rolls around at #36. Still, McKelvin figures to be a day 1 starter that can sure up an already promising secondary. The Jets could then focus on either WR or OL with the 36th pick and add a deepthreat opposite Coles/Cotchery or a roadgrader at RT who could fill in for Damien Woody should that experiment fail.
Hate the idea of a CB in the 6 spot. If the draft breaks that way and our top 3 targets are all gone we have to do everything we can to trade down a little. With both DTs still on the board and clearly the BPA it shouldn't be that hard to move down to the 10-14 range. McKelvin is not even the best CB on the board and is not even close o the BPA. If we have to make the pick and reach for someone I would take Harvey.
Agreed. That top 5 is the nightmare scenario, so thus the most likely for a Jets fan. Not a huge fan of going CB in the first again, but it is a need. I would like a trade back at that point if one is available.
Yeah I agree that this is a very realistic situation. If you can't trade down then we either select one of the top corners (Mckelvin, Cromartie) or we reach for a few players such as Harvey, Merling, Sweed, or Thomas.
I agree, that pick would make me puke after taking a CB in the first round last year. It wasn't our biggest need last year and it certainly isn't this year even after everything that's been done in FA. Problem is who would trade up with us? Nobody. They know we won't take either Dorsey or Ellis so why trade. They might trade with NE but probably not with them either. Anybody wanting those guys can just wait for them or at least wait until a team that might take them is on the clock before trying to trade.
