Ralphy Boy
04-18-2010, 05:32 PM
Okay, I thought I'd go on record with this final mock based on the first round as it is today and not considering any trades.
1 STL Bradford. He'll sell tickets that they desperately need to sell tickets.
2 DET Suh. Can't see them passing on him for any LT. Suh has been off of so many teams radars for months because he's been expected to go in the top 2 anyway that I can't see a team trading into this spot.
3 TAM McCoy. Next best thing to Suh.
4 WAS Okung. There has been a lot of talk about Trent Williams and I've said I think he'll be the better of the two. I'm putting Okung here because of two reasons. 1) how he defended Orakpo a couple of years ago and 2) Okung's play reminds me of Clady in particular defending the pass. Okung has 36" long arms, longer than Clady's 33 1/8, but Clady always had great extension.
5 KC Berry. If we cannot trade down, they will pass on Jimmy and take Berry here. I have said before that I wouldn't be shocked if we took Dan Williams here, but I now think that even Pioli has realized he'd be a fool to take anyone else with this pick, considering he won't give up on Cassel yet.
6 SEA Spiller. Carroll is hoping that Spiller can be as good for them as Reggie Bush once was. I think he'll be better.
7 CLE Clausen. Holmgren can say whatever he wants to before the draft, but Delhomme is not the future of any team. If Spiller were to make it to this pick, I think they'd have taken him over Clausen.
8 OAK Trent Williams. I actually think Al will make a smart pick in an attempt to save Jamarcus. Williams athleticism didn't go unnoticed as he was the second fastest lineman at the combine, though he is much better than the guy who did and is on most peoples mock, Bruce Campbell.
9 BUF Dan Williams. Buddy Nix and Chan Gailey in their first draft together. Converting to a 3-4 defense, Nix saw first hand while in San Diego how important a NT is to the defense.
10 JAX Joe Haden. If your playing in the same division as Peyton Manning, you'd better have the best pass rush and corners you can get. Given that they just signed Aaron Kampman, I think the odds are that they did so in part so that they wouldn't be forced to take a position of need over BAA.
11 DEN Rolando McClain. Lets see, they let Andra Davis leave and don't have a capable replacement.
12 MIA Derrick Morgan. They let Joey Porter go and may lose Jason Taylor. Morgan will play OLB in their 3-4. Could have gone JPP here, but Morgan has been worked out as a OLB by the Dolphins and performed very well in speed drills to show that he is very capable of making the move.
13 SF Earl Thomas. They were #6 against the run and #21 against the pass despite finishing tied for 3rd with 44 sacks. If they don't trade up for a QB, defense is likely the choice.
14 SEA Dez Bryant. Getting an OT here would have made a lot of sense, but Pete Carroll has had good experience with slower and more physical wide receivers in the past, Mike Williams, and might feel that getting Bryant here is too good to pass up.
15 NYG Kyle Wilson. The Giants finished in the middle of the defensive pack in yards on both passing and running, but allowed more points than KC in finishing #30 in the league. Their 13 picks had a lot to do with that. They have the pass rushers, what they lack is a CB that is capable of making a pick and taking it back for a TD. Though he is a bit of a reach here, playing in a division that has very capable and fast receivers in Miles Austin, Jeremy Maclin, Desean Jackson & Santana Moss, they must be able to cover.
16 TEN Jason Pierre Paul. They are really hoping they've found another "Freak" in JPP because their old one is done and they just lost KVB.
17 SF Anthony Davis. They have given Alex Smith the weapons to see if he can be successful, now they have to protect him.
18 PIT Taylor Mays. When Troy Polamalu was out, they simply were not the same team. With him they went 4 & 1. Without him, 5 & 6. Polamalu's replacement, Tyrone Carter is only 5'9" 195 and had just 2 picks on the season. Polamalu had 3 in just 5 games. It would be in the best long term interest of the Steelers to move Polamalu to FS and play Mays at SS, though Mays could also play FS.
19 ATL Brandon Graham. They spent 7 out of 8 picks last year on the defensive side of the ball. They finished #28 in the league in passing defense, compared to #10 in run defense and #14 in scoring D, in part because they finished #26 in sacks with 28. Jonathan Babineaux led the team with 6 sacks followed by John Abraham with 5.5.
20 HOU Ryan Matthews. Matt Schaub is an elite level QB who simply lacks the running game he needs to be able to field a complete offense. Finishing #30 in rushing while finishing #1 in passing is as stark a contrast as there is in this league.
21 CIN Jermaine Gresham. Carson Palmer can't make up for not having enough talent around him. His completion % last year was as bad as it has been in any full season he's played. They've been looking for a TE in the last couple of drafts and hoped they'd found one last year, in the 3rd with Chase Coffman, but that wasn't the case.
22 NE Jared Odrick. Getting a first round pick out of Richard Seymour was nice, but they paid for it in 2009.
23 GB Brian Bulaga. Probably the biggest fall in the draft since Aaron Rodgers, who just gotted sacked again while I was typing this and tied for the league lead last year with 50. He'll be very happy to have Bulaga who is a very good value at this spot in the draft.
24 PHI Sean Weatherspoon. They really could have used some help in the secondary, but that talent is long gone. Weatherspoon will fill another hole in their defense.
25 BAL Devin McCourty. They would have taken Odrick if he was here, since he's not they take McCourty and add him to a defense that seems to get the most out of its players.
26 ARI Mike Iupati. With what very well could be the worst offensive line in football, the Cardinals sit back and take the best lineman on the board.
27 DAL Maurkice Pouncey. He gives Dallas some options at either guard or center.
28 SD Terrence Cody. Much higher than he probably warrants, but with Matthews going early, replacing Jamal Williams is the next most important thing.
29 NYJ Sergio Kindle. Gholston is a failure and one of the few weak links on the Jets defense is their ability to get to the QB, tied for 18th with 32 sacks in 2009. Bryan Thomas only had 2 last year while their leaders were Calvin Pace with 8, Shaun Ellis with 6.5 & ILB David Harris with 5.5. His behavior issues (DUI - ran into an apartment building) aren't so bad when compared to other players on their roster and isn't likely to be something Rex Ryan would shy away from.
30 MIN Colt McCoy. Drafting McCoy doesn't mean they won't let Favre come back, but he's a good insurance policy if he doesn't. I wouldn't be shocked if they traded for Jason Campbell, in which case I could see them taking Brian Price here. I could also see them trading down to one of the top 10 picks in the 2nd and taking McCoy there.
31 IND Charles Brown. Peyton cannot be great forever but giving him better protection will certainly help. History suggests that Polian doesn't do this, the highest he's drafted an offensive lineman since he got Peyton was Tony Ugoh at 42. If they opt to go in a different direction, Everson Griffen would be the pick as their defense is not nearly as good without Dwight Freeney.
32 NO Everson Griffen. Yes they brought Anthony Hargrove back, but Grant is gone.
1 STL Bradford. He'll sell tickets that they desperately need to sell tickets.
2 DET Suh. Can't see them passing on him for any LT. Suh has been off of so many teams radars for months because he's been expected to go in the top 2 anyway that I can't see a team trading into this spot.
3 TAM McCoy. Next best thing to Suh.
4 WAS Okung. There has been a lot of talk about Trent Williams and I've said I think he'll be the better of the two. I'm putting Okung here because of two reasons. 1) how he defended Orakpo a couple of years ago and 2) Okung's play reminds me of Clady in particular defending the pass. Okung has 36" long arms, longer than Clady's 33 1/8, but Clady always had great extension.
5 KC Berry. If we cannot trade down, they will pass on Jimmy and take Berry here. I have said before that I wouldn't be shocked if we took Dan Williams here, but I now think that even Pioli has realized he'd be a fool to take anyone else with this pick, considering he won't give up on Cassel yet.
6 SEA Spiller. Carroll is hoping that Spiller can be as good for them as Reggie Bush once was. I think he'll be better.
7 CLE Clausen. Holmgren can say whatever he wants to before the draft, but Delhomme is not the future of any team. If Spiller were to make it to this pick, I think they'd have taken him over Clausen.
8 OAK Trent Williams. I actually think Al will make a smart pick in an attempt to save Jamarcus. Williams athleticism didn't go unnoticed as he was the second fastest lineman at the combine, though he is much better than the guy who did and is on most peoples mock, Bruce Campbell.
9 BUF Dan Williams. Buddy Nix and Chan Gailey in their first draft together. Converting to a 3-4 defense, Nix saw first hand while in San Diego how important a NT is to the defense.
10 JAX Joe Haden. If your playing in the same division as Peyton Manning, you'd better have the best pass rush and corners you can get. Given that they just signed Aaron Kampman, I think the odds are that they did so in part so that they wouldn't be forced to take a position of need over BAA.
11 DEN Rolando McClain. Lets see, they let Andra Davis leave and don't have a capable replacement.
12 MIA Derrick Morgan. They let Joey Porter go and may lose Jason Taylor. Morgan will play OLB in their 3-4. Could have gone JPP here, but Morgan has been worked out as a OLB by the Dolphins and performed very well in speed drills to show that he is very capable of making the move.
13 SF Earl Thomas. They were #6 against the run and #21 against the pass despite finishing tied for 3rd with 44 sacks. If they don't trade up for a QB, defense is likely the choice.
14 SEA Dez Bryant. Getting an OT here would have made a lot of sense, but Pete Carroll has had good experience with slower and more physical wide receivers in the past, Mike Williams, and might feel that getting Bryant here is too good to pass up.
15 NYG Kyle Wilson. The Giants finished in the middle of the defensive pack in yards on both passing and running, but allowed more points than KC in finishing #30 in the league. Their 13 picks had a lot to do with that. They have the pass rushers, what they lack is a CB that is capable of making a pick and taking it back for a TD. Though he is a bit of a reach here, playing in a division that has very capable and fast receivers in Miles Austin, Jeremy Maclin, Desean Jackson & Santana Moss, they must be able to cover.
16 TEN Jason Pierre Paul. They are really hoping they've found another "Freak" in JPP because their old one is done and they just lost KVB.
17 SF Anthony Davis. They have given Alex Smith the weapons to see if he can be successful, now they have to protect him.
18 PIT Taylor Mays. When Troy Polamalu was out, they simply were not the same team. With him they went 4 & 1. Without him, 5 & 6. Polamalu's replacement, Tyrone Carter is only 5'9" 195 and had just 2 picks on the season. Polamalu had 3 in just 5 games. It would be in the best long term interest of the Steelers to move Polamalu to FS and play Mays at SS, though Mays could also play FS.
19 ATL Brandon Graham. They spent 7 out of 8 picks last year on the defensive side of the ball. They finished #28 in the league in passing defense, compared to #10 in run defense and #14 in scoring D, in part because they finished #26 in sacks with 28. Jonathan Babineaux led the team with 6 sacks followed by John Abraham with 5.5.
20 HOU Ryan Matthews. Matt Schaub is an elite level QB who simply lacks the running game he needs to be able to field a complete offense. Finishing #30 in rushing while finishing #1 in passing is as stark a contrast as there is in this league.
21 CIN Jermaine Gresham. Carson Palmer can't make up for not having enough talent around him. His completion % last year was as bad as it has been in any full season he's played. They've been looking for a TE in the last couple of drafts and hoped they'd found one last year, in the 3rd with Chase Coffman, but that wasn't the case.
22 NE Jared Odrick. Getting a first round pick out of Richard Seymour was nice, but they paid for it in 2009.
23 GB Brian Bulaga. Probably the biggest fall in the draft since Aaron Rodgers, who just gotted sacked again while I was typing this and tied for the league lead last year with 50. He'll be very happy to have Bulaga who is a very good value at this spot in the draft.
24 PHI Sean Weatherspoon. They really could have used some help in the secondary, but that talent is long gone. Weatherspoon will fill another hole in their defense.
25 BAL Devin McCourty. They would have taken Odrick if he was here, since he's not they take McCourty and add him to a defense that seems to get the most out of its players.
26 ARI Mike Iupati. With what very well could be the worst offensive line in football, the Cardinals sit back and take the best lineman on the board.
27 DAL Maurkice Pouncey. He gives Dallas some options at either guard or center.
28 SD Terrence Cody. Much higher than he probably warrants, but with Matthews going early, replacing Jamal Williams is the next most important thing.
29 NYJ Sergio Kindle. Gholston is a failure and one of the few weak links on the Jets defense is their ability to get to the QB, tied for 18th with 32 sacks in 2009. Bryan Thomas only had 2 last year while their leaders were Calvin Pace with 8, Shaun Ellis with 6.5 & ILB David Harris with 5.5. His behavior issues (DUI - ran into an apartment building) aren't so bad when compared to other players on their roster and isn't likely to be something Rex Ryan would shy away from.
30 MIN Colt McCoy. Drafting McCoy doesn't mean they won't let Favre come back, but he's a good insurance policy if he doesn't. I wouldn't be shocked if they traded for Jason Campbell, in which case I could see them taking Brian Price here. I could also see them trading down to one of the top 10 picks in the 2nd and taking McCoy there.
31 IND Charles Brown. Peyton cannot be great forever but giving him better protection will certainly help. History suggests that Polian doesn't do this, the highest he's drafted an offensive lineman since he got Peyton was Tony Ugoh at 42. If they opt to go in a different direction, Everson Griffen would be the pick as their defense is not nearly as good without Dwight Freeney.
32 NO Everson Griffen. Yes they brought Anthony Hargrove back, but Grant is gone.