Trades and free agency really changes how a draft will play out. For instance, the Skins will definitely not even be considering taking Jimmy Clausen with their #4 pick like I originally predicted now that they've signed Donovan McNabb. So With a little over 24 hours until the draft begins, here is my final guess at how it'll go...
1. St. Louis Rams - Sam Bradford, QB Oklahoma. This is a no brainer.
2. Detroit Lions - Ndamukong Suh, DT Nebraska. This is 100% a wrong move, but hey, it's the Lions. They desperately need to protect their franchise QB, but will go with the best player in the draft instead.
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Gerald McCoy, DT Oklahoma.
4. Washington Redskins - Russell Okung, OT Oklahoma St. The Skins get their franchise QB, now they get the #1 O-lineman in the draft to help keep him clean. Look out NFC East!
5. Kansas City Chiefs - Brian Baulaga, OT Iowa. Matt Cassell got mauled last year so KC will take the best available O-lineman.
6. Seattle Seahawks - Eric Berry, Safety Tennessee. Pete Carroll won't pass on arguably the #1 player in the entire draft.
7. Cleveland Browns - Jimmy Clausen, QB Notre Dame. New Browns GM Mike Holmgren has worked with some of the best QB's of all time: Montana, Young, and Favre. He should love having the top QB prospect of 2010 fall to him with the #7 pick.
8. Oakland Raiders - Bruce Campbell, OT Maryland. Raiders owner Al Davis loves guys who put up crazy numbers, and Campbell's numbers at the Scouting Combine were unreal.
9. Buffalo Bills - Trent Williams, OT Oaklahoma. You can never go wrong with picking a stud O-lineman, which Williams clearly is.
10. Jacksonville Jaguars - Derrick Morgan, DE Georgia Tech. If the jags ever want to with the AFC South, they'll have to take care of business against Peyton Manning. So they will add another quality pass rusher after signing Aaron Kampman.
11. Denver Broncos - Rolando McClain, ILB Alabama. Linebackers are rarely drafted this high, but Josh McDaniels isn't exactly a conventional thinker on draft day.
12. Miami Dolphins - Jason Pierre-Paul, DE/OLB South Florida. Bill Parcells LOVES drafting linebackers. Pierre-Paul will fit in nicely in Miami's 3-4 defense.
13. San Francisco 49'ers - Joe Haden, CB Florida. The Niners go with the best player available (BPA) and crab the top corner in the draft.
14. Seattle Seahawks - CJ Spiller, RB Clemson. The Hawks grabbed the top defensive playmaker with their first pick, now they pick up the top playmaker on the offensive side of the ball.
15. New York Giants - Dez Bryant, WR Oklahoma St. Eli Manning needs someone to throw the ball to. Bryant is a top 10 talent, but his character issues will cause him to slide.
16. Tennessee Titans - Everson Griffen, DE Southern California. After losing Kyle Vanden bosch and cutting Javon Kearse, the Titans have absolutely nothing at defensive end.
17. San Francisco 49'ers - Anthony Davis, OT Rutgers. The Niners go BPA again and get a quality O-lineman.
18. Pittsburgh Steelers - Maurkice Pouncey, C/OG Florida. As much as everyone would enjoy seeing Roethlisberger get his brains knocked out, if the Steelers want to keep him as their franchise QB, then they absolutely must get some O-line help.
19. Atlanta Falcons - Brandon Graham, DE Michigan. The Dirty Birds were not a very good pass rushing team. If they want to win the very competitive NFC South, they need to address this issue.
20. Houston Texans - Kyle Wilson, CB Boise St. Houston's secondary was already bad and got torched by Peyton Manning on two different occasions last season. Then on top of that, Houston's best CB left in free agency.
21. Cincinnatti Bengals - Earl Thomas, Safety Texas. The Bengals will be tghrilled if a player as good as Earl Thomas falls to them.
22. New England Patriots - Jermaine Gresham, TE Oklahoma. The Pats need a tight end, and the best tight end in the draft falls right in their lap. Belichek luck strikes again.
23. Green Bay Packers - Taylor Mays, Safety Southern California. Go back and watch what Kurt Warner did to the Packers in the playoffs if you have any queestion what Green Bay plans on doing with this pick.
24. Philadelphia Eagles - Mike Iupati, OG/OT Idaho. Andy Reid goes BPA and gets his new franchise QB some extra protection.
25. Baltimore Raven - Jared Odrick, DE/DT Penn St. Will make a perfect lineman in a 3-4 defense.
26. Arizona Cardinals - Sean Weatherspoon, ILB Missouri. Arizona was hurt badly from players leaving as Kurt Warner, Anquan Boldin, and Karlos Dansby are all gone. They will replace Dansby with this pick.
27. Dallas Cowboys - Nate Allen, Safety South Florida. Jerry Jones gets an upgrade at a much needed position.
28. San Diego Chargers - Dan Williams, DT Tennessee. San Diego cut their starting nose tackle. Williams has great numbers and enough size to play nose tackle.
29. New York Jets - Sergio Kindle, OLB Texas. You can't have enough pass rushing linebackers in a Rex Ryan defense, and the best OLB in this year's draft falls right in his lap. The Jets' great offseason keeps on rolling.
30. Minnesota Vikings - Patrick Robinson, CB Florida State. BPA for the Vikings.
31. Indianapolis Colts - Charles Brown, OT Southern California. Colts' O-line is still good, but it's not what it used to be.
32. New Orleans Saints - Carlos Dunlap, DE Florida. New Orleans has needs at DE, and Dunlap is a steal at #32
CJ Spiller is a beast. I think he'll go top ten, maybe to Cleveland.
ReplyDeleteThe recent trend has been to get a runningback later in the draft than they've typically gone. It's just much easier for them to transition than say an O-lineman or a defensive end.
ReplyDeleteNo way Dan Williams falls to 28, if that's the case, I will have lost faith in NFL teams ability to judge talent, he should be top 10, but I think he slides around the 15-25 range, 25 being top end. But, then again, you could be right, but I think a lot of teams are passing on a great prospect
ReplyDelete