I have worked on at least three different mocks over the past couple of weeks but constant changes kept derailing me and I was going to have one out on Sunday and then as I was putting the final touches on it the Darrelle Revis trade went down and left me to rethink the draft once more.
1) Kansas City Chiefs: Luke Joeckel (LT, Texas A&M), Late push for Fisher from CMU but I'm gonna stick with the wire to wire leader.
2) Jacksonville Jaguars: Dion Jordan (DE, Oregon), Jordan should fill a need for Jacksconville that hasn't been properly filled in quite some time.
3) Oakland Raiders: Sharrif Floyd (DT, Florida), Oakland needs playmakers on defense and Floyd has the burst to disrupt things inside as a one gap player in the 4-3.
4) Phildadelphia Eagles: Eric Fisher (OT, CMU), Eagles get their starting left tackle for the next decade and fill a position that was pretty shaky with a consistent player who still has body to grow in to and plenty of athleticism.
5) Detroit Lions: Ezekial Ansah (DE, BYU), Ansah has only been playing football for three years but has developed well and showed at the Senior Bowl a propensity for learning and picking up new concepts. Ansah is a freak athlete and will add to a young defensive line that has improved their play each year.
6) Cleveland Browns: Dee Milliner (CB, Alabama), Cleveland doesn't have a playmaker option here but Milliner is the best CB in the draft and will be a great bookend with Joe Haden that should take a little pressure off a young and struggling front seven.
7) Arizona Cardinals: Chance Warmack (OG, Alabama), The Cardinals are alright with their tackles who haven't been great but have been good enough, however the interior of the line has been abysmal and Warmack should shore up one spot their which will be a pretty sizeable upgrade at the position.
8) Buffalo Bills: Ryan Nassib (QB, Syracuse), the rumors last night went from Bills being all in on Nassib because of a fear that the Jets would take him to the Bills prefering Barkley with this pick. I think the Barkley noise is just noise and that Buffalo will pair Nassib and Marrone back up.
9) New York Jets: Barkevious Mingo (DE/OLB, LSU), Lanky athlete with good play recognition ability and a disruptive force in the SEC Mingo may be a touch undersized but he should be able to contribute off the edge in 3-4 and with some coaching should hurt you too bad in coverage.
10) Tennessee Titans: Johnathan Cooper (OG, North Carolina), Tennessee ugraded at guard during free agency getting Levitre from Buffalo but they still need help on the inside and Cooper would pair nicely and give Johnson the best blocking front five he has seen in his career. It's a risk because they will have a ton of money locked up in interior linemen.
11) San Diego Chargers: Lane Johnson (OT, Oklahoma), San Diego gets the third best OT in the draft and the last one considered elite by many. Johnson is raw having played OT tackle for just a couple of years but he has great athleticism and there are certainly more than a few team enamored with the possibilities.
12) Miami Dolphins: Star Lotulelei (DT, Utah), Star may be one of the top three best and safest picks in the draft. He should be able to play a 0, 1, or 3 techniques and will be a great asset to add to a defense that is putting together a good group of front seven players.
13) New York Jets (via Tampa Bay): Xavier Rhodes (CB, Florida State), with Milliner gone, Xavier Rhodes is many peoples second best corner back and with the trade of Darrelle Revis the Jets will target DBs early in this draft.
14) Carolina Panthers: Sheldon Richardson (DT, Missouri), This is a no brainer the Panthers have been atrocious up front the last couple of years and with talent on the offensive side of the ball the Panthers need to field a defense that can at lest be competitive week in and week out.
15) New Orleans Saints: Kenny Vacarro (S, Texas), the Saints are switching to a 3-4 defense which brings a myriad of picks into play here but no matter what they do in the front seven it doesn't change the fact that their secondary is more porous than most sieves. Vacarro should be able to make an impact right away in the Big Easy.
16) St. Louis Rams: Tavon Austin (WR, West Virginia), the most electrifying player in the draft has his detractions, mostly his size, but a study of Austin's game tape shows a player that is instictive in his ability to find seems and to avoid the big hits that plague certain diminuitive players.
17) Pittsburgh Steelers: Jarvis Jones (OLB, Georgia), the Steelers are old and that is especially the case on defensive side of the ball. Jones has the best produciton of the 3-4 OLBs but a chronic medical issue and his somone erratic play have concerned some but if there is one thing the Steelers like it is football players (excuse the cliche) and Jones fits that mold.
18) Dallas Cowboys: D.J. Fluker (OT, Alabama), this is a perfect fit, the Cowboys have been pretty meh on the O-line for too many years and it is hurting the production of their skill players. Fluker can upgrade at least RT, RG, LG and even possibly LT for the Cowboys. It's not flashy but some times you just need to take a hog-moly and live with it.
19) New York Giants: Arthur Brown (LB, Kansas State), This is a little bit of an upset but the Giants have been plug and playing linebackers for three years now and Chase Blackburn isn't the answer. Brown didn't get the hype of a Te'o or play in the SEC like Minter but in the Giants skeem Brown would be able to utilize his sideline to sideline athletic ability behind one of the best front fours in the NFL.
20) Chicago Bears: Alec Ogletree (ILB, Georgia), With Urlacher possibly not returning to the is team and an aging LB corp the Bears need LB help and I think Ogletree would be a great fit for a template Tampa 2 defense. Ogletree has some character concerns with a DUI this offseason but this a veteran laden team that should provide stability for Ogletree and help him succeed.
21) Cincinnati Bengals: Cordarelle Patterson (WR, Tennessee), The Bengals need LB help and that makes Minter a possible choice here but they don't have much help offensively for A.J. Green and Patterson would definitely be able to be a very good #2 to bookend with Green. Andy Dalton will be thanking management for another weapon to spread out defenses and the Bengals should be able to find a RB in rounds 2 or 3.
22) St. Louis Rams: Tyler Eifert (TE, Notre Dame), With Austin in the slot with their first pick I think the Rams upgrade at TE too by added Eifert, he will immediately be able to stretch the seam for a team that needs to eleviate the pressure on the outside in the passing game.
23) Minnesota Vikings: Sylvester Williams (DT, North Carolina), with an ever aging interior in Minnesota Williams would be able to study under the tuteledge of Pat Williams as he adjusts to life in the NFL.
24) Indianapolis Colts: Bjoern Werner (DE, Florida State), Moving to a 3-4 may present some challenges for the Colts but they need more playmakers on defense and Werner should be able to provide that. He needs to put on some weight for the next level but he hasgood athleticism and enough production to be fairly confident in his projection to the next level.
25) Minnesota Vikings: Mant Te'o (MLB, Notre Dame), I hate this pick but all signs point to teh Irish loving Vikings drafting Te'o. He's a good middle linebacker but his production at Notre Dame seems rooted in a dominant front four and the ability to take advantage of bad QB play. The Bama game tape was atrocious and NFL QBs don't make nearly the mistakes seem at the college level.
26) Green Bay Packers: Menelik Watson (OT, Florida State), I've seen RB mocked to the Packers and an ealry iteration of my mock had that too, but I think Thompson knows the value at running backs just isn't there in the first round except for transcendent talents. Watson is a player with high upside and the ability to slot at every line position except center and should add to one of the weakest parts of the Packers teams.
27) Houston Texans: Markus Wheaton (WR, Oregon State), Houston needs help for Andre Johnson, a theme of many a draft for Houston the last couple of years, and will look to Wheaton to provide another option for Schaub.
28) Denver Broncos: Datone Jones (DE, UCLA), The Broncos lost Dumervil this offseason and you can never have enough pass rushers. Jones would be able to aleviate the void left by Dumervil and would be a solid selection for the Broncos at this stage in the draft.
29) New England Patriots: D.J. Hayden (CB, Houston), Hayden has gained a lot of steam late in the proccess here and has even moved into the top CB slot for Mike Mayock of the NFL Network. Hayden has some injury concern but his senior year at Houston was very impressive and the Patriots still need help in the secondary.
30) Atlanta Falcons: Desmond Trufant (CB, Washington), Trufant is a solid CB prospect out of Washington and with the top 2 CBs for Atlanta looking like they will be transitioning out of town at the end of the year the Falcons would be wise to snatch up a CB or two in this draft to lessen teh blow next season.
31) San Francisco 49ers: Jonathan Cyprien (S, Florida International), Yes the 49ers signed Ed Reed, but it was to a one year contract and he doesn't have more than a couple years left in the tank. Cyprien out of FIU should be able to provide the help in the secondary and would probably benefit from a year behind Reed to learn and grow into a starter. The key here is the 49ers have the roster depth to develope a first round talent.
32) Baltimore Ravens: Eric Reid (S, LSU) with the loss of Reed and the loss of Lewis I think this pick comes down to a pair of LSU teammates. Reid or Minter will be this pick and I went with Reid because I believe he's the better player and S is the bigger need. Reid is instinctive and should add to the list of LSU DBs
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