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Mock Draft 4.0

It seems like every time I think I’m done doing a mock draft, something happens and I’m left with no choice but to update it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. I love football to the point where the NFL Draft is my own personal Christmas.  I have to work the night before the draft this year so I won’t be attending it, but I’m still considering going to Day 2 of the draft. Thats really where the action is. Guys slipping farther than you thought they would, teams jockeying for position, players you might have watched for four or five years getting a look. Sometimes the story isn’t the big time prospect slipping from 4th to 14th, but its the redshirt junior wide receiver that went to your high school that you’d love to see get drafted. But I digress, the Eagles went out and traded their 28th overall pick (among other picks) to Buffalo for Jason Peters, the “best left tackle in football”. So who is Buffalo going to draft with that pick? Well, that’s what you’re here to find out. There also may be a few other changes I make to my mock draft that I wouldn’t have made before because I’m so damn stubborn. So here we go.

1. Detroit Lions – Matthew Stafford, QB, Georgia – This is the constant. This pick will never change. Even if the Lions decide to take someone else, I’ll still have this pick here. And just to prove a point, I’ll say it again. You don’t pass on a franchise quarterback… especially after an 0-16 season.

2. St. Louis Rams – Jason Smith, OT, Baylor – Another constant, however there is some talk of Mark Sanchez possibly going this early. Someone said that Marc Bulger is declining and the Rams could opt to take a quarterback here. I disagree because there’s a lot of money invested in Bulger and putting a lot of money into another quarterback that won’t play doesn’t make sense. Good try though.

3. Kansas City Chiefs – Aaron Curry, LB, Wake Forest – I look at Curry as almost a Patrick Willis type of player. He’s going to make an immediate impact but I don’t know if his impact alone is going to make the team any better.

4. Seattle Seahawks – Mark Sanchez, QB, USC – I was trying to convince myself that the Seahawks wouldn’t take Sanchez here and that he’d fall to the Jets. I’m not even a Jets fan. But you know what? Hasselbeck is 34 years old and he’s been banged up the past few seasons. Maybe he has a few years left in him. Or maybe he doesn’t. The Seahawks don’t normally draft this high so they might as well pull the trigger on a future franchise quarterback while they can.

5. Cleveland Browns – Brian Orakpo, LB/DE, Texas – I think the idea is that Orakpo is looking to play more linebacker than defensive end so that he can fit into that Demarcus Ware/James Harrison mold where he’ll get a good amount of sacks. I like this for Orakpo. That kid has a motor.

6. Cincinnati Bengals – Eugene Monroe, OT, Virginia -Its funny that a somewhat prolific aerial offense would take a guy that seems to be a better run blocker than pass blocker, but hey they need help along the offensive line.

7. Oakland Raiders – Michael Crabtree, WR, Texas Tech – The Raiders offense would be pretty fun to watch with Jamarcus Russell, Darren McFadden, Michael Crabtree, and Johnny Lee Higgins. Like playing pitch and catch really.

8. Jacksonville Jaguars – Jeremy Maclin, WR, Missouri – Even though the Jaguars picked up Torry Holt, Maclin would be a solid pick here.

9. Green Bay Packers – B.J. Raji, DT, Boston College – This pick would be just as good of a defensive pick as taking AJ Hawk a few years back. Maybe the Packers should only take players who have initialed first names.

10. San Francisco 49ers – Everette Brown, DE, Florida St – The Niners don’t appear willing to trade up to take Sanchez especially since they’d have to trade into the top three to take him so they should stay right here and take a defensive end. Now, some people can make the argument that the Niners already have two good pass rushers, but if you look at what the Giants did two seasons ago by adding depth along the defensive line, this is a good idea.

11. Buffalo Bills – Andre Smith, OT, Alabama – The Bills were going to go offensive line here no matter what. It just so happens that they traded Jason Peters.

12. Denver Broncos – Brian Cushing, LB, USC – I wouldn’t put it past Denver to trade down here and maybe take a defensive tackle which is really what they need but Cushing is a decent value pick right here.

13. Washington Redskins – Tyson Jackson, DE, LSU – I like Jackson going to Denver because they also have a need for pass rushers but I think that Denver has to rebuild the defense on all three levels, which will allow Jackson to fall here to the Deadskins.

14. New Orleans Saints – Chris “Beanie” Wells, RB, Ohio St – Reggie Bush is going to benefit the most from Wells being on the team. Reggie’s best year statistically came when Deuce McAllister was in the backfield with him.

15. Houston Texans – Vontae Davis, CB, Illinois – Lately the knock on Davis has been his technique, but I think he’s a better corner prospect than Malcolm Jenkins. Does that make him a better defensive back? Not at all. In fact, I think if Jenkins were mainly a safety, he’d be a top 10 pick.

16. San Diego Chargers – Rey Maualuga, LB, USC – I’m personally starting a movement for his nickname to be changed to KO Rey Mo. Especially considering he’ll need a nickname to rival his soon to be teammate, Shawne “Lights Out” Merriman.

17. New York Jets – Josh Freeman, QB, Kansas St. – I think the Jets would be helping themselves a bit by trading up to take Mark Sanchez. The only problem is that with Sanchez likely landing in Seattle, it would take a lot to trade up to get him. So if the Jets don’t mind settling for Josh Freeman, they’ll take him. The good news is that Freeman is mobile, he has a strong arm, he’s big, and he’s used to making something out of nothing because he barely had an offense around him… kinda like Joe Flacco.

18. Denver Broncos – Aaron Maybin, DE, Penn St. – In one swoop, the Denver Broncos can change their defenses culture. They already went out and signed Brian Dawkins and even though he’s getting up there in age, he’s one of the league’s smartest defenders and he’s a leader. They can draft a really smart linebacker at 12, and take a very good pass rusher here at 18. They could take Tyson Jackson at 12, and then take James Laurinitis here. Who knows maybe they could even trade down to take Laurinitis.

19. Tampa Bay Bucanneers – Robert Ayers, DE, Tennessee – The Bucs would have to trade up to take a quarterback because the “big three” won’t be available to them. Ayers is a good value pick here, and maybe they could look to draft a quarterback in the second round like Pat White.

20. Detroit Lions – Michael Oher, OT, Ole Miss – A pass rusher would work well for the Lions but they any help along the offensive line would be appreciated by Matthew Stafford and Kevin Smith.

21. Philadelphia Eagles – Knowshon Moreno, RB, Georgia – This is a no-brainer, and Moreno is going to be close to home.

22. Minnesota Vikings – Eben Britton, OT, Arizona – Since the Eagles won’t need to take this guy at 28, the Vikings can take him. Percy Harvin’s stock dropped when people found out that he tested positive for marijuana at the combine. That, combined with his attitude, might scare the Vikings away.

23. New England Patriots – Malcolm Jenkins, CB/S, Ohio St. – Jenkins is a definate upgrade at either corner or safety for the Pats.

24. Atlanta Falcons – Clay Matthews, LB, USC – Clay Matthews is versatile and the Falcons have to address their need at linebacker.

25. Miami Dolphins – Darrius Heyward-Bey, WR, Maryland – The Dolphins lack of depth at wide reciever is an obvious hole. I thought Heyward-Bey at one point could have been a top 15 pick, and he’d be good here.

26. Baltimore Ravens – Hakeem Nicks, WR, North Carolina – At this point, its hit or miss. Nicks is higher on most draft boards than Kenny Britt is, and Harvin went down because of his durability and attitude. Either way, the Ravens go wideout here, whether its Nicks or Britt.

27. Indianapolis Colts – Evander “Ziggy” Hood, DT, Missouri – This is a smart pick and Bill Polian is a notoriously good evaluator of talent.

28. Buffalo Bills – Larry English, DE, Northern Illinois – This late in the first round, there might not be too many offensive line prospects for the Bills to look at. I wouldn’t be surprised if they traded up to get a guy like Britton.

29. New York Giants – Kenny Britt, WR, Rutgers – If the Giants don’t make that trade for Braylon Edwards, Britt could be a possibility. As a matter of fact, they can get both. There are no other teams looking to trade with the Browns so the Giants could take advantage of that by offering a 2nd round pick and a 5th round pick. Edwards is coming off of a down year where he had a lot of drops. Combine that with the lack of suitors and the Giants could land a Pro Bowl caliber player and a kid with a lot of potential and still have 8 picks to work with.

30. Tennessee Titans – James Laurinitis, LB, Ohio St. – The Titans have a good defense but lack depth at linebacker. This would be a good pick to keep their guys fresh. This kid is tough, smart, and really instinctive.

31. Arizona Cardinals – LeSean McCoy, RB, Pittsburgh – The Cards might want to cut Edgerrin James, and McCoy is a touchdown machine. He’s a bit similar to Tim Hightower but the Cards are a passing team anyway. The only problem would be his pass blocking ability.

32. Pittsburgh Steelers – Percy Harvin, WR, Florida – Pittsburgh seems like an odd place for Harvin to land before they’re a tough, gritty no-nonsense organization, but Harvin would be coming from one winning program to another, and the Steelers have taken guys with questionable backgrounds before like Santonio Holmes. Plus, Harvin’s talent speaks for itself. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Steelers work on some gadget plays with Harvin in mind.

So there you have it. My final mock draft. Its now 3:22 am on Thursday morning. Here are a few things on my mind.

— The Lions are pretty close to signing Matthew Stafford, but stop the presses… Aaron Curry says he’ll take a pay cut to play in Detroit. Thats a first for me. He wants to take less money to play for a team that won zero games last season. Curry says he’d like to line up in between Julian Peterson, Ernie Sims and Demarcus Tyler, his high school teammate. I like the initiative, Aaron. He’s also a really nice guy. He invited a leukemia patient from Alabama as his personal guest at the NFL Draft. These are the stories I like to hear about. This are the things that make sports so great. I have a good friend of mine that barely cares about sports anymore because of athlete’s attitudes and I don’t blame him. I hope Aaron Curry is the first of many athletes that are genuinely good people.

Aaron Curry with Bryson Merriweather, a cancer patient from Alabama.

Aaron Curry with Bryson Merriweather, a cancer patient from Alabama.

— A lot of times you hear stories about high school basketball players that don’t care about going to college and last year there was Brandon Jennings that didn’t want to go to college and instead chose to play basketball overseas until his was eligible to play in the NBA. Time will tell if his experiment worked but here’s a story thats a little different.  Jeremy Tyler is a high school junior thats deciding to skip his senior year of high school to play in Europe. Apparently, the competition isn’t up to his level and instead of transferring schools to play against tougher players, he’s skipping his senior year and college to play overseas. Personally, I look at these situations in case by case fashion because in some cases, college doesn’t help. Lebron James would not have gained anything from college, and the NCAA would have reaped all the benefits without Lebron seeing any of it. I like the way the NBA has it where players have to be one year removed from high school. It makes the college game so much better. In fact, I think that the NBA should employ the MLB’s way of doing things. If a player chooses to enter the draft, its up to that player. But if they go to college, they have to stay for at least three seasons. That way, the college game doesn’t suffer and the NBA gets quality players.  As far as Tyler goes, I’ve seen highlights of him and he’s NBA-ready right now. If playing against grown men helps him, then more power to him. Playing in Europe will be a learning experience and he can always go back to school.  I just hope some other kid that isn’t as good doesn’t try the same stunt and end up throwing away an education as well as a career.

Jeremy Tyler

Jeremy Tyler

— I hate catch-22’s. For example, I like Lebron James and he deserves every penny of his next contract. The problem is, his next contract won’t be coming from the Knicks. I’ve come to terms with that. Now, the Knicks are desperate to get under the cap to sign either Lebron (who will likely stay with his Eastern Conference powerhouse Cavaliers), Wade (who will either go to his hometown Bulls or stay in Miami), or Bosh (who shouldn’t be a number one go-to player). The Knicks are risking losing one or two players in David Lee and Nate Robinson to have a low payroll and have an opportunity to sign a big time free agent. What if they get way under the cap and don’t bring in any free agents? Then where are we?

— All I can say about my Mets is that the season is only 14 games old and there’s plenty of time for them to right the ship. This team is too talented to be playing the way they have been. On the bright side, at least they haven’t given up 22 runs, including 14 in the second inning.

— Lance Stephenson is starting to annoy me. At this point, is he really going to St. John’s or is that just a ploy to keep people interested? Just commit already and stop teasing fans the way Bryce Brown did to Miami fans!!!

— And finally, I think that everyone should take time to read about any pay homage to the 1936 Long Island University basketball team for standing up for what they felt was right and upholding their convictions as a team. They declined to play int he 1936 Olympics in Berlin because of Hitler’s oppression of the Jews, even though they would have been an easy favorite to win a gold medal. The team is being inducted into the Jewish Hall of Fame this Sunday on April 26th.

LIUs 1936 starting five.

LIU's 1936 starting five.

Any questions or comments? Email me at s_talouis@yahoo.com. You can also listen to me on Keeping It Real Sports on Mondays from 7pm-9pm. For information, visit www.kirsnow.com and also visit www.showoffradio.net.

The Queens native handles all things football on KeepingItRealSports.com. Stan attended Holy Cross High School in Flushing, Queens and SUNY Old Westbury. He's spent his post graduate career in different parts of the media, as an editorial assistant, a production assistant and a board operator. He can be followed on twitter @FunnyManStan and routinely performs standup comedy all over New York City.

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