Mariotti is an idiot. He was in love with the Benson draft choice back in 2005. In that column he undermines his own argument. He basically states that the Bears busted on Stan Thomas and were impatient with Marc Columbo and therefore shouldn’t draft a Tackle…but we should draft a RB because we busted on Enis, Salaam and Benson. Huh?
The only scenario where we should take Mendenhall is if the good tackles are all taken. I don’t know what they think of the top 4 or 5 guys, and there’s little doubt that 3 or 4 could come off the board before their pick, but if they think Otah and Williams are busts in the making they should take the BPA and that very well could be Mendenhall. If they pass on Albert for him I’ll lose my damn mind.
I’m not sold on Mendenhall. A lot of people are. Despite that, I think he’d be a decent fit for th Bears. I reserve the right to be wrong about him as well and in our mock draft, I deferred to the bulk of the pundits that do like Mendenhall.
Kansas City Chiefs (Originally Vikings, but we’ll do the trade thing now)
The Chiefs now have three third round selections, so they’re rebuilding begins this year. With one of these picks, they’re going to have to find a OT. One guy is intriguing, King Dunlap. He’s a frickin’ beast, at 6’8 1/2" 320 lbs with a 5.3 40. He’s also weak in character. The knock on him is that he has never lived up to his enormous potential, relying on his natural talent and not developing his skills. He doesn’t work hard and doesn’t have that nasty streak that makes a good O lineman. Another is Oneil Cousins, who is a converted DT, but who has the measurables to be a LT. He’s just learning the position, and flamed out at LT before doing pretty well at RT. He’s a couple years away from being great, but he should be able to step into RT and hopefully develop into a LT. He might also be pushed inside.
Kansas City Chiefs select Oniel Cousins, OT, UTEP.
I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that Mendenhall is going to be the bust of this draft. As in never even wins the starting job, let alone does anything with it. Mariotti’s a complete moron if he can’t see the two huge “buts” by Mendenhall’s name.
I’ve got the same feeling about Devin Thomas, to a lesser degree.
Darren McFadden will do just fine, although I don’t think he’ll ever be a Tomlinson-style feature back. He has the skills, but IMHO he’ll break down quickly with a 25-carry load.
My first-round ubervalues in this draft are:
James Hardy (WR, Indiana): He’s incredibly large, yet still very quick- reminds me of a taller Andre Johnson… or TO. 6’7", yet runs the 40 in under 4.5 seconds. Amazing.
Brian Brohm: As I noted above, he and Quinn were neck-and-neck as the consensus #1 picks in last year’s draft; I think even the Raiders would have been smart enough to take Brohm had he come out. He did absolutely nothing as a senior to cast doubt on his ability - he put up even better numbers in a (new) less pass friendly offense. He’ll be Donovan McNabb to Matt Ryan’s Tim Couch. I’m unsure about Henne- he could be Daunte Culpepper or he could be Akili Smith.
Aquib Talib: His stock has fallen a mile because of his off-field issues, but he’s the best athlete in this draft, IMHO. Can run and turn as well as any of the other first-round corners but has a good two inches of height/reach on all of them. Somebody will get him at the end of the first and get the same return the Chargers did on Antonio Cromartie. The big difference is that Talib can play - he’s a three-year starter - and Cromartie started only three games, so nobody knew much about his game at all.