1(1) Miami Dolphins
**2(2) St. Louis Rams **
The Rams have quite a few needs and aren’t attached to any one player. They will draft Glenn Dorsey here if they have to but I think there are a few teams out there that like him more and will make an offer to the Rams that they’ll take. I think they’d be doing backflips if they can get Ellis or Chris Long and pick up a pick in the process.
**3(3) Atlanta Falcons **
The Falcons are in love with Dorsey and I think that they be the most likely candidate for the Rams to trade with. They could move up a spot for a mid 2nd-rounder which they have in the 48th overall pick and get him, the Rams would then probably take Long. Win-win for both. If the Rams don’t make a trade and take Dorsey then the Falcons will still want to get out of this pick since they don’t seem to want Ryan here and KC or Baltimore might come up to get him.
4(4) Oakland Raiders
5(5) Kansas City Chiefs
6(6) New York Jets 7(7) New England Patriots (From San Francisco)
The Pats love to trade back and if McFadden, Ryan, Long, Gholston or Ellis are still available there will be teams eager to come up and get them, especially the Saints and Bengals who are eager to get Ellis. If Ryan is still here and the Ravens are sitting next there may be teams looking to leapfrog them and the Ravens might move up one spot just to block that. Either way the odds are that this pick gets traded somehow. 8(8) Baltimore Ravens
I don’t think the Ravens make a pick in this spot under any circumstance. They will either move up to get Ryan or he’ll come off the board before they get a chance and they’ll move back in hopes of taking one of the 2nd tier QBs late in the first round or high in the second. Additionally, the Saints might be looking to leapfrog the Bengals for that DT if it doesn’t happen with the Pats pick. Also there’s 8 teams in the next 12 that want OTs and there are only 3 or 4 left, teams might want to go up to get the top guy on their board, especially if Albert is still there.
9(9) Cincinnati Bengals
**10(10) New Orleans Saints **
Either the Bengals or the Saints will make a move to get Ellis and I and just guessing that the Saints are the successful ones. The Bengals tend to screw things up and the Saints appear to have their shit together, plus the teams they are trading with might like the idea of moving back one pick farther to save a few bucks on the rookie contract.
11(11) Buffalo Bills
12(12) Denver Broncos
13(13) Carolina Panthers
**14(14) Chicago Bears **
The Bears might move out of this spot depending on how they perceive the remaining OT prospects. The same could be said for the Broncos, Panthers, Lions, Cardinals, Chiefs and Texans so let’s call this a blanket prediction, one of the teams targeting an OT will trade back when they don’t like the options available to them. I hope the Bears are the proactive ones and they have shown a tendency to move out of spots like this. They could move up to get their favorite choice, but thats a slim chance, or they could move back and maybe get a QB like Flacco and wait until the later rounds to address the OT/OG positions. No matter how you slice it there are more teams that want OTs than there are OTs available so someone in this group there’ll be a move, especially with a few coveted defensive guys expected to come off the board in this range.
15(15) Detroit Lions
16(16) Arizona Cardinals
17(17) Kansas City Chiefs (From Minnesota)
18(18) Houston Texans
19(19) Philadelphia Eagles
20(20) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
21(21) Washington Redskins
22(22) Dallas Cowboys (From Cleveland)
23(23) Pittsburgh Steelers
24(24) Tennessee Titans
25(25) Seattle Seahawks
26(26) Jacksonville Jaguars
**27(27) San Diego Chargers **
I’m convinced that someone will trade back into the first round to draft either Brian Brohm or Joe Flacco and maybe both. San Diego is probably the most complete and talented team in the bottom 10 and therefore might be the easiest to lure into a trade, look for the Bears, Ravens, Dolphins or Chiefs to make a move up from the second round to get the guy the covet. I really hope that it’s the Bears reaching up for Flacco (or maybe back if their first rounder doesn’t an out) but there will be a move to get a QB by someone in this range. Might not be the Chargers, but one of the playoff teams are going to get an offer they can’t refuse.
28(28) Dallas Cowboys
29(29) San Francisco 49ers (From Indianapolis)
30(30) Green Bay Packers
31(31) New York Giants
There will probably be some moves in the last half of the draft but those are tough to predict without knowing which players start falling down the board. Guys like Phillip Merling, Jerod Mayo, Jonathan Stewart and James Hardy could all encourage someone to move up a few spots since there’s not a lot of sure things at the DE/RB/WR positions.
I think there might be more trades in this draft’s first round than in recent memory.
My big prediction for the Giants is that they don’t take a safety in the first day, but instead stick with BPA (excluding QB, RB and TE, but including DE) until the fourth or fifth round, where they address the safety depth issue with Jamie Silva, SS, Boston College. Undersized and unimpressive at the combine, he’s a guy I’ve seen described as “just better in pads.” More importantly, he’s a BC guy, and it’s no secret how much of a hard-on Coughlin has for his former stomping grounds. (Chris Snee, Mathias Kiwanuka) In reality I suspect he’s just got better inside info on BC players due to contacts he cultivated during his time as the HC there.
I wonder what the chances of Brenden Albert sliding to the Bears are. He’s such a perfect fits since we need both a Tackle and a Guard and he could fill either one as need dictates. That’s probably my dream scenario right now.
Agree that adding undrafted free agents probably dilutes the question. But I just thought I’d point out that Rod Smith was also undrafted and he was a key part of the Broncos offense for years.
Speaking of the Broncos, I think this is definitely a rebuilding year (and I wish The Ultimate Leader would just come out and say it.) I think they should be drafting linemen on both sides heavily (a good left OT would be ideal in the first round, considering how deep this draft is) and then shore up linebacker and safety. They could go the entire draft without taking one offensive skill position and I would be very happy. Most mock drafts I’ve seen or heard involve the Broncos taking an OT and I think most of them are saying Ryan Clady from Boise State is the obvious choice. Though Sedrick Ellis from USC falling that far would be nice too, and it’d be a great pickup now that they’ve got Dewayne Robertson in a trade from the Jets–OT’s are heavily needed but they have to find ones that can do the zone blocking scheme so nailing down the D-line between Ellis and Robertson would be fine with me.
I don’t think they can afford to call it a rebuilding year. They’ve got arguably the league’s best CB tandem (both of whom are just about at the right age for their skills to begin declining), they’ve spent a lot of (pointless, mostly) money on the defense, and they’re one solid receiver (Darrell Jackson?) short of a good offense - perhaps very good if Cutler’s play improves as much as it did last year.
Note that Marques Colston of the Saints was not quite Mr. Irrelevant - he was the fourth-to-last pick in the draft - and it took him exactly one season to become a top-15 NFL wideout. Amazing.
ESPN is reporting that Chris Long is going to the Rams at #2. Prior to this, their VP of Football Operations confirmed in an on-air interview that they had decided on their pick, and he would be a “stalwart on their defense” for years to come.
I don’t find this year’s draft quite as compelling as some of the other drafts in recent memory. Maybe it’s the lack of true star power in the skill positions, or the fact that at least the first two picks are pretty much a foregone conclusion, or the fact that only one Buckeye really stands to make any impact in the early rounds (even though it is my boyfriend Vernon Gholston, AKA The Gun Show), but I’m just not into it.
And even then, I’ll be glued to the TV for hours today. I must say, I do enjoy the change to shorten up the first few rounds a bit. It gave me time to run errands this morning and not miss anything.
Will be interesting to see if this is true. Supposedly the Front Office wants Long but the Head Coach wants Dorsey and speculation was that the coach would get his guy. Seems like the Rams could have played the Falcons to swap picks.
Less than a half hour to go, checking in here. This will be the first draft I’ve ever actually watched. Usually, I just keep it on and pass the time between the Eagles’ picks with some other busy activity. But as I’ve done a little studying on the players this year (thanks to the mock draft thread in this same forum), I’m more excited to see where these players go, since, you know, I know who they are now.
So, name your favorite team and give us your ideal (realistic scenario) for the draft. For the Eagles, I’m hoping for a playmaker LB in round one. I’m hoping they trade Sheppard away for an early second rounder and take Malcolm Kelly, and then I’m hoping a DT/DE falls out of the late first/early second round so the Eagles can take them there. And finally, I’m hoping they can find a way to pick up a Matt Forte type runner late in the draft. The Eagles really need a physical presence in the run game to help spell Brian Westbrook and develop a power inside running game. I’m tired of seeing a team with such a good offensive line pass on third and short.
He was parodying the comment made by Mike Ireland of the Dolphins earlier in the week. Ireland said they wanted to draft someone who would be “a pillar of their defense for years to come,” and the anchor seemed to realize that the Rams VP was making a joke. But everybody does have the Rams taking Long anyway. Everybody seems increasingly confidents that McFadden is going to Oakland.
The comment, even if in jest, was still a shock to me. If you know that Atlanta, picking right behind you, is probably pining for a QB, why wouldn’t you stay coy, in order to try and induce them to give up something to trade up one spot and ensure that they can get Matt Ryan?
Personally, I’m hoping for the Steelers to trade out of the first round. I picked Gosder Cherilus in the mock here but I don’t see it happening. otherwise, now that they’ve signed Justin Hartwig they can move Mahan back to guard and wait until next year to address the o-line. I think they’ll take Stewart if he’s there. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see them take Sam Baker, plug him in at left tackle and move Marvel Smith over to RT.
They’ve had days to field trade offers, and presumably they know what the possibilities are. (I doubt the guy would say anything that would affect a potential trade.) I’ve never seen anybody predict St. Louis would take Ryan anyway - it’s always Long or Dorsey.
Jake, Chris, Matt Ryan. No surprises here? Think New Orleans moves up to get Dorsey? I had heard they were pursuing him pretty enthusiastically.
Btw, I now predict Ryan will be a bust. Why? Because fatty Berman said the word “leaf” when talking about Matt Ryan right as he was selected. Bad omen.
I’m happy that teams are finally starting to value character and work ethic when evaluating players. Freakish upside has lured too many GMs and coaches to their pink slips.