My NFL Draft Thread

[DJBuckeyes]

Xaos is also my head guy I brought in on the mock team

[Deb]

alright I gave Reg the heads up. What link do you want your draft to go back to? Looking forward to reading your stuff.

[Xaos]

Just the thread would be fine, that way they can read all the stuff

[Deb]

Well check it out and it's on top...you'll be surprised the hits this thread gets.

[Xaos]

My big board has been updated. Te'o dropped, I removed Lewan, Moore dropped, other moves were made.

[Xaos]

Taylor Lewan going back to school has really screwed teams over, considering he was in consideration for top tackle. I was gonna move him into Top 5 on my big board as well.

[Xaos]

1.Kansas City - Geno Smith, QB, West Virginia
The Chiefs are arguably one of the most talented teams in the league right now. Their biggest weakspot is Quarterback, and it's really bad. The general consensus is that Kansas City could be a playoff team with even an average QB, so the level of play Geno Smith has to reach won't be too great to start for Kansas City to reach success. Besides, they basically have to pick a QB here or their fanbase will riot.

2. Jacksonville - Jarvis Jones, OLB, Georgia
The Jaguars are so bad, they should take BPA, which happens to be Jarvis Jones. He will play like Von Miller, rush on passing downs and on designed blitzes, then drop in coverage on certain downs to mix it up. The Jaguars were last in the league in sacks, and they may lose their best defensive player, Linebacker Darryl Smith, in free agency.

3. Oakland - Demontre Moore, DE/OLB, Texas A&M
Oakland needs help on the defensive line, so Star could be the pick here, but I believe that they need an elite pass rusher. Moore is one of the true 4-3 DEs in the draft, so Oakland has to grab him here. Oakland improves one of the league's worst pass rushes, and starts the rebuild of the entire defense around Moore.

4. Philadelphia - Luke Joeckel, T, Texas A&M
The second straight Aggie comes off the board with Joeckel. King Dunlap is trash. The whole Eagles line, minus Jason Peters, is horrible, actually. ANd whos knows if he will be the same after his injury. Joeckel will provide protection on either the left or right side for Nick Foles, or whoever the Eagles have at QB.

5. Detroit - Bjorn Werner, DE, Florida State
The Lions really need a pass rushing defensive end to pair with Cliff Avril, especially in a division with two elite Quarterbacks and possibly a franchise QB in Ponder. Werner plays the run very strongly, which will help against the Vikings and AP just as much as the Packers with Rodgers. He will immediately provide an upgrade for the pass rush and hopefully hide some of the other problems Detroit has.

6. Cleveland – Jon Hankins, DE/DT, Ohio State
The Browns are supposedly transitioning to a 3-4 defense, so they’ll have holes on the D-line and the linebacking corp. Te’o has dropped a lot, and Jarvis Jones isn’t here, so they’ll pick up hometown boy Hankins to play DE for them for a huge, elite line with Rubin, Taylor and Hankins.

7. Arizona – Tyler Wilson, QB, Arkansas
Taylor Lewan has unexpectedly decided to go back to Michigan, so Arizona fills their other need here with Wilson. He’s a strong-armed QB that has great leadership ability and carried that horrible, coachless Arkansas squad to the few wins they had. He’ll be able to stretch the field and deliver to Floyd and Fitz, and with his style, it will open up running lanes. It reminds me of the Bengals before Palmer got hurt, Good QB with two elite receivers throwing deep down field with bad-average runningbacks taking advantage.

8. Buffalo – Manti Te’o, ILB, Notre Dame
While Te’o drops, because the Bills don’t have a QB to take here, they grab the BPA who fills a need. They could also go receiver here, but the class is deep at the position and they can get a compliment to Stevie Johnson in the second or third. Te’o can be a leader for the defense that missed one and can wrack up the tackles playing behind the defensive line of Buffalo. Another pick here could also be Kevin Minter of LSU or Alec Ogletree of Georgia.

9. New York Jets - Star Lotutelei, DT, Utah
The Jets need to get back to their form of playing elite defense. This starts up front, for every team. Star is a dominating presence up front, and should make a difference in that division. He is also a huge steal here, as he is #3 on my big board.

10. Tennessee - Dee Milliner, CB, Alabama
The Titans have one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL, they are dominated by teams that can spread them out. This is largely due to no pass rush and no shutdown corner. With the addition of Milliner, they can start to rotate safeties to the other side of the field and that will help the pass rush.

11. San Diego – Keenan Allen, WR, California
The Chargers are bringing in a new coaching regime, but they won’t get rid of Phillip Rivers. They need to get upgrades at receivers, however. Antonio Gates cannot do it himself at the TE position, and he’s starting to regress. They’ve lost Vincent Jackson and Floyd isn’t the #1 receiver they want. They get another big target for Rivers.

12. Miami – Dion Jordan, DE/OLB, Oregon
The Dolphins need a pass rusher on the other side of Cameron Wake, and he’s getting old anyway. Jordan is a raw prospect that’s a great athlete, and if he reaches potential, he should be a very good pass rusher in the AFC East. He’s also a very good fit in the 34.

13. Tampa Bay – Jonthan Banks, CB, Miss State
Last year, Tampa passed on Morris Claiborne and traded down to get Mark Barron. That was a start to improving their secondary. Now they have traded Talib and Ronde Barber will likely retire, so they get another physical corner to replace them.

14. Carolina – Sheldon Richardson, DT, Missouri
Sheldon Richardson reminds me of Geno Atkins, or, to compare him to NFL greats, Warren Sapp. He’s great at rushing the passer, and he’s not bad in playing the run either. He’d be a great presence in the middle of that line against three franchise QBs in the division.

15. New Orleans – Barkevious Mingo, DE, LSU
The Saints need improvements all over their defense, specifically the defensive line. Their current one is old and not very good, and many will be released. They get the best defensive player available and a bonified pass rush that falls.

16. St.Louis – Keenan Allen, WR, California
Last year, the Rams barely missed on Justin Blackmon and Fisher was pissed. This year, the Rams will grab their franchise WR to pair with their franchsie QB. The lack of a reliable option has been a huge disadvantage to Bradford, so this will help him immensely.

17. Pittsburgh – Alec Ogletree, ILB, Georgia
Tree comes from a 34 system in college, so he will transition well to the Pittsburgh defense. They are aging in the linebacker corp, and are needing replacements. Tree fits the Pittsburgh mold of athletic linebackers who hit hard.

18. Dallas – Chance Warmack, G, Alabama
Warmack is a beast. He’s a monster. He dominated Notre Dame, and will be an automatic starter in the NFL. The Cowboys need to improve up front in the run and the pass, and Warmack will give them extra push at the Guard position.

19. New York Giants – Ezekiel Ansah, DE, BYU
Ansah is a freak of nature. He’s a lot like Jason Pierre-Paul, in that he’s a super athlete that has a ton of potential. The Giants need a replacement for Osi, because he is likely to leave this year, and Tuck has been inconsistent. They also like to have three elite pass rushers and have been known to take fliers on prospects like Ansah.

20. Chicago – Eric Fisher, OT, Central Michigan
Fisher is a big LT who can add more to his body, and even though he’s big, he’s very quick. He could be a dominant RT, but time will tell if he is athletic enough at 6-8 to handle big and fast DEs. Regardless, the Bears need O-line and have to take Fisher at this juncture.

21. Cincinatti – Alex Okafor, DE, Texas
Okafor is a very athletic defensive end that has been a great pass rusher for Texas over the years. He’s strong at the point of attack, but also can use his athleticism to break off of blocks and get to the quarterback. He also possesses the ability to drop back in coverage due to his natural athleticism. His motor is a huge reason why he’s very good in the run game, and even in pass rushing. The Bengals pick up a good addition for the defensive line that has become of the best in the football, and they need it because of the division they’re in.

22. St.Louis – Barrett Jones, G/C/OT, Alabama
Barrett is the most versatile lineman to come out in a while, being able to play any position on the line at an elite, first round pick level. He also helped dominate the front line and linebacking corp of Notre Dame, and he was doing it on a lis franc injury, the same one that put several players out for the whole NFL season. The Rams can put him where they best need him, which will be huge to upgrading the offense as a whole and giving Bradford more time and creating holes for SJax the last few years of his career.

23. Minnesota – Kawann Short, DT, Purdue
Previously I had Bennie Logan here, but I believe that Short is more of a Vikings player than Logan is. Short is a bigger DT, someone who plays the run just as well as the pass and can get into the backfield for run game penetration or hold up at the line and fill the holes, however the Vikings want to use him.

24. Indianapolis – Jon Jenkins, NT, Georgia
The Colts are able to pick the best nose tackle available here. Watching the Colts d-line against the Ravens, and it was apparent that they had no dominating presence in the middle of that line, they were easily getting pushed around by a unit that’s not elite. On stretch plays, Ray Rice had huge running lanes on either side of the line due to the d-linemen being scooped and not being able to stand their ground. With Jenkins, he will be able to hold that middle and prevent the whole d-line from being kicked out of their ground and settle a lot of what’s wrong for Indy’s defense.

25. Baltimore – Kevin Minter, ILB, LSU
The Ravens are losing the greatest Middle Linebacker of all time, and now have to replace him. Minter is the leader of two great LSU defenses, and will be able to fill Ray Lewis’ void and hit the ground running.

26. Seattle – Terrance Williams, WR, Baylor
I’ve decided to go with Terrance Williams here. He’s not exactly a burner, but he’s much faster than he would appear and much faster than people give him credit for. He’s got good hands and should be a reliable underneath target for Wilson and a great pair with Rice.

27. Green Bay – Tyler Eifert, TE, Notre Dame
Jermichael Finley sucks now, and Jennings could be gone. Green Bay goes BPA for offensive weapons and gets Eifert. He’s a big-bodied TE that can block relatively okay and catch red-zone and third down passes and become the safety valve for Rodgers.

28. Houston – Matt Elam, S, Florida
Houston continues to get burnt deep this season by receivers, and AJ Green had whatever he wanted deep if Dalton could have delivered to him. With teams like the Bengals, Colts, Patriots, Broncos, etc. in the AFC, if Houston wants to be contenders they have to be able to defend the deep pass. Elam will bring swagger to the Houston defense and be the pass coverer they need in the deep section of the field.

29. San Francisco – Bennie Logan, DE, LSU
The 49ers are uber talented, so they can literally go BPA. They get a guy who can play defensive end and absolutely wreak havoc. He’s a OLB in a DT’s body. He’s big and strong enough to play 3-4 defensive end, but he’s also quick enough to play 3-4 OLB and 4-3 DE. He’ll be a defensive end that will benefit greatly in the great defense of the 49ers and playing and learning from Smith on the other side.

30. Denver – Kenny Vacarro, S, Texas
The Broncos are much like the 49ers, very talented. Their secondary is aging, so they’ll be glad to pick up a very good safety who dropped in Vacarro. He’ll be able to provide deep help to Porter and Bailey, and make that defense that much greater.

31. New England – Jon Cooper, G, UNC
Cooper is a very good, athletic guard for North Carolina. He could play at Guard or Center for the Patriots, which makes him a very good candidate for Bill to draft. Brady is getting older, and the AFC is getting better on the interior, which makes this position more important, and something that the Patriots may go after.

32. Atlanta – Larry Warford, G, Kentucky
The Falcons reach a few picks for Warford, but that’s alright. Konz is good, but he’s too weak to play Guard in the NFL, he’s more suited for center, so they’ll have to find someone to play right guard. Warford will fit into the Atlanta system very well.

[Xaos]

Updated mock draft, major changes. See above.