My NFL Draft Thread

[Titans4Vols]

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.

This is pretty incorrect. The Titans are actually doing fine at corner. Jason McCourty has really stepped up and Verner has played well. We need to find a #3/slot type guy, or at least someone good enough on the outside that we can slide Verner to slot when we have to play nickel.

Our pass rush could use some help. Derrick Morgan came on hot down the stretch this past season, and appears to be taking form as the guy we expected him to be when we drafted him in the first round. It took him some time to recover from the ACL injury, but he looks to be 100% now, and was close to dominant over the final few games, but short of him, it was a little disappointing. Casey is great at playing the run, and gets decent penetration on pass rush, but not enough to make a huge impact. Wimbley had a very up and down year..and past Wimbley/Morgan, there's not much depth.

The biggest problem for the Titans defense is the safeties. Michael Griffin is easily one of, if not the worst in the league. And our rotation of Babineaux/Johnson/Afalava across from him didn't fare much better. If we had just average safeties, our defense would improve DRASTICALLY.

We have a talented first string defensive line, though weak at depth at defensive end, and need to find a solid guy to put beside Casey, though I'm not upset with having a rotation there. We have an LB corp that is developing extremely well. Zach Brown was everything we hoped he would be and then some(needs to clean up his tackling a bit, but that's nothing another off-season can't fix), Akeem Ayers plays the run well and can actually blitz effectively. Not a guy you want dropping in to coverage very often, it seems, but that's fine.

McCarthy at MLB can potentially be one of the better MLBs in the league if he'd just stay healthy..but he never was that after hurting his ankle in week 1 and just a plethora of other problems after that. Hopefully he can heal up and we can rely on him next year. If not, it'll be really disappointing. He has huge potential.

I know it seems weird to say "our defense isn't THAT bad" when historically it's one of the worst, as far as stats go, but it really wasn't all on the defense. The offense was the biggest problem this year, never becoming consistent and forcing the defense to exhaust themselves and putting them in bad situations. Some examples include both Houston games, the Minnesota game and the Bears game.

You fix the safeties and don't have them out there for a ridiculous amount of time, they can be a respectable defense. Corner is not a need in the first round.

[DJBuckeyes]

Hankerson won't play DE in the NFL. I can see him playing Nose Tackle, but in that case I would want Starr.

[Xaos]

Originally Posted by DJBuckeyes

Hankerson won't play DE in the NFL. I can see him playing Nose Tackle, but in that case I would want Starr.

I think he could drop some and be a big LE on a 34 team.

[Xaos]

Originally Posted by Titans4Vols

This is pretty incorrect. The Titans are actually doing fine at corner. Jason McCourty has really stepped up and Verner has played well. We need to find a #3/slot type guy, or at least someone good enough on the outside that we can slide Verner to slot when we have to play nickel.

Our pass rush could use some help. Derrick Morgan came on hot down the stretch this past season, and appears to be taking form as the guy we expected him to be when we drafted him in the first round. It took him some time to recover from the ACL injury, but he looks to be 100% now, and was close to dominant over the final few games, but short of him, it was a little disappointing. Casey is great at playing the run, and gets decent penetration on pass rush, but not enough to make a huge impact. Wimbley had a very up and down year..and past Wimbley/Morgan, there's not much depth.

The biggest problem for the Titans defense is the safeties. Michael Griffin is easily one of, if not the worst in the league. And our rotation of Babineaux/Johnson/Afalava across from him didn't fare much better. If we had just average safeties, our defense would improve DRASTICALLY.

We have a talented first string defensive line, though weak at depth at defensive end, and need to find a solid guy to put beside Casey, though I'm not upset with having a rotation there. We have an LB corp that is developing extremely well. Zach Brown was everything we hoped he would be and then some(needs to clean up his tackling a bit, but that's nothing another off-season can't fix), Akeem Ayers plays the run well and can actually blitz effectively. Not a guy you want dropping in to coverage very often, it seems, but that's fine.

McCarthy at MLB can potentially be one of the better MLBs in the league if he'd just stay healthy..but he never was that after hurting his ankle in week 1 and just a plethora of other problems after that. Hopefully he can heal up and we can rely on him next year. If not, it'll be really disappointing. He has huge potential.

I know it seems weird to say "our defense isn't THAT bad" when historically it's one of the worst, as far as stats go, but it really wasn't all on the defense. The offense was the biggest problem this year, never becoming consistent and forcing the defense to exhaust themselves and putting them in bad situations. Some examples include both Houston games, the Minnesota game and the Bears game.

You fix the safeties and don't have them out there for a ridiculous amount of time, they can be a respectable defense. Corner is not a need in the first round.

Gotcha. It's hard to say whether its the safeties or corners when you don't watch a team alot.

[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. Moore also fits the mold of superiorly athletic player with raw talent.

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 – Dion Jordan, OLB, Oregon
The Browns are probably switching to a 34 defense, so they will need help at linebacker and pass rush, so they get the help they need here in the incredibly raw Jordan. Jordan is 6’7, highly athletic and lightning quick. He needs to improve, and the Browns could probably trade down a few spots and grab him, but for now I will leave them here. He will improve the Cleveland defense. I would pick Te’o here, but he dropped too much.

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 – Matt Barkley, QB, USC
I don’t believe Barkley has the skill-set to play in Buffalo, but I randomly received a strong feeling that Nix will grab a QB here, and Barkley will be the pick over Glennon, as I see Glennon falling back down closer to the draft. Another possibility here is Ryan Nassib, as his head coach at Syracuse is now the head coach of Buffalo as well as the offensive coordinator, but until there are reports that Nassib is building up his stock, this is Barkley.

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 horrible safeties, but a shutdown corner will help the whole defense. With the addition of Milliner, they can start to rotate safeties to the other side of the field and cover up their holes. There is no safety worth taking here; there isn’t even a Mark Barron like prospect in this draft, so if they want a safety, they should trade down, but for now we’ll take the BPA secondary player. It is also too high to take Chance Warmack here.

11. San Diego – 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 Chargers need O-line and have to take Fisher at this juncture. There is no rush backer here, but they could take Jonthan Banks.

12. Miami – Keenan Allen, WR, California
The Dolphins decide that they really need weapons for Young Tanny and get Keenan Allen here. He’s a big body receiver who can also stretch the field vertically. If Tannehil doesn’t get some kind of weapon, he’ll go all Sam Bradford on everyone.

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 – Jon Hankins, DT, Ohio State
The Panther’s interior is really bad, they were even looking at picking Dontari Poe last year. They have to improve, and are literally spazzing that Hankins has fallen to them at 14. They run up to the podium to make this pick.

15. New Orleans – Sheldon Richardson, DT, Missouri
With the Panthers picking Hankins, this allows the Saints to take Richardson. He reminds me a lot of Geno Atkins, the dominant DT for the Bengals. He’s very quick off the snap and is very good at using his hands to get around blockers. He will improve the aging and bad Saints line.

16. St.Louis – Alec Ogletree, LB, Georgia
I haven’t seen anyone predict this yet, but here goes. The Rams need help at linebacker. Ogletree is one of the most athletic linebackers I’ve ever seen, he was a 4/5 star prospect at safety coming out of high school. He can kick to the strongside if the Rams need him to, or they can move Laurinitis out there and allow Ogletree to be in the middle.

17. Pittsburgh – Ezekial Ansah, OLB, BYU
It’s obvious. The Steelers defense is getting old, not as effective, and they have the Walking Fine out there doing nothing. They need a guy who can play Steelers football, and Ansah will be able to light a fire under that defense with his ability for maybe one more playoff run with that old D.

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 – 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. Osi is probably a free agent, and Tuck is ineffective and inconsistent. Okafor is a great pickup.

20. Chicago – Manti Te’o, ILB, Notre Dame
Te’o falls a long way in this version. He is probably best fit in the Cover two, so it is fitting he is going here. He can learn under Urlacher for maybe another year, but he’ll be a great long term replacement. They may pick up Barrett Jones, however.

21. Cincinatti – Sam Montgomery, DE, LSU
Montgomery has potential through the roof, the problem is his ceiling. He could literally be a horrible DE in the NFL, because of his slow get off. However, after his get off, he’s a great player. He’s not as fast as counterpart Mingo, but he’s stronger and could very well play the LE spot for the Bengals

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. 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.

26. 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.

27. 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.

28. 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.

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 (it’d be dumb, though. He is like 6’4, 310). 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. 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.

31. 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.

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]

Mock draft update, MAJOR changes

[pooh555]

I'm thinking that if Seahawks don't go WR that they may be looking at Defensive Line, maybe depth at DE, I think (hope) that they took notice of how big of a hole they had in pressure during that game with Clemmons out. They could also stand to have an upgrade at Linebacker.

[Xaos]

Originally Posted by Matt In A Hat

I'm thinking that if Seahawks don't go WR that they may be looking at Defensive Line, maybe depth at DE, I think (hope) that they took notice of how big of a hole they had in pressure during that game with Clemmons out. They could also stand to have an upgrade at Linebacker.

I'm thinknig the same thing. if a guy like Okafor or Ansah falls to them, I think they grab him