Kiper's first mock

[cubuffsman78]

Anyone seen this yet? All i can say is wow... I don't know that I've ever disagreed with a mock more.

He's projecting only one QB (Ryan) in the first round. He has Phillip Merling in the top 10, which intrigues me, but I can't buy it. I usually defend Kiper on here, but I don't know that I can this time. I don't know how this'll copy and paste here, but let's see how it works.

1 Miami Dolphins Glenn Dorsey, DT LSU
2 St. Louis Rams Chris Long, DE Virginia
3 Atlanta Falcons** Matt Ryan, QB Boston College
4 Oakland Raiders** *Darren McFadden, RB Arkansas
5 Kansas City Chiefs** Jake Long, OT Michigan
6 New York Jets *Vernon Gholston, DE Ohio St.
7 New England Patriots (from SF) *Aqib Talib, CB Kansas
8 Baltimore Ravens Sedrick Ellis, DT USC
9 Cincinnati Bengals *Phillip Merling, DE Clemson
10 New Orleans Saints Kentwan Balmer, DT North Carolina
11 Buffalo Bills *Malcolm Kelly, WR Oklahoma
12 Denver Broncos *Ryan Clady, OT Boise St.
13 Carolina Panthers Jeff Otah, OT Pittsburgh
14 Chicago Bears Sam Baker, OT USC
15 Detroit Lions Leodis McKelvin, CB Troy
16 Arizona Cardinals *Jonathan Stewart, RB Oregon
17 Minnesota Vikings *DeSean Jackson, WR California
18 Houston Texans Mike Jenkins, CB South Florida
19 Philadelphia Eagles Chris Williams, OT Vanderbilt
20 Tampa Bay Buccaneers *Felix Jones, RB Arkansas
21 Washington Redskins *Calais Campbell, DE Miami
22 Dallas Cowboys (from CLE) *Mario Manningham, WR Michigan
23 Pittsburgh Steelers *Chilo Rachal, OG USC
24 Tennessee Titans Limas Sweed, WR Texas
25 Seattle Seahawks Fred Davis, TE USC
26 Jacksonville Jaguars *Derrick Harvey, DE Florida
27 San Diego Chargers *Reggie Smith, CB Oklahoma
28 Dallas Cowboys *Rashard Mendenhall, RB Illinois
29 San Francisco 49ers (from IND) *James Hardy, WR Indiana
30 Green Bay Packers Keith Rivers, LB USC
31 New York Giants Dan Connor, LB Penn St.
32 New England Patriots Forfeited pick

[Saint33]

wow, this is terrible

[sommerSD]

wow...jsut wow...

[bbbtalb0]

This is crazy

[kc5950]

I don't think this is that bad.

The things I like
- Felix Jones over Rashard Mendenhall. I like Mendenhall more, personally, but I think that Jones will be alot more impressive at the combine. Jonathan Stewart has the measurables that look better than Mendenhall and Jones.

- 5 receivers in the 1st round. Last year saw 6 1st round receivers, in a shallow draft. This year should see at least 4 in the first round, even though this season isn't nearly as deep at the WR position, and deeper elsewhere. I am not a big fan of James Hardy to the 49'ers, nor am I a huge fan of Limas Sweed to the Titans. I'd probably have one of the two going to Houston, seeing as they have no big, physical receivers outside of Andre Johnson. I think that Kubiak will try to recreate the Rod Smith/Ed Mcaffrey element that he saw in Denver for a long time.

What I don't like
- I'm not on the "New England takes a CB in the first" bandwagon. No matter where they pick, they have always had alot of success finding guys who fit their defensive scheme in later rounds. This draft is very deep at DB, and I doubt that they'd stay in that slot if there was no D-lineman, O-lineman, Linebacker, or Darren Mcfadden available.

- Cowboys taking a RB. The Cowgirls have two free agent RB's, and will probably re-sign Barber. Mendenhall would be a player to platoon with Barber, and they could find that in the 2nd, or 3rd rounds.

- One QB in the 1st. I think there are 11 teams in the league who could potentially take a QB in the first and 2nd rounds. I'd be more inclined to think that Woodson could rise, as he's considered a much more raw prospect than Brohm. Brohm is the Brady Quinn/Aaron Rodgers of this draft. His ceiling is much lower than the others, though he's currently probably the 2nd most NFL ready QB in the draft. I'd look for Woodson anywhere between Baltimore and Green Bay in the 1st. (8-30)

[cdobry1991]

Do you really think Green Bay would take Woodson after the took Rodgers in round 1 in 2005?

[kc5950]

I don't think that Rodgers precludes them from taking Woodson. Rodgers has shown little, and he will have huge shoes to fill. The only packer need, IMO, that outweighs replacing Brett Favre is re-tooling their offensive line. They have some holes on D, but for the team to be good with the young offensive core that it has right now, they will need a QB. I'm not sold on Ryan Grant for the future, but Brandon Jackson got taken in the 2nd round last year. Alot of teams have shown that linebackers can come in and play well from later rounds, same with safeties. I think they are pretty set at corner. I'd bet Green Bay drafts a lineman from either side of the ball, or a QB in the 1st.

[sommerSD]

are you serious about that Oline talk? Their oline is good, and young. Rodgers showed good ability in teh Dallas game, and Grant is damned good

[bbbtalb0]

Also note that Kenny Philips is not in this mock.

[bbbtalb0]

Does he have explanations to any of his picks?