black19's 2008 Mock Draft

[black19]

I told myself I wasn't going to do this this year as 2007 was my first crack at it and it took too much time and was way too hard. However, things change and here I am again. Please be warned, it's only a mock people! This will probably be the only one I do unless I get motivated or if something happens in free agency that would drastically change my mock. It's only the first round through 31. I haven't completed the explanations as of yet but will post them as soon as I do. Enjoy! ***Update***Explanations added.

1. Miami: Long, Chris (DE) Virginia
Chris Long seems to have solidified his position as the top draft choice. The Dolphins are more than happy to insert Long into their 3-4 scheme, barring any draft day trades.

2. St. Louis: Long, Jake (OT)Michigan
Jake 'the other' Long is a guy you can plug into your starting line up. Long has be favorably compared to Joe Thomas, and Thomas played his way into the Pro Bowl last year. Long paired with a healthy Orlando Pace should give St. Louis a solid offensive front which means more productivity out of Stephen Jackson.

3. Atlanta: Ryan, Matt (QB) Boston College
Ryan is seen as the top QB of this class. The Falcons are in desperate need of a new franchise QB, and Ryan fits the bill.

4. Oakland: McFadden, Darren (RB) Arkansas
The Raiders ignore their needs and take the sexy pick. The Raiders re-upped Fargas & Rhodes and still have Bush in the mix. Why do they take on McFadden? Blame Al Davis and Adrian Peterson.

5. Kansas City: Clady, Ryan (OT) Boise State
Kansas City had arguably the worst O-Line last year. Clady may be a reach at 5, similar to the way Levi Brown was a reach in last years draft. However, Clady's pro day makes him a calculated risk here and the Chiefs desperately need his services. It may be reasonable for KC to look at a corner or even Dorsey, since he's available, here but the talent at CB and Dorsey's health concerns mean they can wait.

6. New York (J): Gholston, Vernon (DE) Ohio St
Gholston will fit nicely in Mangini's 3-4 defense as an OLB and has arguably the most upside over any other prospect in the draft. The Jets would love to select McFadden or Jake Long here, but thanks to a meaningless win in Week 17 last year, they'll have to settle for Gholston.

7. New England: McKelvin, Leodis (CB) Troy
Losing Asante Samuel and Randall Gay this offseason makes CB a position of need for the Pats. The Pats buck their trend of not selecting first round corners and take McKelvin who plays similar to Samuel and provides the added bonus of being a return man.

8. Baltimore: Jenkins, Mike (CB) South Florida
Jenkins has the tools to develop in to a shutdown corner in a few years. He's got great end to end speed and is physical to boot. Baltimore could go a few ways here but passing over Jenkins may be hard to do.

9. Cincinnati: Ellis, Sedrick (DT/E) USC
Cincinnati made it no secret they wanted Shaun Rogers from Detroit. With that deal falling through, they address that need in the draft with Ellis. Ellis' talent, big game experience, and ability to fit in both 3-4 and 4-3 schemes make him a great fit in Cincy.

10. New Orleans: Rivers, Keith (LB) USC
The Saints bolstered their secondary with the addition of Gay this offseason leaving the Saints to continue their overhaul of the LB corps. They take the best one in the draft in Rivers.

11. Buffalo: Kelly, Malcolm (WR) Oklahoma
Buffalo sorely needs a big receiver to compliment Lee Evans and Malcolm Kelly makes the most sense giving Trent Edwards another option of offense.

12.Denver: Dorsey, Glenn (DT) LSU
The Broncos may be better served going OL or LB here but it may be a little high for Connor with Rivers off the board and they have a history of taking solid lineman later in the draft. With Dorsey falling this far, they could address another need, which is DL.

13. Carolina: Otah, Jeff (OT) Pittsburgh
The Panthers could look to go defense here but with the personnel movement on the O-Line they select Otah who could come in and start at RT.

14. Chicago: Mendenhall, Rashard (RB) Illinois
Chicago goes local and selects Mendenhall who should be able to make an immediate impact alongside the injury prone Cedric Benson. However, the loss of Berrian and Muhammad this offseason could prompt the Bears to go receiver here.

15. Detroit: Harvey, Derrick (DE) Florida
Cornerback is probably the bigger need here, however the CB class is deeper this year than Defensive End. Derrick Harvey is a value at 15 and Matt Millen loves to draft pass rushers.

16. Arizona: Stewart, Jonathan (RB) Oregon
The Cardinals have a few positions of need and Running Back is one of them. The young Cards look to Stewart to eventually replace an aging Edge.

17. Minnesota: Merling, Phillip (DE) Clemson
The Vikings defensive front is already potent and has plenty of veteran leadership, but what they lack is a true speed rusher to take some pressure off their secondary.

18. Houston: Rogers-Cromartie, Dominique (CB) Tennessee State
Rodgers-Cromartie has seen his stock soar. Come April, I think he'll come down to Earth and the Texans will be more than happy to select him if he's available here with Mendenhall & Stewart off the board already. Rodgers-Cromartie's services will be needed with the departure of Hutchins.

19. Philadelphia: Jackson, DeSean (WR) California
As a go to receiver, Jackson is limited. As a playmaker, his upside is unlimited. Jackson's return capabilities and underrated route running ability make him a solid addition to Philly's receivers.

20. Tampa Bay: Sweed, Limas (WR) Texas
Outside of a QB of the future, the Bucs desperately need a young receiver. Galloway is aging and with no quality talent behind him makes the selection of Sweed a wise on. He'll provide a big target for Garcia and should compliment Galloway's speed nicely.

21. Washington: Phillips, Kenny (S) Miami
Washington could go Albert, Williams, or Balmer here, and would love for Merling or Harvey to fall, but instead they opt to take arguably the best player available in Phillips, who happens to be another Safety out of Miami.

22. Dallas: Talib, Aqib (CB) Kansas
The Cowboys need fresh young talent in the secondary and Talib has good value at 22. He should see some playing time as a rookie and may even push to start opposite Newman come end of season.

23. Pittsburgh: Albert, Branden (G) Virginia
The Steelers have to go offensive line here and Albert is the best available. With the departure of Faneca this offseason, it makes sense (and is cheaper) to take a Guard. As a bonus, Albert can probably play RT too.

24. Tennesse: Thomas, Devin (WR) Michigan State
Vince Young needs all the WR help he can get. Thomas is a big play receiver the Titans desperately need and he'll immediately be their best receiver on day 1.

25. Seattle: Williams, Chris (OT) Vanderbilt
With their recent RB signings, the Seahawks opt to go O-Line here and select Williams who should bolster a deteriorating offensive front.

26. Jacksonville: Balmer, Kentwan (DT) North Carolina
Balmer should fill in nicely next to Henderson as the Jags look to replace the departed Marcus Stroud.

27. San Diego: Connor, Dan (LB) Penn State
It's hard to gauge who the Chargers will select as there is no real glaring weakness. They could snag a Safety here, pick up a RB, or even go DL here. Instead they take the best player available in Dan Connor who has experience at both inside linebacker and outside linebacker. Frankly, he could play either one at the NFL level.

28. Dallas: Jones, Felix (RB) Arkansas
The Cowboys replace one Jones in the backfield with another. The Cowboys addressed their CB need with their earlier pick which should solidfy this RB pick. Felix Jones would be a nice compliment to Marion Barber and would probably provide a better Barber/Jones combo than before.

29. San Francisco: Groves, Quentin (LB) Auburn
The 49ers get their pass rushing OLB for their 3-4 scheme in Groves. Groves' combine numbers overshadow a rather unspectacular senior year at Auburn, where he faced double teams early and often in the SEC. Singletary should be able to coach up the athletic Groves who relies a little too much on his speed.

30. Green Bay: Flowers, Brandon (CB) Virginia Tech
It's no secret the Pack need some youth at the Corner position. Flowers sneaks in to the 1st round and lands in Green Bay. Flowers doesn't have ideal height and speed, but he's physical in the run game and dangerous in a zone.

31. New York (G): Cason, Antoine (CB) Arizona
The Giants coming off the Big Game, land a CB with big game experience in the Thorpe Award winning Cason. Cason hasn't been as impressive in workouts as some, but he's put up some pretty damn good numbers. Cason is a flat out playmaker (just ask Cal & Oregon) and fills a postion of need in New York.

[mrdv1]

New orleans would definately not pass on dorsey if he fell to them, no way in hell with their weak DT's. He does have injury concerns but he's a better prospect than rivers who some have falling as far as the 30's to new york.

[black19]

Originally Posted by mrdv1 New orleans would definately not pass on dorsey if he fell to them, no way in hell with their weak DT's. He does have injury concerns but he's a better prospect than rivers who some have falling as far as the 30's to new york.

In reality, I think you are probably right. I have a hard time not having Cincy take him at 9. Dorsey is clearly going to be the standout selection in my mock and I figured it would be worth the discussion. I'll have my explanations up shortly though so you can see my rationale.