Smashmouth Football League Articles

2005 SFL Mock Draft

#21- FS-Ben Emanuel
So the Bengals traded this pick after I had done the writeup for them at this pick so scrap that work and back to the Cardinals. I feel like the Cardinals have been here before. In fact they have! They have already picked three times. So here?s where I think the Cardinals go best player available and select FS-Ben Emanuel. He has 90 SPD and goes 6?3.? He?s the exact type of player the Cardinals like. They could move him over to SS and he might be able to start there or wait a season and then start.

The Cardinals do have other options but I think they go Emanuel. They would love to pick up a starting OLB but with Wake and Pollack gone I don?t think there?s much there for them. They could also go OG with a guy like Pete McMahon who they could easily convert from OT. Still in the end I think Emanuel is too good to pass up.

#22- WR-Craig Bragg
The Chiefs GM has no track record by which to judge his preferences, so I?m looking at team needs and that leads me to CB and WR. The two positions in particular you would like to address in round 1. There are needs at both positions, but with Leftwich coming in from Detroit, I lean toward thinking that the Chiefs would love to bolster their offense. So I?m going WR here with Craig Bragg. He?s not a great WR, but he will be above average in speed, agility, and acceleration and a favorable skew could even bring more than that. Stallworth is clearly the Chiefs #1 guy and Riley could be comfortable with Porter at #2 but Bragg would bring a nice dimension out of the slot.

#23- OT-Pete McMahon
The Broncos love SPD and AGI in their offensive lineman and McMahon has both plus he?s strong. I just don?t buy the idea of Hamilton playing at OT. He?s just not high enough quality to play OT in my opinion. McMahon could play well out of the gate for Tom and he needs that. My guess is that he would be eligible for training camp and plus with preseason I think he could be ready to go. He?s a legit good offensive lineman in a deep draft in that area.

#24- FS-Brodney Pool
Breck is going to try and trade out of this pick because well that?s what he does. But for sake of argument if he were to stay here then the needs are SS, FS, C, and OLB. The best value at one of these positions would be at C. There are legit good players there but it?s not a major position in Madden. He could go OLB, but he?d have to settle for a non-athletic guy or one without strength, which he may be OK with. He also needs safeties. It?s not a great class for them so?

I am leaning toward FS-Brodney Pool for the Panthers. He?s got good AWR and overall is a pretty good player. I think Breck would prefer 1 or 2 more in speed but he can always use activity points for that.

#25- OT-Rob Petitti
The Raiders have been quietly stacking their team this offseason. The Jeff Garcia move was impressive and adding Reggie Williams is also a good thing. They are sitting at 25 with their pick ready to add to a team looking like a title contender. I think they go OT here with Rob Petitti. He?s another excellent OT in this draft. If he were a little faster I think he?d be the Broncos guy, but since he isn?t the Raiders gladly take him here. I think he can start particularly with the veteran Garcia as the team?s signal caller. This pick just looks like it fits.

#26- CB-Mike Hawkins
The Colts have the offense to win titles and they have a pretty decent defensive line as well though Freeney and Brock should switch sides and I?m frankly not sure why they haven?t. But the key issue for the Colts is the secondary. They have no talent at FS and they have one CB that can play. So I think the right guy here for the Colts is CB-Mike Hawkins. He has good size and speed and though he is raw in terms of AWR the Colts have trotted out guys with worse AWR so I think they will be thrilled to have him in their lineup.

#27- OT-Jon Dunn
The Vikings have back-to-back picks here at 27 and 28. The first of those two sees them filling their opening at RG with a converted OT in Jon Dunn. Dunn lacks good STR but he has great AWR and blocking skills and is pretty athletic too. The Vikings value the athleticism and with such a deep draft they are able to see several linemen go off the board and still get a good one here at 27.

#28- CB-Bryant McFadden
The Vikings had major problems in the playoffs last season due to two starting CB?s going down due to injury. They have some terrible players playing in major situations and they would prefer not to have that happen again this season. They?ve brought in veteran Troy Vincent as well as Yohance Scott who the teams hopes will be a star in this league (once he gets some help from activity points), but they still could use another decent CB just to make them feel happy. McFadden is that guy. Now he has low AGI and ACC, but the Vikings think his skew may be favorable and they are willing to take a risk here. The other thing the Vikings could do here is to trade down, which is also an option.

#29- CB-Stanley Wilson
The Patriots are a title contending team for sure and I think they look in the same direction as the Vikings just looked, which is CB. Stanley Wilson would fit nicely in the Patriots veteran secondary. He?s got good speed, acceleration, and catch just needs some awareness and to learn how to tackle. With the Patriots offense setup the way it is, the key to winning the Super Bowl this year in New England will be keeping other teams from scoring.

#30- OT-Ray Willis
The Dolphins have two needs that I can see RG and RT. They have two late round picks and it would seem like they can address both of these needs with these two picks. I think the first selection would be to go with Ray Willis at RT. He?s a touch raw in AWR but that shouldn?t bother the Dolphins. He?s a good OT other than that and has great blocking skills for being a rookie. He could slide into that spot and start immediately.

#31- MLB-Lofa Tatupu
The Buccaneers have legit needs having lost a ton of players to free agency. They desperately need help at MLB and Tatupu while a little slow has great AWR and TAK to play immediately. I also think that the skew could be kind to him which would make this pick even better.

#32- OG-Dan Buenning
The Super Bowl Champions finish off the first round of the draft by selecting their starting OG in Dan Buenning. He lacks a little strength but has everything else including above average AWR and blocking skills. There are a couple of other players that the Dolphins could look at to fill this position, but Buenning is probably the best.