1.1 - WR Dez Bryant
Jags will look hard at the best CB, WR, OT, and Linebackers. But no one will forget watching Meachum pass by, only to see the Cardinals a Meachum drop away from the SB just last season.
Dez threatens to be Meachum with hands. Putting him across from Osgreat puts this team in any game.
1.2 - MLB Pat Angerer
This is an awkward position. The Bengals have so many picks they can wait on MLB, but none of them are the special SPD/STR beast that Angerer is.
Ray Lewis reincarnated, Angerer has one of the best names and will be the true solver of even the very best HBs in the league. He also has underrated hands and will be one of the best ever to play the position.
1.3 - OT Russell Okung
The Cowboys LOVE the LB talent, but have a ton on the roster already. Ditto for the top-3 CBs as the 'Boys have (gulp)
eight cornerbacks...and are about to lobby to allow them to play out of position at all other positions.
None of that would stop them from going BPA, but Okung's greatness makes this easy. Fast, agile, and otherworldly strong...Okung is the most polished OL in the draft on top of his physical dominance.
1.4 - CB Jerome Murphy
This is where people think I'm going, so gonna post his name and not discuss any others.
Murphy means the Falcons are developing two young CBs instead of one, but also may mean blocking Underwood's development.
1.5 - WR Brandon LaFell
Looking at talent and the team, I would match up CB, WR, or even Ryan Matthews. But WR is the play here with LaFell being one of those unstoppable 6'3" targets that either wins deep, above the rim, or both.
1.6 - FS Eric Berry
The Panthers have some needs, but this looks like where the best FS of the best safety class in the past 4 years is taken. Smart, fast, and a great tackler, Berry is just like his life avatar with zero weaknesses.
The only thing that makes him a question for the top 10 is his ordinary height and ordinary hands. His elite ability to cover space makes that all moot.
1.7 - WR Victor Cruz
There is no chance I nail the draft with this Mock, and even less a chance I get Cincinnati right. The Bengals have so many high picks we'll learn a lot about Brady Tinnin's talent valuations.
Cruz is something this roster doesn't have. Deep speed at WR. Equally considered Cruz and Sanders with the 6'0" Cruz slightly more ready and taller...could be about an equal choice here.
1.8 - DE Carlos Dunlap
The Saints want a backup starting FS and select...
Jokes aside, DE looks like a good idea here for a team that has almost no holes on the roster. Dunlap is the best rusher, and also has good size and strength, and unlike Worilds has ok agility.
Dunlap would be a mid-1st or early-2nd guy if it wasn't for two things. That strength that makes him more than a speed rusher. And the lack of a great speed rusher. For a balanced end, he's a very good one.
1.9 - OLB Keenan Clayton
There are really no bigger speed/athlete snobs than Rock, and I don't say this lightly. Clayton, Gresham, and Emannuel Sanders are who I considered for the Al Davis of the SFL.
Clayton falling this far is possible, but probably only a 30% chance of this. If it happened, Seahawks are that team.
1.10 - QB Sam Bradford
Lions have some work to do on the offensive side. The cornerstones at QB, HB, TE, and WR are who I looked at, with a real difficulty in passing on the WRs.
Bradford is a career top-5 QB in short order...by year 4 or 5 at the latest. 69 AWR, 94 THP, and 85 THA is a fantastic top 1st guy that even in this draft may go as early as 1.1 and if it weren't for the depth of this draft no later than 1.9. With the depth of elite athletes he could fall as far as 1.12, maaaybe 1.15 but I doubt it.
1.11 - OLB Navorro Bowman
Looked hard at CB, but felt better about the talent of Bowman from a BPA/Need perspective.
Bowman is the type to win battles on the edge against FBs and TEs, while having the acceleration to close to the QB for a sack or a HB for a TFL.
1.12 - HB Ryan Mathews
Mathews probably won't fall this late...but SOMEONE will with this much talent.
Patriots are paying over 10M to the shell of LDT. Tomlinson is actually doing great still, but the transition plan to Donald Brown takes a LOT of pep out of the run game. Matthews would be a great heir apparent.
1.13 - FS Nate Allen
Allen is a superb athlete, and an instant upgrade to the Browns secondary. He probably pushed Alexander to SS and roams the deep middle for a very good team.
1.14 - CB Akasi Owusu-Ansah
AOA as people tend to call him, is a strong 6'1" athlete that can compete above the rim with the bigger WRs of the league. He also is a very nice athlete overall and can play as the second starter to a faster CB in this league.
1.15 - OT Trent Williams
Dolphins stop the slide of insane OL talent here at 1.15 with Trent Williams.
Williams is the sort of player that would be the top guy in many drafts, but with Okung around is at best the second guy. Behind him are some faster but less polished linemen with elite strength that could sneak up and get taken first. But Williams will reach his peak much quicker and with his strength will be a flawless OT his whole career.
1.16 - TE Jermaine Gresham
49ers might go OLB, OL...but if Jermaine falls this far this is an easy pick.
Gresham is pretty much a 6'6" version of Tony Gonzalez. Not much of a run blocker, but neither was Tony until later in his career. He'll be a top-5 TE immediately upon being drafted.
1.17 - OT Vladimir Ducasse
Hard to gauge where the Jags go, but Ducasse is the uber-athlete of the OL in this draft when you ignore Okung.
So much to be impressed with, with DE-level Agility and Acceleration may even be someone's idea of a perfect pulling guard. I think he'll stay an OT and the Jaguars would be ecstatic with a guy like him dropping to 1.17. (Did I mention I think more would go by this point?)
1.18 - FS Kam Chancellor
Vikings are terrifying. Not just in history and legend, but in the SFL this roster is terrifying.
One of the only divots I can find is at FS, where Kam would be not just an instant upgrade but a very Vikings presense at 6'3" with surprising movement abilities. Chancellor and Salley would be a very difficult duo for TEs and taller WRs to find production.
1.19 - C Morgan Cox
Kevin needs a C. Kevin needs a special OL
(Kevin may get Mangold back tomorrow)but he may take the 2nd or 1st and bet on Cox, Olsen and Cook...three VERY good centers in this draft.)
1.20 - OLB Roddrick Muckelroy
Fast, good at jumping, Muck has big play written all over him.
Add in his good rookie awareness and he seems a great player just waiting for a team to pick him. Titans get a really good one here.
1.21 - OT Chris Scott
Cincy dips into the OL pool and pulls up a shark. Fast, huge, but strong...Scott is one of those very frequent generational talents here in this league. The development time on this 50-57 AWR guys is the biggest factor, but on day one Scott has an impact in the second level and with his strength.
1.22 - WR Taylor Price
Cowboys go WR here I think. D-Thomas or Eric Decker might be the play, but I'm going to go with the athlete most resembling Andre Johnson.
Price is raw and has his issues, but also super strong and a freaky athlete. A good developmental guy to take over during the second half of his career as a top deep threat that will contribute as a 2nd or 3rd WR with an equally threatening presence.
1.23 - WR Emmanuel Sanders
This could be a CB, but when you look at this roster it's also maybe a WR.
Sanders is an intriguing guy, with Demaryius Thomas another potential selection here.
1.24 - WR Demaryius Thomas
Best attributes, height SPD, and hands.
He could be better at some things as an athlete, but this is still enough to become the key cornerstone for the Browns. It's a crowded WR field, but Thomas instantly becomes one of the top-3 for every game, and in two years is one of the starters even if he doesn't develop quickly.
1.25 - MLB Brandon Spikes
The Urlacher to Pat's Roy Lewis, Spikes is a smooth athlete that is 6'3" and good at everything.
Al Wilson is having his swan song, but this probably doesn't stop the Texans from moving him early or having Spikes play out of position for a year.
1.26 - OT Jared Veldheer
The Raiders love their run game. Veldheer is already better than some of their young OL as a rookie. Looked at OLBs for Oakland as well but settled on this OT.
For a 6'9" dude to run like he does is utterly jawdropping and he'll be a stud guy in this league for a long time.
1.27 - FS Earl Thomas
This is a stacked team. The NFC North is very tough.
There are a few ways to go, but I went for one of the only places Chicago has no elite athletes. FS Earl Thomas' only knocks are that his speed is "good, not great" and he is 5'10."
He however has elite coverage agility and acceleration, along with high-level hands and good strength. He's still in range of being one of the fastest safeties in the league, and a big improvement on Brian (ugh) Russell (blech).
1.28 - WR Eric Decker
I wish I wasn't saying these words, but this NO roster isn't needing too many upgrades.
Eric Decker would be a great upgrade, and heir to the Ashley Lelie role. Without a deep threat from one of the main two WRs, this offense can be met with strength on strength. But with Lelie and then Decker the middle of the field opens up.
With both, one of the two get to run the middle and lose a smaller or slower CB on a post or a curl.
1.29 - DE Jason Worilds
The Ravens are in a BPA position, but also their DEs are aging. I see Jason as a great RE and maybe a LE...can go either way.
He's a cornerstone member of someone's front 7, and the Ravens have a lot of talent in their front 7 that would benefit from the extra strength for stacking and standing his ground. His pass rushing will also be very good with development of awareness.
1.30 - MLB Nate Triplett
Speed, size, strength...these are all a big deal for the Cards front 7.
Their looking for a new MLB at some point in the next couple of years. This is the draft to sit pat and let one fall. Triplett is the 3rd MLB in this mock but is very strong and a great athlete. Almost equally possible here would be Sean Lee (faster, weaker) and Daryl Washington...two near-clones of each other but not the hitting impact we see 'Polo go for at linebacker.
1.31 - OLB Rennie Curran
This guy is 5'11". Otherwise, he is a top-15 pick. Good chance he doesn't fall this far with elite strength, agility, and acceleration.
Curran looks like a Seahawk, but if I was running a 3-4 I would take a HARD look at adding him to the team.
1.32 - CB Walter Thurmond
A speed CB at 5'11", Thurmond is a really nice prospect that is needed for the speed WRs in this league. This is an easy pick this late.
