1st round Ghost mocking

Yes, it's too early and of course some of these guys will rise and fall like the stock market under the Bush administration. But I thought I'd take a stab at this while we all wait for our Super Bowl tickets.


1. Indianapolis Colts - Andrew Luck, QB - Stanford
No questions? Ok, let's move on.

2. St. Louis Rams - Matt Kalil, OT - USC
Fisher choose protection for Bradford over a playmaker.

3. Minnesota Vikings - Morris Claiborne, CB - LSU
Blackmon is tempting, but old CBs (Frazier) like young CBs.

4. Cleveland Browns - Robert Griffin III, QB - Baylor
Will probably have to trade with the Rams to get Griffin, but we'll save that for later.

5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Dre Kirkpatrick, CB, Alabama
Barber is old as dirt and Talib is dumb as a rock.

6. Washington Redskins - Ryan Tannehill, QB, Texas A&M
Major reach, but Shanny sees a lot of Cutler in Tanny.

7. Jacksonville Jaguars - Justin Blackmon, WR - OSU
No-brainer; Gabbert ducks while his buddies celebrate around him.

8. Carolina Panthers - Devon Still, DT - Penn State
Solid pass rush, but their d-line needs a lot of help

9. Miami Dolphins - Courtney Upshaw, DE/OLB - Alabama
Flexible enough to play on his feet or with his hand down.

10. Buffalo Bills - Jonathan Martin, OT - Stanford
Finally time to give Fitzpatrick some help (and more time in the pocket).

11. Kansas City Chiefs - Trent Richardson, RB - Alabama
Teams with Charles to form the NFL's best RB tandem.

12. Seattle Seahawks - Quinton Coples, DE - North Carolina
Coples allows Red Bryant to move back inside at DT

13. Arizona Cardinals - Michael Brockers, DT - LSU
Losing Calais Campbell will be tough, but eased with the addition of Brockers.

14. Dallas Cowboys - Whitney Mercilus, DE/OLB - Illinois
Spencer moves on in free agency, Dallas drafts his replacement.

15. Philadelphia Eagles - David DeCastro, OG - Stanford
Typical Andy Reid pick.

16. New York Jets - Michael Floyd, WR - Notre Dame
Plax not likely to return, so the Jets go big at WR.

17. Cincinnati Bengals (from Oakland) - Zach Brown, OLB - North Carolina
Speedy playmaker to compliment an already stout defense.

18. San Diego Chargers - Riley Reiff, OT - Iowa
Finally solidifies a shaky o-line; Chargers will address pass rush in free agency.

19. Chicago Bears - Alshon Jeffery, WR - South Carolina
Huge playmaker for Cutler.

20. Tennessee Titans - Mark Barron, S - Alabama
Griffin to move on in free agency so the Titans find a new leader for their secondary.

21. Cincinnati Bengals - Janoris Jenkins, CB - North Alabama
Honey Bengals don't care about Jenkins troubles. Eventual replacement for Clements.

22. Cleveland Browns (from Atlanta) - Kendall Wright, WR - Baylor
Sure, he's RG3's buddy, but he's also a major vertical threat. Something Cleveland hasn't had since...actually, I can remember when.

23. Detroit Lions - Chase Minnifield, CB - Virginia
CB with good size/speed and a perfect fit for the dreadful Lions secondary.

24. Pittsburgh Steelers - Dontari Poe, DT, Memphis
Casey Hampton's replacement.

25. Denver Broncos - Mohamed Sanu, WR - Rutgers
Struggled on this one, but he's a big WR in an offense that needs big, tough, fast playmakers on the outside.

26. Houston Texans - Alfonzo Dennard, CB - Nebraska
Eventual replacement for Kareem Jackson.

27. New England Patriots (From NO) - Jerel Worthy, DT - Michigan St.
Finally, the Pats get some youth on the d-line.

28. Green Bay Packers - Nick Perry, DE/OLB - USC
Packers desperate for a pass rusher opposite Matthews.

29. New York Giants - Dont'a Hightower, ILB - Alabama
ILBs just aren't as highly valued in this pass happy league as they used to be; that said, G-Men find a gem.

30. Baltimore Ravens - Luke Kuechly, ILB - Boston College
BPA as usual for Ozzie.

31. New England Patriots - Stephon Gilmore, CB - South Carolina
Continuing to rebuild a patchwork secondary.

32. San Francisco 49ers - Peter Konz, OL - Wisconsin
Well, at least we're picking 32nd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can live with Konz

yea i said before i didnt want a O lineman in the 1st but Konz would be my only exception, esp. with no 1st rd worthy CBs or WRs left

Konz is borderline elite, and like Nick Perry, won't last nearly that long on draft day. Also, "dreadful secondary" for the Lions? Are you sure? Look at their roster, their secondary is full of great young players.

I think at this point, it's a little much to say Upshaw will go top 10.

But as for us, Konz is one the guys I would be ecstatic to have.

Originally posted by RollinWith21n52:

Konz is borderline elite, and like Nick Perry, won't last nearly that long on draft day. Also, "dreadful secondary" for the Lions? Are you sure? Look at their roster, their secondary is full of great young players.

They were decimated by injuries, but their secondary is terrible outside of a couple guys. Mainly it's filled with inconsistent players. Houston or Delmas is the best player in the secondary, but both of them were hurt too. They could use a new starter at almost every spot.

Detroit could upgrade over their current SS Spievey, inconsistent CB Wright, and fourth corner for sure (Berry and McDonald, just embarrassing).

Like I said, it's early and so many things will happen between now and draft day....not sure anyone can really say with much certainty right now that "so-and-so won't last that long," unless we're talking about a handful of the top-tier guys (Luck, Kalil, Claiborne, Griffin, etc.).

Detroit has some nice young safeties, but their CBs had a tough year and I'm not sure if Eric Wright and Chris Houston qualify as "great." That said, dreadful was an overstatement...it's late and I'm tired.

Oh, and Nick Mangold was considered an elite center prospect as well when he came out, but was drafted 29th overall. Like safeties and ILBs (and OGs, to a certain extent), they're just valued differently than other positions. Still, I could see the Ravens pulling the trigger on Konz as a replacement for Matt Birk.

Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:
Like I said, it's early and so many things will happen between now and draft day....not sure anyone can really say with much certainty right now that "so-and-so won't last that long," unless we're talking about a handful of the top-tier guys (Luck, Kalil, Claiborne, Griffin, etc.).

Detroit has some nice young safeties, but their CBs had a tough year and I'm not sure if Eric Wright and Chris Houston qualify as "great." That said, dreadful was an overstatement...it's late and I'm tired.

Oh, and Nick Mangold was considered an elite center prospect as well when he came out, but was drafted 29th overall. Like safeties and ILBs (and OGs, to a certain extent), they're just valued differently than other positions. Still, I could see the Ravens pulling the trigger on Konz as a replacement for Matt Birk.

Dreadful was an overstatement. So was "great". I think the Lions have some good young players in that secondary, but I'll agree that they wouldn't be crazy to upgrade. Especially having to face Rodgers and Cutler 4 times/year. As for C's, you bring up a good point with Mangold, but I think the trend has been moving toward taking interior linemen earlier, especially with the success of guys like Mangold and Pouncey. That being said, if we draft 32nd (w/o trades) I would be happy with just about anyone.

I'd be shocked if Kirpatrick went that high

Good mock, Ghost.

Good to hear from you Ghost. Just one question on the Eagles pick. You really think Reid will ignore the Eagles glaring needs of DT, LB, and WR to go for Decastro. Tell us why............

Originally posted by m_brockalexander:
Good to hear from you Ghost. Just one question on the Eagles pick. You really think Reid will ignore the Eagles glaring needs of DT, LB, and WR to go for Decastro. Tell us why............

Again, these are all early projections, but I think the Eagles will continue to dip into free agency as they did last year to address their other key needs, because they're in a win-now mode. Plus, Reid tends to really like developing young lineman (offense/defense), and they tend to be less risky in the first round. You can usually plug in an OT/OG or even a DT and get production out of them early on.

So yes, he definitely could go d-line here, but I don't see him using a relatively high pick on a LB or WR (too risky for Reid's taste, IMO).

Not to mention, DeCastro is a stud lineman who will make any offensive line better the minute he walks in to the huddle.

Too early! lets wait and see what free agents we can draw here, then let Baalke pick best available.

Originally posted by HarryPeterson:
Too early! lets wait and see what free agents we can draw here, then let Baalke pick best available.

Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:
Again, these are all early projections, but I think the Eagles will continue to dip into free agency as they did last year to address their other key needs, because they're in a win-now mode. Plus, Reid tends to really like developing young lineman (offense/defense), and they tend to be less risky in the first round. You can usually plug in an OT/OG or even a DT and get production out of them early on.

So yes, he definitely could go d-line here, but I don't see him using a relatively high pick on a LB or WR (too risky for Reid's taste, IMO).

Not to mention, DeCastro is a stud lineman who will make any offensive line better the minute he walks in to the huddle.

Reid has used a 1st rounder on a WR before in Maclin, and honestly, LB is one of the safest picks you can make, they can usually contribute right away. Although I wouldn't be surprised if they did pick up an OL, they did just pick one up last year as well in Watkins.