Mile High Final Mock

TheRickestRick · 2012-04-20T14:46:06-07:00

As Bruce Buffer would say to get your blood pumping before a championship fight... "It's Time!" The draft starts in less than a week and after countless hours of procrastinating by watching and reading about draft prospects it's time to post up or shut up so that draft opinions can be documented and flaunted in my face when they turn out to be busts or probowlers. Enjoy the debate. Round 1: Bobby Wagner, OLB, Utah State: Whaaaaaaa? No Fleener or Hill/Randle... I wanted it to be Fleener just because of how much he would force defenses to adjust, but I don't see us trading as high as we need to go to get Fleener in the late teens/early 20's. I also dont see us grabbing a receiver this early to sit on the bench behind Moss and Manningham, and the guardspot has enough competition already to ignore that position this early. Now onto Wagner, lets face it... if we want to keep an elite passrush we need 3 OLBs, not just two. On top of that he is athletic enough to be a beast both inside and outside and keeps lineman from getting hands on him(see his game against auburn). Baalke will also have a gold helmet by his name for being a four-year starter, two-year captain and three-time All-WAC honoree. A LB Core of Smith, Willis, Bowman, Brooks with Wagner in rotation... good luck! A poor man's Von Miller, who may be a questionable pick at first but once he steps on the field will silence any doubters. Round 2: Brian Quick WR, Appalachian State: At 6'4 220 with 4.5 speed and great hands, he will be the big man we've been looking for on the outside with quickness to be a threat underneath. He will be one of the steals of the draft and is very underated. Additional bonus...pleases Niner fans by knocking KW off the roster in camp competition while given a year to learn as a backup and add to our red zone package. Round 3: Robert Turbin, RB, Utah State: Lets face it, Gore isnt getting any younger and Jacobs can be kind of a b*tch sometimes...enter Turbin, who wont be practicing his dance moves on his way to hitting the hole. 1st 3 round recap: possible perennial allstar and OLB depth, check, Big receiver for redzone help, check, Thick RB third down help, check... if only it were this easy in reality! Round 4: Derek Wolfe, DE, Cincinatti: Big East defensive player of the year, who is a workaholic and will provide explosive depth... led his conference in TFL's and is just now coming into his own. Round 5: Ryan Miller, OG, Colorado: At 6'7 and 321 pnds, he has tackle size but nimble feet. The scary thing about Miller is that he is still getting used to his size as he came out of highschool around 6'4 287. Average pass protector but its the run game where this man excels, and he... will... hurt... people. Put up 32 reps at the combine and his strength translates to the field. I saw every single CU home game this past season, and our line was terrible with the exception of Miller. Who I spotted routinely dominating tackles like Ta'amu among others. Hidden Gem who can be another swing G/T depth while developing. Round 6: Justin Bethel, S, Presbyterian: Two-time Big South Special Teams and Defensive Player of the Week as a Buck Buchanan Award finalist and a FCS College Football Performance Award DB, National DB and National Defensive Performance Award winner....Baalke's standard late round DB from a no name school, one of the top defensive playmakers at the FCS level and special teams standout after becoming the all time blocked kicks leader of his school. Round 7: William Vlachos, C, Alabama: Smart, heady player who is limited to the center position in the NFL, but is scrappy and tough. Played against top competition in the SEC and uses his leverage advantage (he's short) well. Won't dress his rookie year as long as Goodwin is active, but perfect spot to start bringing possible replacements up to the NFL level to see if we need to spend a high pick on a starter-ready center next year.

Apr 20, 2012 at 2:56 PM

niners9
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Posts: 1,286

Well I can't say I know much about Wagner. But I don't want him for the same reason I don't want fleener, no need to draft a OLB in first to sit behind a stud OLB. We already have a ton of money invested at the LB position. If u want to keep good depth then just resign haralson. I'm not against drafting an OLB, but it's only for depth. Would this guy ever beat out brooks? If so then why would we have given him that money in FA. I do like your other picks, but I expect a 1st rounder to be an eventual starter not a guy off the bench.

Apr 20, 2012 at 3:11 PM

LasVegasWally
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Posts: 24,898

I like the plaers you selected.

I think we could trade back and pick Wagner. I wouldn't go w/him in the first.

Really like Quick & Turbin.

I also like Wolfe. Do you think he'll be there in the 4th? I also like Winn.

Bethel is tough as nails.

Apr 20, 2012 at 3:18 PM

TheRickestRick
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Posts: 10,450

Originally posted by niners9:
Well I can't say I know much about Wagner. But I don't want him for the same reason I don't want fleener, no need to draft a OLB in first to sit behind a stud OLB. We already have a ton of money invested at the LB position. If u want to keep good depth then just resign haralson. I'm not against drafting an OLB, but it's only for depth. Would this guy ever beat out brooks? If so then why would we have given him that money in FA. I do like your other picks, but I expect a 1st rounder to be an eventual starter not a guy off the bench.

I dont consider it a depth pick, and this guy will eventually beat out Brooks. He ran 4.4's at his proday shortly after recovering from pnuemonia, and has long arms with violent hands to keep lineman off of him. Think an unrefined Von Miller with the same great intelligence and work ethic. If Aldon gets injured at all this defense's passrush takes a giant step back. This pick makes the D better for the long term while ensuring there is minimal drop off in talent in the short term.

Apr 20, 2012 at 3:23 PM

IdahoNiner
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Posts: 9,543

Like the Wolfe and Bethel picks. However i think they will both be gone before the positions you have them in.

In my Mock i have Bethel in the 5th, and feel theres a slight chance could be gone even before then.

Apr 20, 2012 at 3:25 PM

TheRickestRick
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Posts: 10,450

Originally posted by LasVegasWally:
I like the plaers you selected.

I think we could trade back and pick Wagner. I wouldn't go w/him in the first.

Really like Quick & Turbin.

I also like Wolfe. Do you think he'll be there in the 4th? I also like Winn.

Bethel is tough as nails.

Honestly, I didn't want to do a mock with trades because that tends to make things a pipe dream. But had I made it like that I would definately have traded back to pick up a 4th/5th, and then have scenario A: Wagner, then scenario B if Wagner got picked: Harrison Smith or Shea McClellin if he were still there somehow.

I think Winn goes before Wolfe, and wont be there at our pick. Wolfe is flying under the radar enough and is considered a worker more than athletically gifted, so was thinking that he falls to us for a good value pick.

Apr 20, 2012 at 3:28 PM

niners9
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Posts: 1,286

Originally posted by 5280High:
I dont consider it a depth pick, and this guy will eventually beat out Brooks. He ran 4.4's at his proday shortly after recovering from pnuemonia, and has long arms with violent hands to keep lineman off of him. Think an unrefined Von Miller with the same great intelligence and work ethic. If Aldon gets injured at all this defense's passrush takes a giant step back. This pick makes the D better for the long term while ensuring there is minimal drop off in talent in the short term.

Your right, if aldon gets injured then our defense will take a step back. But thats not how u should draft, especially in the 1st round. I'm not saying Wagner won't be a good pro. But we already have the best LB corps in the league. IMO our 1st round pick could be better used. If u want to go D and pass rush, then maybe dline would be a better option.

Apr 20, 2012 at 3:30 PM

JustinNiner
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Posts: 6,762

i wasnt high on taking a OLB in the first 3 rounds but thats true that we need a better rotation of OLBs. that sounds like a reach tho...we will probably go BPA if we cant trade down

Apr 20, 2012 at 3:31 PM

TheRickestRick
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Posts: 10,450

I agree that Bethel may be gone before that round, probably the biggest stretch of the imagination in my mock, but everything I've seen had him slotted from the 5th to 7th so I took off the san jose st. safety I had on the mock originally and put him on as the one "hope he falls" pick.

Apr 20, 2012 at 3:38 PM

TheRickestRick
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Posts: 10,450

Also on the Wagner pick... I do think he is BPA. It's not a popular opinion but everything on this guy impresses. Then he went and backed it up with an outstanding senior bowl. Also I tend to consider the late 1st round more like the 2nd round as there arent 31 players with first round talent, so I try to find the guy that may have been a little unnoticed look at the knocks on him and see how it'll translate to our systems. The only consistent knock on Wagner is that he was such a stud he basically played wherever he wanted so he doesnt have a defined position. As you can see by his production, when he was given the leeway to roam he produced which IMO shows elite instincts and football intelligence.

Apr 20, 2012 at 3:46 PM

#10

overthemiddle
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Posts: 653

First of all when you draft one of the first considerations is can they compete and crack the first 46, the ones that suit up week to week. Thats going to be hard to do. So that leaves 7 spots on the team that dont suit up. One spot is taken with a QB so that really only leaves you with six spots. I guess what I am getting at why draft 7 when its only probable that four make the team. Draft positions 5-7 are tradeable for future considerations or for trading up purposes. Personaly I see us getting a receiver, or TE if its Fleener, he can play any of the receiver positons thats what people seem to forget about him, OLB, Gaurd, and a BPA and not in that order.

Apr 20, 2012 at 3:47 PM

#11

GhostofFredDean74
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Posts: 30,082

Quite possibly the worst 1st round pick I've seen in any mock. If Wagner was a pass rusher, I would at least understand it...but he's at best a very nice 4-3 weakside LB (which is not our scheme) or a potential 3-4 ILB, in which case using a 1st rounder would be silly (especially since we have a couple of guys named Bowman and Willis as starters, and just re-signed Grant and Gooden as depth).

So you're using a 1st round pick on a position that is completely stacked (ILB) or on a position that he has neither the size or the ability for (3-4 rush linebacker).

What would be more realistic if you wanted a LB here is someone like Andre Branch, Chandler Jones, Shea McClellin, etc., or if they were to fall, guys like Nick Perry and Whitney Mercilus. I could see that as a nice fit as a backup/successor to Brooks, though it might be wiser to address this with a lower pick and go with a development guy.

[ Edited by GhostofFredDean74 on Apr 20, 2012 at 3:54 PM ]

Apr 20, 2012 at 4:02 PM

#12