2014 Mock drafts/Big boards

[S197]

Scout's Take Blog: Draft observations by an ex-NFL player, scout

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap200000 ... ayer-scout

Benjamin is the most interesting of the receivers in terms of where he'll go. I think his poor combine will drop his stock but someone will take a gamble on him. For the Vikings, I really like Martavis Bryant if he can last until the 3rd. Some might say he benefited from defenses keying on Watkins but I think he stands out in his own right. He'd be a great guy to stretch the field in Norv's offense.

[dead_poet]

Benjamin is the most interesting of the receivers in terms of where he'll go. I think his poor combine will drop his stock but someone will take a gamble on him. For the Vikings, I really like Martavis Bryant if he can last until the 3rd. Some might say he benefited from defenses keying on Watkins but I think he stands out in his own right. He'd be a great guy to stretch the field in Norv's offense.

Yeah, but there's reason to be cautious with Bryant. I might be suffering from Joe Web Syndrome, but he probably should've produced better numbers than he did. But his athletic upside is off-the-charts. He ran (unoffically) 4.34 and 4.35 at 6'5/200 and had a 39" vertical. Freakish.

[dead_poet]

McShay Mock 3.0 reax: Vikings

In Todd McShay's third mock draft for ESPN, he has the Vikings taking Oklahoma State cornerback Justin Gilbert with the eighth overall pick. That's certainly a viable possibility -- the Vikings need another cornerback to play opposite Xavier Rhodes, and Gilbert put himself ahead of the pack with his 4.37-second 40-yard dash at the NFL scouting combine. But the nature of this draft, and of the Vikings' needs, means Gilbert is just one of several players who could make sense for the Vikings at No. 8.

http://espn.go.com/blog/minnesota-vikin ... um=twitter

[S197]

McShay Mock 3.0 reax: Vikings
http://espn.go.com/blog/minnesota-vikin ... um=twitter

Wish I could see how his board shook out but I don't like Gilbert at #8. Don't hate it, but don't like it either for multiple reasons. First, he's not even the consensus top corner in the draft. Me personally, I'd take Dennard. Gilbert ran a great 40 but times aren't the end all for corners (as demonstrated by Chris Cook and Josh Robinson) and Dennard while not as fast was plenty fast. Second, I think in terms of free agency, corner looks to be one of the deepest positions with a lot of quality guys going to new teams.

One way Gilbert could be a fit is if the Vikings trade down a couple picks to obtain extra selections later in the draft. If he's still there at, say, No. 10, the Vikings might be very happy to pick him there and add more selections with a trade back. They've moved back into the first round each of the last two years, after making trades to acquire extra picks (and the flexibility to make further moves), and it wouldn't be surprising to see general manager Rick Spielman repeat the move again.

This is the way it should be done if Gilbert is the target although with such a good draft class, I don't know how willing teams will be to trade up. You drop a few spots, you're still likely to snag Gilbert or Dennard. If not, you grab Verrett later who I honestly think will be just as good.

[Eli]

Wish I could see how his board shook out

Pieced together from a few sources, here's McShay's Mock Draft 3.0:

Code: Select all

 1 Houston Texans             Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida
 2 St. Louis Rams             Jadeveon Clowney, DE, South Carolina
 3 Jacksonville Jaguars       Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville
 4 Cleveland Browns           Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M
 5 Oakland Raiders            Sammy Watkins, WR, Clemson
 6 Atlanta Falcons            Greg Robinson, OT, Auburn
 7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers       Khalil Mack, LB, Buffalo
 8 Minnesota Vikings          Justin Gilbert, CB, Oklahoma State
 9 Buffalo Bills              Jake Matthews, OT, Texas A&M
10 Detroit Lions              Mike Evans, WR, Texas A&M
11 Tennessee Titans           Anthony Barr, OLB, UCLA
12 New York Giants            Taylor Lewan, OT, Michigan
13 St. Louis Rams             Calvin Pryor, S, Louisville
14 Chigaco Bears              Aaron Donald, DT, Pittsburgh
15 Pittsburgh Steelers        Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, S, Alabama
16 Dallas Cowboys             Timmy Jernigan, DT, Florida State
17 Baltimore Ravens           C.J. Mosley, ILB, Alabama
18 New York Jets              Marqise Lee, WR, USC
19 Miami Dolphins             Zack Martin, OT, Notre Dame
20 Arizona Cardinals          Darqueze Dennard, CB, Michigan State
21 Green Bay Packers          Eric Ebron, TE, North Carolina
22 Philadelphia Eagls         Bradley Roby, CB, Ohio State
23 Kansas City Chiefs         Odell Beckham, WR, LSU
24 Cincinnati Bengals         Kyle Fuller, CB, Virginia Tech
25 San Diego Chargers         Jason Verrett, CB, TCU
26 Cleveland Brons            Brandin Cooks, WR, Oregon State
27 New Orleans Saints         Morgan Moses, OT, Virginia
28 Carolina Panthers          Kelvin Benjamin, WR, Florida State
29 New England Patriots       Ra'Shede Hageman, DT, Minnesota
30 San Francisco 49ers        Louis Nix, DT, Notre Dame
31 Denver Broncos             Kony Ealy, DE, Missouri
32 Seattle Seahawks           Xavier Su'a-Filo, G, UCLA

Six wide receivers and no mid-late 1st round QBs. Yowza.

[S197]

Pieced together from a few sources, here's McShay's Mock Draft 3.0:

Thanks. With Mack and Watkins off the board, the Gilbert pick looks better. It sure would be nice if the Vikings could trade down to the 10-15 area, lots of quality guys that could help the team (Donald, Ha Ha, Mosley, Dennard, Barr) plus the extra picks.

[saint33]

I would add Jernigan and Pryor to that list as well. I would be very pleased to see us trade back and pick up any of those players (assuming the QBs are gone before we pick). Hopefully someone will be willing to move up even if they know a number of good players will be available when they pick. It's hard to say who might move up, I think the Jets or Dolphins would be in the mix because of their desperate needs for a WR and olinemen respectively, but that might be moving a tad too far back.

[dead_poet]

Analyzing Kiper 3.0: Vikings

In his third mock draft, ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. has a quarterback -- and a headline-grabber, at that -- sliding to the Vikings at No. 8: He's got them taking Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel, as the top three quarterbacks in the draft all slide out of the top three overall picks.

The Vikings would have interest in Buffalo linebacker Khalil Mack, whom Kiper now has projected to go No. 1 overall to Houston, and with the Matt Cassel signing, they are not obligated to take a quarterback with the eighth overall pick. But if Manziel were still there, it might be tough for the Vikings to pass on him, especially since they could pair him with offensive coordinator Norv Turner and Cassel, putting him in a structure where he's able to develop. Manziel wouldn't have to start the first week of the season unless he were good enough to do so, and even if he did, Cassel would give him an experienced quarterback to learn from. It's also worth noting that Turner was the San Diego Chargers' offensive coordinator when they picked Drew Brees; in other words, Manziel's height won't be a red flag in the coordinator's mind.

Drafting Manziel would mean the Vikings would get all that comes with him, though he seemed intent on distancing himself from the Johnny Football persona at the NFL scouting combine. They would also be passing on potential impact players at linebacker or cornerback. But Manziel would give them a dynamic young quarterback to build around -- and would certainly add a jolt of excitement to a fan base that hasn't had much of it at quarterback lately, save for two years with Brett Favre. All told, it's tough to see the Vikings passing on a chance to get a player like Manziel, should the opportunity present itself.

http://espn.go.com/blog/minnesota-vikin ... um=twitter

[dead_poet]

Not a great endorsement of Jim's estranged son:

Overall, Ward has the instincts and skills to be an eventual starting strong safety in the NFL. He lacks ideal size, and the fact that he needs foot surgery will hurt his draft value. I see him as a solid third round type, with the injury potentially dropping him to the fourth.

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/NFL ... erron.html

[Mothman]

Not a great endorsement of Jim's estranged son:
http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/NFL ... erron.html

Thanks for the link. That actually seemed like a very positive assessment to me. Gabriel didn't have much to say about Ward that wasn't positive. The worst of it was the weak points below:

Strong Points – Productive, instincts, run support and tackle, can play man on a slot, zone, ball reactions and hands, range
Weak Points – Has a foot injury that requires surgery and will prevent him from doing any private workouts, lacks ideal size for the position, doesn’t play to timed speed

Players recover from injuries so the foot injury doesn't concern me at all, nor does the difference between his timed speed and his playings peed. he's always looked fast enough to me. His size isn't ideal but I knew that would be a strike against him in evaluations. I like him for the reasons Gabriel listed in the positives above and in his article: Ward's an instinctive playmaker and as you cab probably tell by now, that means a lot more to me than measurables.

[dead_poet]

A few updates.

http://www.dailynorseman.com/2014/3/15/ ... iclebottom

[dead_poet]

Interesting exercise.

Mock draft 4.0: No quarterbacks selected

With the 2014 draft loaded with Pro Bowl-caliber position players and full of question marks at quarterback, I believe we could see more teams pause before selecting a developmental prospect at the top of the draft. Although this would require teams to stick with the premise of taking the best player available, it's an approach that could result in a quarterback failing to come off the board in the first round for the first time since 1996.

Now, I know it's unlikely to happen, but let's take a look at how the draft could shake out if teams avoid reaching for a quarterback at the top of the draft. (Keep in mind that I didn't make any trades in this version of the mock draft.)

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2014/mock-draf ... oks/195603

[Demi]

I think Bucky Brooks took too many hits to the head.

[dead_poet]

Bucky's Big Board 3.0: Clowney still No. 1, Bridgewater falls

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap200000 ... ter_nfl_cb

[Eli]

Bucky's Big Board 3.0: Clowney still No. 1, Bridgewater falls

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap200000 ... ter_nfl_cb

5. Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M, QB
Rise/fall: (+1)
The 2012 Heisman Trophy winner created quite a buzz in NFL circles with a spectacular pro day workout, showcasing his impressive skills and showmanship as a franchise quarterback candidate. A remarkable workout conducted in a T-shirt and shorts must be kept in perspective, but Manziel's play on tape suggests that the NFL game will not be too big for him when he makes the leap to the next level.

I sometimes wonder if these guys write their pieces before #### even happens. It's remarkable just how much sports journalism is totally worthless.