1. Kansas City – Manti Te’o, MLB: When I first started this a week ago, I passed on Te'o because I liked the young MLB the Chiefs had in Jovan Belcher. Unfortunately, that has changed and if ever a team was in need of an emotional leader and someone who knows how to deal with tragedy, it's Kansas City. Te'o fills the hole left by Belcher and gives them a spiritual leader on their defense.
2. Jacksonville – Damontre Moore, DE : Jacksonville's defense is much weaker than their offense. Chad Henne has proven that the offense is able to produce when the quarterback position is manned by a competent signal-caller, so I see the Jags going defense. In this case, I take the most versatile DL available in Moore and hope that Babin and him can create a strong pass rush to help the rest of the defense.
3. Philadelphia – Luke Joeckel, OT: Philadelphia needs offensive linemen if they are moving away from Vick to another quarterback. Here they can take Joeckel and be set at left tackle for the next decade. Not too shabby for a team that isn't too far removed from a playoff appearance and still pretty talented.
4. Oakland – Jarvis Jones, OLB: Originally, I was all set to put Mingo here and give the Raiders a strong DE to line up on the outside of two pretty good defensive tackles. After thinking about it though, there is no way Jarvis Jones drops out of the top four, especially when the team at four is a team known for valuing athletes. Jones will not drop past Oakland.
5. Carolina – Star Lotulelei, DT: A terrible running defense, meet your new Star. Lotulelei drops further than he should have as well, but Carolina won't pass on him at five.
6. Arizona – Chance Warmack, OG: The worst offensive line BY FAR takes the best remaining offensive lineman, even if he is a guard. Warmack will instantly upgrade the Cards line.
7. Buffalo – Johnathan Hankins, DT: Buffalo gets killed by the run, which negates any use Mario Williams provides, as teams don't need to pass. Here the Bills get the next best tackle behind Lotulelei in big Mr Hankins from Ohio State and instantly upgrade their defense.
8. Cleveland – Barkevious Mingo, DE: While I could see Mingo going as high as four to Oakland, the Browns and their fans just need talent on the defensive side. Mingo is the most talented remaining defensive player in my opinion, so Barkevious goes to the fan base most famed for barking in the Dawg Pound.
9. Detroit – Dee Milliner, CB: An offense that can score with the best of the them, but a defense that can't stop teams, especially when they are passing in the final minutes of games. Best way to upgrade that two minute defense: add Dee Milliner to the secondary. The Cowboys did this with Mo Claiborne. I expect similar results in the Motor City.
10. Tennessee – Bjoern Werner, DE: Growing up, the early-2000s Titans always had a strong pass rush and made deep playoff runs on defenses led by the rush. By adding Werner (my personal favorite DE in this draft), the Titans add a great end who immediately makes their defense more feared by offenses around the league.
11. San Diego – Johnathan Jenkins, DT: The Chargers are firing their coach and general manager, so they could have completely different needs come April. If they move away from the 3-4, I doubt they take Jenkins, but assuming they stick with the 3-4, Jenkins is a great NT to put next to Liuget on that defensive line.
12. New Orleans – Sylvester Williams, DT: They need defensive help everywhere, he's the best defender available. No more explanation needed.
13. St Louis – Taylor Lewan, OT: The Rams have two picks and need to upgrade an offense that should be better with Bradford and Jackson in the backfield. I have them adding one lineman and one skill player, so with all the value this early in the draft along the lines, the Rams take the best offensive lineman on the board and put Lewan out left to watch Bradford's blind side.
14. Minnesota – Dion Jordan, DE: The Vikings upgraded their offensive line and there is no value to upgrade at WR, so instead, they grab a physical monster who can step onto an aging defensive line and provide depth to Brian Robison and Jared Allen. It won't hurt to have him learn a thing or two from Allen either!
15. Miami – Kenny Vaccaro, S: The Dolphins are surprisingly talented, as I was blown away by the lack of major holes in this team. One area that did pop out to me was a weak secondary and a skilled playmaker like Vaccaro can really upgrade a secondary in a heartbeat.
16. Dallas – Jonathan Cooper, OG: Worst offensive line in my memory that the Cowboys have ever put on the field. With Tyron Smith and Doug Free at the tackles, the Cowboys aren't terrible, but the interior is just a mess. Cooper will start from day one (hopefully ending the reign of terror Mackenzy Bernadeau has lorded over my life these past few months) and the Cowboys skill positions will thrive as a result.
17. Tampa Bay – Sam Montgomery, DE: A strong showing in Schiano's first season, thanks in large part to the great first draft he had. In a division that stars Cam Newton, Matt Ryan, and Drew Brees, you can never have enough pass rush and Sam Montgomery is too good to let drop any further. Tampa Bay snaps up the other LSU end and looks well on their way to another strong draft.
18. New York Giants – Eric Fisher, OT: An aging offensive line will sooner or later start to falter, and New York can't afford to have their "star" Manning play behind a porous o-line. Eric Fisher would provide depth on the line in case of injury and eventually protect Eli's backside.
19. New York Jets – Ezekiel Ansah, DE: A raw physical beast, he will provide the infusion of talent the Jets need on their pass rush. Add in Rex Ryan teaching a raw young defensive player the ins and outs of his pressure defense and this pick could end up being one we look back at and wonder how he ever dropped so far.
20. Cincinnati Bengals – Alec Ogletree, LB: I called in the big guns for this one and got the pick/analysis from my friend Kyle, a big Bengals fan: "Bengals linebackers are one of the weaker groups as a whole. Howard will be coming off an ACL injury at WILL, Maualuga is going to be a FA
and not worth what he will be asking for, in my opinion, Lawson is aging and terrible on pass coverage and Burfict is playing SAM right now. None of the linebackers we have playing now can cover beyond 15 yards, which is why TEs kill us every week. I drool watching Ogletree play because
21. St
Louis (via Washington) – Justin Hunter, WR: St Louis strengthened the line with their first pick, now they add the more polished of the two Vol receivers to provide another weapon for Bradford to take the pressure off of Steven Jackson. Justin Hunter has the ability to become scary good playing in that dome in St Louis.
he's an instinctual linebacker that has a nose for the football. Draft him, then they could move Burfict to the middle or let Ogletree take it."
NOTE: I have reached the point in the draft where I could conceivably see teams trade down to teams like Kansas City, Arizona, etc in search of quarterbacks. All teams after this point would not surprise me if they traded down, picked up a few extra picks, and instead we saw Matt Barkley, Geno Smith, or Tyler Bray selected at that pick instead.
22. Indianapolis – Corey Lemonier, DE: The Colts absolutely killed it this year with their draft. Andrew Luck, Coby Fleener, T.Y. Hilton, Vick Ballard, and LaVon Brazill have all shown the capability to be quite the talented offense in Indy, and all have done as rookies! Now they need to flip to the other side of the ball, where I have them taking the best available defensive end. Corey Lemonier showed great heart with Auburn this season and may start from day one, but I expect rookie contributions from him similar to this year's rookie class.
23. Pittsburgh – Johnthan Banks, CB: While drafting a quarterback here is soooooo enticing (seriously, no more Charlie Batch!), Pittsburgh wins because they make the strongest team possible. In that vein, I can't see them passing on the Thorpe Award winner, a 6'2" corner from Mississippi State who can help make that defense even more stout than it already is.
24. Seattle – Keenan Allen, WR: Seattle really struck gold with Russell Wilson and now need to provide him with a few more weapons. I'd like to see them trade Matt Flynn for another high draft pick, but this isn't a trade column. Instead, I was stuck choosing between Allen and Patterson at WR and Eifert and Ertz at TE. While another TE to go with Zach Miller would be nice, I believe that a polished weapon like Allen could push Golden Tate and Doug Baldwin to either develop or disappear, either of which is what you want in Seattle.
25. Chicago – Dallas Thomas, OT: A second pick made with help from a friend (Kevin of CL Game Misconduct), who offered the following needs for Chicago: OL, OL, OL, TE. Well then! As much as I wanted to put Tyler Eifert here and make the Notre Dame "fans" of the Chicago area happy, Dallas Thomas seemed like the more pressing need.
26. San Francisco – Zach Ertz, TE: Vernon Davis is great, but adding a second tight end who can be more of a blocking threat would really turn this 49ers offense from good to scary with Kaepernick under center. Add in the fact that Ertz played at Stanford under Harbaugh and knows Harbaugh's offense and this just seems like a match made in heaven.
27. Baltimore – Sheldon Richardson, DT: The Ravens defense is getting older and Ray Lewis' injury this year should scare them silly. I would love to add a linebacker to this team (a couple of B1G linebackers seem like good fits), but Richardson has dropped too far as is and Baltimore is known for taking the best talent, not just the best fit, so I expect them to jump on the defensive tackle from Mizzou.
28. New England – Kawann Short, DT: Kawann Short had a disappointing season this year, like pretty much everyone else did in West Lafayette. Even after such a poor season, I still see a player that could have been a top-5 pick, and New England is known for grabbing those players that nobody else thought was a first round talent. Adding Short to the defensive line will continue to help the Patriots compete as they will start next season with a decade of 10 win seasons behind them.
29. Green Bay – Tyler Eifert, TE: The Packers need offensive talent as always. When Greg Jennings went down this season, it was more obvious than ever how shallow the depth is on the edges. However, no wide receiver and definitely no running back in this draft would make as big an impact for this offense as Eifert would. Jermichael Finley is good but inconsistent, so the addition of Eifert would provide another weapon for Rodgers, another offensive package (2 TE), and motivation to Finley to become a much more consistent performer.
30. Denver – Anthony Barr, LB: The Broncos are looking as good as any team in the NFL this season, and they have Peyton Manning to thank for that. I'm extremely tempted to put a quarterback here for Denver to develop under Peyton the next couple of seasons (Tyler Bray seems like such a great fit), but I feel like Denver would rather make every attempt to win now and as such, grab a player like Barr who could be an instant impact player. While he may not play every down, putting him opposite Von Miller on passing downs would be downright scary.
31. Atlanta – Tank Carradine, DE: Tank Carradine tore his ACL right at the end of Florida State's season and as a result, plummeted in the draft. While there is a major risk in drafting him, there is also a major reward if he returns to form following this injury. If he can return to his old self, the drafting team would get a top-10 talent nowhere near the top of the first round. In my mind, there are only two teams that can take the risk and stash a player for a couple months as he makes his way back: Atlanta and Houston. Atlanta picks first, so they take the shot and could be in for a huge reward.
32. Houston – Cordarrelle Patterson, WR: The other Vols receiver, Patterson is the more raw, more potentially amazing talent. Houston has a ton of weapons as is, but Andre Johnson has shown a propensity for injury and getting a talent such as Patterson to develop over the next couple of seasons could result in a season or two of seasoning before the Texans have their very own Isaac Bruce/Torry Holt or Cris Carter/Randy Moss situation. Will Patterson be that great? No clue, but Houston has built a strong enough team that they can take the risk.
