Pro Football Weekly Mock

I could live with that.

 

I could as well.

 

Adam Caplan's opinion he will slide back during the draft, maybe to rd #3.

Odd thing about this draft, the Qb's are generating no real buzz, typically the hype machine is going overtime on the Qb's so much so Mel Kiper famously had Jimmy Clausen massively overgraded, this yr it seems like a rush to knock the Qb's like Mallet and Locker down, Gabbert seems more like a Scout's choice type of pick, and the "experts" are strangely quite on Cam Newton.

Are we seeing the first rumblings of a 2006 type of draft, heavy on defense just a couple of skills guys going high?

 

I hope it doesnt pan out like that. Mallett isnt a first round guy.

 

I think he's a first round guy who could drop to the 2nd. But still a first round guy.

 

IMO Mallett has the best chance to become the next Leaf. There's also a good chance he'll be no better than Henne. He's more aggressive than Henne, but he also seems to have less leadership along with the fall apart under pressure issues. I also don't see enough mobility to project him ever becoming a franchise guy. I see far too much sketch in him and too little upside to consider Mallett in the first.

 

Everyone can talk about Leaf's attitude, and it was a doozy, but the fact of the matter is his biggest problem was that he couldn't play worth a damn. I think Mallett can play.

 

To me, with Mallet it all boils down to how well he can deal with getting hit by NFL caliber defenders, that is my one question about him. The other thing to keep in mind with Mallet is he has had one "real" Qb coach in College and that was Bobby Petrino.

He could easily hit it off with a Qb coach and launch his career as to me, he has been allowed to get by just on his raw athletic talent, which is no surprise as he more or less was a semi pro athlete in the NCAA system, they did not want to coach him, they just wanted to win with him.

 

This morning Chris Mortensen said he feels Mallet will be a high number one , that the negatives currently being bandied about won't alter the fact that he can really throw and that his positives will overide the negatives, fwiw of course.

 

I think Mallett folds under pressure and that he can only play if he has a great OL, but there's probably many QBs who can be successful under those circumstances. I think in the NFL he will be blitzed mercilessly. He doesn't have the elusiveness or quick feet to extend the play so his only defense is to get the ball out quick. That he can do, but under pressure too many of those passes are inaccurate or go the wrong guy. Those aren't traits I want in my first round QB pick.

 

That might just be because these quarterbacks don't really stack up all that well to prior classes.

 

The problem I have with any Mock Draft this season is they never include trades and I believe the Dolphins are very likely going to either trade up or down.

 

It's because Andrew Luck stayed in school. Plain and simple. If he declared everybody would be saying this is one of the best quarterback classes in a long time.

 

Could be, typically the helmet haired draft commentators are a buzz over Qb prospects, even Pat White was hyped up this time of year..normally.

Here is an example:

Adam Caplan: "Ryan Mallet would not surprise me if he fell to the third round"
Chris Mortensen: "Ryan Mallet will still be a high #1 pick"

Normally the hype machine participants are all on the same page, for example Blaine Gabbert is a clear talent yet things are strangely quite about him and guys like Von Miller and Nick Fairley are picking up buzz and hype.

 

I think it's just still so early in the process. Wait until the combine and workouts start, then I'd imagine the hype will begin.

 

I agree with Sports24/7, particularly JUNIOR and underclassmen QBs really don't receive a lot of 'buzz' around this time because nobody's heard anything from them since their bowl games. You only start to catch up with them more at the Combine.

As for the Seniors...well, there's been PLENTY of buzz about guys like Colin Kaepernick and Jake Locker all during Senior Bowl week (going opposite directions). Last year at this time the only real 'hot topic' quarterback was Tim Tebow, and that is because he was as controversial a QB prospect as Cam Newton, and also happened to be a Senior and made the decision to participate in the Senior Bowl.

This is not a senior QB class that holds any top tier prospects...and actually that's kind of the norm nowadays. So I don't see anything unusual about this QB class compared with other years. And in fact I think it's a stronger QB class than a lot of years I've seen.

 

Cam Newton's media workout is tomorrow. Expect to see him "buzzing up" plenty after that.

 

I don't think they would be saying that merely because Luck declared. Had that happened, then it would be your standard QB class with one elite guy going in the Top 10 and either a steady, "good-but-not-great" guy or a project or two sneaking into the bottom half of the first round. Had Locker not regressed this past season, I think then you could probably say that people would be calling this an above average class. But neither of those two things happened.

 

I disagree with this premise. If Andrew Luck would have declared, he would have been the most slam dunk QB prospect since Carson Palmer, probably since Peyton Manning. Even Sam Bradford was more of a question mark due to his offense and his injury history.

This is an average to above average QB class.

 

This is Above-Average QB Class and Here's Why

There are 7 guys in this draft that all could potentially get espoused as the top QB in the class. There are 7 guys in this class that all could have someone liking that player better than every player in the QB class.

I have Cam Newton, Blaine Gabbert and Ryan Mallett grouped together from a talent/production standpoint as your draft elites, according to my preferences. They're all relatively clean mechanically, no fatal flaws, and all have superlative arm strength with accuracy at distance. They're all winners. They're all huge. They're all productive. They all see the field. They all beat the blitz regularly and show a clear vision for how they will beat it at the next level, one way (Newton) or another (Mallett). They're all aggressive in their throwing depth and their reads. There are character questions about Newton, even stronger character questions about Mallett. The one of the three that has a missing piece of the puzzle, as far as a ball that seems to not be in his arsenal, is Blaine Gabbert, who seems to be awful with the deep vertical at times. The one I like the most is Newton because he shows the strongest accuracy across the variety of different throws a QB has to make, be it the short ball, throwing off the back foot, the deep vertical, the touch throw, the flat ball (rocket), the screen pass. He owns the football better than the other two, and he also handles pocket pressure better than the other two. I also believe he has the kind of gravitas that draws players to him as a leader, though his own immaturity can get in the way of it at times.

After them you have your draft enigmas. They are Jake Locker and Colin Kaepernick. These are the guys that have big arms and good size, even better speed and physical ability that way, can both make BIG plays with either their arm or their legs. They're both four year starters, but what is disturbing about that is after four years they should be cleaner than they are at the moment. There are potentially FATAL flaws in their mechanics. Kaepernick has a big step and long winding delivery that gives him the torque he needs on his passes, but also makes his prospects for throwing from inside an NFL pocket dicey. They rolled him out a lot at Nevada to give him clean looks. I do not believe he beat the blitz well enough at Nevada, nor do I believe he’ll do that cleanly in the pro game. This separates him from the top tier, even though he’s also a winner and also productive from a passing standpoint, just like the three top tier players. He lacks a complete game in his throwing arsenal, like Blaine Gabbert, because he doesn't throw the deep ball well or often. Locker’s potentially fatal mechanical problems are as Mike Mayock has suggested, in his feet. He goes into his throw with his feet too narrow, causing him to overstride, and this could cause some of his inaccuracy. Personally, I think he does that to get the torque he needs on the ball. At this point, I’m not sure it’s correctable. And even if it is correctable, I don’t know that his accuracy will improve enough. Nor do I think he reads defenses very well or sees the field. He’s not a winner. I have seen him crumble under pressure. Of the two, I like Kaepernick better because his potentially fatal flaw doesn’t affect his accuracy, and so I think there is more for a team to work with there.

Aside from them, you have a group of players I believe to consist of Christian Ponder and T.J. Yates. These players are the technicians at the position. They do not possess the supranormal physical gifts of the above two groups, but they also do not necessarily possess the same potentially fatal mechanical flaws of the enigmatic group, nor the character concerns of Cam Newton and Ryan Mallett, nor the lack of deep accuracy displayed by Blaine Gabbert. They can be accurately described as players without significant flaw, but also without significant strength. They will not wow you with their speed or arm strength. They are as prone to mistakes as the players in the top tier. They are as experienced as the two enigmas, Kaepernick and Locker. This is an intelligent group of players that will tend to impress you more by dedication to execution and good mechanics, anticipation, eye use, as well as the accuracy to make every throw at every distance. They have requisite arm strength. They have quick feet. They’re winners. I like Yates better than Ponder because he has a cleaner bill of health, more consistent placement on the deep ball, and I think he’s a little bit less mistake prone than Ponder.

It’s a diverse collection of players and the beauty of it is, depending on what you value in your quarterbacks, someone is going to like every single one better than every single one of the others. Some people are going to like Cam Newton more than any of them (as I do). Some will like T.J. Yates or Christian Ponder the absolute best. Some will like Ryan Mallett the best, as one Draftnik I know does. Some will be in love with Kaepernick, because they love the dual threat but value being a four year starter and a winner with a squeaky clean character record. It’s hard for me to imagine anyone loving Jake Locker more than the others but I know that some scouts really do like him exactly that. And of course, the ‘consensus’ (as much as a sham as that word tends to be) is that Blaine Gabbert is currently rated the best of them all.

That's 7 guys that wouldn't shock me if they became long term pro starters. That's either an average QB class, or my feeling is it's an above-average class. If you KNOW what you're doing with QBs, you should have no problem picking one of these guys.

 

I would prefer this draft, or trade back to get more picks

 

not sure what Coyle is thinking or any draftnik for that matter that has us taking a defensive lineman....Its negligent on their part to suggest..

 

Maybe Deej, but maybe Crowder is waived and Misi moves to ILB and the #15 goes to a OLB who is a more natural passrusher.

But not Jordan, how about Aldon Smith?

 

Small details..

With this Staff, nothing would surprise me, like Roth to Sam, Starks to NT, Clemmons to FS as a starter two Strong Safeties in Bell and Wilson etc.

Though TBH, inquiring about Roth would make more sense, but that won't happen.

 

If Jeff Ireland takes yet another defensive front seven player in the first three rounds of the draft, I would support firing him.

That unit is well-stocked with draft picks and youth. The only question mark there is Channing Crowder, and there’s no need to use basically a first round pick just to replace Crowder, which is what you’re proposing.

Quarterback is by far and away the biggest need on this team.

 

Disagree, we have no secondary passrusher, it is Wake and some other schlubs, the Defense is far from complete.

 

I hear folks say, and its nice to imagine, Misi playing inside that is, but I cant dream like that until I hear some concrete proof...

Aldon is an outside project Pod...very raw, very huge,I mean when his body fills out hes gonna be 270..

There are very few scenarios where I go defense with that 1st pick, and like that thread I wrote, Von Miller is the only guy that I would do that for.. Its either QB, Mark Ingram, or trade down, recoup the 2nd, and select 2 offensive players with your first 2 picks.

Heres where I stand at this point Pod..

First of all, iam gonna do everything humanly possible to get back that 2nd, and I may hurt some feeling doing so..

1} Mark Ingram

2} Colin Kapaernik.

3} Greg Little..

4} Stanly Havili..

5} Colin Mccarthy..

6}Tyrod Taylor..

I know Iam going to have to change my mock up some once the draft gets closer and people realize Tyrod Taylor is one of the most talented football players in it.

 

Misi did not do that badly Pads, especially for a rook. Not to mention 1 star and "some schlubs" worked fine for GB. Not every team has the luxury of having a Woodly AND Harrison, and if they do, they suffer in other areas like the secondary that got torched all game.

 

I got the sense that in 2010 we did not blitz as often as Nolan's D did in Denver, suspect Sparano had much to do with that perception.

Look at it this way, we had Wake with 14 sacks, our #2 guy was Misi with 4.5 and he went 4 games without a sack, clearly we have to improve in that area Tx

 

I think Jones would be a great addition.

 

I would not complain if we drafted him as I think he is a All Purpose yardage beast imho.

 

How does that undersell Bess? He's referencing the fact that Hartline is inadequate as a #2, our depth at WR at #4 & #5 is atrocious, and Fasano & Bess aren't vertical threats. Combined, none of this is beneficial for Marshall or our ground game. His assessment is dead accurate. He said "few options". He didn't say "zero options", and he didn't call Bess out, so I'm not sure of the problem.