4.24.2012

Jace's 2012 NFL Mock Draft

Hello, Jace here. Below is my final 2012 NFL Mock Draft (baring any trades, etc.). Feel free to critique and or give your thoughts as well on how YOU think the draft will go. Happy MOCK DRAFT season!!!

1. Indianapolis – QB Andrew Luck, Stanford *BUST POTENTIAL*
No surprise. Still sad to see Peyton Manning leave town, but with Luck being as hyped as he is there’s no way that the Colts would’ve passed on him.

2. Washington – QB Robert Griffin III, Baylor
No brainer. When ‘Sexy Rexy’ Grossman is your quarterback, you know you have problems. To be honest with you, there’s less than a handful of teams that I could see RG3 succeeding on and Washington just happen to be one of those teams. It’ll be nice to see the ‘Skins with a legit QB since light-years ago.

3. Minnesota – OT Matt Kalil, USC
I had the Vikings taking Kalil or wideout Justin Blackmon. Kalil is the smart pick obviously and after signing Jerome Simpson (another garbage WR the Vikings think will help their team) it’s clear that they either will take the USC tackle, or it seems they may even be trading this pick.

4. Cleveland – RB Trent Richardson, Alabama
Safe pick here, but they need help many places. They have no legit running back on this squad at all and debating Blackmon makes sense but they did just snag Greg Little last year and he’s shown some promise for his future.

5. Tampa Bay – CB Morris Clairborne, LSU
Could go defensive line here but the Buccaneers haven’t been having good luck there lately with picks. Ronde Barber will probably retire after the year and Clairborne may just be the best NFL ready prospect in the draft. Vikings could take him at #4 though too.

6. St. Louis – WR Justin Blackmon, Oklahoma St.
They need help on defense, especially at linebacker. Jeff Fisher kind of likes going with offensive playmakers though, and the best one available fills a big need as well. Blackmon can be a premier wide receiver in the NFC and Bradford could really use a solid #1 WR.

7. Jacksonville – OLB Melvin Ingram, South Carolina
I had them taking DE Quinton Couples before but after thinking about it I believe outside linebacker is a bigger weakness and landing the top ranked OLB will help sure up the Jaguar defense. Wouldn’t be surprised if they went o-line or d-backfield here too.

8. Miami – QB Ryan Tannehill, Texas A&M  *BUST POTENTIAL*
If someone (or the Dolphins for that matter) doesn’t trade up for him before hand I think the Dolphins will take him here seeing how they missed out on the Manning and Matt Flynn sagas. I guess Donovan McNabb and Drew Bress (maybe :P) are still available…kidding. I think Tannehill will be a bust but it makes sense in Miami.

9. Carolina – DT Fletcher Cox, Mississippi St.
The Panthers could use a solid wideout, but with the success the offense still had last year I think it’s more reasonable to address the depleating defense.  With Ingram off the board I think they’ll address the d-tackle position. They’re pretty weak there and it’ll be between Cox and LSU’s Michael Brockers.

10. Buffalo – OT Riley Reiff, Iowa *BUST POTENTIAL*
They just lost their tackle to the Eagles and really have no one there. This has to be a no brainer to go after a tackle and Reiff is the best one available. Hopefully he doesn’t turn in to another Hawkeye alum, Robert Gallery.

11. Kansas City – Dontrai Poe, Memphis
A lot of mock’s have the Chiefs taking ILB Like Kuechly, and I can see that, however their defensive line can’t produce much of anything and to be honest I kind of the like the linebacker core there already. Poe is a big guy who can play the 3-4 nose and hopefully can help Kansas City out.

12. Seattle – ILB Luke Kuechly, Boston College
Seattle needs a star in the middle and boy do they lack talent in the middle. If Kuechly can fall to them I expect the Seahawks to snag this stud.

13. Arizona – WR Michael Floyd, Notre Dame *BUST POTENTIAL*
There’s little in Arizona for Kevin Kolb to throw to. They need someone to complement Larry Fitzgerald and Michael Floyd could be that guy. If they don’t go receiver look for them to address the offensive line.

14. Dallas – SS Mark Barron, Alabama
I had them going defensive line before but they've lost quite a bit on defense ranging from Terrance Newman, Bradie James, to an unsigned 'I give up deep balls' Gerald Sensabaugh. They need help especially in the secondary and Barron could be the next elite safety in the league and to be honest I could see him being a ‘star’ in Dallas.

15. Philadelphia – DE Quinton Coples, North Carolina
The defense in Philly has lost its swag and needs someone to come in and help get it back. They may address the injury plagued offensive line, but I think they’ll go with Coples here.

16. New York (J) – DT Michael Brockers, LSU
I think Rex Ryan is done screwing around and wants to have the dominate defense every game. As much as I think they could go receiver here with some good ones available yet, I think they take the best 3-4 lineman available yet in Brockers.

17. Cincinnati – OG David DeCastro, Stanford
Steal here for the Bengals who need help on the offensive line. If DeCastro lasts this long he could make an immediate impact on the tiger line.

18. San Diego – OT Cordy Glenn, Georgia
I had them going defense before but a couple free agent signings later I think its best they address the offensive line and protect ‘crybaby’ Phillip Rivers. Glenn is the next best tackle available and could step in and start in his first season.

19. Chicago – OT Jonathan Martin, Stanford
I think it’ll be between Martin and Wisconsin’s Peter Konz here. Offensive line play has been Chicago’s Achilles heel the last couple of years. Gabe Carimi, last year’s first round pick, is coming off injury so getting some help is very beneficiary for the ‘Da Bears.

20. Tennessee – CB Stephon Gilmore, South Carolina
They need help at cornerback, even before Cortland Finnegan left for St. Louis. If Gilmore is gone by this point then they’ll still go CB I think.

21. Cincinnati – WR Kendall Wright, Baylor
Yes, I know they took A.J. Green last year, but they have nothing else to go alongside him. Jordan Shipley is coming off injury and is a great slot receiver. To get a great speed deep threat in Wright will make this offense extremely dangerous.

22. Cleveland – OLB Whitney Mercilus, Illinois *BUST POTENTIAL*
With addressing offense with their first pick, they need to get help on the defense. So many holes to fill for the Browns and Mercilus can help right away with the defense.

23. Detroit – CB Dre Kirkpatrick, Alabama
They need help at corner. If not there they need to help the inside of the offensive line.

24. Pittsburgh – ILB Dont’a Hightower, Alabama
Steelers need offensive line help but they need to get young and have depth at linebacker and Hightower can be a steal here.

25. Denver – DT Jerel Worthy, Michigan St.
I think this could be a spot where Stanford’s tight end Coby Fleener may go, but based off the Broncos free agent signings it seems defensive tackle is more of a need right now. Worthy was very productive for the Spartans and can help anchor that line.

26. Houston – DE/OLB Courtney Upshaw, Alabama
Could go wideout here but boy do they need some guys on defense. The offense did pretty good last year with a 3rd string QB, so adding Upshaw to that defense makes more sense to me.

27. New England – DE Nick Perry, USC
The Patriots defense has been horrible the last couple of seasons. Can you name a DE on their team? They need to address that right here.

28. Green Bay – OLB Shea McClellin, Boise St.
No one here that is worth taking at safety so I think they’ll add depth at linebacker. I think Thompson realistically will trade down, or shock us by taking tight end Fleener if he’s available to be honest with you.

29. Baltimore – C Peter Konz, Wisconsin
I could see them taking a defensive end here as well, but Matt Birk is filthy old and they could use help at guard and Konz could play both if needed. Good pick for the Ravens here.

30. San Francisco – DT Devon Still, Penn St. *BUST POTENTIAL*
Best value at a position where they could use upgrade.

31. New England – SS Harrison Smith, Notre Dame
Here’s another spot to help the defense out a bit. Smith is best ranked SS available, could be a steal for the Pats.

32. New York Giants - RB Doug Martin, Boise St.
A lot of people have Fleener going to the Giants if he were to be there, but they still have their TE’s from last year (when they won the Super Bowl) and signed Martellus Bennett from Dallas, so I think that position isn’t as big of a need a running back is seeing as Brandon Jacobs signed with 49ers.

4.21.2012

Welcome to Sport n00bs!

Welcome to Sport n00bs, a blog ran by Jace Bresina and hopefully some other contributors as well. We'll just be posting our own views and predictions from the world of sports. Enjoy and feel free to debate anything as well. :)