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 NCAA Scouting:
Mock Draft V3.0 – 5th April
by Sam Monson & Ben Stockwell
5/4/2008
1) Miami Dolphins Chris Long DE, Virginia (=)
– The pick stays the same for Miami, and is likely to do so unless something dramatic happens between now and the draft. Chris Long might be the best player available in the entire draft, and is the best fit for the new Miami regime.
2) St Louis Rams Jake Long OT, Michigan (+3)
– The Rams really can’t go wrong with this pick. They’re going to have their choice of at least three prospects, all of whom would dramatically upgrade their team. They settle on Long, a successor for Pace, and an immediate upgrade at right tackle if they need it.
3) Atlanta Falcons – Glenn Dorsey DT, LSU (+1)
– The Falcons decide that there is a great chance they can get a QB in the 2nd round, and instead choose to start their rebuilding process by grabbing one of the real impact players available. Dorsey was impressive enough at his pro day to jump back to the top of many people’s boards, and the Falcons will love the disruptive force he can be inside.
 4) Oakland Raiders Vernon Gholston DE, Ohio St. (+2)
– The Raiders go for a pass rush option, which is finally a sensible position to be sinking millions into, after an off-season of splashing the cash everywhere else. Gholston has the kind of measurables that Al Davis loves, and should help take pressure off Derrick Burgess as the lone pass rushing threat. A sleeper pick at this spot would be Jake Long or Ryan Clady, though the Gallery pick must still be casting a big shadow.
5) Kansas City Chiefs Matt Ryan QB, Boston College (-3)
– The Chiefs need help all over their O-line, and Ryan Clady would get strong consideration here, but in the end the Chiefs haven’t yet seen enough from 2nd round pick QB Brodie Croyle to justify ignoring Ryan, the consensus top QB in this draft class. They take him here at 5 and gamble that they can repair the O-line lower down.
6) New York Jets – Derrick Harvey DE, Florida (+2)
– The Jets are in a horrible spot here. Their top guy went to Oakland, and the Jets are terrified of who the Patriots will pick below them. With that in mind, they reach for a guy they’ve heard has caught the eye of the Patriots, and take Derrick Harvey. Harvey is taken as much to keep him out of New England, than because the Jets really like him.
7) New England Patriots (via San Francisco 49ers) Leodis McKelvin CB, Troy (=)
– For the 3rd time running McKelvin is the pick for the Patriots, and it is likely to remain so as long as he’s on the board here. A team famed for putting out a patchwork secondary has taken that ethos to a new level, and they desperately need some kind of upgrade on draft day. McKelvin is the top corner available, and has everything the Patriots want.
8) New Orleans Saints (via Baltimore) Sedrick Ellis DT, USC (-6)
– The Diner makes its first trade prediction here. With Ellis falling, the Saints trade to leap above the Bengals, who would be certain to take him with the next pick. Ellis fills a big hole in the middle of the Saints D-line, and is great value at #8, even if they needed to move up to get him.
9) Cincinnati Bengals Darren McFadden RB, Arkansas (=)
– Having seen Ellis snatched from their grasp, the Bengals are back in the horrible situation of being forced into taking McFadden. McFadden is everything the Bengals don’t want to spend their 1st round pick on: An offensive skill position player, with character concerns. Lewis would love a clean cut defensive standout, but he needs to save his job, McFadden has the talent to do that.
10) Baltimore Ravens (via New Orleans) Ryan Clady OT, Boise St. (+3)
– Baltimore could go in a couple of directions here, but decide on taking a player that might be the best left tackle prospect in the draft. Clady has excellent footwork, and would give the Ravens a set of the youngest O-linemen in the league, with big talent across the unit. Ogden needs replacing, and Clady can battle with Adam Terry and Gaither for the job.
11) Buffalo Bills Mike Jenkins CB, South Florida (-1)
– Buffalo filled a lot of their holes during free agency, and find themselves with a nice position of being able to pick the best player available to them at a number of positions. They end up going for Jenkins, a tough, physical man-corner who can challenge for playing time immediately, and will help them eventually find that number one corner they lost in Clements.
 12) Denver Broncos – Keith Rivers LB, USC (+19)
– The Broncos are desperate for DT help, but they don’t see any value in the position here. They also strongly consider Chris Williams from Vanderbilt here, but in the end they go with Rivers, the top LB prospect in the nation, and a guy who should step in and make an impact right away in the Broncos defense. If they can get some bodies in front of him in the lower rounds, this will look like a great pick.
13) Carolina Panthers Chris Williams OT, Vanderbilt (+6)
– Carolina still has a spot that needs filling on their O-line, and whilst Wharton is locked up, they would prefer to move him inside to Guard if they can. Williams is a guy with great footwork who has legitimate left tackle potential. That position is too tough to find in the NFL for the Panthers to pass on here.
14) Chicago Bears Jeff Otah OT/OG, Pittsburgh (=)
– The Bears could look to upgrade pretty much anywhere with this position – their offense is currently led by Kyle Orton, Cedric Benson and Marty Booker at the skill positions but the bottom line is nobody they do get in is going to succeed until they fix the O-line. Otah is a dominant player, and provides a lot of position flexibility, which could be handy in the early stages of the rebuilding process.
15) Detroit Lions Rashard Mendenhall RB, Illinois (=)
– The Lions snap Mendenhall up, a player still thought of by some as the top running back available in the draft. Mendenhall has the size to be the bruising back that Marinelli and the new Offensive Coordinator will crave, but also has proven speed, and could be a real workhorse in the new look Detroit offense.
16) Arizona Cardinals Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie CB, Tennessee St. (=)
– The Cardinals would be over the moon with this pick. In need of some secondary help, they find a player with limitless potential available. Rodgers-Cromartie has more upside than any corner in the draft, and has been flying up draft boards since the season ended. The Cardinals would take him here as a value pick if nothing else.
17) Minnesota Vikings Phillip Merling DE, Clemson (=)
– The Vikings can’t pass on Merling here. In desperate need of DE help before Udeze went down, they have done little to fix the situation so far this off-season, and definitely need to add bodies during the draft. Merling is the best player left at the position, and might be the best fitting in the short term, as he’s a big, tough DE who could start on one side allowing the Vikings to generate rush from 2nd and 3rd year players Ray Edwards and Brian Robison on the other side.
18) Houston Texans Branden Albert – OT/OG, Virginia (+5)
– Houston were eyeing up Jonathan Stewart before news of his surgery made him too risky to select this high. With that in mind Houston throw the draft a curve-ball, selecting a guard, but a player that many believe has the skill to kick out to left tackle, and some even believe is the second best left tackle in the draft.
 19) Philadelphia Eagles DeSean Jackson WR/KR, California (+5)
– The Eagles make a lunge for the playmaker that Donovan McNabb has been calling for all off-season. DeSean Jackson provides electric speed, along with an instant upgrade in the return game. He may be undersized, but he’s shown enough explosion to get drafted highly, even if he shouldn’t.
20) Tampa Bay Buccaneers Limas Sweed WR, Texas
(-9)
– Tampa decides to go for an offensive playmaker, and have a choice of WRs. They end up taking most people’s top WR. Sweed has a big body, but has shown speed to go along with his size, and anything that gives Jon Gruden an opportunity to take playing time away from Michael Clayton is going to be seen as a good thing in Tampa.
21) Washington Redskins Lawrence Jackson DE, USC (=)
– Lawrence Jackson is a player who had a stinking Senior Bowl week, and has led scouts to try and discover whether that’s a true indication of his skill, or if there’s another reason for it. He looked athletic and mobile at the Combine, and the Skins take him here hoping his Senior Bowl week was just a bad day at the office.
22) Dallas Cowboys (via Cleveland Browns) Aqib Talib CB, Kansas (=)
– The Cowboys are currently working to acquire troubled Titans CB, Pacman Jones, but even if they do, they can’t realistically count on him for anything longer than a year, and so they take a corner in the first round. Talib has big potential, and excellent ball-skills, but plays with some inconsistency, and that’s why he’s available this low down.
23) Pittsburgh Steelers Gosder Cherilus OT, Boston College (New Entry)
– Pittsburgh was hoping to find Branden Albert available when they picked, but instead they take the next best O-lineman. Cherilus is a big, mean, dominate lineman who will help bring the mean streak back to the Steel City’s line. Cherilus may not have left tackle prospect, but he is the best pure right tackle available in the draft, and could potentially slide inside to Guard.
24) Tennessee Titans Devin Thomas WR, Michigan St. (New Entry)
– Devin Thomas is the Combine phenom ion 2008. Every year there is one player who has such an outstanding workout that they soar up draft boards. This year it was Devin Thomas, and he finds himself being selected as the answer to Tennessee’s receiver issues. Thomas has big potential, but still has a lot of question marks, so this is a risky pick.
25) Seattle Seahawks Fred Davis TE, USC (=)
– Seattle will have a choice here, but in the end settle on Fred Davis, who could be a better version of what Marcus Pollard was earlier in his career. He would instantly provide the receiving threat from the TE position that Mike Holmgren has been looking for for years, and Seattle aren’t really concerned about his blocking prowess.
26) Atlanta Falcons (via Jacksonville) Brian Brohm QB, Louisville (New Entry)
– The Falcons take this opportunity to jump back into the 1st round and snag the QB they’ve targeted all along. Brohm isn’t far behind Ryan on the Falcons draft board, and they use one of their 2nd round picks, along with their 3rd to ensure they get him. The Falcons leave the 1st round with their franchise QB, AND a player that many regard as the top player in the draft.
27) San Diego Chargers Jonathan Stewart RB, Oregon (-9)
– The Chargers are a team without many holes, and they’ve proven they can be relied upon for interesting picks as of late. They decide to stop Stewart’s fall, and take their replacement for Michael Turner a little earlier than most expect. Stewart is a bona fide top talent, and the Chargers just find the value too good to pass on.
 28) Dallas Cowboys Jamaal Charles RB, Texas (New Entry)
– Dallas gets a running back, but it’s neither of the Arkansas alumni that everybody has been predicting for so long. Charles is the definition of big-play ability, and provides the kind of home-run threat to play perfectly alongside the bruising style of Marion Barber III.
29) San Francisco 49ers (via Indianapolis Colts) Malcolm Kelly WR, Oklahoma (-9)
– San Francisco were always going to struggle to find great value with this pick, that was until Malcolm Kelly began to slip because of injury concerns. The 49ers don’t care, and take a guy with top 15 talent at #29 overall.
30) Green Bay Packers Antoine Cason CB, Arizona (=)
– The Packers take a corner that fits their system better than Brandon Flowers, and consider it excellent value at #30 in the draft. Depth behind Woodson and Harris is a major concern, and if Cason is available here, the Pack would find it tough to pass on him.
31) New York Giants Kenny Phillips S, Miami (New Entry)
– The Giants might be the Superbowl Champions, but they are far from a team without holes. They select Kenny Phillips, the top safety in the draft, to address their secondary concerns. Phillips is a guy who many see as having first round talent, but his final season at Miami has allowed him to slip into the Giants lap.
– New Orleans trade #10 overall and their 3rd round pick to move to #8 overall from Baltimore
– Atlanta give their top 2nd round pick #34, and their 3rd round pick #68 to move into Jacksonville’s slot at #26.
ROUND TWO
1. (32) Miami Joe Flacco QB – Delaware
2. (33) St. Louis Mario Manningham WR – Michigan
3. (34) Jacksonville (from Oakland, via Atlanta) Calais Campbell – DE – Miami
4. (35) Kansas City Sam Baker OT – USC
5. (36) New York Jets James Hardy WR – Indiana
 6. (37) Atlanta Brandon Flowers CB Virginia Tech
7. (38) Baltimore Justin King CB Penn St.
8. (39) San Francisco Quentin Groves DE/OLB – Auburn
9. (40) New Orleans Dan Connor LB Penn St.
10. (41) Buffalo Early Doucet WR – LSU
11. (42) Denver Kentwan Balmer DT North Carolina
12. (43) Carolina Trevor Laws DT Notre Dame
13. (44) Chicago Chad Henne QB – Michigan
14. (45) Detroit Anthony Collins OT – Kansas
15. (46) Cincinnati Pat Sims DT – Auburn
 16. (47) Minnesota John Carlson TE Notre Dame
17. (48) Atlanta (from Houston) Carl Nicks OT – Nebraska
18. (49) Philadelphia Reggie Smith S – Oklahoma
19. (50) Arizona Felix Jones RB – Arkansas
20. (51) Washington Eddie Royal WR Virginia Tech
21. (52) Tampa Bay Patrick Lee CB – Auburn
22. (53) Pittsburgh Earl Bennett WR – Vanderbilt
23. (54) Tennessee Cliff Avril DE – Purdue
24. (55) Seattle Chilo Rachal OG – USC
25. (56) Green Bay (via Cleveland) Martellus Bennett TE Texas A&M;
26. (57) Miami (from San Diego) Charles Godfrey CB – Iowa
 27. (58) Jacksonville Andre Caldwell WR – Florida
28. (59) Indianapolis Jerod Mayo LB – Tennessee
29. (60) Green Bay DaJuan Morgan S NC State
30. (61) Dallas Dexter Jackson WR Appalachian St.
31. (62) New England Curtis Lofton LB – Oklahoma
32. (63) New York Giants Erin Henderson LB Maryland.
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