A thousand apologies to those of you who have been diligently checking my blog... only to find no new posts. With school responsibilities occupying most of my discretionary time and all of my writing creativity, I - as you know - have been severely slacking. To post something new, to have a documented listing of my predictions (and so it doesn't go to waste), I give you my mock draft which has been in the works for several months. For reasons unbeknownst to me, I have some indefensible fascination with the NFL draft - and have for years. It's actually one of my top-3 favorite sports days of the year. So, yes, I'm an NFL draft nut; and no, I don't really care if you think that makes me a nerd. And while I wish I had Mel Kiper's job, I find him to be remarkably annoying and crazy. Additionally, I can't stand how much people talk about his hair.
To further supplement what you're about to read, these are my predictions for tomorrow's first round selections. The players are ordered as if no trades will occur - the chances of which is essentially zero. Sometimes teams will trade into a slot and choose the player listed; other times a team will trade into that draft slot to take a different player entirely, which will blow up the mock draft. Again, these are predictions and not necessarily what I would do if I were selecting for these teams. In fact, many of these predictions are based too much on logic, which is why it will probably be horribly wrong. Also, economic factors will certainly come into play, but unfortunately I'm not privy to the performance of the NFL owners' investment portfolios. But, in any case, here you have it. Please don't ask how many hours have been put into this - it's far too embarrassing...- Det - Matthew Stafford - QB Georgia
- StL - Jason Smith - OT Baylor
- KC - Tyson Jackson - DE LSU
- Sea - Mark Sanchez - QB USC
- Cle - Aaron Curry - OLB Wake Forest
- Cin - Andre Smith - OT Alabama
- Oak - Jeremy Maclin - WR Missouri
- Jax - Michael Crabtree - WR Texas Tech
- GB - Eugene Monroe - OT Virginia
- SF - Brian Orakpo - OLB Texas
- Buf - Michael Oher - OT Ole Miss
- Den - BJ Raji - DT BC
- Was - Aaron Maybin - DE Penn St
- NO - Malcolm Jenkins - S Ohio St
- Hou - Brian Cushing - OLB USC
- SD - Rey Maualuga - ILB USC
- NYJ - Josh Freeman - QB Kansas St
- Den - Knowshon Moreno - RB Georgia
- TB - Larry English - DE Northern Ill
- Det - Robert Ayers - OLB Tennessee
- Phi - Chris "Beanie" Wells - RB Ohio St
- Min - Eben Britton - OT Arizona
- NE - Darius Butler - CB Connecticut
- Atl - Evander "Ziggy" Hood - DT Missouri
- Mia - Clay Matthews - OLB USC
- Bal - Darrius Heyward-Bey - WR Maryland
- Ind - Peria Jerry - DT Ole Miss
- Buf - Brandon Pettigrew - TE OK St
- NYG - Everette Brown - OLB FSU
- Ten - Vontae Davis - CB Illinois
- AZ - Donald Brown - RB Connecticut
- Pit - Max Unger - C Oregon
