2010 NFL Predictions and 2011 Mock Draft: Louisiana Letdown? I Don't Think So

The kickoff to the 2010 regular season in the National Football League is upon us. Many questions will be answered over the next 17 weeks.

Will the Saints suffer from a Super Bowl hangover? Well, Drew Brees is not a one-man wolfpack. The Saints have some question marks, especially with Malcolm Jenkins beginning the year as the starting safety, but the hangover will not be nowhere as bad as the one we remember from the movie The Hangover.

Will Brett Favre lead the Vikings to the promised land? Well, the Vikings are swimming upstream in a longship known as "overrated." It would not catch me by surprise to see the Vikings miss the postseason. After all, the Williams duo at defensive tackle has to break down at some point, right?

2010 will be Favre's reality check, mark my words.

With plenty of old faces in new places, I expect to see some more new guys emerge as breakout stars.

While everyone is focusing on Donovan McNabb in D.C., I look up the Beltway at Baltimore and see a blooming star in Joe Flacco.

Speculators are rambling about whether or not Thomas Jones can continue to get it done, this time in Kansas City. Meanwhile, I look at Seattle and see plenty of potential in Justin Forsett.

All eyes will be on Julius Peppers in the Windy City. While I do think Peppers will fare well with his new club, a rookie pass rusher has the goods to emerge and take the game over in Philadelphia. His name is Brandon Graham.

With so much to talk about, I apologize for my absence from Bleacher Report. I have been ditty-bopping around blogs and what not, but here they are, my 2010 predictions for the NFL followed by a 2011 mock draft.

Read it and weep.

	AFC East	AFC West	AFC North	AFC South
1	Miami Dolphins (11-5)	San Diego Chargers (13-3)	Baltimore Ravens (14-2)	Indianapolis Colts (13-3)
2	New England Patriots (10-6)	Oakland Raiders (9-7)	Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6)	Houston Texans (11-5)
3	New York  Jets (7-9)	Kansas City Chiefs (5-11)	Cincinnati Bengals (8-8)	Jacksonville Jaguars (5-11)
4	Buffalo Bills (2-14)	Denver Broncos (5-11)	Cleveland Browns (4-12)	Tennessee Titans (3-13)
	NFC East	NFC West	NFC North	NFC South
1	Dallas Cowboys (12-4)	San Francisco 49ers (10-6)	Green Bay Packers (13-3)	New Orleans Saints (13-3)
2	New York Giants (9-7)	Seattle Seahawks (8-8)	Chicago Bears (11-5)	Atlanta Falcons (10-6)
3	Philadelphia Eagles (7-9)	Arizona Cardinals (7-9)	Minnesota Vikings (9-7)	Tampa Bay Bucs (4-12)
4	Washington Redskins (6-10)	St. Louis Rams (2-14)	Detroit Lions (4-12)	Carolina Panthers (3-13)

Playoffs

Wild Card Round

AFC: Indianapolis Colts def. New England Patriots, Miami Dolphins def. Houston Texans

NFC: Atlanta Falcons def. Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bears def. San Francisco 49ers

Divisional Round

AFC: Baltimore Ravens def. Miami Dolphins, San Diego Chargers def. Indianapolis Colts

NFC: New Orleans Saints def. Atlanta Falcons, Green Bay Packers def. Chicago Bears

Conference Championships

AFC: Baltimore Ravens def. San Diego Chargers

NFC: Green Bay Packers def. New Orleans Saints

Super Bowl XLV

Baltimore Ravens def. Green Bay Packers

I do think some things will be flipped upside down, but the Saints will not disappoint, although I see them losing in the NFC Championship Game. I have a strong feeling this is the year when Aaron Rodgers and Joe Flacco take the NFL by storm.

Anyways, here is the second half of this two-piece article: the 2011 NFL Mock Draft.

	NFL Team	Player	School
1	Buffalo Bills	QB Ryan Mallett	Arkansas
2	St. Louis Rams	WR Julio Jones	Alabama
3	Tennessee Titans	DE Robert Quinn	North Carolina
4	Carolina Panthers	WR A.J. Green	Georgia
5	Tampa Bay Bucs	CB Patrick Peterson	LSU
6	Cleveland Browns	DT Marcell Dareus	Alabama
7	Detroit Lions	DE Allen Bailey	Miami Fl.
8	Denver Broncos	CB Aaron Williams	Texas
9	Kansas City Chiefs	DE Adrian Clayborn	Iowa
10	Jacksonville Jaguars	QB Andrew Luck	Stanford
11	Washington Redskins	QB Jake Locker	Washington
12	Arizona Cardinals	OT Nate Potter	Boise State
13	New York Jets	OLB Von Miller	Texas A&M
14	Philadelphia Eagles	RB Mark Ingram	Alabama
15	Seattle Seahawks	OT Gabe Carimi	Wisconsin
16	Cincinnati Bengals	OT Joseph Barksdale	LSU
17	Minnesota Vikings	DT Jurrell Casey	USC
18	New England from OAK	WR Jonathan Baldwin	Pittsburgh
19	New York Giants	OLB Bruce Carter	North Carolina
20	Pittsburgh Steelers	CB Prince Amukamura	Nebraska
21	New England Patriots	OT Anthony Costanzo	Boston College
22	Atlanta Falcons	DE Greg Romeus	Pittsburgh
23	San Francisco 49ers	S DeAndre McDaniel	Clemson
24	Chicago Bears	WR DeAndre Brown	Southern Miss
25	Houston Texans	S Deunta Williams	North Carolina
26	Miami Dolphins	DE Cameron Heyward	Ohio State
27	Dallas Cowboys	S Rahim Moore	UCLA
28	Indianapolis Colts	OT Derek Sherrod	Mississippi State
29	New Orleans Saints	RB Ryan Williams	Virginia Tech
30	San Diego Chargers	NT Jerrell Powe	Ole Miss
31	Green Bay Packers	OLB Travis Lewis	Oklahoma
32	Baltimore Ravens	CB Brandon Harris	Miami Fl.