2011 NFL Mock Draft: Mocking A Total Curveball Pick Like The Raiders

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Will Another NFL Team Step Up And Throw A Raiders Curveball In the Draft?

If there was one thing you could count on in the NFL Draft, it was Al Davis doing the completely unexpected. Davis never cared what the projected draft order was, he had the guys he liked and he drafted them at his slot whether they were ranked high or not.

Over-drafting is something Davis excelled at, and it made for great television as the broadcasters tried to cope with some picks that were completely out of left field.

Will another team do that this year? The Raiders don't have a first-round pick, so someone has to pick up the slack.

Matt Millen is gone from Detroit, and Eric Mangini also is unemployed. So we are missing the three usual suspects when it comes to bad drafting.

To clarify, Mangini had Mike Tannenbaum in New York. Once Mangini was the sole voice of authority in the draft in Cleveland in 2009, he decided passing on Clay Matthews twice and over-drafting wide receivers by two rounds and lineman by three rounds was a good draft strategy. This is why he is unemployed.

My pick for curveball draft move this year is the Washington Redskins. Assume Cam newton and Blaine Gabbert are off the board by the 10th pick and the Redskins want a quarterback. They'll take Pat Devlin and light the room on fire.

They'll have to pull Mel Kiper off the floor and put the paddles on him to revive him. It will be glorious.

In this mock, logic is thrown out the window because it's nothing but curveballs. The Panthers take Cam Newton, the Broncos take Patrick Peterson, the Bills take Nick Fairley and the Bengals take A.J. Green.

The Cardinals take Von Miller while the Browns take Da'Quan Bowers. The 49ers take Blaine Gabbert while the Titans take Robert Quinn. Dallas takes Prince Amukamara and Mike Shanahan spends the next two years telling everyone why Devlin was a good pick before being fired.

For complete draft coverage, check out our NFL Draft Hub. For a look at a video mock draft, check out All 32 Selections With Video Highlights.

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