2012 NFL Draft: 6 Bold Predictions for Draft's First, Second Rounds

In a little over two months, the Indianapolis Colts will officially be on the clock.

When NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announces whom the Colts select first overall, it will probably be Andrew Luck.

Surprise, surprise.

The first round of last year's draft showed us that teams can and will make bold selections with premium picks (Titans select Jake Locker at No. 8, Vikings select Christian Ponder at No. 12).

After Luck, will the Rams pick Justin Blackmon, Matt Kalil or trade the pick?

Who will risk the most to trade up for Robert Griffin III?

Although those questions are valid, they've been discussed and dissected for months.

Here are six bold predictions for the first and second rounds of the 2012 NFL draft.

1. The Colts Will Select Tight End Coby Fleener in the Second Round

Like Peyton Manning could always depend on Dallas Clark, so too Andrew Luck could always depend on his tight end, Coby Fleener.

With Clark aging and Manning potentially playing for another team in 2012, drafting Luck and Fleener back to back wouldn't be a bad idea. Fleener certainly has room to grow, and Luck should be able to develop chemistry with whomever he plays with, but adding Fleener would be another step toward guaranteeing the success of Luck.

At Stanford, Fleener didn't catch a lot of passes. However, when he was thrown the ball, he delivered. Throughout his four-year career, Fleener averaged 16.1 yards per reception and one touchdown every 5.3 receptions.

At 6'6", 244 pounds, he definitely has the size to be an NFL tight end.

2. Neither the Bears nor the Steelers Will Draft an Offensive Lineman

Despite the quick release of Jay Cutler and the mobility of Ben Roethlisberger, both the Bears and the Steelers were among the league's worst team in terms of pass protection last season. In 2011, the Bears allowed 49 sacks (fifth worst) and the Steelers allowed 42 sacks (10th worst).

On Monday, the Steelers announced the move of Marcus Gilbert from right tackle to left tackle. Gilbert was a rookie in 2011, starting in 13 of the 14 games in which he played.

The Bears drafted a right tackle of their own last April when they picked Gabe Carimi 29th overall out of Wisconsin. Carimi only played in two games before he partially dislocated his right knee cap in Week 2.

Pittsburgh and Chicago need about the same amount of help on the offensive line. However, they need help in other areas too. For the Bears, their No. 1 need is a wide receiver. Michael Floyd looks to be the pick when Chicago makes the 19th selection of the first round. After that, the Bears may draft another wide receiver, a tight end or trade down for more picks.

For the Steelers, I think they go to an Alabama defender with their 24th overall pick. If they're smart (and the Steelers are a smart organization), they'll look at strong safety Mark Barron or middle linebacker Dont'a Hightower. Dre Kirkpatrick is another former Crimson Tide defender they'd like to have, but I think he's a top-10 pick.

Believe it or not, the Steelers need just as much help at cornerback than they do at offensive line. Depending on who is on their board versus who is still available when they pick, I think Pittsburgh takes either Barron or Hightower in the first round and takes a cornerback in the second round.

After all, Roethlisberger has shown the ability to constantly make plays and evade the best sack artists in the game with a sub-par offensive line.

And if the Bears' Matt Forte is healthy in 2012, that instantly decreases the pressure on Jay Cutler (in 2011, the Bears were 7-5 with Forte and 1-3 without Forte).

3. There Will Be Two Trades in the Top 10

There usually aren't too many trades in the first round of the draft, let alone in the top 10. The price the team that wants to move up has to pay is usually too high to make the trade happen.

So who would want to trade up and risk all that capital?

I think there are two teams that want to trade up. They have good rosters, and if they get the player I think they're targeting, their roster would become very good, and maybe great.

Trade No. 1

Miami Dolphins trade up from No. 8 to No. 4 (Cleveland's pick) to select Robert Griffin III.

The Dolphins actually have a perfect situation for Griffin to come into. A quarterback (especially a rookie quarterback) needs three things to succeed: a dependable blind-side tackle, a wide receiver who can catch just about anything and a game-breaking running back.

Jake Long is maybe the best offensive tackle in football (besides Cleveland's Joe Thomas). Brandon Marshall is freakishly athletic. Reggie Bush is freakishly athletic and has learned to run well between the tackles.

Miami's offense is good, not great. That will allow Griffin to be supported well, while also allowing him to showcase his talent.

Trade No. 2

Kansas City Chiefs trade up from No. 11 to No. 6 (Washington's pick) to select Trent Richardson.

Even with a healthy Jamaal Charles, the Chiefs could use another running back. It may cost them a lot, but if the return is Richardson, that's probably a deal you'd want to make.

Last season at Alabama, Richardson rushed for 1,583 yards (787 of those yards came after contact). Along with Tim Tebow and Cam Newton, Richardson became the only person to rush for 20 touchdowns in one season in SEC history.

He even had really good games the two times he played LSU. Who else can say that?

Sure, running backs don't play as long as they used to, but here's why Richardson is worth trading up for: In 614 career touches at Alabama, he lost one fumble.

One.

4. The Crimson Tide Will Dominate the First Round

To anyone who is willing, I'll bet Alabama will have five players drafted in the first round alone.

Running back Trent Richardson, cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick, outside linebacker Courtney Upshaw, strong safety Mark Barron and middle linebacker Dont'a Hightower could all be picked in the first round.

Here's the bold prediction: Alabama will have more players drafted in the first round than the total number of players selected from any one school in the entire draft.

LSU, Georgia, North Carolina, Baylor and Michigan State should all be well represented in April's draft.

However, don't forget that once the rounds get later, the concentration of players from big-time schools gets diluted. As the rounds go on, more and more players from smaller programs are taken.

Besides, after the season the Crimson Tide just put together, why would you not want one of their players drafted to your team?

5. The Jets Will Draft a Quarterback in the Second Round

Rex Ryan is focused on winning. He's constantly reminded how crucial it is to win in New York, but I wonder if he thinks Mark Sanchez is going to help or hinder his quest for a Super Bowl championship.

You can look at numbers, and Sanchez doesn't look that good (career passing percentage: 55.3, career touchdown/interception ratio: 55-to-51).

You can look at the win-loss record (especially in the playoffs), and he looks very good (regular season: 27-20, postseason: 4-2).

The biggest question is this: Has Sanchez produced and is he capable of producing in the future like the fifth overall pick should?

Personally, I think he's good enough to play and to start in this league, but he's not a playmaker. And I'm an optimist, so you know there's more than a little doubt about Sanchez in New York.

Quarterback Greg McElroy was drafted last year, but didn't see any playing time. Of course, it's too soon to tell whether he will be a good NFL quarterback, but he was a game-manager in college, like Sanchez is now.

So if the Jets look for a quarterback in the second round, who'd be available? I think Brandon Weeden will be on the board when the Jets make their second round selection.

By the time the draft rolls around, Weeden will be a 28.5-year-old rookie. That's the bad news.

The good news is that Weeden is coming off a season in which he threw for more than 4,700 yards and almost three times as many touchdowns as interceptions (37 and 13 respectively).

6. The Patriots Won't Use Any of Their First Four Picks on Offense

Yes, the Patriots defense played better in the postseason than it did in the regular season. Although with the defensive performance it turned in during the regular season, it'd be almost impossible not to improve upon that.

In 2011, the Patriots were only a half a yard behind the Packers for most yards per game allowed (411.1 yards allowed per game). The Patriots were also the sixth most penalized defense in the league last season (115 penalties for 907 penalty yards).

This year, the Patriots have two picks in the first round and two picks in the second round. There is always the possibility the Patriots will trade down to acquire even more picks, or they could package the picks they have to move up to a better position.

Whatever they do, they need defensive help.

New England plays in a division in which the starting quarterbacks are Mark Sanchez, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Matt Moore. Those three quarterbacks completed an average of 59.7 percent of their passes. Those three quarterbacks threw for a total of 66 touchdowns and 50 interceptions.

Besides Fred Jackson of the Bills (who was out for the year after suffering a broken right leg in Week 11), the Patriots have to defend Reggie Bush and Shonn Greene, who are stoppable if defenders are disciplined.

So you can see that based on whom New England plays in their division, it should be much better than the 31st-ranked defense. Don't forget, things got so bad that wide receiver Julian Edelman had to play defensive back in the playoffs.

If it weren't for four-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Vince Wilfork, the Patriots would really be in trouble.

With Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski, do you really think they need to draft more offensive players? I think not.