2012 NFL Draft: Breaking Down Mel Kiper Jr.'s Worst Picks

Mel Kiper makes a living on predicting the NFL Draft, and we love him for that. It gives us a chance to look like geniuses as we knock him down. 

In reality, this is hardly hatred-fueled vitriol. We understand that it has been a couple weeks since Mel Kiper Jr's last mock draft and a ton has happened since. 

We will take that into account as we slice and dice his latest draft dated on March 7th and entitled, 2012 NFL Mock Draft 3.0. 

The draft is for Insiders so you may have to pony up for the subscription if you want to see the full mock. 

Please note that the mock is overall solid, but not perfect. With that in mind, let's get started on where we see some flawed thinking in Kiper's latest and greatest. 

4. Cleveland Brown: Justin Blackmon—WR, Oklahoma State

Doubtful. The Browns are now teetering between Trent Richardson and Ryan Tannehill according to CBS Sports. 

Forget hindsight, this team has been hot to trot for a quarterback or Richardson for a while now. The great pro day from the Alabama running back pretty much sealed the deal. 

12. Seattle Seahawks: Ryan Tannehill—QB, Texas A&M

Kiper was ahead of the curve with Tannehill pushing the limits of the top 10. It seems that he is now very much within the upper echelons of this month's draft. 

I chose to highlight this pick simply for the thinking that Tannehill is not only a solid first rounder, but is now worth the No. 8 pick by the Dolphins. 

Like I stated earlier, this is a dated Kiper, but his latest. Since that time, Tannehill has worked out at his pro day and gave a solid effort. We may see the QB rise on Kiper's next draft according to a discussion he and Todd McShay had on ESPN. 

I still say that the sample size for Tannehill is much too small and there are too many questions to have him in the first round, let alone as one of the first athletes to leave. 

Alas, I know that we have a Christian Ponder reach in our midst. 

22. Cleveland Browns: Lavonte David—LB, Nebraska 

This isn't a horrible pick, but there are several little things that bugged me enough to include it here. For one, the Browns, in his estimation, take a huge leap on Justin Blackmon, leaving a need for running back. 

Instead of reaching for a RB at this point, they reach on a linebacker instead. They could certainly use a LB for the future, but running back, tackle, quarterback and defensive end are just as big of needs. 

The thing is, I like Zach Brown or Dont'a Hightower above David who has questions on his size and weight. 

He has too many questions on his ability at point of contact for a first-round pick. 

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