NFL Mock Draft: Selections 1 To 32
The NFL Draft is less than a month away, and like many other football sites, PossessionPoints.com has put together its own mock draft. We will use this mock draft to measure how we think teams performed in the actual draft. We always do the top 100 selections in our draft. This week we will concentrate on round one. Next week, we will present round two, and in two weeks, round three.
The difference between our mock draft and other mock drafts is that the PossessionPoints draft is based upon how we view teams’ needs relative to how they performed last year as measured by our stat.
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At this time, we are not going to go into the intricacies of the PossessionPoints stat, but we have made all the team names in the draft active links which will take you to the 2008 team pages on our site.
One other note: Initially, we had left B.J. Raji and Percy Harvin out of the first round because of purported drug test failures.
Since these first reports, we have read that no official results have been made public, and we do not know if these first reports are true.
In the spirit of fairness, we have decided to include these players in our first-round mock draft. If positive drug results do become official, we believe that teams may want to shy away from these players at least in the first round.
So, let’s get to the picks.
1. Detroit Lions – Matt Stafford, quarterback from University of Georgia.
We thought long and hard on this one and even wrote an article last week about whether it was worthwhile to use a first pick on a quarterback. From a PossessionPoints view, Detroit has needs on both sides of the ball as they had the No. 28 offense according to our stat and the No. 32 defense.
The trade, which sent Jay Cutler to conference rivals, the Chicago Bears, may make the Lions’ GM anxious to get his own marquee quarterback. We don’t know if Stafford is the answer, but the Lions’ management may well pull the trigger on this player especially if they can come to terms before the draft.
If they do not take Stafford, we would be perfectly happy if they take OT Jason Smith from Baylor or LB Aaron Curry from Wake Forrest.
As with the Lions, the Rams need help on both sides of the ball as last season they had the No. 29 offense and the No. 28 defense according to PossessionPoints.
Selecting Curry at linebacker addresses their defensive need which we think might be a priority of their new head coach, Steve Spagnolo, who comes to the Rams from the New York Giants where he was defensive coordinator.
3. Kansas City Chiefs – Brian Orakpo, defensive end from Texas.
Kansas City was no power on either offense or defense as they had the No. 24 offense and the No. 28 defense in 2008. Their acquisition of Matt Cassel seems to address their offensive needs, so that is why we went with the defensive player.
We ranked Seattle No. 25 offense and No. 31 defense. While they obviously have a defensive need, Seattle should take advantage that Smith is there for the taking at No. 4.
5. Cleveland Browns – Michael Crabtree, wide receiver from Texas Tech.
Last season, Cleveland was the No. 30 offense and the No. 13 defense. We see them working to bolster their offense, and WR Michael Crabtree will be a nice target especially if the talk is true, and the Browns deal Braylon Edwards.
The Browns made some moves to address their offensive line in free agency, but they can never have too many quality offensive linemen. With this in mind, we can see them selecting Eugene Moore or Andre Smith who are both OTs.
6. Cincinnati Bengals – Eugene Monroe, offensive tackle from University of Virginia.
The Bengals had the No. 32 offense and the No. 21 defense, and they lost T.J. Houshmandzadeh to free agency.
Obviously, if Michael Crabtree is available when the Bengals pick, we would not be surprised for them to take Crabtree. Since we think Crabtree will be gone by this time, we believe that Moore, as an OT, will be too good to pass on.
7. Oakland Raiders – Andre Smith, offensive tackle from the University of Alabama.
Oakland was another one of those teams that need a lot of help. They were the No. 31 offense and No. 26 defense according to PossessionPoints. The selection of Smith would address the need for additional protection for their quarterback, JaMarcus Russell.
8. Jacksonville Jaguars – Mark Sanchez, quarterback from USC.
According to the PossessionPoints stat, the Jaguars had the No. 18 offense and No. 22 defense. Although Sanchez might not start right away, we believe his addition to this team would pay off in the long term.
We considered running backs such as Chris Wells and Knowshon Moreno, but we think that the inconsistencies of David Garrard over the past few years warrant the addition of an ultimate replacement.
9. Green Bay Packers – B.J Raji, defensive tackle from Boston College.
Green Bay had the No. 3 offense and No. 16 defense, so we figure going to work on defense is a wise move for the Packers.
As we said earlier, Raji may have a drug cloud hanging over his head, and if he does, the Packers may well take corner back Malcolm Jenkins from Ohio State or defensive ends Everette Brown from Florida State or Aaron Maybin from Penn State.
10. San Francisco 49ers – Chris Wells, running back from Ohio State.
The 49ers are somewhat even in their needs as they had the No. 21 offense and No. 24 defense in 2008. The addition to Chris Wells could give power to the 49ers running attack that Coach Mike Singletary would like.
Given Singletary’s defensive background, we would not be too surprised to see him use his first pick for a defensive player.
11. Buffalo Bills – Malcolm Jenkins, corner back from Ohio State.
The Bills had the No. 23 offense and the No. 18 defense. They bolstered their offense with the addition of Terrell Owens in this offseason. So, we have them addressing their defense with the addition of Jenkins.
12. Denver Broncos – Everette Brown, defensive end from Florida State.
There is no need to re-hash the Broncos’ saga. According to PossessionPoints, they did have the No. 11 offense last season but the No. 30 defense.
We realized they lost some quality on offense with the trade of Cutler, but we see the defense in such need that we have them using their first-round picks for defensive players.
13. Washington Redskins – Jeremy Maclin, wide receiver from University of Missouri.
The Redskins had the No. 27 offense and the No. 7 defense, so we fully expect that Washington will use their first pick on an offensive player.
14. New Orleans Saints – Aaron Maybin, defensive end from Penn State.
The Saints had the No. 5 offense and No. 25 defense. They still have plenty of potent offensive weapons in Drew Brees and Reggie Bush, so we would like to see them work on their defense.
15. Houston Texans – Brian Cushing, linebacker from USC.
The Texans had the No. 6 offense and No. 17 defense which is why we have them selecting a defensive player. However, if by some chance, Chris Wells falls down to No. 15, we would not be surprised to see them pick him up to complement the play of Steve Slaton.
16. San Diego Chargers – Tyson Jackson, defensive end from LSU.
According to PossessionPoints, the Chargers had the No. 1 offense and the No. 15 defense. We see them bolstering up that defense even though we expect the injured Shawne Merriman to return to full strength which will improve their defense stats from last year.
The Jets had the No. 10 offense and the No. 9 defense. The offense was powered by the now-retired Brett Favre. As with Jacksonville, a new quarterback may not start right away. However, Freeman will become an asset in the long run.
18. Denver Broncos – Rey Maualuga, linebacker from USC.
Denver uses the second pick in the first round which they got in the Cutler trade for another defensive player to continue to address the defensive issue from last season.
19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Kenny Britt, wide receiver from Rutgers University.
The Bucs had the No. 20 offense and No. 8 defense, so we would like to see them address offensive problems in their first pick. After head coach Raheem Morris sheds his last tears over Josh Freeman not falling to the 19th pick, we think they should take Britt as wide receiver.
Other possibilities at this selection could also be other wide receivers such as Percy Harvin, Darius Heyward-Bay of Maryland or running back Knowshon Moreno.
With Detroit’s second pick in the first round, they should address their No. 32-ranked defense since they did help out their offense with their very first pick.
21. Philadelphia Eagles – Michael Oher, offensive tackle from University of Mississippi.
The Eagles had the No. 8 offense and the No. 3 defense. This team loves drafting offensive linemen. While they have another pick this round, we still think they should go for Oher if he is available, and we are pretty sure they will.
22. Minnesota Vikings – Percy Harvin, wide receiver from University of Florida.
The Vikings had the No. 9 offense and the No. 4 defense. Adding the field-stretching WR from Florida would enhance their offense.
23. New England Patriots – Clay Matthews, linebacker from USC.
The Pats had the No. 4 offense and the No. 11 defense. Although their backup quarterback is now with Kansas City, there is reason to celebrate as they are expecting the return of Tom Brady.
New England’s defense was showing some signs of age, so we think the infusion of Clay Matthews would be excellent at this pick. This move would complete the USC linebacker corp.
24. Atlanta Falcons – Peria Jerry, defensive tackle from University of Mississippi.
Atlanta had the No. 12 offense according to PossessionPoints and the No. 14 defense. We would expect that their offense would improve some with Matt Ryan moving into his second year. We look for the Falcons to try and aid their defense with their very first pick.
25. Miami Dolphins – Darius Heyward-Bey, wide receiver from University of Maryland.
The Dolphins had the No. 13 offense and the No. 10 defense. Heyward-Bey would be a great addition to the Dolphins as he would help them build their wide receiver corp.
26. Baltimore Ravens – Knowshon Moreno, running back from University of Georgia.
The Ravens had the No. 19 offense and No. 1 defense. Their defense remains largely intact although they lost their defensive coordinator to the Jets’ head coaching job. We think Moreno could be an immediate impact should he fall this far to 26.
27. Indianapolis Colts – Vontae Davis, corner back from University of Illinois.
The Colts had the No. 14 PossessionPoints offense and the No. 27 defense. We definitely want to see them use this pick for a defensive player, and we think Davis would make a great fit.
28. Philadelphia Eagles – Brandon Pettigrew, tight end from Oklahoma State.
This is the second pick for the Eagles in the first round, and we see it as their second offensive selection. We think the tall Pettigrew could be a fantastic target for McNabb and help make up for the loss of L.J. Smith at tight end.
29. New York Giants – Hakeem Nicks, wide receiver from University of North Carolina.
The Giants had the No. 2 PossessionPoints offense and the No. 6 defense. They are in pretty good shape on both sides of the ball. With the recent release of Plaxico Burress, the Giants need some help at the wide receiver position to keep their offense strong. We think Hakeem Nicks would be a good pick if he should fall this far.
30. Tennessee Titans – Eben Britton, offensive tackle from University of Arizona.
The Titans were the No. 22 offense and the No. 5 defense. Our priority would be to see them address their offensive issues. Britton as an OT is, in our view, a good fit.
31. Arizona Cardinals – Evander Hood, defensive tackle from University of Missouri.
Arizona had the No. 7 offense and No. 23 defense. Their offense still looks strong, so we look for them to work on their defense. Evander Hood would give much needed depth to their defensive line
32. Pittsburgh Steelers – LeSean McCoy, running back from University of Pittsburgh.
The Steelers had the No. 15 PossessionPoints offense and the No. 2 defense. The Pittsburgh offense was hampered by a lot of injuries, so we think the addition of McCoy would be a nice fit for the Steelers even though they many of the injured running backs should return.
That is it for round one. We will be back next week for round two.
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