Saturday, March 18, 2006

2006 Midwest Sports Rubes NFL Mock Draft (Vol. 1)

Welcome to the First Annual Midwest Sports Rubes Mock Draft! A quick note: we will be commenting on the top 20 picks. Beyond the first 20 things seem to get muddled, and quite frankly, a little boring (the already solid Broncos having two of the last ten picks in the first round makes it ever more boring) and a complete crap-shoot. We will still do mock picks for all 32 first round spots, but will not comment on our final 12 guesses.


It is 5:14 p.m. Central time. Currently I am cracking open my second beer of the afternoon as Jeffrick's first beer is half-empty (or is it half-full?)...
And we're underway!
1. Houston Texans - Reggie Bush, RB - USC - *Whether the Texans need a RB or not, he's the best player in the draft, and you just do not pass on a talent like Bush.
2. New Orleans Saints - D'Brickshaw Ferguson, OT - Virginia -*Now that Drew Brees is the $60 million man, they are going to need someone to protect his precious backside (and bum shoulder). D'Brick is a franchise tackle to build an o-line around. The Saints could still trade this pick, but the Jets were their best option to move down, without moving to far, and now that the Jets have signed Ramsey, N.O. might be staying put.
3. Tennessee Titans - Matt Leinart, QB - USC - *How often can you get a two-time national champion, former Heisman Trophy winning quarterback with the third pick? The best part for the Titans? Leinart can start tomorrow, but they don't need him to.
(Jeremy just finished his second beer, Jeff is finishing his first... might be time for a beer run.)
4. NY Jets - Mario Williams, DE - N.C. State - *It looks like John Abraham is going to Atlanta and the Jets must replace him. Super Mario is a good choice.
5. Green Bay Packers - A.J. Hawk, LB - Ohio State -*Haloti Ngata is an option here, but Hawk is a franchise type backer who the Pack would do well to re-build their defense around. Plus, female Packer fans will need a new franchise guy to pine over. Who are we kidding? The male Packer fans will too.
6. San Francisco 49ers - Vernon Davis, TE - Maryland -*Alex Smith had nothing to throw to last year and Davis is an unreal pass-catching TE who could make the difference in building Smith's confidence.
7. Oakland Raiders - Vince Young, QB - Texas - *Al Davis has to be salivating over finally being able to get his hands on an athletic quarterback, versatile quarterback to pair with the speedsters he puts everywhere else on the field. If there``e was an overweight, vodka slamming kicker available, Vince might slip past the Silver & Black, but since there isn't, Vince is safe.
8. Buffalo Bills - Haloti Ngata, DT - Oregon -*The Bills need to address defense, and Ngata is the best available defensive tackle. They've needed someone to plug the holes that used to be plugged by Fat Pat Williams. Ngata is the guy.
9. Detroit Lions - Michael Huff, DB (corner/safety) - Texas -*Huff is the best DB in the draft, he can play both positions. This pick makes so much sense for the Lions... you just know they'll draft a wide-receiver.
10. Arizona Cardinals - Ernie Sims, LB - Florida State -*235lbs, ran a 4.4 sec 40 at the combine. They took Rolle last year, and they need to start addressing the interior D. Sims is all over the field and could make an immediate impact on a bad Cards defense.
** Following the 10th pick we made a beer/pizza run. Please consider this a Midwest Sports Rubes plug for Papa John's Papa's Perfect Pan Meat Pizza and Miller Lite. Back to the action...
11. St Louis Rams - Jimmy Williams, CB - Virginia Tech -*With Archuletta gone, and few safeties in the draftable bunch, Williams will help solidify the rest of the Rams defensive backfield.
12. Cleveland Browns - Tamba Hali, DE - Penn State -*With Ted Washington now plugging the inside of the D-line, Hali will be a nice compliment on the outside. We think this could be a pick that Cleveland is looking to shop if Cutler is still available, but if they stay put, d-end is the pick.
13. Baltimore Ravens - Jay Cutler, QB - Vanderbilt -*The Ravens should go after Cutler, whether or not they need to move up to get him is the question. They have never had a franchise QB, and you can bet the offensive-minded Billick is ready for his man.
14. Philadelphia Eagles - LenDale White, RB - USC -*The Eagles threw the ball more than any other team in the league last year, and it wasn't because they wanted to, necessarily... they HAD to. Westbrook is not a franchise back, and LenDale could be the bruising touchdown machine that balances the Eagles attack.
15. Atlanta Falcons - Winston Justice, OT - USC -*Michael Vick needs much more time than he had last year to run around and make bad decisions with the football... Justice give him that time.
16. Miami Dolphins - Marcus McNeil, OT - Auburn -*Whether Daunte is ready to start in Week 1 or not, the 'Fins need someone to protect whoever is going to be making the poor decisions from the QB position. McNeil protects whatever investment is under center.
17. Minnesota Vikings - Chad Greenway, LB - Iowa -*This pick prompted a lot of discussion between us. The two best players left on our board are DeAngelo Williams (RB) and Brodrick Bunkley (DT), but the Vikes do not have immediate need at either position. The most glaring need, then, would be QB, with no other QB's available who are worthy of a first round pick. Next need in line is linebacker, and Greenway is the best available. Not the fastest, but a tackling machine who is smart and should fit well into the Cover 2 defense.
18. Dallas Cowboys - Tye Hill, CB - Clemson -*WR would have been the pick here, but now that T.O. is wearing stars, the 'Boys have to address some big D. Hill ran the fastest 40 of any CB at the combine and will help solidify things in the d-backfield for the Jonestown boys.
19. San Diego Chargers - Chad Jackson, WR - Florida -*Phil Rivers is going to need lots of people to throw to, and Jackson is the fastest WR in the draft and was a productive receiver at Florida where parrity among receivers is the norm.
20. Kansas City Cheifs - Santonio Holmes, WR - Ohio State -*Let the run on wide receivers begin! With Gonzalez the only sure-fire throwing option for Trent Green, he's going to need someone else to throw to when that, along with handing off to Larry Johnson, gets boring. Holmes is a good all-around receiver who isn't huge, but has decent speed and good hands.
21. New England Patiots - DeAngelo Williams, RB - Memphis
22. Denver Broncos - Brodrick Bunkley, DT - Florida State
23. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Eric Winston, OT - Miami
24. Cincinnati Bengals - Gabe Watson, DT - Michigan
25. NY Giants - Ashton Youboty, CB - Ohio State
26. Chicago Bears - Leonard Pope, TE - Georgia
27. Carolina Panthers - Dominique Byrd, TE - USC
28. Jacksonville Jaguars - Laurence Maroney, RB - Minnesota (As a personal sidenote (Jeremy) after watching Maroney run for the past three years I can't believe he goes this low, but they don't call us experts for nothing. HEY! Stop laughing!)
29. Denver Broncos - Sinorice Moss, WR - Miami
30. Indianapolis Colts - Joseph Addai, RB - LSU
31. Seattle Seahawks - Taitusi Lutui, OG - USC
32. Pittsburgh Steelers - Bobby Carpenter, LB - Ohio State

We reserve the right to modify this list at any time, for any reason. Keep in mind that free-agency is still in play and we didn't bother speculating on any picks being traded. If you don't like our picks, too bad... we don't see YOU spending hours and hours on a mock draft.
Total time spent preparing for mock draft: 5 hrs, 12 minutes & 5 beers.
Total time spent on actual mock draft, including beer/pizza run: 2 hrs, 13 minutes & 10 or 11 beers (but who's counting?).

No comments: