[mblax10]

It's never to early to start draft talk, one of my favorite events of the year. This draft seems to be one of the deeper classes in recent memory. What would you like your team to do in this draft?

After watching this weekend's Senior Bowl and practice I've put together my first Mock Draft of the year with comments.


1.HOU-Reggie Bush, RB, USC-Huston has many other glaring needs, but I just don’t think you can pass up Bush with the top pick, despite a less than impressive Rose Bowl,. May be tough to find a suitable partner to trade down. Denver’s the only team with 2 first round picks right now and they’re #22 & #29.

2.NO-Matt Leinart, QB, USC-Saints fill one of their many needs with Leinart, a polished pocket passer that should work well with new coach Sean Payton.

3.TEN-Vince Young, QB, Texas-Steve McNair’s made public his opinion of Young. If you ask me, with Billy Volek still under contract, Tennessee would be much better suited drafting Ferguson or Mario Williams (Especially if they can’t re-sign Kyle Vanden Bosch). However, all indications are Tennessee will pick Young.

4.NYJ-D’Brickashaw Ferguson, OT, Virginia-Possibly the most solid player in the draft. Ferguson is a beast of a left tackle and would be the #1 overall pick a lot of years. Dominated Matthias Kiwinaka in Senior Bowl practice. Has some room to put on some pounds, but with his long body and solid technique, appears to be a top LT for a long time.

5.GB-Mario Williams, DE, NC State-Williams is a beast at 6’ 8” 300 lbs. He can get to the QB and was very solid stopping the run in college. GB opts for the best player available; Hawk is a solid option for this pick as well. The Packers have really reached on for a number of top picks in recent memory (Nick Barnett, Ahmad Carrol, Nick Collins) so anything’s possible with this pick.

6.OAK/SF-AJ Hawk, LB, Ohio State-The Raiders & 49ers will have a coin toss at next month’s owner’s meetings for the #6 pick. This coin toss is very important as both teams may be taking the best LB available. Hawk is another solid pick. Some have him as the top rated player in the draft.

7.OAK/SF-Chad Greenway, LB, Iowa-The lesser of the 2 Big Ten linebackers. Greenway’s not a bad option for the team that looses the coin toss.

8.BUF-Haloti Nagata, DT, Oregon-Only Houston allowed more yards on the ground last year than the Buffalo. Ngata’s very tough to move in the middle of the line at 350 lbs. He fills a big need immediately.

9.DET-Jay Cutler, QB, Vanderbilt-Call me crazy, but 5 years from now I think Cutler is the QB everybody talks about from this draft. Great arm strength and accuracy. Finished the season very strong against tough SEC defenses. However, if the Lions hire Mike Martz to run the offense, he can possibly turn Joey Harrington into an NFL QB. New coach Rod Marinelli would probably push for Tamba Hali to sure up the D-Line, but let’s be honest, Matt Millen has the final say so another WR is likely.

10.ARZ-DeAngelo Williams, RB, Memphis-One of the top performers throughout Senior Bowl week, Williams’ stock keeps rising. Dennis Green needs to improve the running game immediately or look for a new job.

11.STL-Vernon Davis, TE, Maryland-St. Louis needs help on defense, but the TE is a big part of Scott Linehan’s offense. Davis is as athletic a TE as you’ll find and should be the first of possibly 4 first round TE’s.

12.CLE-DeMeco Ryans, LB, Alabama-Romeo Crennel needs a lot of help at LB for his 3-4 to work. Ryans is falling thanks to an average week at the Senior Bowl but is probably still worth the #12 pick.

13.BAL-Michael Huff, DB, Texas-Still not sure if Huff will be a NFL safety or corner. Baltimore needs help at both and Huff is the highest rated DB in the draft.

14.PHI-Tamba Hali, DE, Penn State-A great speed pass rusher, with a variety of moves. If he was a couple inches taller he may be the first DE taken..

15.ATL-Ko Simpson, S, South Carolina-Atlanta needs to upgrade the secondary. Simpson is a ball-hawk and a play maker and should be a good fit.

16.MIA-Winston Justice, OT, USC-A big tackle to the lead the way for what’s becoming a solid running team. This team finished the season strong and Saban will look to put this team in the playoffs in ’06.

17.MIN-Lendale White, RB, USC-Enough with the carousel of fragile RB’s. The Vikings would improve greatly with a workhorse like White.

18.DAL-Santanio Holmes, WR, Ohio State-Cowboys could really use a young WR with some speed. Right now Holmes appears to be the only WR worth a first round pick.

19.SD-Jimmy Williams, DB, Virginia Tech-Williams was a CB in college that may be moving to safety in the NFL. Chargers don’t have any glaring needs a versitale player like Williams in the secondary would be a good choice.

20.KC-Matthias Kiwanaka, DE, Boston College-Kiwi was completely ineffective in 1 on 1 drills vs. D’Brickashaw Ferguson, but than again so were most pass rushers. He’s an interesting pick as he’s battled a couple minor injuries in the past year.

21.NE-Tye Hill, CB, Clemson-A solid corner to help patch up the Patriots secondary. Hill had a great week of practice at the Senior Bowl but was burnt badly during the game on Moss’s TD catch. Hill should still be one of the top CB’s taken.

22.DEN (From WAS)-Darnell Bing, S, USC-I don’t think Kiwi falls any farther than this pick. However, with the top 3 DE’s all off the board, I think the Broncos look for safety help.

23.TB-Jonathan Scott, OT, Texas-A big book end tackle that should help to protect Chris Simms. Assuming they can re-sign him.

24.CIN-Brodrick Bunkley, DT, CIN-The Bengals need D-Line help immediately. Bunkley can stop the run and is athletic and can get to the QB as well.

25.NYG-Ashton Youboty, CB, Ohio State-LB is also an option. There is abundance of CB’s that should be taken in the late 1st, early 2nd round.

26.CHI-Leonard Pope, TE, Georgia-Charles Tillman’s performance vs. the Panthers may make the Bears think about grabbing a CB with this pick. They’ll probably end up taking a TE though. Pope, Mercedes Lewis & Dominque Byrd are all options. Pope is the best run blocker of the 3 so I think he would be the pick, although I really like Byrd and his stock keeps rising.

27.CAR-Mercedes Lewis, TE, UCLA-Carolina needs a TE to give their passing game a second option. They’ll take whichever TE the Bears do not take.

28.JAX-Antonio Cromartie, CB, Florida State-Missed all of 2005 with a knee injury. At 6’ 3” and with solid all-around skills, Cromartie may not last this long if his knee checks out at the combine.

29.DT-Claude Wroten, DT, LSU-Broncos may stock up with 2 players on the D-Line with their first round picks. Wroten has had some recent off the field issues which caused the Senior Bowl to withdraw his invitation. If the Broncos don’t want to pick Wroten, they may take Bunkley with #22 and add a Safety here.

30.IND-Laurence Maroney, RB, Minnesota-If they can figure out a way to re-sign Edgerian James & Reggie Wayne, they’d probably go LB with this pick. However that seems very unlikely and James will probably hit the free agent market.

31.SEA-Bobby Carpenter, LB, Ohio State-Seattle could use a WR, especially if Jurevicious does not re-sign, but all WR’s appear to be a reach at this pick, Sinorice Moss is a possibility. Carpenter will add depth to the LB corp.

32.PIT-Manny Lawson, LB, NC State-This is the year to draft athletic LB’s. Lawson fits that description very well and is a steal this late due to the depth of this draft.