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The MMQB Mock Draft: Who Teams Should Select
Forget about trying to predict what teams are going to do Thursday night. It's an impossible task. Instead, let's focus on which players make the most sense for each first-round team—even though it won't come close to unfolding this way
By Greg A. Bedard
I hate mock drafts, probably because I stink at them. Also, the whole exercise can be rendered moot with one early trade. So this year, taking a page from Jerry Seinfeld’s decision not to run, I chose not to mock. And luckily, the bosses obliged.
So what you will read below is, basically, “Who each NFL team should have picked if their power brokers didn’t overvalue their own team’s talent, fail to see trends in the game, fear for their jobs and/or ego.” Every four years we look back on a draft and think, multiple times, “How did that team not draft that guy?”
In 2011, quarterbacks Jake Locker (Titans), Blaine Gabbert (Jaguars) and Christian Ponder (Vikings) went in a span of five picks (8-12) in the first round. Those quarterback-desperate teams pressed the issue instead of being patient and picking, say, J.J. Watt, Robert Quinn or Nate Solder, who all went later in the draft.
With that draft still fresh in general manager’s minds four years later (some rose to power because of it), they could be overcorrecting when it comes to the quarterbacks. There’s a chance the top three: Johnny Manziel, Teddy Bridgewater and Blake Bortles, could be bypassed by needy teams and slip out of the top 15 altogether. That’s overthinking it. All three are capable, with the right plan, of being franchise quarterbacks. We’re trying to point that out ahead of and predict how things will look three seasons out, after the results are in on this draft class.
But for now, I present The MMQB’s inaugural Who Teams Should Select Mock Draft:
2. ST. LOUIS: GREG ROBINSON, OT, AUBURN
There isn’t an immediate need for the Rams, who have Jake Long at left tackle and the improving Joseph Barksdale at right tackle and former left tackle (now guard) Roger Saffold all in the fold. However, the Rams can get out of Long’s deal after the 2014 season, and possibly Saffold’s as well.
13. ST. LOUIS: DARQUEZE DENNARD, CB, MICH. ST.
You can never have enough good cornerbacks and Dennard is the type of player who isn’t afraid to stick his nose in against the run, which is important in this division.
Read the rest of the article at the link.
Patric Schneider/AP :: Andrew Hancock/SI
The MMQB Mock Draft: Who Teams Will Select
More than in years past, the teams in the 2014 NFL Draft have done a good job of hiding their intentions. Here's our fearless leader's attempt to solve the jigsaw puzzle, complete with a handful of trades and a relative surprise choice at No. 1
By Peter King
Of all the years I haven’t known anything entering the draft, this is really the year I don’t know anything. I texted congratulations to a general manager with a top-10 pick Sunday, saying he deserved praise because no one around the league knew what he was doing at his pick.
“Ha!’’ this GM texted back. “Neither do we
”There’s another team that is practicing intentional misdirection right now. By that I mean this team knows some of its coaches and front-office officials talk to people around the league, and some of the employees have been told it wouldn’t be such a terrible things if you left the impression we might take so-and-so, or this-and-that. Earnestly. That’s why it’s so dangerous to trust everything you hear at this time of year. You’re best to go with your gut feeling, judging by what teams need.
More than ever this year, my strategy is to get as many first-round picks as possible correct. I won’t have many direct hits—that’s a guarantee. But if I do well, say 27 or 28 first-round picks actually getting picked in the round, I’ll consider it a success.
Also, if you want to see what teams should do in the first round, colleague Greg Bedardhas you covered.
Style notes: Teams that I have trading, either up or down, are listed in italics. And teams that want to trade but weren’t able to find a deal in my mock are listed with an asterisk.
2. ST. LOUIS: GREG ROBINSON, T, AUBURN
Biggest question for Jeff Fisher, obviously, is how he can not pick Jake Matthews, the son of a former great Oiler/Titan. But Bruce Matthews will understand. Robinson has the potential to be Orlando Pace II.
13. *ST. LOUIS: DARQUEZE DENNARD, CB, MICH. ST.
Too bad Martin didn’t fall just one little slot here; if so, Rams GM Les Snead could have made a good trade for this pick with desperate Miami at 19. Dennard is a luxury pick who can challenge Trumaine Johnson at left corner in camp. I don’t have a good feel for the Rams’ pick here, but I am pretty sure it won’t be Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.
Read the rest of the article at the link.
