Hey everyone! Well it's that time of the year again and here is the first round of my 2011 NFL mock draft; second round to come later tonight. Please let me know what you think. 1. Carolina Panthers- Cam Newton, QB, Auburn- Not necessarily the pick I would make if I was in charge of the Panthers, but all signs are suggesting it. 2. Denver Broncos- Marcell Dareus, DT, Alabama- Drafts one of the top 2-3 players and filling a large area of need. 3. Buffalo Bills- Von Miller, OLB, Texas A&M- Aaron Maybin hasn't shown up yet...can't pass up on this OLB phenom. *****TRADE***** Washington Redskins trade their 1st rounder (#10 overall) and 2nd rounder (#41 overall) (1790 points) to Cincinnati Bengals for #4 overall (1800 points). 4. Washington Redskins (from Cincinnati Bengals)- Blane Gabbert, QB, Missouri- And we wonder why the Redskins lay eggs year in and year out. They make horrible decisions throughout the regular season and off season and just don't understand the draft. Obviously Donovan McNabb is not the long term answer, but instead of moving up for Gabbert they should try and trade back and take Locker, Mallett, or Dalton. 5. Arizona Cardinals- Patrick Peterson, CB, LSU- I don't care that they have Rogers-Cromartie on the roster already. Peterson is by far the best player in the draft in my honest opinion and he is way too talented to pass up at #5. Arizona will immediately have one of, if not the best CB tandem in NFL. He can return kicks or punts and even play safety. STEAL OF THE DRAFT! 6. Cleveland Browns- A.J. Green, WR, Georgia- Another steal and a much needed offensive weapon for Colt McCoy to throw to. As much as I don't want the Browns to get a stud like Green, in this scenario they have no choice and will hand in their card in record time. 7. San Francisco 49ers- Robert Quinn, DE/OLB, UNC- Very talented, athletic player that may have overthrown Von Miller if he had played this past season. 8. Tennessee Titans- Nick Fairley, DT, Auburn- Personally, I think Fairley is every bit as good as Dareus and is only dropping because of the fear that he was a one year wonder and takes too many plays off. All I know is that everytime I watched an Auburn game I saw this man-child destroying people. Great value at #8 overall. *****TRADE***** St. Louis Rams trade their 1st round (14), 3rd round (78) and 5th round (145) picks (1333.5 total points) to Dallas Cowboys for #9 overall (1350 points) 9. St. Louis Rams (from Dallas Cowboys)- Julio Jones, WR, Alabama- The next combine workout warrior or the real deal? Only time will tell. I did see him beat Patrick Peterson once or twice for what it's worth. *****TRADE***** Tampa Bay Buccaneers trade their 1st round (20), 2nd round (51) and 4th round (116) picks (1302 total points) to Cincinnati Bengals for #10 overall (1300 points) 10. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (from Cincinnati Bengals through Washington Redskins)- Prince Amukamara, CB, Nebraska- With Aqib Talib's legal woes, Tampa Bay decides to make a move and get ahead of Detroit to land the 2nd best CB in the draft who has no major concerns regarding character. Unfortunately, the Bengals continue to stockpile picks! 11. Houston Texans- J.J. Watt, DE, Wisconsin- High motor, high energy should fit well opposite Mario Williams. 12. Minnesota Vikings- Tyron Smith, OT, USC- Too high to take one of the 2nd tier QB's so they decide to jump on the #1 rated OT. 13. Detroit Lions- Aldon Smith, OLB, Missouri- CB is a concern but they are too concerned with Jimmy Smith's character to take him and opt for the pass rushing phenom out of Missouri. 14. Dallas Cowboys (from St. Louis Rams)- Cameron Jordan, DE, California- Dallas trades back and still nabs one of the better 5-technique DE in draft. 15. Miami Dolphins- Mike Pouncey, C/OG, Florida- Best fit is at guard, but can play center if need be. Either way, best interior OL in draft. 16. Jacksonville Jaguars- Ryan Kerrigan, DE, Purdue- Another high motor DE that will fit well in the Jags defense. 17. Patriots (from Oakland)- Anthony Castanzo, OT, Boston College- Not a huge need, but the Pats have a done of picks and Matt Light is getting up in years and to become and UFA. 18. San Diego Chargers- Muhammad Wilkerson, DE, Temple- This guy is going to be a stud, IMO. I wish he would be there when the Ravens are on the clock, but I just don't see that happening. He has elite size for a 3-4 DE at 6'4", 315lbs and was very productive at Temple. If he spent another year in school he would be a sure fire top 10 pick in 2012. Keep your fingers crossed that he falls, but I doubt he will; his stock is on the rise. 19. New York Giants- Gabe Carimi, OT, Wisconsin- Another player I wouldn't mind dropping to the Ravens. He is a bulldozing, powerful ROT. Will fit well with the power running game of Bradshaw and Jacobs. 20. Cincinnati Bengals- Corey Liuget, DT, Illinois- Another good defensive lineman that is very quick of the ball and can penetrate from the inside position. Should do well in their system alongside Peko. Could potentially play the 5-technique and may be on the Ravens' radar. 21. Kansas City Chiefs- Kyle Rudolph, TE, Notre Dame- May be kind of a surprise pick, but Rudolph has a ton of talent and has worked out well since his hamstring injury. The chiefs need more playmakers on the offensive side of the ball, especially from the receiving position and it is too high to take one of the 2nd tier WR at this point. 22. Indianapolis Colts- Nate Solder, OT, Colorado- Don't buy into the rumors of the Colts possibly taking the heir to Manning. Before they do that, they need to get protection for their current signal caller; Solder is the best OT left on board. 23. Philadelphia Eagles- Jimmy Smith, CB, Colorado- Another Ravens target taken ahead of them. I wouldn't be surprised if the Ravens try and position themselves ahead of the Eagles to get Smith if he is still on the board. Eagles get a top 14 talent that drops for character concerns. He will be a force to reckon with. 24. New Orleans Saints- Da'Quan Bowers, DE, Clemson- Risk finally meets reward for Bowers and if he clears medically the Saints are getting a huge steal! Bowers was one time discussed at the #1 overall selection. 25. Seattle Seahawks- Jake Locker, QB, Washington- Seattle selects the local product as the heir to Hasselback. *****TRADE***** Baltimore Ravnes trade their 1st round (26) (700 total points) to Arizona Cardinals for their 2nd round (38), 4th round (103), and 5th round (136) picks in this 2011 draft and the Cardinals 2012 4th round pick (646 total points from 2011 plus the 2012 4th round) 26. Arizona Cardinals- Ryan Mallett, QB, Arkansas- Cardinals don't want to miss out on a signal caller and trade up to take the one with the best NFL arm but some character concerns. Baltimore trades back for better value and more picks; if they didn't trade would consider Cameron Heyward or Derek Sherrod. 27. Atlanta Falcons- Adrian Clayborn, DE, Iowa- Falcons solidify their D-line with a very talented DE who slipped for minor medical concerns and a very deep D-line pool. *****TRADE***** New England Patriots trade their 1st round (28) pick (660 total points) to Cincinnati Bengals for their 2nd round (41), 4th round (101), and second 4th round pick obtained in trade with Tampa Bay (116) (648 total points) 28. Cincinnati Bengals- Andy Dalton, QB, TCU- The Bengals also don't want to lose out on their favorite signal caller and trade up to grab him. 29. Chicago Bears- Derek Sherrod, OT, Mississippi State- How many times did we all see Jay Cutler getting thrown to the ground last year? Enough said. 30. New York Jets- Cameron Heyward, DE, Ohio State- Very talented 5-technique that will solidify NYJ D-line for next 10 years. Time to let Vernon Gholston go. 31. Pittsburgh Steelers- Danny Watkins, OG, Baylor- Steelers definitely need to beef of their O-line. Personally, I think Watkins is a solid OG and will have a good career, but I just don't like taking a player who will be a 26 year old rookie. He will play out a rookie deal and then be on the verge of retirement. Still a solid pick. 32. Green Bay Packers- Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama- Ingram finally comes off the board. Same as when Aaron Rogers fell into their laps few years back. The Packers sit back and let the #1 RB slide all the way down to them at the end of the round. The former Heisman Trophy winner will immediately upgrade the RB position and will work well in a rotation with Ryan Grant and will hopefully help offset Grant's chronic injury woes. Second round including Ravens picks to come later tonight. Enjoy for now! SECOND ROUND: 33. New England Patriots- Brooks Reed, OLB, Arizona- The Patriots continue to have great players fall to them. Reed is a tremendous talent with a nonstop motor and is very powerful off the edge. He would look much better in the Purple and Black! 34. Buffalo Bills- Christian Ponder, QB, Florida State Opting not to take a QB in round one they decide to wait to see if one of their guys fall to them and they land Christian Ponder. Ponder and Fitzpatrick will battle it out if and when there is a training camp. 35. Cincinnati Bengals- Randall Cobb, WR, Kentucky- A do it all type player that is quicker than fast he will be a solid pick up for the Bengals. They may instead opt for one of the bigger WR here though like Hankerson or Baldwin since they already have Jordan Shipley to work the slot WR position. 36. Denver Broncos- Rahim Moore, S, UCLA- First they get the best DT and now they get the best Safety! Denver is off to a great start in the draft. 37. Cleveland Browns- Stephen Paea, DT, Oregon State- First round talent that fell do to an injury concern. Has only played football for a few years but has a lot of potential. Also set the Combine bench press record this year with 49 reps. 38. Baltimore Ravens (from Arizona Cardinals)- Aaron Williams, CB/S, Texas- Ravens trade back and still get a player with first round potential and the ability to play anywhere in the secondary. Extremely athletic and with good size. Other players left on board to consider: Akeem Ayers, Brandon Harris, Marvin Austin, Justin Houston, Martez Wilson, or one of the WR. *****TRADE***** Jacksonville Jaguars trade their 2nd round (49) and 3rd round (80) picks (600 total points) to Tennessee Titans for their 2nd round (39) and 4th round (109) picks (586 total points) 39. Jacksonville Jaguars (from Tennessee Titans)- Akeem Ayers, OLB, UCLA- Very productive prospect who has the ability to rush the passer and fall back into coverage. Probably should have gone higher than this but the run on QB's dropped some very good players. 40. Dallas Cowboys- Brandon Harris, CB, Miami- Value is too good to pass up here. Dallas defense again to shore up the secondary. Harris is an excellent slot CB that should fit well in their defense. 41. New England Patriots (from Cincinnati Bengals through Washington Redskins)- Mikel Leshoure, RB, Illinois- The Patriots could have taken Ingram in first round, but they decide to go in a different direction with selecting and OT then getting the OLB Reed to open round 2. Personally, I think Mikel Leshoure is the best RB in the draft and will have a better career than Ingram; especially if he gets picked up by NE. He is a hard runner with a lot of speed to the outside. Furthermore he never fumbled during his college career. NE is loaded again! 42. Houston Texans- Bruce Carter, OLB, UNC- The potential with Carter is too good to pass up. He is coming off of an ACL injury, but if this guy had played this past season and didn't get injured he may have been the best OLB prospect (even better than Von Miller). *****TRADE***** New York Jets trade their 3rd round (94) and 4th round (126) picks from this year and their 2012 2nd round pick (170 total points plus 2012 2nd round pick) to Minnesota Vikings for their 2nd round (43) (470 total points) 43. New York Jets- Phil Taylor, NT, Baylor- Taylor has slid far enough and the Jets are willing to trade 2 picks and next years 2nd rounder for the chance to move up and get him to help anchor their defensive line. Combining Taylor with 1st round pick Cameron Heyward will make their run defense even better! 44. Detroit Lions- Marcus Cannon, OT, TCU- Gosder Cherilus (1st round OT from Boston College) from a few years ago isn't a bust yet, but they should start looking for depth and possible replacement. Cannon is a huge man child who is extremely powerful at point of attack. 45. San Francisco 49ers- Marvin Austin, DT, UNC- Austin is a destructive inside force that should be able to start right away for the 49er's. Had he not been ineligible to play this past year he may have been a top 5 pick. *****TRADE***** San Diego Chargers trade their 2nd round (50) and 6th round (183) picks from this year and their 2012 5th round pick (418.2 total points plus 2012 5th round pick) to Denver Broncos for their 2nd round (46) (440 total points) 46. San Diego Chargers- Justin Houston, DE/OLB, Georgia- Houston is seen more as a 4-3 DE, but a lot of teams that run the 3-4 are looking at him as a 3-4 rush OLB which I think he should transition well into being. As long as he is rushing the passer 80% while dropping back only 20% he should do well as a rookie. 47. St. Louis Rams- Jurrell Casey, DT, USC- After getting their stud WR in round 1 in Julio Jones, the Rams go back into the trenches and select this underrated DT out of USC to help solidify their run defense. 48. Oakland Raiders- Clint Boling, OG, Georgia- With their first pick of the 2011 draft the Raiders decide to go with a big guy as opposed to a flashy position player. Boling is rated anywhere from the #2-#4 OG prospect and is a big man who should be able to help stabilize the offensive line woes in Oakland. 49. Tennessee Titans (from Jacksonville Jaguars)- Colin Kaepernick, QB, Nevada- Tennessee decided to play the waiting game and even traded back and still got great value in both of their picks. Nick Fairley in the 1st at #8 and Kaepernick to be their QB of the future in the 2nd round. Solid draft thus far. 50. Denver Broncos (from San Diego Chargers)- Martez Wilson, ILB, Illinois- Wilson is a huge physical specimen who is extremely fast and can play from sideline to sideline. He is a big hitter and will help add to the defensive foundation that Denver is looking to build. Has some character concerns, but if he didn't he would definitely be discussed as a top 20 selection. 51. Cincinnati Bengals (from Tampa Bay Buccaneers)- Ryan Williams, RB, Virgina Tech- Third best RB in draft behind Leshoure and Ingram. Cedric Benson has played well but they can't pass on this talent as insurance and the future at the RB position for them. Cincinnati continue to draft playmakers to help put points on the board. Randall Cobb and Ryan Williams at the top of the 2nd round. Pretty good haul especially considering they got Liuget in the mid 1st round to anchor their defensive line. 52. New York Giants- Daniel Thomas, RB, Kansas State- Who knows what they will do with Bradshaw and Jacobs, but one or both won't be back next year. As a result, they take Thomas as insurance and he will be a big bruising RB for them due to his size 6'0" and 230 lbs. 53. Indianapolis Colts- Christian Ballard, DT, Iowa- Great value here in Ballard. He is an undersized DT but can bring a lot of pressure up the middle to help take attention away from Freeny and Mathis. 54. Philadelphia Eagles- William Rackley, OG, Lehigh- Big bruiser who will help build depth to their O-line and could fight for playing time at one of the Guard positions. 55. Kansas City Chiefs- Titus Young, WR, Boise State- They need another WR to start showing up besides Dwayne Bowe. They took TE Kyle Rudolph in round 1 and now Young in the 2nd to really give Cassle a lot of targets to throw to. 56. New Orleans Saints- Dontay Moch, OLB, Nevada- Underrated prospect who can really bring heat off the edge. May be a slight Virginreach but he has a ton of upside and potential that he can reach in Greg Williams' system. 57. Seattle Seahawks- Ras-I Dowling, CB, Virginia- Big strong CB who isn't as fast as other CB's in draft but has the potential to be a very good shutdown CB. 58. Baltimore Ravens- Allen Bailey, DE, Miami- Bailey is the best DE prospect left on the board and will fit the 3-4 DE spot nicely. Will play behind Redding this year and become a solid starter in 2012. Underperformed at Miami given his talents, but playing with Ray Lewis and Ed Reed will inspire him to perform. 59. Atlanta Falcons- Ben Ijalana, OG/OT, Villanova- Talented prospect with a lot of upside. Dominated competition he played against. Can play both OG and OT and should add a lot of depth to the Falcons. Should get a shot at decent amount of playing time as a rookie. 60. New England Patriots- James Carpenter, OG, Alabama- Huge man that is a road grader. With the constant contract issues with Logan Mankins, the Patriots may decide to cut ties with him and let Carpenter become their OG of the future. 61. San Diego Chargers (from New York Jets)- Torrey Smith, WR, Maryland- Who knows what will become of the Vincent Jackson contract issues, so like the Patriots in the pick before they will select Smith as an insurance policy and hope they get the best out of him. 62. Chicago Bears- Jonathan Baldwin, WR, Pittsburgh- After AJ Green and Julio Jones, Baldwin may be my favorite WR in the draft. He is huge at 6'5" and ran his 40 in the mid 4.4 range. If he had a legitimate QB in college he may have been more productive and a much higher pick. The Ravens should take a hard look at him. 63. Pittsburgh Steelers- Johnny Patrick, CB, Louisville- After shoring up their O-line with Danny Watkins, the Steelers help solve their weak CB group by selecting the burner from Louisville. Patrick is 5'11" and 190 pounds and should start off in the slot and may be able to beat out on of the Steelers starting CB's. 64. Green Bay Packers- Jabaal Sheard, DE, Pittsburgh- Sleeper pick who may end up being a big Steal a few years down the road. Can bring a lot of pressure in passing situations when combined with the Packers already formidable pass rush.
