Tuesday, January 19, 2010

2010 NFL Draft position rankings

OFFENSE
Quarterbak
1. Jimmy Clausen, Notre Dame
2. Sam Bradford, Oklahoma
3. Colt McCoy, Texas
4. Jarrett Brown, West Virginia
5. Dan LeFevour, Central Michigan
6. Zac Robinson, Oklahoma State
7. Sean Canfield, Oregon State
8. Tony Pike, Cincinnati
9. Levi Brown, Troy
10. Jevan Snead, Mississippi
11. Tim Tebow, Florida
12. Mike Kafka, Northwestern
13. Jonathan Crompton, Tennessee
14. John Skelton, Fordham
15. Max Hall, BYU

Running Back
1. C.J. Spiller, Clemson
2. Jonathan Dwyer, Georgia Tech
3. Ryan Mathews, Fresno State
4. Jahvid Best, California
5. Ben Tate, Auburn
6. Montario Hardesty, Tennesse
7. Joe McKnight, USC
8. Toby Gerhart, Stanford
9. LeGarrette Blount, Oregon
10. Anthony Dixon, Mississippi State
11. Stafon Johnson, USC
12. Chris Brown, Oklahoma
13. Charles Scott, LSU
14. Joique Bell, Wayne State
15. Lonyae Miller, Fresno State
16. Andre Dixon, Connecticut
17. James Starks, Buffalo
18. Javarris James, Miami
19. Brandon Minor, Michigan
20. Darius Marshall, Marshall

Fullback
1. Rashawn Jackson, Virginia
2. Cory Jackson, Maryland
3. John Conner, Kentucky
4. Jack Corcoran, Rutgers
5. Richie Brockel, Boise State

Wide Receiver
1. Dez Bryant, Oklahoma State
2. Brandon LaFell, LSU
3. Arrelious Benn, Illinois
4. Golden Tate, Notre Dame
5. Damian Williams, USC
6. Demaryius Thomas, Georgia Tech
7. Jordan Shipley, Texas
8. Mardy Gilyard, Cincinnati
9. Dexter McCluster, Mississippi
10. Marcus Easley, Connecticut
11. Dezmon Briscoe, Kansas
12. Jeremy Williams, Tulane
12. Andre Roberts, The Citadel
13. Shay Hodge, Mississippi
14. Jacoby Ford, Clemson
15. Blair White, Michigan State
16. Antonio Brown, Central Michigan
17. Freddie Barnes, Bowling Green
18. Carlton Mitchell, South Florida
19. Taylor Price, Ohio
20. Eric Decker, Minnesota
21. Mike Williams, Syracuse
22. Danario Alexander, Missouri
23. Riley Cooper, Florida
24. Alric Arnett, West Virginia
25. Joe Webb, Alabama-Birmingham

Tight End
1. Jermaine Gresham, Oklahoma
2. Anthony McCoy, USC
3. Aaron Hernandez, Florida
4. Ed Dickson, Oregon
5. Garrett Graham, Wisconsin
6. Colin Peek, Alabama
8. Dorin Dickerson, Pittsburgh
9. Rob Gronkowski, Arizona
10. Jimmy Graham, Miami
11. Andrew Quarless, Penn State
12. Michael Hoomanawanui, Illinois
13. Nate Byham, Pittsburgh
14. Dennis Pitta, BYU
15. Cody Slate, Marshall
16. Dedrick Epps, Miami

Offensive Tackle
1. Russell Okung, Oklahoma State
2. Anthony Davis, Rutgers
3. Trent Williams, Oklahoma
4. Bryan Bulaga, Iowa
5. Bruce Campbell, Maryland
6. Vladimir Ducasse, UMass
7. Rodger Saffold, Indiana
8. Charles Brown, USC
9. Ed Wang, Virginia Tech
10. Selvish Capers, West Virginia
11. Kyle Calloway, Iowa
12. Jason Fox, Miami
13. Tony Washington, Abilene Christian
14. Chris Scott, Tennessee
15. Sam Young, Notre Dame
16. Mike Tepper, California
17. Jared Veldheer, Hillsdale
18. Adam Ulatoski, Texas
19. Kevin Haslam, Rutgers
20. Thomas Welch, Vanderbilt

Offensive Guard
1. Mike Iupati, Idaho
2. John Jerry, Mississippi
3. Ciron Black, LSU
4. Mike Johnson, Alabama
5. Marshall Newhouse, TCU
6. Sergio Render, Virginia Tech
7. Jon Asamoah, Illinois
8. Shawn Lauvao, Arizona State
9. Brandon Carter, Texas Tech
10. Reggie Stephens, Iowa State

Center
1. Maurkice Pouncey, Florida
2. J.D. Walton, Baylor
3. Matt Tennant, Boston College
4. Jeff Byers, USC
5. Eric Olsen, Notre Dame
6. Zane Beadles, Utah
7. Chris Hall, Texas
8. Ted Larsen, North Carolina State
9. Kevin Matthews, Texas A&M
10. Jon Estes, Hawaii

DEFENSE
Defensive End
1. Carlos Dunlap, Florida
2. Jason Pierre-Paul, South Florida
3. Brandon Graham, Michigan
4. Corey Wooten, Northwestern
5. Derrick Morgan, Georgia Tech
6. Everson Griffen, USC
7. Alex Carrington, Arkansas State
8. Brandon Lang, Troy
9. George Selvie, South Florida
10. Antonio Coleman, Auburn
11. Greg Hardy, Mississippi
12. C.J. Wilson, East Carolina
13. Austen Lane, Murray State
14. Clifton Geathers, South Carolina
15. Lindsey Witten, Connecticut
16. Auston English, Oklahoma
17. Willie Young, North Carolina State
18. Jermaine Cunningham, Florida
19. Rahim Alem, LSU
20. John Fletcher, Wyoming

Defensive Tackle
1. Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska
2. Gerald McCoy, Oklahoma
3. Brian Price, UCLA
4. Dan Williams, Tennesee
5. Jared Odrick, Penn State
6. Terrence Cody, Alabama
7. Arthur Jones, Syracuse
8. Lamarr Houston, Texas
9. Geno Atkins, Georgia
10. Tyson Aluala, California
11. Cam Thomas, North Carolina
12. Linval Joseph, East Carolina
13. D'Anthony Smith, Louisiana Tech
14. Jeff Owens, Georgia
15. Doug Worthington, Ohio State
16. Mike Neal, Purdue
17. Torrell Troup, Central Florida
18. Earl Mitchell, Arizona
19. Brandon Deaderick, Alabama
20. Al Woods, LSU

Outside Linebacker
1. Sergio Kindle, Texas
2. Daryl Washington, TCU
3. Ricky Sapp, Clemson
4. Roddrick Muckelroy, Texas
5. Jerry Hughes, TCU
6. Navorro Bowman, Penn State
7. Koa Misi, Utah
8. Cameron Sheffield, Troy
9. Eric Norwood, South Carolina
10. Rico McCoy, Tennessee
11. Rennie Curran, Georgia
12. Thaddeus Gibson, Ohio State
13. A.J. Edds, Iowa
14. Jason Worilds, Virginia Tech
15. Dekoda Watson, Florida State
16. O'Brien Schofield, Wisconsin

Inside Linebacker
1. Rolando McClain, Alabama
2. Sean Weatherspoon, Missouri
3. Brandon Spikes, Florida
4. Donald Butler, Washington
5. Sean Lee, Penn State
6. Darryl Sharpton, Miami
7. Pat Angerer, Iowa
8. Jamar Chaney, Mississippi State
9. Micah Johnson, Kentucky
10. Ryan D'Imperio, Rutgers

Cornerback
1. Joe Haden, Florida
2. Patrick Robinson, Florida State
3. Perrish Cox, Oklahoma State
4. Kyle Wilson, Boise State
5. Devin McCourty, Rutgers
6. Donovan Warren, Michigan
7. Kareem Jackson, Alabama
8. Dominique Franks, Oklahoma
9. Trevard Lindley, Kentucky
10. Syd'Quan Thompson, California
11. Javier Arenas, Alabama
12. Jerome Murphy, South Florida
13. Brandon Ghee, Wake Forest
14. Chris Cook, Virginia
15. Myron Lewis, Vanderbilt
16. Akwasi Owusu-Ansah, Indiana (PA)
17. Amari Spievey, Iowa
18. Jamar Wall, Texas Tech
19. Alterraun Verner, UCLA
20. Joshua Moore, Kansas State

Safety
1. Eric Berry, Tennessee
2. Nate Allen, South Florida
3. Taylor Mays, USC
4. Earl Thomas, Texas
5. Chad Jones, LSU
6. Larry Asante, Nebraska
7. Myron Rolle, Florida State
8. Morgan Burnett, Georgia Tech
9. T.J. Ward, Oregon
10. Reshad Jones, Georgia
11. Major Wright, Florida
12. Kam Chancellor, Virginia Tech
13. Harry Coleman, LSU
14. Kurt Coleman, Ohio State
15. Kendrick Lewis, Mississippi
16. Robert Johnson, Utah

Sunday, January 17, 2010

2010 NFL Mock Draft

1. St. Louis Rams
Jimmy Clausen, QB, Notre Dame
Although there are exceptions that test the rule (the 2006 Chicago Bears spring to mind): a team's more likely to lose games despite having a good quarterback than they are to win despite having a poor one. Unless an unexpected cut happens, the way Pennington fell into Miami's lap a couple of season's ago (or unless Brett Favre's ego decides it wants to see if he can take a team from worst to first), the Rams absolutely have to take a chance here on landing a good, young quarterback. There's no guarantees, and Clausen isn't as highly-rated a prospect as some QBs that have come out in recent years, but he's a three-year starter whose completion percentage and yards per attempt showed significant improvement in each of his three years at Notre Dame. Ndamukong Suh is a strong possibility, of course, but the Rams have taken a defensive linemen first in four of the last nine drafts, including two of the last three, and they're not going anywhere with the QBs they have.

2. Detroit Lions
Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska
I don't know that there's a better argument for picking Suh here than this: Detroit's best defensive tackle last season was Grady Jackson. Although there's not much precedent for a DT coming in and having an impact right away, Suh is as good as advertised and, with just a little help along the line, should be playing at an All-Pro level within three seasons.

3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Gerald McCoy, DT, Oklahoma
Speaking of teams with poor defensive tackles, the Bucs are actually worse off than the Lions. Featuring Chris Hovan, Ryan Sims, and Roy Miller, the Bucs fielded the worst rotation in the league. McCoy's a smart, athletic DT who is right there with Suh in terms of potential.

4. Washington Redskins
Russell Okung, OT, Oklahoma State
Washington's offensive line was a disaster in 09 and with long-time left tackle Chris Samuels very likely having to retire due to his neck injury, the Skins need to start rebuilding this unit immediately. If Sam Bradford shows enough during his workouts leading up to the draft, this would be a natural landing spot for him, but for my money he has a lot of work to do to get chosen this high.

5. Kansas City Chiefs
Dez Bryant, WR, Oklahoma State
Getting scared when you're a young man and lying about something you did is not uncommon. And the fact that what Bryant was lying about wasn't, in the big scheme of things, a huge deal, shouldn't mean so much when team's start putting those red flags next to players' names. In terms of on-field ability, Bryant was right up there with Michael Crabtree and I'd even give him the edge in raw playmaking ability. While I tend to believe you can find WRs, like RBs, throughout the draft and so it's generally not worth it to use a high pick on one, Bryant has special talent and would be worth it. That said, the Chiefs have a lot of needs, and Tennessee safety Eric Berry or Alabama middle linebacker Rolando McClain would also make a lot of sense here.

6. Seattle Seahawks
Eric Berry, DB, Tennessee
The Seattle defense was bad last year, but what was easy to overlook was that they played the run well with their rush defense posting a -8.8% DVOA. Unfortunately the Seahawks were third worst in the league at defending the pass (33% DVOA). With new offensive line coach Alex Gibbs being an expert at coaching up lower-round draft picks, Seattle can afford to go defense with this pick and try to shore up the O-line later. And Seattle is another spot Sam Bradford could land if he works out well and Seattle wants to focus on finding their future signal caller.

7. Cleveland Browns
Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma
Bradford is a huge question mark at this point, but the Browns can't be content to proceed with Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson as their only options at QB.

8. Oakland Raiders
Patrick Robinson, CB, Florida State
We'll probably have a clearer picture of who Al Davis will draft after the official 40 times are posted at the NFL combine, but until then let's say the Raiders go with speedy cornerback Patrick Robinson to help out with their pass defense which was pretty bad despite having the sixth-best adjusted sack rate and Nnamdi Asomugha covering one side of the field. If Robinson isn't as fast on the track as he is on the field, then another good Al Davis option would be safety Taylor Mays: if he runs the 40 in under 4.5 seconds at 6'3" and 230 lbs, it will be hard for Mr. Davis to look at anyone else.

9. Buffalo Bills
Anthony Davis, OT, Rutgers
Even before injuries decimated their offensive line the Bills struggled in pass protection. Neither Demetrius Bell nor Jonathan Scott came close to adequately filling the left tackle spot vacated by the Jason Peters trade.

10. Jacksonville Jaguars
Joe Haden, CB, Florida
With the tenth pick in the NFL draft, the Jacksonville Jaguars select University of Florida cornerback, Joe Haden. Selecting Tim Tebow here might sell tickets for a season or two, but the better long-term economic strategy is winning. And besides, Tebow should still be available in round two or three. More to the point: the Jaguars defense was incredibly unbalanced: they had the worst pass defense (39.7% DVOA) and the seventh best rush defense (-12% DVOA).

11. Denver Broncos (from Chicago Bears)
Rolando McClain, MLB, Alabama
Andra Davis played well at inside backer for his new team but he wore down as the season went on and will be 32 by the end of next season. The other inside backer D.J. Williams was serviceable at best in the new 3-4 scheme. Rolando McClain brings great value at this slot and would be a perfect addition to the rebuilt Broncos D.

12. Miami Dolphins
Sergio Kindle, OLB, Texas
Will Kindle's off-field trouble keep Parcells & co away? If Kindle can prove that he has any kind of head on his shoulders, any sense of what kind of player he can be and the willingness to do what it takes to make that happen, Miami can pull the trigger and take a chance on him. Starting outside linebackers Jason Taylor and Joey Porter are nearing the end of their careers and neither played particularly well last year with Porter especially seeing a drop off in his play.

13. San Francisco 49ers
Brian Price, DT, UCLA
The 49ers are a quarterback away from being a championship-qaulity team, but with no QB left on the board, I think they'll look to keeping their front seven stocked, although defensive back would garner strong consideration as well.

14. Seattle Seahawks (from Denver Broncos)
C.J. Spiller, RB, Clemson
Spiller would not only add a sorely missing explosive element to the Seattle run game, but he would go a long way toward improving their woeful return game as well.

15. New York Giants
Carlos Dunlap, DE, Florida
The Giants are still one of the most talented teams in the league and with Kenny Phillips and Antonio Pierce coming back from injury they can afford to go best player available.

16. Tennessee Titans
Jason Pierre-Paul, DE, South Florida

17. San Francisco 49ers (from Carolina Panthers)
Perrish Cox, CB, Oklahoma State

18. Pittsburgh Steelers
Corey Wooten, DE, Northwestern

19. Atlanta Falcons
Jermaine Gresham, TE, Oklahoma

20. Houston Texans
Donovan Warren, CB, Michigan

21. Cincinnati Bengals
Anthony McCoy, TE, USC

22. New England Patriots
Dan Williams, DT, Tennesee

23. Green Bay Packers
Bruce Campbell, OT, Maryland

24. Philadelphia Eagles
Sean Weatherspoon, OLB, Missouri

25. Baltimore Ravens
Brandon LaFell, WR, LSU

26. Arizona Cardinals
Bryan Bulaga, OT, Iowa

27. Dallas Cowboys
Trent Williams, OT, Oklahoma

28. San Diego Chargers
Terrence Cody, DT, Alabama

29. New York Jets
Damian Williams, WR, USC

30. Minnesota Vikings
Earl Thomas, S, Texas

31. New Orleans Saints
Derrick Morgan, DE, Georgia Tech

32. Indianapolis Colts
Charles Brown, OT, USC

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

53 Deep 2009 All-Pro Team

OFFENSE
QB: Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts
RB: Chris Johnson, Tennessee Titans
TE: Jason Witten, Dallas Cowboys
WR: Andre Johnson, Houston Texans
WR: Vincent Jackson, San Diego Chargers
WR: Sidney Rice, Minnesota Vikings
T: Joe Thomas, Cleveland Browns
T: Jake Long, Miami Dolphins
G: Jahri Evans, New Orleans Saints
G: Chris Snee, New York Giants
C: Nick Mangold, New York Jets

DEFENSE
DE: Dwight Freeney, Indianapolis Colts
DE: Trent Cole, Philadelphia Eagles
DT: Kevin Williams, Minnesota Vikings
DT: Jay Ratliff, Dallas Cowboys
OLB: DeMarcus Ware, Dallas Cowboys
OLB: James Harrison, Pittsburgh Steelers
MLB: Patrick Willis, San Francisco 49ers
CB: Charles Woodson, Green Bay Packers
CB: Darrelle Revis, New York Jets
SS: Adrian Wilson, Arizona Cardinals
FS: Darren Sharper, New Orleans Saints

SPECIAL TEAMS
K: Sebastian Janikowski, Oakland Raiders
P: Shane Lechler, Oakland Raiders
KR: Joshua Cribbs, Cleveland Browns