NFL Draft, All Opinion, No Crap

For the past several weeks I have been racking my brain for a way to do a Mock Draft blog that did not sound like a carbon copy of everyone else's. I mean, EVERYONE is doing a Mock Draft, there is nothing new out there, and picking a draft is like picking a NCAA Tournament Bracket; it's damn near impossible. So why even try? Because it's fun, that's why. But I don't know much about the NFL. I write a college football blog, so while I feel like I have a great position on ranking players, I don't know what NFL teams are thinking! Then it came to me! Why not write a Mock Draft that would go exactly as how I THINK it should based on what I saw from players and from what the season ending stats in the NFL tell me? Forget all the other garbage that surrounds this circus! So that's what I did. I looked at the season ending stats for every NFL Team like passing yards, rushing yards, touchdowns, etc etc and I decided what they needed. Then I checked free agency to make sure the NFL team did not fill their need, then I ranked the college players all by myself. There are numerous player rankings out there that include their pro days, the combine, the senior bowl, etc and I threw all that crap out!! I don't care. I am looking at bodies of work that I have seen with my own eyes and what the stats say. So I feel in a bullcrap-less world where all the media hype (ie: there is no reason some kids are rated higher than others, body type is a cop-out, just compare Josh Huff and Odell Beckham Jr), storylines, NFL politics, and speculation have been stripped away, THIS is the draft we would end up with. And if that sounds cocky...sorry...

Here we go!!!

1. Houston Texans - Terry Bridgewater QB from Louisville, the best QB in the draft, period.

2. St. Louis Rams - Sammy Watkins WR from Clemson, the Rams need some help for Bradford and Watkins is the best WR in the draft, period.

3. Jacksonville Jaguars - Jake Matthews OT from Texas A&M, the Jags need A LOT of help EVERYWHERE, but they may have some pieces in place on the offensive side, so lets build from the ground up and take care of a deep defensive pool of players later in the draft

4. Cleveland Browns - Johnny Manziel QB from Texas A&M, the Browns NEED a QB, and who better to bring excitement back to Cleveland and give them a shot than Johnny Football.

5. Oakland Raiders - Mike Evans WR from Texas A&M, the Raiders cannot pass up the second best WR in the draft

6. Atlanta Falcons - Jadeveon Clowney DE from South Carolina, the Falcons need a defensive overall and you are not going to find a bigger freak to start building off of then Clowney, too much of an upside to pass up

7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Blake Bortles QB from UCF, Lovie Smith would probably want to go OL or defense with his first pick, but if Bortles falls this far, you cannot let one of the best pure pocket passers get away

8. Minnesota Vikings - Darqueze Dennard CB from Michigan St, the Vikings defense is in more of a mess than their offense, and when potentially an all star shut down corner falls into your lap, you have to take it

9. Buffalo Bills - Taylor Lewan OT from Michigan, EJ Manual - check, CJ Spiller - check, a great young defense - check, protection for Manual? CHECK

10. Detroit Lions - Jace Amaro TE from Texas Tech, the Lions have helped their D in free agency, will probably need more in the second round, but they need someone underneath to catch passes

11. Tennessee Titans - Marquise Lee WR from USC, when was the last time the Titans had an elite WR?

12. New York Giants - Xavier Su'a-Filo G from UCLA, the Giants have to feel last year was a fluke, they need DL help, but there will be some available later, get the elite G now for an inconsistent and aging line

13. St. Louis Rams - Hasean Clinton-Dix FS from Alabama, how many of you knew his real name was Hasean? Rams need secondary help and he can be a secondary general for years to come

14. Chicago Bears - Aaron Donald DT from Pittsburgh, the Bears run D was terrible last year and it's time to start rebuilding with one of the best defensive linemen in the draft

15. Pittsburgh Steelers - Greg Robinson OT from Auburn, I am not sold on the Steelers offensive line and I don't think they are either

16. Dallas Cowboys - Anthony Barr OLB from UCLA, the defense was God-awful and then they let DeMarcus Ware go, Barr is an instant fix

17. Baltimore Ravens - Eric Ebron TE from North Carolina, the defense was not as bad as it could have been, there will be players to draft here later, get Flacco some under-neath/safety valve help

18. New York Jets - Allen Robinson WR from Penn State, the perfect compliment to Decker and if Geno Smith or Vick can look down-field...the Jets might have an offense

19. Miami Dolphins - Brandin Cooks WR from Oregon State, this kid is an absolute monster, check the stats. Just what the Fins need in the passing game.

20. Arizona Cardinals - David Yankey G from Stanford, the Cards have to feel they are only a few pieces away from something special. The run game was a weakness and they really need a RB, but there are no RB's that deserve a first round pick, so lets go with a G from run heavy Stanford.

21. Green Bay Packers - Calvin Pryor FS from Louisville, the Packers front seven will be improved after injury recovery and free agency so they need to improve their defensive backfield.

22. Philadelphia Eagles - Justin Gilbert CB from Oklahoma State, even after letting DeSean Jackson go the Eagles feel they have their WR and could get a decent 3rd in the second round, a corner as good as Gilbert on a pass defense as bad as Philly's? It makes too much sense.

23. Kansas City Chiefs - Odell Beckham Jr WR from LSU, after letting McCluster get away, and already needing a WR, Beckham is a perfect match across from big Bowe

24. Cincinnati Bengals - CJ Mosley ILB from Alabama, the Bengals don't need much, but Mosley will bring a consistent, smart presence to that Bengal defense for years to come

25. San Diego Chargers - Trent Murphy DE from Stanford, all the "experts" have Murphy going in the second round. I don't get it. He's bigger than Dee Ford and he was more productive than Ford or Ealy.

26. Cleveland Browns - Chris Borland ILB from Wisconsin, another possible stretch for me. Kahil Mack is the darling right now and he is a beast, and he has some stats, but he played at Buffalo....can we talk level of competition? Borland could be the heart and soul of the interior of the Browns defense for years to come.

27. New Orleans Saints - Louis Nix III DT from Notre Dame, the Saints are pretty loaded right now, but a little extra up front on the DL never hurts

28. Carolina Panthers - Jordan Matthews WR from Vanderbilt, he was the best WR in the SEC, he played on a mid-level team so he didn't get the recognition, he is big, he is fast, and he has better hands than Kelvin Benjamin. Gives Newton an instant down field threat.

29. New England Patriots - Kyle Van Noy OLB from BYU, seems like a Patriot kind of guy to me

30. San Francisco 49ers - Donte Moncrief WR from Ole Miss, they still need WR help, Benjamin is on the board, but why draft another TE when you have Vernon Davis? They need a big, fast WR that can stretch the field

31. Denver Broncos - Kyle Fuller CB from Virginia Tech, this guy was shut-down before the injury

32. Seattle Seahawks - Austin Seferian-Jenkins TE from Washington, Seattle goes local and gives Wilson some help under-neath

Up next: a Multiple Part Blog on Unionization with a little help from my friends!