dew1679666265

Used properly, Tebow would make a fine 1st round pick. Especially if he works out next year with the numbers I expect him to.

I know it's cliche to say that way-early mock drafts are dumb, but it doesn't change the fact that they're still dumb. You can't take them seriously. But it's still fun to look at - I think. I just like it for the reason of seeing which players to really watch and what others think of them. I really like Dez Bryant next year, and am curious as to what scouts think. Yeah, they give you an idea who to watch early on. It's also interesting to look at them now and compare them to the ones that come out closer to the draft - a way of seeing how much some players' stocks have raised and how much some stocks have dropped.

See, this is a problem. This pick would probably make too much sense. The Raiders would pass on Berry because he'll run one-tenth of a second too slow at the combine and instead take the guy who ran the fastest but is projected to be a low first/early second rounder. You know, like they did this year. That's why next season you should root for Berry to have an awesome combine and run really fast - that'll guarantee the Raiders pick him. :wink: At the same time, I'll be hoping Berry decides to pull a Peyton Manning and return for his senior year. :pig:

I know it's cliche to say that way-early mock drafts are dumb, but it doesn't change the fact that they're still dumb. You can't take them seriously. But it's still fun to look at - I think.

While we're doing this, here's a Sports Illustrated 2010 mock draft. Some notables: Rams trade up for 1st pick and take Bradford. Al Davis and the Raiders take Eric Berry with the 2nd pick. Dan Snyder falls in love with and drafts Tim Tebow at 13. The pick the Broncos got from the Bears is the #21 pick (which I believe means playoffs for Chicago). The Titans take Jermaine Gresham, TE, Oklahoma (I really love this idea, I wanted him this year). 3 Alabama players and 4 Florida players go in the first round (13 SEC players total). Oklahoma leads the way with 5 players taken.

I was suprised to see #1 as well. I do think he will be top 10 and the 2nd QB taken though behind Bradford. Though Snead has the tools really wow the combine people. Yeah, but I think Bradford does as well. Both could go top 10, but I think Bradford having better career numbers and similar physical tools will keep him ahead of Snead.

Much as I like Snead, I find it very hard to believe that he'll be the #1 pick next year. Bradford is a terrific NFL prospect and will have multiple years of high-end production under his belt.

Durham has never played a major or minor league game at third base.

Grudz has only played 31 ML games at 3B, and they were all in his rookie year in 1995 in Montreal.

Gosder Cherilus and Manny Ramirez will take the right side, I assume. Dominic Raiola or Dylan Gandy will handle center. Jeff Backus will play one of the two spots on the left side (likely LT), but I wonder what role Daniel Loper played in their decision? Loper was signed to just a one-year deal, but he was very highly thought of in Tennessee, was coached by one of the best o-line coaches in the game (Mike Munchak) and Schwartz wanted him to come to Detroit with him. I don't know what role they have planned for Loper, but I wonder if they wanted to give him a shot at one of the two spots on the left side and see what he has? If he doesn't work out, they look at guys like Bryan Bulaga or Russell Okung in the 2010 draft. I have no idea what role Schwartz planned for Loper, but I'm betting he thinks highly of him since he brought him from Tennessee. Manny Ramirez plays football as well? :shock: What can I say, he's an amazing athlete. :D Different Manny, though.

Gosder Cherilus and Manny Ramirez will take the right side, I assume. Dominic Raiola or Dylan Gandy will handle center. Jeff Backus will play one of the two spots on the left side (likely LT), but I wonder what role Daniel Loper played in their decision? Loper was signed to just a one-year deal, but he was very highly thought of in Tennessee, was coached by one of the best o-line coaches in the game (Mike Munchak) and Schwartz wanted him to come to Detroit with him. I don't know what role they have planned for Loper, but I wonder if they wanted to give him a shot at one of the two spots on the left side and see what he has? If he doesn't work out, they look at guys like Bryan Bulaga or Russell Okung in the 2010 draft. I have no idea what role Schwartz planned for Loper, but I'm betting he thinks highly of him since he brought him from Tennessee.

He's played 31 ML games there, all in his rookie year of 1995 with Montreal.

He's far too athletic to fail. He may not stick as a QB, but I'll be shocked if he doesn't excel with a team at another position. Yeah he'll stick at some position in the NFL. It's important he gets into the right system though. I could see him making it at TE, FB, RB (Wild cat offense 5-10 carries a game), or some limited reps at QB either in the red zone or in a wild cat style offense. He might even be able to make it as a LB. If he can catch the ball, I think he'd make an ideal TE. If he has the speed (which I doubt) he'd be unstoppable at WR, but unless he can outjump DBs I think he'd have trouble separating. LB would also be an interesting spot for him, though with his athletic ability I'd like to keep him on the offensive side of the ball.

I would have put more into the line as well, but you have to consider that there are two ways you can help a young, franchise QB. One of those ways is to give him a great offensive line that will protect him. Second, you can give him weapons to throw the ball to. The Lions chose the second route, and it's not necessarily a bad route. If Schwartz runs an offense anything similar to what Fisher/Heimerdinger run in Nashville, he will make use of the tight ends a lot. Bo Scaife - the Titans' #2 TE last year - had the most receptions on the team - 58. The Titan offense values a pass catching TE perhaps more than a wide receiver (hence their reluctance to pour large amounts of money/resources into WRs) and that has to be why Schwartz valued Pettigrew so highly. Keep in mind as well, Pettigrew was the only TE in the draft who is a good blocker and receiver. No other TE in the draft had that mix. He won't block as well as an offensive lineman, obviously, but he's a very good blocker and will help at times with protection, along with the benefit he'll bring in the receiving game. I would have gone with Oher, but it's a very defensible move to go with Pettigrew. A position is only a luxury position if it is not involved in a team's game plan much. This is probably a sign that it will be for Schwartz (like it is for his mentor, Jeff Fisher).

Yeah I heard Urban put an under center package in. It's a good idea, used sparingly in situations to make Tebow look good. Is that Oklahoma you're referring to about the 4th quarter thing?

He's far too athletic to fail. He may not stick as a QB, but I'll be shocked if he doesn't excel with a team at another position.

Hmmm, I must have been watching at the wrong times to see the go routes - or at least don't remember them. I'll have to watch for them this year (I'm sure Urban will toss some out for UT this year). As for taking snaps under center, that was a question for all of them. It was a question for Bomar and Harrell this year and will be a question for Tebow and Devlin next year. It'll actually be tougher for Tebow because of the spread option Urban runs. Tebow ran the ball nearly as much as he threw it, so there will be less tape of him throwing it even from the shotgun than for the rest of the QBs (outside of Devlin, at least). I think Urban would do well to stick an I-form or singleback set into the playbook to run when Florida is up handily on a team, in order to give scouts some tape on him showing he can run an offense from under center.

Tebow's number one problem is mechanics and system. If he can improve his throwing mechanics and prove he can run an offense from under center, I think he might become a first day QB prospect and not just a first round athlete. I'd like to see his deep arm strength a little better as well. I haven't seen a lot of deep outs from him or the go-routes down the sidelines. I think he's got a better arm for those throws than McCoy, but I also think Bradford is better suited for those throws. His athlete reputation is always going to drag on him a bit, though. People will think first about the running ability and gimmick throws (the jump pass) until well into the scouting period next year.

i still can't get over it. you have a franchise LT in Oher and DT in Jerry fall in your laps at 20 and you opt for a luxury position in TE. now they're still stuck starting Jeff Backus and Chuck Darby. Delmas would be acceptable if they didn't already use 2nd rounders the last two years with Gerald Alexander and Bullocks. so now Paris Lenon stays put. a team ridden with pressing holes did virtually nothing to patch up any of them, save maybe QB. nasty. If you go 0-16, there's no excuse for taking a tight end in the first round of the draft. The guy might be a hall of famer, but if you have so many holes on your team that you went 0-16, you don't take a tight end in the first round. Period. Why not? They're not filling all their holes this year anyway, so why not fill some of the holes with the best players there. I'll agree that taking Pettigrew over Oher is a bit baffling, but it's not the difference between them competing this year or not. It's a 2-3 year process that Schwartz is undergoing and I think he drafted that way.

You couldn't be more wrong on number two. The stats may lie if you do not to notice that Tebow's throws themselves are more vertical oriented than anyone else's. Sure his guys gobble up YAC yardage, but three-fourths of Tebow's passes last season were 10 yards 8 yards or more downfield. Then the guys caught them and turned in quality YAC yardage. He also threw a higher percentage of 30+ yard passes than anyone else in the game. Tebow throws the ball down field. It's pretty simple. On the other hand nearly 9 out of 10 of McCoy's passes were within 8 yards of the line of scrimmage. The different is night and day and you've got it backwards. You and I both know the only game you watch closely was the UF/FSU game. That was pretty much the only game where Tebow didn't throw the ball down field 24/7. It could have something to do with playing in a monsoon and being up big you know. And you'd take Berry on FSU before Tebow next season? That's asinine. I'd be curious to see how Tebow does throwing to mostly covered receivers. I watched quite a bit of Florida last year and most of the time Tebow's targets were simply faster than a lot of the defenders they faced - leading to Tebow having really easy throws most of the year. I'm not sure he has the arm to make the tight, tough throws against NFL competition. But then again, I'm not sure McCoy has the arm either.

I hope Davis likes Demps so much he croaks. And you're right. Demps could be injured and average negative yards per carry and catch, but if he runs a ridiculously fast 40, Davis will draft him two rounds before he should go. Davis will absolutely go crazy over most of Florida's players. It's a team built on speed, especially Demps and Rainey. Meph, what position does that awesome punt returner play that burned Tennessee so badly the last couple years? Brandon something I think his name is. Davis will absolutely adore him.

This could just be because he's Berry's DC now, but Monte said there was no doubt in his mind that Berry should be the #1 player in the draft next year. As a safety. If Monte means that, it's incredibly high praise.

Clausen will have to have a stellar year to override the doubts about him that linger now, I think. Devlin has a fresh slate and is part of a trendy movement - strong armed QB who runs a spread offense at a small school (Joe Flacco). I'm not sure Mallett will leave early unless he has an amazing year. I could see Tebow going as a QB, but only if someone wants to experiment with a spread option in the NFL. The Wildcat has worked, but I really don't think there's a coach secure enough in his job who would make an attempt at that working. It'd have to be a coach on a bad team who has plenty of job security (or Jon Gruden coming back into the league and being serious about bringing the spread option with him).

I think the top 3 QBs to go will be Bradford, Snead, Pat Devlin (assuming a strong year this year). But I think Tebow will go first round - just not as a QB.

I like Major Wright's talent a lot, but I don't think there's a player in the country as good as Berry - at least not a DB. Mays is the only one close. Tennessee should have more guys taken next year (hard not to beat 1 after all). Berry and Rico McCoy should be the highest to go. Dan Williams should get a strong look late day 1, or sometime in day 2 as well.