Category: NFL Draft (Page 82 of 102)

Michael Lombardi of SI.com discusses six rules that should be applied while making a NFL mock draft.

1. With one week before the draft, never believe any team officials’ quotes, especially what direction they may be headed with their selection…

2. As you do your research, if the team and the player are always the same, then the chances of that player going there are not very good…

3. Running backs tend to slip. Backs have a short career in the NFL, so picking one high in the first round is a huge investment…

4. If the mock you’re reading does not have six defensive linemen in the first round, stop reading it…

5. After the 10th pick in the first round, it is all about how well you know what each team needs…

6. The Giants, Raiders, Dolphins, Jaguars, Cowboys and Packers are size/speed teams…

These are good, but I’d like to throw out some more:

7. As long as Matt Millen is still employed by the Detroit Lions, make sure you have them taking a wide receiver. You’ll be right more times than not.

8. Have the Bears drafting an offensive player with a high bust factor in the first round.

9. Even though they’re completely loaded at the position, make sure you have the Raiders taking a defensive back.

Any others?

Citing a source close to the team as well as the player, YAHOO Sports is reporting that the Patriots might trade up in order to nab LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey in the first round.

…In fact, the emphasis on speed rushers is so strong that New England, which has the No. 7 overall pick via last year’s draft trade with the San Francisco 49ers, has had Dorsey in for a personal workout and is contemplating a trade up for him, according to a source close to the team and another close to the player. The last time New England used a pick in the top 10, it selected versatile defensive lineman Richard Seymour with the sixth pick in the 2001 draft.

Personally, I think New England is going to have to get as high as No. 2 in order to draft Dorsey, because it’s a good bet the Falcons want him at No. 3. A lot of people think Atlanta will go Matt Ryan, but they have three second round picks that they could leverage to move back into the first round to nab Louisville signal caller Brian Brohm if they wanted to. Regardless, is Dorsey even a good fit for the Pats’ 3-4 defensive front?

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FOX Sports columnist John Czarnecki is reporting that “the word on the street” is that Michigan offensive tackle Jake Long doesn’t want to play for the Miami Dolphins.

The word on the street is that Michigan offensive tackle Jake Long doesn’t want to play for the Dolphins, who continue to negotiate with him as the first overall draft choice. There’s a special honor in being the first pick so Long’s agents continue to talk.

Of course, there is a deadline to these contract talks and then the Dolphins will move onto the next person on their board. Apparently, it isn’t Virginia’s Chris Long.

The Czar’s information has always been a little hit and miss (biased too in my opinion), so take this rumor with a grain of salt. But if there’s any truth to it, Jake Long needs to buck up and go where he’s drafted. Please, no more John Elway and Eli Manning I-want-to-go-here-drafts.

Greg Cote of the Miami Herald makes a good point about the Dolphins choosing a wrong year (in terms of the draft) to be a bad team.

Here is the problem for Miami as the April 26 draft thunders in:

The Dolphins, who continue to clearly need the rescue of a great quarterback more than anything else, keep picking really bad years to be really bad.

The Dolphins should be the envy of the draftosphere right now. Instead, every executive in the NFL is glad he isn’t Bill Parcells, because in a draft in which the top six or seven guys are judged pretty even, the only thing picking first gets you is the honor of paying many millions of dollars more than the team probably getting somebody just as good two or three spots lower.

Cote makes a good point, although it’s ludicrous to think the Dolphins won’t get a good player. Several folks in the media are down on this April’s draft, but I actually think it’s the type of year that could surprise. Chris Long, Jake Long and Glenn Dorsey are likely going to be very good football players at the next level. Sure, Darren McFadden is the arguably the only flashy player that will be chosen in the top 10, but teams are more about substance anyway. Fans are about the flash.

Photo Courtesy of Flickr

Here’s some interesting draft fodder – according to the Miami Herald, the Dolphins have already begun formal contract discussions with Michigan offensive tackle Jake Long.

The Dolphins would like to have a contract in place with their first pick before the draft on April 26, which would allow them to avoid a potentially ugly holdout like the one that took place in Oakland last year upon the Raiders’ selection of quarterback JaMarcus Russell.

Miami is still intrigued by Virginia defensive end Chris Long, but no in-person talks between Chris Long’s agent and Miami are believed to have taken place to date. However, the Dolphins are believed to be happy with quarterback John Beck, and they are not considering Ryan as an option with the first pick.

I had the Dolphins selecting Jake Long in my mock draft, so obviously I’m not shocked by these developments. But as Rotoworld.com pointed out, Miami could potentially crunch contract numbers with Chris Long and former OSU defensive end Vernon Gholston, too. One thing appears certain, however – BC quarterback Matt Ryan won’t be the Dolphins’ first pick.