SI.com’s Don Banks has the Lions taking Baylor offensive tackle Jason Smith with the first overall pick in April’s draft.
1. Lions – Jason Smith, Baylor
With six weeks and two days remaining before the draft, I’m still not buying that the Lions are going to take their $30 million-plus gamble on Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford, a junior who looks like anything but a sure thing. I reserve the right to read the tea leaves differently at some point, but the Lions’ smart play to me would be to play it safe at No. 1 with either Smith or linebacker Aaron Curry, and then explore getting a quarterback like Kansas State’s Josh Freeman with a slight trade down from No. 20, or with their second-rounder at 33.
2. Rams – Eugene Monroe, Virginia
No Orlando Pace in Rams horns any more should make this the biggest no-brainer of the top five. St. Louis badly needs an offensive tackle, and it picked the right year to be in that position.
3. Chiefs – Aaron Curry, Wake Forest
The Chiefs can’t possibly miss in this slot. If the Lions go quarterback at the top, K.C. will have their pick between Curry, the draft’s cleanest prospect, and one of the top two offensive tackles. If Detroit goes for Curry, the Chiefs still get the tackle they need in either Smith or Monroe. And if the Lions and Rams both go offensive tackle, Kansas City winds up with the defensive play-maker it lacks in Curry.
4. Seahawks – B.J. Raji, Boston College
This is how free agency and the draft are supposed to work in tandem. The Seahawks signed T.J. Houshmandzadeh this month, so they don’t have to take Texas Tech receiver Michael Crabtree any more. And they added ex-Packers defensive tackle Colin Cole to replace the departed Rocky Bernard, so Raji isn’t a must-have either. But quality defensive tackles are always prized and much tougher to find than starting receivers.
5. Browns – Everette Brown, Florida State
This is much higher than I had Brown going in my last mock (to Miami at No. 25), but Cleveland’s need is for an edge pass-rusher at outside linebacker in the 3-4 defense, and there just aren’t that many choices to be had in that department. Plenty of mocks have the Browns going for Texas defensive end Brian Orakpo, but I hear the Browns don’t like him all that much.
That’s a pretty solid top 5, although Brown is a major reach at No. 5. Still, as Banks notes, the Browns are in desperate need of a pass rusher and need one, if not two starting linebackers for next season.
Banks has Michael Crabtree falling to the Raiders at No. 7, which certainly makes sense given Al Davis’s desire to land the flashy pick. Banks also has Mark Sanchez (No. 8 to Jacksonville) being selected before Matthew Stafford (No. 10 to San Francisco), which is sure a trend that other mock drafts will surely to follow if they haven’t already. (If you’re looking for my two cents, I don’t think there’s any way Sanchez goes ahead of Stafford, but crazier things have happened.)
Click here to check out the rest of Banks’ mock.
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