2012 NFL Mock Draft Take 1

We are getting so close to the NFL Draft that it was 100% necessary to put in my first mock draft of the season. As always, I will mock it up as if there were going to be no trades, which I am sure there will be plenty of on draft day. Look for the Vikings and the Browns to trade down early, but after that is anyone’s guess on who will be making trades (not a single mock draft last season had the Jags trading up to the 10^th pick to nab Blaine Gabbert). Here is my best guess at who is going where.

1. COLTS: QB Andrew Luck, Stanford

This is a no brainer. People have been talking about this since Week 4 of last season. The Colts get the best quarterback prospect since, you guessed it, Peyton Manning. The Colts have to be the luckiest franchise in the NFL. Maybe it has something to do with that horseshoe on their helmets…

2. REDSKINS: QB Robert Griffin III, Baylor

This is already set in stone as well. Griffin has already been seen doing events in the Washington area and has been deemed the savoir of a once proud franchise. Let’s hope Mike Shanahan manages him better than he did Donovan McNabb.

3. VIKINGS: OT Matt Kalil, USC

The Vikings will look to trade this pick, but they are in desperate need at a franchise left tackle to help out last year’s first round pick, quarterback Christian Ponder. If they cannot get a great deal for this pick, they will gladly take Kalil and he will man the left side of their offensive line for the next decade.

4. BROWNS: RB Trent Richardson, Alabama

I really have no idea what the Browns will do here, but it will send a ripple effect throughout the rest of this draft. Richardson is the highest rated prospect on the board and they have a need at running back with Peyton Hillis gone for Kansas City. Wide receiver is a big need, but there is way more depth at that position and Richardson is the best running back prospect since Adrian Peterson. Ryan Tannehill will definitely be considered here, but they will realize that Colt McCoy should get at least one offseason as their starting quarterback before they completely give up on him.

5. BUCCANEERS: CB Morris Claiborne, LSU

No one will be happier than LeGarrette Blount when Richardson goes to the Browns, as he has publicly said that he “would not be happy” if the Bucs take Richardson. Cornerback is a huge need for this team, even with the signing of Eric Wright, and Claiborne could be a Pro Bowler for years to come. The Bucs’ defense needs to make huge improvements before this team can take the next step with all of their expensive free agent acquisitions. 

BROWNS: WHAT SHOULD THEY DO?

The Dawg Pound has gone through a rough decade or so,
but will the Browns be able to turn their fortune around with
two first round picks and around $20 million in cap space?

The Browns have been a seemingly cursed franchise since they returned to the NFL in 1999. They have only had two winning seasons and one playoff berth in that time period, and have been disappointing their fans on a yearly basis.

The Redskins have just made a move up to the second pick in the draft, a move that the Dawg Pound was hoping the Browns would make, in order to land Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III. This leaves the Browns with very few options to find their franchise quarterback, unless they want to put their faith back in Colt McCoy after going after Griffin and Peyton Manning.

Despite a need for an upgrade at the quarterback position, the Browns have much bigger problems on the offensive side of the ball besides the QB. While the Browns have a solid offensive line, there is not a single offensive threat on this team right not that a defense has to game plan around. A lack of skill players on offense in the reason they were one of the worst offenses in the league last season and is the main reason they finished with just four wins.

REDSKINS: WHAT SHOULD THEY DO?

The Redskins started the bumbling duo of Rex Grossman and
John Beck in 2012, meaning they will spend this offseason
scrambling to find a franchise quarterback to lead this team.

The Redskins beat the Super Bowl championship New York Giants twice last season, but that was about the only good thing you could say about Washington in 2011. Head coach Mike Shanahan said he would bet his career on getting production out of Rex Grossman or John Beck, and that blew up in his face big time.

Clearly the Redskins' top priority this offseason is finding a franchise quarterback, but they have so many issues all over their roster that this is a team that is not likely to have a huge turn around, unless they land a fully healthy Peyton Manning in free agency along with some other big name free agents.

The only good thing to say about the Redskins’ roster is that they have two young and extremely talented rush outside linebackers for their 3-4 defense in Brian Orakpo and Ryan Kerrigan. Every single other position on this team is at least sub par. So let’s get into specifically what they should be looking to accomplish in 2012.

COLTS: WHAT SHOULD THEY DO?

Colts' owner Jim Irsay and new GM Ryan Grigson have a
very tough road ahead of them in rebuilding a franchise with
a fan base that is very accustomed to winning a lot of games.

The Colts lost their first 13 games this season, so they definitely have a lot of work to do. They were in the bottom five of almost every single major offensive and defensive categories. Rookie head coach Chuck Pagano and rookie GM Ryan Grigson do not have time to settle into their positions because the Colts probably have more crucial personnel decisions to make than any other team in the NFL.

While the big topic is what to do with Peyton Manning and his $28 million roster bonus, the Colts have to decide on what to do with their 13 free agents. Defensive end Robert Mathis, center Jeff Saturday, and receivers Reggie Wayne and Pierre Garcon are their biggest free agents. It will be interesting to see who gets the franchise tag, if any of them.

The Colts could go in a lot of directions with their offseason, but here is what I think they should do.

Free Agency:

As tough as a decision this will be for a franchise that has built their entire organization around one player, the Colts have to release Peyton Manning. His contract is simply too massive and there is no guarantees that he will even play another down in the NFL. The Colts are rebuilding, which is something you do with a young quarterback, not one that is turning 36 in less than a month. The team has no choice but to move on and attempt to use the money they would have paid him to retain their young players. 

JETS: WHAT SHOULD THEY DO?

Well since free agency is about to start and draft talk is heating up, I thought I should start a new segment called, “What Should They Do?”

As always, the teams that did not make the playoffs, and many teams who did make the playoffs, are scrambling to figure out how to fill the holes on their roster. Since the amount of money each team has to spend has been increased as a part of the new CBA signed before the 2011 season, there are a lot of teams that need to spend a lot of money just in order to get above this amount.

As I am a Jets fan, I will start off with the Jets since I have a very good understanding of the deficiencies on their roster after watching their mediocre 8-8 season.

The Jets would love to see Mario Williams (90) in their uniform
taking down Dolphins the same way he did with the Texans.

Free Agency:

As strange as it sounds, the Jets are best off looking for ways to improve their defense, not their offense, in free agency. The Jets are desperate to get an elite pass rusher and signing Mario Williams would make this defense scary good. Williams has some injury concerns, but he has proven to be one of the best pass rushers in the league and is stout against the run as well.

It might be very hard for the Jets to find the cap space to sign him, and there is a definite possibility that Williams wants to stay in Houston, but the Jets should really focus on trying to convince him why the Jets would be a great fit for him.

If the Jets cannot sign Williams, there are unfortunately not too many other options to upgrade the pass rush in free agency, so they should turn to trying to find a starting safety. Michael Griffin should be their focus from the safety class because the Titans will have a hard enough time trying to lock up cornerback Cortland Finnegan, who will be their focus in free agency. Griffin would be a huge upgrade for this defense and Rex Ryan would feel much more comfortable with him in deep coverage instead of Eric Smith, who was atrocious for the Jets all season long.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY SUPER BOWL WEEKEND

The time has finally come to go over the last week of football until September (don’t even mention the preseason to me). As a Jets fan, I was in a bit of a lose-lose situation with this Super Bowl. I either got to hear trash talk from the rival Patriots’ fans or I got to watch Giants fans walk around my city all year long in their Championship shirts and hats.

Either way, I could not be happier for Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin, who have gone from having to worry about their jobs to all but sealing their names in the Hall of Fame. They deserved this win. Once again the underdog Giants found a way to come together as a team to put on a spectacular performance to knock off the top seeded Patriots. Let’s jump into it.

The Good: Three of Mario Manningham’s five catches come on the Giants’ winning drive, including a spectacular 38 yard catch along the sidelines.

It was hard for me to not put Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning here, but I think Manningham had way more to gain by his performance than Eli did. Everyone expected Eli to be perfect in this game, especially against such a weak defense. However, Bill Belichick game planned on “making Manningham beat us,” and that’s exactly what he did.

Anyone who knows Manningham’s story, knows he had a lot to prove in this game. Manningham was a highly productive receiver at Michigan and wowed Wolverine fans with his acrobatic catches and game changing plays. At one point, he was thought of as a first round pick, but fell to the third round because of character concerns and running a slow 40 yard dash at the NFL Combine, which was a red flag for a lot of teams that his work ethic was questionable.

After his first two seasons with the Giants, he became one of Eli’s favorite targets in 2010 recording almost 1000 yard and nine touchdowns. 2011 was the last year of his rookie contract and many people expected him to have the type of season that Victor Cruz ended up having. Manningham had a decent season in 2011, but still failed to reach expectations.

In the Super Bowl, Manningham clearly had a lot of pressure on his since the Patriots were going to do everything they could do to take Hakeem Nicks and Cruz out of the game, and after the Giants lost their only two pass catching tight ends, that only left Manningham to come up big for Eli.

Manningham had received criticism from the announcers during the Super Bowl on a play in which he ran his route too close to the sidelines so that Eli did not have enough room to fit the ball in to him, which resulted in a huge missed opportunity for a big play. Manningham clearly learned from his mistakes because on his 38 yard catch, he was running the same route, but managed to stay further away from the sidelines, leaving room for Eli to place the ball right where only Manningham could catch it. He had two other crucial catches on that final drive and has solidified himself in Giants’ history.

Manningham might not be on the Giants roster next season, but he definitely made himself a good amount of money with his performance in the Super Bowl. Whoever signs him this offseason will have to pay significantly more due to just a few plays at the end of this game.

Runner-Up: Giants’ defense holds the Patriots high-powered offense to just 17 points.

The Bad: Wes Welker’s confidence level.

Anyone who blames Welker for the Patriots’ loss is out of their mind. Was his drop a big swing in emotion for his team? Yes, absolutely. Would that play have put the game out of reach for the Giants? Not necessarily, but it certainly would have made it significantly tougher for them to come back. However, it is still just one play and there will always be missed opportunities whether you win or lose.

On that play, Tom Brady’s pass was off target and Welker made a great adjustment in order to just get his hands on that ball, like he always does. Nine out of ten times, Welker will pull that down for the Patriots, but he just could not handle it for whatever reason. There were plenty of other key plays that hurt the Patriots, but you could tell that this one had a huge effect on the team’s morale. If Welker is dropping passes, what can the Patriots count on?

As bad as the media criticism has and will be, there will not be anyone tougher on Welker than himself. You could tell after the game that Welker thought that he had lost the game for his team and was emotionally crushed.

Since Welker’s contract is up, I am praying that his drop at the end of the game does not hurt him in contract negotiations with the Patriots. Welker has been one of the most underpaid players in the NFL for the last few seasons now and I hope he finally gets his due.

As much as I would love to see Welker go elsewhere, there is no way this happens. Welker is the second most important player on this Patriots team next to Brady and Tommy Boy is significantly more productive with Welker in the lineup. Welker will get a big payday, I just hope he does not hurt himself in negotiations by blaming himself for the Patriots loss.

Runner-Up: The Patriots force three fumbles, yet fail to force a turnover all game long.

The Ugly: Rob Gronkowski’s dance moves.

In a game that did not have too many poor performances, the ugliest thing that happened Super Bowl weekend was off the field. And boy oh boy was it ugly.

Let’s look at it this way. Imagine you are a young player who has just had one of the greatest seasons anyone at your position has ever had. Your team has gotten to the Super Bowl, but you are still hobbled from a huge hit two weeks earlier. You play the game, but are unable to really contribute and your team loses. What would you feel like doing? If the answer is anything but get a good night’s rest and stay away from the media, you are doing something wrong.

Gronkowski not only did not try to get some rest and heal up his ankle, but he got drunk and jumped around the dance floor with significantly more energy than he showed at any point in time on the football field earlier in the day. He made himself look like a total moron and I am sure there are guys in the Patriots’ locker room who will think differently of Gronkowski after seeing his excitement right after such a devastating loss.

What Gronkowski does not appreciate is how incredibly difficult it is to get to a Super Bowl and have the type of season he had this year. After the Patriots almost went 19-0, it took them four years to get back to the Super Bowl. At age 34, Brady probably only has four or five years left at best and the Patriots are not nearly as strong of a team as they were four years ago. And once Brady is gone, the Patriots are going to have a hard time replacing him.

Tony Gonzalez is possibly the greatest tight end to ever play the game and he is most likely going to have to retire without ever winning a single playoff game. Gronkowski needs to appreciate the situation that he is in or else Bill Belichick will not hesitate to cut bait with a player who clearly does not abide by his code of conduct. 

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND

I have been putting off writing this week’s “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly,” because like many football fans, I am in total denial about the fact that there is only one game left this year. This season seems to have passed even faster than usual, but what a year it has been. Considering there were a lot of new faces in the playoffs this year, it is funny that the Super Bowl will be a rematch of the historic 2008 game. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let’s take a look at last week’s successes and failures.

The Good: After playing second fiddle to Hakeem Nicks the last two playoff games, Victor Cruz hauls in a whopping ten catches for 142 yards.

All season long, the Giants had lived and died by creating long, explosive plays on offense. Eli Manning led a passing offense that had more 40+ yard plays than any other team in 2011, but he was going up against a defense that was the best in the league in stopping big plays, mostly due to their stellar play at the safety position. Hakeem Nicks had been unstoppable the last two weeks, accounting for 280 yards, four touchdowns, and more than 20 yards per catch. The 49ers clearly focused on stopping Nicks, and they did, holding him to just 55 yards.

However, they did not have an answer for Cruz all day. It was his ability to keep the chains moving that slowed down the fierce 49ers pass rush just enough for the Giants offense to keep them in the game. His ability to get open quickly gave Eli a reliable target to go to while he was being taken to the ground by defenders, which was quite often (a staggering 20 times to be exact). I almost went with Eli in this spot because he took such a beating and still led his team to a W, but he could not have produced much of anything on offense without Cruz coming up big for him over and over again. Cruz and Nicks should give the Giants a dangerous one-two punch in the passing game for a long time to come and it will be interesting to see if the Patriots struggling defense has an answer for either of them.

The Bad: Kyle Williams loses two punts, including one in overtime that set up the Giants with the game winning field goal.

I will not blame Williams as the sole reason the 49ers lost like many have done, but there is no denying that this was a really tough game for such a young and inexperienced player. His two turnovers accounted for 10 of the Giants’ 20 points, including the game winning field goal. Both were inexcusable mistakes, especially in such a huge game for a franchise that had not been in the playoffs since the 90s. His muffed punt during regulation where he simply failed to get out of the way and allowed the ball to be recovered by the Giants was in my mind significantly worse than the fumble in overtime. The golden rule of being a punt returner is either catch the ball or get the heck out of its way. He is not the 49ers’ starting punt returner, but he has still been around football enough of his life that he should have known better.

All that being said, the 49ers had many other problems that led them to lose this game. Most notably, the 49ers passing attack did absolutely nothing unless Vernon Davis was streaking down the field wide open. The 49ers have to figure out if they want to ride it out with Alex Smith or if they will bring in another quarterback to compete with last year’s second round pick Colin Kaepernick. Possibly more important, they need to find some decent receivers to help out whoever their starting quarterback is in 2012 because Michael Crabtree drops a lot of passes and their second best receiver has a lot of work to do to repair his image in the Bay Area. What’s his name? You guessed it, Kyle Williams.

The Ugly: The Ravens offense.

I could blame Lee Evans for dropping what would have been a game winning touchdown, or Billy Cundiff for missing the field goal that would have sent the game into overtime, or even Ray Rice for averaging barely over three yards a carry. However, it is much simpler to just say they all stunk and it took the entire Ravens offense to lose this game. Going into this matchup, the Ravens had to know that they were not going to win this game with 20 points. The Patriots offense had been unstoppable in recent weeks and the Ravens defense played out of their mind holding Tom Brady to zero touchdowns to two interceptions.

I have already mentioned Evans, Cundiff, and Rice as guys who could be blamed for this loss, but Joe Flacco needs to get at least some of the blame as well. Statistically Flacco had a good day, but anyone who watched that game saw him miss open receivers numerous times and often looked lost. His pocket awareness was pathetic and he often stepped up right into the Patriots’ blitz. He might have thrown for 306 yards, but the Patriots allowed 294 yards per game so he had nothing but an average game against them. Flacco has not helped himself in the media by talking about how he does not get enough credit for the Ravens success and speaking publicly about wanting a new contact before next season. Since he has not really backed up his big talk with anything but mediocre performances in the playoffs, it will be interesting to see what his future will be with the Ravens.