official 2014 nfl draft thread

[run pMc]

Kipper's dropped Bridgewater to the second round!
http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/draft...per-Mock-Draft

Funny. Wasn't he supposed to be a Top 3 or Top 5 pick?
What if he falls to 21 and TT takes him? Compared to a lot of QBs he's not a big guy but he seemed to show leadership, a decent arm and mobility, and had good accuracy. M3 could probably do a lot with him but I think as with many QBs it would take a couple of years.

I honestly can't imagine Bridgewater falling out of R1. I'd be surprised if someone took McCarron or Carr over this guy.
I think Bortles is the 1st QB, Manziel is gone by mid-R1 and Bridgewater probably the same.

The rumor mill is grinding out misinformation at top speed right now, if you read every online story as if it were completely false the stories make more sense.

[mraynrand]

The story being floated by JSO is that TT loves Bullough because he's instinctive and made the defensive calls at MSU.

he lines 'em up like the best of them! HAWK II - the sequel.

[Teamcheez1]

Kipper's dropped Bridgewater to the second round!
http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/draft...per-Mock-Draft

Anybody (with Insider) know who Kiper had the Packers picking in his new Mock Draft? I'm assuming whoever he has slotted will definitely not be the pick by TT.

[Freak Out]

Pryor I believe.

[pbmax]

http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2014/4/18/5624576/mel-kiper-2014-nfl-mock-draft-eagles-kelvin-benjamin

PICK	TEAM			PLAYER
1	Houston Texans		Jadeveon Clowney, DE, South Carolina
2	St. Louis Rams		Greg Robinson, OT, Auburn
3	Jacksonville Jaguars	Sammy Watkins, WR, Clemson
4	Cleveland Browns	Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M
5	Oakland Raiders		Khalil Mack, OLB, Buffalo
6	Atlanta Falcons		Taylor Lewan, OT, Michigan
7	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Mike Evans, WR, Texams A&M
8	Minnesota Vikings	Blake Bortles, QB, UCF
9	Buffalo Bills		Jake Matthews, OT, Texams A&M
10	Detroit Lions		Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, S, Alabama
11	Tennessee Titans	Justin Gilbert, CB, Oklahoma State
12	New York Giants		Eric Ebron, TE, UNC
13	St. Louis Rams		Darqueze Dennard, CB, Michigan State
14	Chicago Bears		Aarond Donald, DT, Pittsburgh
15	Pittsburgh Steelers	Odell Beckham Jr., WR, LSU
16	Dallas Cowboys		Zack Martin, OT, Notre Dame
17	Baltimore Ravens	Calvin Pryor, S, Louisville
18	New York Jets		Brandin Cooks, WR, Oregon St.
19	Miami Dolphins		C.J. Mosley, LB, Alabama
20	Arizona Cardinals	Derek Carr, QB, Fresno State
[B]21	GREEN BAY PACKERS	RYAN SHAZIER, OLB, Ohio State[/B]
22	Philadelphia Eagles	Kelvin Benjamin, WR, FSU
23	Kansas City Chiefs	Marqise Lee, WR, USC
24	Cincinnati Bengals	Bradley Roby, CB, Ohio State
25	San Diego Chargers	Anthony Barr, OLB, UCLA
26	Cleveland Browns	Kyle Fuller, CB, Virginia Tech
27	New Orleans Saints	Cody Latimer, WR, Indiana
28	Carolina Panthers	Morgan Moses, OT, Virginia
29	New England Patriots	Ra'Shede Hageman, DT, Minnesota
30	San Francisco 49ers	Jordan Matthews, WR, Vanderbilt
31	Denver Broncos		Jason Verrett, CB, TCU
32	Seattle Seahawks	Stephon Tuitt, DE, Notre Dame

[Guiness]

http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2...elvin-benjamin

How old is Rodgers? Ya, he's got a more than a few years left, but so did Favre when Rodgers was picked. I would not be upset at all if he was sitting there when the Packer's pick came up and they grabbed him.

[HarveyWallbangers]

My boy, Brock Jensen. Been touting him for awhile to some buddies of mine from Minnesota. I think he'd be worth a late round flyer.

http://espn.go.com/blog/green-bay-packers/post/_/id/9066/qb-prospect-jensen-could-fit-the-packers

[red]

So the safety class is deep? Wasn't someone saying it was just Ha-Ha and also-rans until Prior declared to make it a two horse race? If that makes for a deep class they must be saying the QB class is the Mariana Trench.

that was me, when i started doing my research on the draft back in november, when it had become clear that we need to find a new safety, many of the experts were calling this one of the weakest and shallowest safety groups in recent memory

so i have no clue what's changed

heres a question and response that sum things up pretty well from "ask vic"

http://www.packers.com/news-and-events/ask-vic/article-1/Is-this-draft-class-as-good-as-advertised/518fb2c3-5ffc-4079-adf7-054235582610

Vic, now SI is running a story saying this is one of the deepest safety classes in years. Who do I believe?

I put my faith in Tony Pauline and he says it’s a weak safety class. The crazy thing about this draft class is that I hadn’t heard or read anybody praise it until Kevin Colbert exploded with his evaluation at the combine. I was stunned by what Colbert said, but he seemed to trigger an avalanche because since then everyone is saying this is an all-timer. Hey, I’m not a scout nor am I a draftnik, so take this with a large grain of salt: I thought the talent at the Senior Bowl was a definite step down from the previous year. I didn’t see a lot of first-round type of talent at the Senior Bowl. Is there any chance this draft class is being overrated? Is the long wait possibly causing that? Are we trying to entertain ourselves?

[red]

heres my favorite mock draft site, this guy is one of the better ones in the business year after year. right before the draft he assigns a madden like rating to the prospects, he finally did that this week

http://www.draftace.com/

heres what he's got

free safeties

1. clinton dix- 93
2. pryor- 92
3. Terrence Brooks-82
4. ed reynolds- 75
5. Kenny Ladler- 66
6. Dion Bailey- 65
7. Marqueston Huff -61
8. Christian Bryant- 56
9. Avery Patterson- 50
10. Ty Zimmerman- 50
11. Tre Boston - 45
12. Lonnie Ballentine- 45

strong safety

1. Jimmie Ward- 87
2. Deone Bucannon- 83
3. Ahmad Dixon- 60
4. Isaiah Lewis- 59
5. Hakeem Smith- 58
6. Brock Vereen- 55
7. Sean Parker- 50
8. Vinnie Sunseri- 50
9. Craig Loston- 45
10. Alden Darby- 45
11. Brian Jackson- 45

[HarveyWallbangers]

heres my favorite mock draft site, this guy is one of the better ones in the business year after year. right before the draft he assigns a madden like rating to the prospects, he finally did that this week

http://www.draftace.com/

heres what he's got

free safeties

1. clinton dix- 93
2. pryor- 92
3. Terrence Brooks-82
4. ed reynolds- 75
5. Kenny Ladler- 66
6. Dion Bailey- 65
7. Marqueston Huff -61
8. Christian Bryant- 56
9. Avery Patterson- 50
10. Ty Zimmerman- 50
11. Tre Boston - 45
12. Lonnie Ballentine- 45

strong safety

1. Jimmie Ward- 87
2. Deone Bucannon- 83
3. Ahmad Dixon- 60
4. Isaiah Lewis- 59
5. Hakeem Smith- 58
6. Brock Vereen- 55
7. Sean Parker- 50
8. Vinnie Sunseri- 50
9. Craig Loston- 45
10. Alden Darby- 45
11. Brian Jackson- 45

He has Tahj Boyd three spots ahead of Tom Savage at QB, so his board looks out of date. Most of the boards that stay up to date have Savage in going in the first 3 rounds and Boyd going in the mid to late rounds. He also has Jared Abbrederis as the 6th best WR--which I think is a big reach. Not sure I trust this board much.

[red]

why? because his big board doesn't match all the others who are getting their info from the same sources?

i believe he just did his rantings for his big board in the last week, so its up to date based on his opinions

[digitaldean]

Jensen would be a local story. He grew up and played in Waupaca, less than 50 miles from GB. He was a very good state champion HS qb before going to NDSU.

He played in a local conference vs. my kid's HS. Awesome talent compared to most of the local players. Didn't see him play in college, but he did take NDSU to 3 straight FCS titles, so that's saying a lot.

Decent size, 6-3, 225. Never know, if TT picks him and likes what he sees, he could edge out Tolzien as the 3rd string/developmental QB.

[run pMc]

why? because his big board doesn't match all the others who are getting their info from the same sources?

i believe he just did his rantings for his big board in the last week, so its up to date based on his opinions

I'd be curious to see what his rankings of safeties from previous years look like -- it would be a decent gauge of whether he's accurate or not.
I thought last year was supposed to be a bad year for safety, and IIRC the year before wasn't touted as that great either. My sense is that it's a little better than last year, probably about how it was 2 years ago.

To tell you the truth, I'm not really sure what a good draft for safety does look like. Usually there are 2-3 that get taken in the top 50 picks, and that will be the case again this year IMO.

Pretty sure Tahj Boyd was the guy who a GB scout was quoted as calling more or less undraftable, but I think that was based on Senior Bowl practices and game where he struggled (7-16 31 yds 1 Int) and the fact that he's under 6'1". Had good WRs at Clemson (Watkins, Bryant, DeAndre Hopkins) who could beat most secondaries. I think Boyd is rated about a R5 or R6 pick and if you're looking for a backup with mobility and good character he's your guy. I don't think he's accurate enough to come in the middle of the 3Q of a game and rally a team to win in the pros. I'd rather spend a R5/6 pick on another player.

[red]

I'd be curious to see what his rankings of safeties from previous years look like -- it would be a decent gauge of whether he's accurate or not.
I thought last year was supposed to be a bad year for safety, and IIRC the year before wasn't touted as that great either. My sense is that it's a little better than last year, probably about how it was 2 years ago.

To tell you the truth, I'm not really sure what a good draft for safety does look like. Usually there are 2-3 that get taken in the top 50 picks, and that will be the case again this year IMO.

Pretty sure Tahj Boyd was the guy who a GB scout was quoted as calling more or less undraftable, but I think that was based on Senior Bowl practices and game where he struggled (7-16 31 yds 1 Int) and the fact that he's under 6'1". Had good WRs at Clemson (Watkins, Bryant, DeAndre Hopkins) who could beat most secondaries. I think Boyd is rated about a R5 or R6 pick and if you're looking for a backup with mobility and good character he's your guy. I don't think he's accurate enough to come in the middle of the 3Q of a game and rally a team to win in the pros. I'd rather spend a R5/6 pick on another player.

http://www.draftace.com/player-rankings/2013-rankings-2/

elam- 87
cyprien- 86
Shamarko Thomas- 84
D.J. Swearinger- 87
Kenny Vaccaro- 84
Eric Reid- 84

so he has both clinton dix and pryor ranked higher then all the safeties last year and he has jimmy ward rated just as highly as anyone last year

the link for the 2012 ratings are broken or something, but the 2011 ratings work and he only had one guy with a rating above 80

[HarveyWallbangers]

why? because his big board doesn't match all the others who are getting their info from the same sources?

Mainly because he has Jared Abbrederis as the 6th best WR in the draft. If Jared Abbrederis is the 6th best WR in this draft, then the talent in this year's WR class has been vastly overrated.