Libid21's 2008 NFL Mock Draft (1st Round)

I finally got around to making my first ever NFL first round mock. Some of you guys may know me from some Atlanta Falcons message boards and the mock drafts I've done for Atlanta. However, I've never done a mock draft of the whole entire league, so if your team didn't get the pick you were hoping for, don't give me too much of a hard time considering this is my first one. Hopefully, it'll be my last one in a while since I've still got to do an offseason mock for FalcFans too. These things are surprisingly time consuming. Some minor changes might occur either before or after the NFL Combine, so you guys should feel free to step in and check it out once in a while. Anyways, enjoy.

1. Miami Dolphins: DT | Glenn Dorsey | L.S.U.
McFadden's the most dominant player in this draft, but Parcells doesn't draft a running back in the early first round. Miami drafts Dorsey to further solidify their run defense and improve their horrid defensive line.

2. St. Louis Rams: DE | Chris Long | Virginia
Hmm... who to choose, who to choose? That's the question that St. Louis is asking theirselves. Which one will they improve: Offensive line or defensive line? When it's a toss up like that, the team almost always goes with the best player available, and Chris Long is bound to be up there. Chris Long doesn't look quite as good as Howie Long when he played, but it's too early to say, and it would be extremely unfair to Chris if you compare him to a hall of fame defensive end like his father. Although things like that are bound to happen when your dad is who he is. Only time will tell if Chris Long can step out from his father's shadow.

3. Oakland Raiders: HB | Darren McFadden | Arkansas
This is Al Davis' lucky break. Davis is known to have orgasms over players who are athletic and versatile, and that's the kind of player McFadden is. It'll take some time to solidify the offensive line, but look for Oakland to bounce back with offensive linemen in the later rounds that will further progress the franchise into building around Jamarcus Russell and Darren McFadden.

4. Atlanta Falcons: QB | Matt Ryan | Boston College
If Atlanta gets the third overall draft pick, I can somehow see Dallas trading up to nab Darren McFadden while they give us both of their first round picks in return, but I don't think Dallas would be willing to give up that much value for a running back. Matt Ryan's got a great arm, and for Atlanta, this is the kind of guy we'll need. I'm sure you guys have heard of "Matty Ice's" great intangibles, so I wouldn't have to really dig deep in that. There's no one like Matt Ryan in this draft, but then again, it's definitely arguale if Ryan is really worth this pick. I don't see anyone who would be willing to give up as much as I think we would ask for for this draft choice so we pick up our future signal caller and put to rest the cheers of the Michael Vick hopefuls of Vick's almost impossible return.

5. Kansas City Chiefs: OT | Jake Long | Michigan
Kansas would love to have gotten Chris Long, but the coin toss didn't favor them. Oh well... they address the offensive line and pick up the best one in this draft. This will further solidify their offensive line and hopefully prevent more slumps for Larry Johnson in the following season.

6. New York Jets: DE | Vernon Gholsten | Ohio
Jets lost out on three of their most wanted, but they get someone who should be able to make it up fo rthem in the future if he plays up to his potential. Vernon Gholsten will most likely move to the outside linebacker position although he's projected as a defensive end. If Oakland isn't able to draft McFadden and Chris Long is off the board, look for Oakland to steal Gholsten at their pick.

7. New England Patriots (From San Francisco 49ers): ILB | James Laurinaits | Ohio State
The verdict is still out on Laurinaitis on whether or not he will declare. It looks like he's staying in college, but as long as there's a chance of him declaring, I will keep him here. Patriots have needed to bring in younger linebackers almost every year and fail to do so bceause they somehow get caught up with their veteran linebackers. Not like there's anything wrong with it. If Laurinaitis does not declare, I can see them drafting Malcolm Jenkins.

8. Baltimore Ravens: QB | Andre Woodson | Kentucky
Andre Woodson has locked himself to be drafted within the Top 10 pick in the first round with the solid play in his bowl game. Baltimore looks to develop Troy Smith to be Woodson's respectful back up, and then they keep a veteran quarterback to help develop them both. I can't see Baltimore passing up on the quarterback position. Woodson is a great leader who can help build that horrid offense in Baltimore.

9. Cincinnati Bengals: DT | Sedrick Ellis | U.S.C.
This pick makes the most sense for the Bengals. Their run defense is horrible, and they've never really had anyone step up this year on that side of the ball. Some argue that Ellis is better than Dorsey. Although I don't quite agree to that theory (Dorsey is more dominant than Ellis IMO), I can still see how Ellis would be a great steal at the ninth pick.

10. New Orleans Saints: S | Kenny Phillips | Miami (FL)
New Orlean's secondary is horrible. Need I say more? Fine, I will... New Orleans' secondary has been absolutely atrocious for quite a while now and when they had the chance to select Chris Houston last year in the first round, they decided to draft a wide receiver. I'm not saying Meachem was not worth it, I say it's too early to judge all the rookies that haven't progressed quite as they were supposed to, but I still think New Orleans should of drafted Chris Houston because that's been the Saints' glaring hole in their roster for the past three to four years now.

11. Buffalo Bills: WR | Malcolm Kelly | Oklahoma
With Losman out the door, it looks like Buffalo is set to build their offense around Trent Edwards. Their offensive line is not quite as bad as it would be in order for them to draft an offensive lineman here, and now the only thing Edwards would need is a wide receiver to throw to now.

12. Denver Broncos: OLB | Keith Rivers | U.S.C.
Broncos look to further progress their defense through the linebacking corp, and they really need to get younger in that position. Keith Rivers looks to be the smart choice here with him being the best outside linebacker and all...

13. Carolina Panthers: CB | Mike Jenkins | South Florida
Carolina needs help with their pass D. It only makes sense to bring in the best cornerback in this draft. That is all.

14. Chicago Bears: QB | Brian Brohm | Louisville
Rex Grossman. Kyle Orton. Brian Griese. That's the scrub list that Chicago had working as signal callers for their offense. Do you really think they would pass on such an NFL-ready quarterback such as Brohm? Nah... don't even think twice about it.

15. Detroit Lions: CB | Malcolm Jenkins | Ohio State
Detroit got lucky there. Carolina picked Jenkins, but good thing he wasn't Malcolm. Malcolm is arguably the best run-stopping cornerback in this year's draft, and he's got that solid coverage ability that would give Detroit the help they need on both sides of their defense.

16. Arizona Cardinals: DE | Derrick Harvey | Florida
The Cardinals lucked out. The top cornerbacks are drafted right before they draft. Lucky for them, they still have a way to improve their pass defense, and that's by drafting Harvey who would be able to put pressure on the quarterback and would hopefully help solidify their defense overall.

17. Minnesota Vikings: WR | DeSean Jackson | California
A receiver who was projected to go much higher than this pick happens to fall this far to Minnesota. Lucky for him, Minnesota seems to be the happiest team for Jackson to be available. This should give the special teams that special flavor in the return categories and would give the Tarvaris Jackson a target to throw to. Jackson to Jackson... sounds good to me.

18. Houston Texans: OT | Ryan Clady | Boise State
There's always someone that drops in the first round and with the amount of offensive tackles in this draft, I can see the majority of the Top 15 teams passing up on one. Clady's got a lot of strength and drive behind him to be able to succeed in run and pass blocking. Such a value at this pick would be rare to find, but lucky for Houston, Clady's still available.

19. Philadelphia Eagles: WR | Limas Sweed | Texas
Philly would have loved to have gotten Malcolm Kelly or DeSean Jackson at this point of the draft, but unfortunately they didn't. They go with the next best wide receiver on the draft board and it happens to be Limas Sweed. Sweed would have been drafted a lot higher than this if it weren't for his injury during his season. I think Sweed would look to bounce back as a football player in an Eagles uniform considering the need that they have in this position.

20. Washington Redskins: DE | Calais Campbell | Miami (FL)
Washington needed to address their defensive line last year, but they drafted LaRon Landry instead. So they should look to bounce back from a bitter season by improving their run defense and looking to have someone to lean on towards applying pressure to the quarterback.

21. Pittsburgh Steelers: OT | Jeff Otah | Pittsburgh
Home-grown Jeff Otah gets lucky because he wouldn't need to drive far from him college to play for his team... the Pittsburgh Steelers! Otah has shown flashes of great potential and can easily provide the protection that Big Ben would desperately need with Starks and Faneca out the door. This would provide their offensive line the youth and depth that they have rode on in their past playoff runs.

22. Dallas Cowboys (From Cleveland Browns): RB | Jonathan Stewart | Oregon
It might be a reach here, but Dallas doesn't want to gamble on losing out on the second best running back in this year's draft. Stewart can hurt you with his return ability and his running back talent. With Julius Jones looking for a new city to call his home, Dallas would need another running back that would give their offense that 1, 2 punch feel by adding Stewart to their roster. Stewart would also be a great complement to Marion Barber III.

23. New York Giants: OLB | Dan Connor | Penn State
The Giants need to improve their linebacking corp and would get a lot of help if they drafted a prospect like Connor who's projected to be better than Posluzsny when he was coming out. Connor's got a load of athleticism to complement his physical attributes. An alternate pick here would be cornerback Aqib Talib from Kansas.

24. Seattle Seahawks: RB | Felix Jones | Arkansas
Shaun Alexander is definitely not getting any younger, and they should look to improve their offense on the ground. The reason why I think Jones will declare is because of the questions around Bobby Petrino and the question that now hovers around him of how loyal he really is to his players. If there's a chance Illinois running back Rashard Mendenhall declares for the draft, I would probably have him going here instead of Jones. They're both juniors and the chances of them staying in college are still there, so if both of them declare, look for the Seahawks to improve their offense by being the first team to invest their first round pick in a tight end this year by drafting U.S.C.'s Fred Davis or Texas A&M's Martellus Bennett.

25. Tennessee Titans: DT | Kentwan Balmer | North Carolina
Balmer's stock should be just about fair right here after his season with NC. With no passion to resign Haynesworth to a long-term deal, look for Tennessee to try and fill the hole that Haynesworth left by drafting yet another tackle on defense.

26. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: OT | Sam Baker | U.S.C.
It's a shame Baker couldn't of gone higher with such a great performance in the Rose Bowl. It looks as if Gaines Adams was the correct pick last year, so no regrets there. Look for Tampa to find a way to solidify their offensive line with this pick.

27. San Diego Chargers: DT | Frank Okam | Texas
The Chargers look to further solidify their defensive line by drafting Frank Okam who seems to be a perfect fit in their system. Don't count them out on drafting an offensive tackle here.

28. Jacksonville Jaguars: RB | Ray Rice | Rutgers
It looks as if 'Fragile Fred' can play past the age of 50. Either way, no one can play forever. Look at Emmitt and look at Jerry. If Ray Rice were to declare, there's not one good reason why Jaguars should not take him. His running style complements well with Maurice Jones-Drew, and it looks like he's done all he can in Rutgers already. I see no reason for him to return to college. But thing's happen, so if they do, look for the Jaguars to show effort in bringing in more young players in their offensive line or drafting a wide receiver.

29. Green Bay Packers: CB | Aqib Talib | Kansas
It was quite fun to wath Talib's stock soar after such an amazing season. I'm not ready to say he's worth a Top 25 pick yet, but he's just about almost there. He's done a great job of carrying the Kansas pass defense, and he's not quite where he'd like to be yet. The only thing he's got to do now is post up good combine numbers, and he's made it into the first round for sure.

30. San Francisco 49ers (From Indianapolis Colts): WR | Mario Manningham | Michigan
After such a disappointing season in Michigan, Manningham will look to further improve himself as a wide receiver, and I can see him in a 49ers' offense just because they need a receiver. They've got plenty of options here in the first round, and the next position that would immediately help them if they were to draft it would be nose tackle, and there's a capable nose tackle in Dre Moore. Although it'd be a reach, I don't see them passing up on him if Manningham or another receiver was not available.

31. Dallas Cowboys: WR | Early Doucet | L.S.U.
We all know T.O.'s not going to stay in playoff shape forever, and he's bound to hit that notorious veteran slump. The biggest concern for Dallas at this point is at the wide receiver and cornerback position, and it looks as if they've lucked out on all the cornerbacks that would be worth this pick. Doucet seems to be a receiver who can complement the Dallas players like Witten and Marion Barber. I can just imagine the amount of damage Romo would be able to dish out with Doucet (barring Doucet being a serious bust).

32. New England Patriots: FORFEITED

Last Updated: January 6, 2008

 

Last Updated: January 6, 2008
Very nice work-FA will change some needs for teams in the upcoming draft but your work and time is pretty amazing here!!! You have 2 guys that will prob. stay there Senior year. Mario Manningham has already said he will stay and Felix Jones will almost stay as well.
ANyway GREAT JOB keep up the good thinking!!! :dirty20:

 

I'll take Clady in a heartbeat...

 

I see the Texans taking a RB in rd1. But Clady would be a solid pick as welll

 

I might have to make some minor changes within the next week after just finding out Mario Manningham will stay and that Rashard Mendenhall has recently declared from Illinois. Manningham shouldn't change the mock draft up too much, but Mendenhall might considering the fact that he's probably the third best running back in this RB core. I don't think it gets much better for the teams who are looking for running backs late in the first round.

I'm also going to look to change the Jaguars' pick since Ray Rice and Maurice Jones-Drew would probably get made fun of for being the NFL's smallest-ever running back combo.

 

Make sure you put Mendenhall in your top 15, if he slides to the Texans they just got there Reggie Bush with the upside of being a true RB and not just a WRing RB. Mendenhall is a STUD!!!!

 

Very nice job. A couple of things I think will go down different, everything I'm hearing out of St. Louis is they're leaning on going after Jake Long instead of your projected Chris Long. Also Buffalo imo might pick Clady over a WR at that point which would drop the whole group of WR's a little bit. I was really hoping that Limas Sweed's injury would drop him enough for the Fins to take him with the 32/33rd pick.....wishful thinking I'm betting!

 

Limus Sweed will drop if he doesn't go too the Combine, if he falls to rd2 thats insane who ever takes him!! Chris Long man i can't wait to see what lucky team lands this kid!!!

 

if the raiders pick up mcfadden i would cream my freaking pants no lie

 

i would love to see lima sweeds fall to round to which the eagles love drafting widerecievers and limas sweeds is our kind of reciever.

 

Just say no to Matt Ryan. Sure he's had a good season with some 4th Q comebacks, but he makes dumb decisions aswell, he's never even had a 2/1 TD:INT ratio. Even if he did no QB is worth a top 5 pick. In that position id probably say take Jake Long, even though i think his real future is at RT he would still be a very good LT.

 

I agree with you that Matt Ryan is most likely not worth a Top 5 pick, but I dare you to show me a team that would be willing to trade up to our pick to land someone else. If we had the third pick, I can see Dallas trading their two first rounders to pick McFadden up, but no one would want the fourth pick. It's not worth it.

And there are no other quarterbacks that are just as good as Matt Ryan is and is projected to be. The only quarterback that has impressed me more is Joe Flacco, but do you really think Arthur Blank and Rich McKay would risk their entire franchise on a 1-AA quarterback? On Joe Flacco? I wish, but that's wishful thinking. This franchise needs a signal caller who they can ride for a long time, and I don't see any one else better than Ryan in terms of intangibles and that's the most important thing a quarterback can have on our team at this point.

 

There's a couple of scenarios which i would prefer

Brohm Woodson - involves a trade back into the mid 20's
The other involves taking O-line and fufilling other needs then Taking Henne or Ainge in the 3rd round. Im probably leaning to Henne as against the Gators he showed his true potential and played like most expected to all season.

Saying all of that in the 1st I'd much prefer on of Dorsey/ellis/Long/Clady over any QB.

You can talk about intangibles etc. but it wont take away the fact that he throws way to many picks against average defenses how is he going to fair against NFL standard D's!?

There's also a chance that barring a trade up by DAL or someone else, McFadden does last to #4 as Raiders have a decent running game and now they need to replace Sapp.

 

wtf no no whit boys pls

 

You have a white boy in your avatar... just sayin... :icon_mrgreen:

 

Oakland knows they need a running game to complement Russell's pass play. Without a rush, you can't even think of passing the ball. Al Davis has a nose for the most athletic and versatile player and there's no one like that in this draft more than McFadden is. He can hurt you in many ways. He can run, catch, block, and even pass the ball.

No one in that range that you speak of will be willing to trade up for a fourth overall pick. Maybe a third overall for Darren McFadden, but not a fourth overall...

Henne and Ainge are no where near the level Matt Ryan is. I'd really rather have Joe Flacco instead of any other quarterback in this draft, but like I said before, I don't see Atlanta passing up on a future signal caller.

Keep in mind that this year's offensive tackle position is as deep as ever. If Oher declares, look to see some major OTs drop to us in the second round.

 

Ohers already said he will return
To be honest i dont get all the hype over Flacco, ive only seen bits here and there of him, but am I wiolling to risk a 2nd/3rd round pick on a Div-II QB for me the answer is no. Henne and Ainge both have played the top teams and defenses inthe nation throughout their career, and i think im right in saying they will have start from freshman-senior year aswell so they both have tonnes of time omn he field and will have alot of experience in picking apart defenses, at a much higher level than Flacco.
And i still dont get the hype on Ryan ive seen him a fair bit this year and he has a gunslinger mentality which will need to be taken out of his game as he will just bedestroyed with it in the NFL.

You say OAK needs a running game, havent they had a top 10 rushing tandum this year? and RB is also very deep this year(people like Rice, Slaton,Hart,Charles), alot more deep than DT is.

 

Libid21 keep up the good work!!! :dance04:

 

Limas Sweed can't catch and is slower than hell? Eagles and WR's doon't work well together!oke:

 

Very much doubt we'd take Ray Rice in the first round. I'm almost certain we wont.