Benjamin is the most interesting of the receivers in terms of where he'll go. I think his poor combine will drop his stock but someone will take a gamble on him. For the Vikings, I really like Martavis Bryant if he can last until the 3rd. Some might say he benefited from defenses keying on Watkins but I think he stands out in his own right. He'd be a great guy to stretch the field in Norv's offense.dead_poet wrote:Scout's Take Blog: Draft observations by an ex-NFL player, scout
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap200000 ... ayer-scout
2014 Mock drafts/Big boards
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Re: 2014 Mock drafts/Big boards
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Re: 2014 Mock drafts/Big boards
Yeah, but there's reason to be cautious with Bryant. I might be suffering from Joe Web Syndrome, but he probably should've produced better numbers than he did. But his athletic upside is off-the-charts. He ran (unoffically) 4.34 and 4.35 at 6'5/200 and had a 39" vertical. Freakish.S197 wrote: Benjamin is the most interesting of the receivers in terms of where he'll go. I think his poor combine will drop his stock but someone will take a gamble on him. For the Vikings, I really like Martavis Bryant if he can last until the 3rd. Some might say he benefited from defenses keying on Watkins but I think he stands out in his own right. He'd be a great guy to stretch the field in Norv's offense.
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Re: 2014 Mock drafts/Big boards
McShay Mock 3.0 reax: Vikings
http://espn.go.com/blog/minnesota-vikin ... um=twitterIn Todd McShay's third mock draft for ESPN, he has the Vikings taking Oklahoma State cornerback Justin Gilbert with the eighth overall pick. That's certainly a viable possibility -- the Vikings need another cornerback to play opposite Xavier Rhodes, and Gilbert put himself ahead of the pack with his 4.37-second 40-yard dash at the NFL scouting combine. But the nature of this draft, and of the Vikings' needs, means Gilbert is just one of several players who could make sense for the Vikings at No. 8.
“Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that.” --- Bill Shankly
Re: 2014 Mock drafts/Big boards
Wish I could see how his board shook out but I don't like Gilbert at #8. Don't hate it, but don't like it either for multiple reasons. First, he's not even the consensus top corner in the draft. Me personally, I'd take Dennard. Gilbert ran a great 40 but times aren't the end all for corners (as demonstrated by Chris Cook and Josh Robinson) and Dennard while not as fast was plenty fast. Second, I think in terms of free agency, corner looks to be one of the deepest positions with a lot of quality guys going to new teams.dead_poet wrote:McShay Mock 3.0 reax: Vikings
http://espn.go.com/blog/minnesota-vikin ... um=twitter
This is the way it should be done if Gilbert is the target although with such a good draft class, I don't know how willing teams will be to trade up. You drop a few spots, you're still likely to snag Gilbert or Dennard. If not, you grab Verrett later who I honestly think will be just as good.One way Gilbert could be a fit is if the Vikings trade down a couple picks to obtain extra selections later in the draft. If he's still there at, say, No. 10, the Vikings might be very happy to pick him there and add more selections with a trade back. They've moved back into the first round each of the last two years, after making trades to acquire extra picks (and the flexibility to make further moves), and it wouldn't be surprising to see general manager Rick Spielman repeat the move again.
Re: 2014 Mock drafts/Big boards
Pieced together from a few sources, here's McShay's Mock Draft 3.0:S197 wrote:Wish I could see how his board shook out
Code: Select all
1 Houston Texans Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida
2 St. Louis Rams Jadeveon Clowney, DE, South Carolina
3 Jacksonville Jaguars Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville
4 Cleveland Browns Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M
5 Oakland Raiders Sammy Watkins, WR, Clemson
6 Atlanta Falcons Greg Robinson, OT, Auburn
7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Khalil Mack, LB, Buffalo
8 Minnesota Vikings Justin Gilbert, CB, Oklahoma State
9 Buffalo Bills Jake Matthews, OT, Texas A&M
10 Detroit Lions Mike Evans, WR, Texas A&M
11 Tennessee Titans Anthony Barr, OLB, UCLA
12 New York Giants Taylor Lewan, OT, Michigan
13 St. Louis Rams Calvin Pryor, S, Louisville
14 Chigaco Bears Aaron Donald, DT, Pittsburgh
15 Pittsburgh Steelers Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, S, Alabama
16 Dallas Cowboys Timmy Jernigan, DT, Florida State
17 Baltimore Ravens C.J. Mosley, ILB, Alabama
18 New York Jets Marqise Lee, WR, USC
19 Miami Dolphins Zack Martin, OT, Notre Dame
20 Arizona Cardinals Darqueze Dennard, CB, Michigan State
21 Green Bay Packers Eric Ebron, TE, North Carolina
22 Philadelphia Eagls Bradley Roby, CB, Ohio State
23 Kansas City Chiefs Odell Beckham, WR, LSU
24 Cincinnati Bengals Kyle Fuller, CB, Virginia Tech
25 San Diego Chargers Jason Verrett, CB, TCU
26 Cleveland Brons Brandin Cooks, WR, Oregon State
27 New Orleans Saints Morgan Moses, OT, Virginia
28 Carolina Panthers Kelvin Benjamin, WR, Florida State
29 New England Patriots Ra'Shede Hageman, DT, Minnesota
30 San Francisco 49ers Louis Nix, DT, Notre Dame
31 Denver Broncos Kony Ealy, DE, Missouri
32 Seattle Seahawks Xavier Su'a-Filo, G, UCLA
Re: 2014 Mock drafts/Big boards
Thanks. With Mack and Watkins off the board, the Gilbert pick looks better. It sure would be nice if the Vikings could trade down to the 10-15 area, lots of quality guys that could help the team (Donald, Ha Ha, Mosley, Dennard, Barr) plus the extra picks.Eli wrote: Pieced together from a few sources, here's McShay's Mock Draft 3.0:
Re: 2014 Mock drafts/Big boards
I would add Jernigan and Pryor to that list as well. I would be very pleased to see us trade back and pick up any of those players (assuming the QBs are gone before we pick). Hopefully someone will be willing to move up even if they know a number of good players will be available when they pick. It's hard to say who might move up, I think the Jets or Dolphins would be in the mix because of their desperate needs for a WR and olinemen respectively, but that might be moving a tad too far back.
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Re: 2014 Mock drafts/Big boards
Analyzing Kiper 3.0: Vikings
http://espn.go.com/blog/minnesota-vikin ... um=twitterIn his third mock draft, ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. has a quarterback -- and a headline-grabber, at that -- sliding to the Vikings at No. 8: He's got them taking Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel, as the top three quarterbacks in the draft all slide out of the top three overall picks.
The Vikings would have interest in Buffalo linebacker Khalil Mack, whom Kiper now has projected to go No. 1 overall to Houston, and with the Matt Cassel signing, they are not obligated to take a quarterback with the eighth overall pick. But if Manziel were still there, it might be tough for the Vikings to pass on him, especially since they could pair him with offensive coordinator Norv Turner and Cassel, putting him in a structure where he's able to develop. Manziel wouldn't have to start the first week of the season unless he were good enough to do so, and even if he did, Cassel would give him an experienced quarterback to learn from. It's also worth noting that Turner was the San Diego Chargers' offensive coordinator when they picked Drew Brees; in other words, Manziel's height won't be a red flag in the coordinator's mind.
Drafting Manziel would mean the Vikings would get all that comes with him, though he seemed intent on distancing himself from the Johnny Football persona at the NFL scouting combine. They would also be passing on potential impact players at linebacker or cornerback. But Manziel would give them a dynamic young quarterback to build around -- and would certainly add a jolt of excitement to a fan base that hasn't had much of it at quarterback lately, save for two years with Brett Favre. All told, it's tough to see the Vikings passing on a chance to get a player like Manziel, should the opportunity present itself.
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Re: 2014 Mock drafts/Big boards
Not a great endorsement of Jim's estranged son:
http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/NFL ... erron.htmlOverall, Ward has the instincts and skills to be an eventual starting strong safety in the NFL. He lacks ideal size, and the fact that he needs foot surgery will hurt his draft value. I see him as a solid third round type, with the injury potentially dropping him to the fourth.
“Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that.” --- Bill Shankly
Re: 2014 Mock drafts/Big boards
Thanks for the link. That actually seemed like a very positive assessment to me. Gabriel didn't have much to say about Ward that wasn't positive. The worst of it was the weak points below:dead_poet wrote:Not a great endorsement of Jim's estranged son:
http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/NFL ... erron.html
Players recover from injuries so the foot injury doesn't concern me at all, nor does the difference between his timed speed and his playings peed. he's always looked fast enough to me. His size isn't ideal but I knew that would be a strike against him in evaluations. I like him for the reasons Gabriel listed in the positives above and in his article: Ward's an instinctive playmaker and as you cab probably tell by now, that means a lot more to me than measurables.Strong Points – Productive, instincts, run support and tackle, can play man on a slot, zone, ball reactions and hands, range
Weak Points – Has a foot injury that requires surgery and will prevent him from doing any private workouts, lacks ideal size for the position, doesn’t play to timed speed
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Re: 2014 Mock drafts/Big boards
“Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that.” --- Bill Shankly
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Re: 2014 Mock drafts/Big boards
Interesting exercise.
Mock draft 4.0: No quarterbacks selected
Mock draft 4.0: No quarterbacks selected
http://www.nfl.com/draft/2014/mock-draf ... oks/195603With the 2014 draft loaded with Pro Bowl-caliber position players and full of question marks at quarterback, I believe we could see more teams pause before selecting a developmental prospect at the top of the draft. Although this would require teams to stick with the premise of taking the best player available, it's an approach that could result in a quarterback failing to come off the board in the first round for the first time since 1996.
Now, I know it's unlikely to happen, but let's take a look at how the draft could shake out if teams avoid reaching for a quarterback at the top of the draft. (Keep in mind that I didn't make any trades in this version of the mock draft.)
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Re: 2014 Mock drafts/Big boards
I think Bucky Brooks took too many hits to the head.
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Re: 2014 Mock drafts/Big boards
Bucky's Big Board 3.0: Clowney still No. 1, Bridgewater falls
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap200000 ... ter_nfl_cb
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap200000 ... ter_nfl_cb
“Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that.” --- Bill Shankly
Re: 2014 Mock drafts/Big boards
dead_poet wrote:Bucky's Big Board 3.0: Clowney still No. 1, Bridgewater falls
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap200000 ... ter_nfl_cb
I sometimes wonder if these guys write their pieces before #### even happens. It's remarkable just how much sports journalism is totally worthless.5. Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M, QB
Rise/fall: (+1)
The 2012 Heisman Trophy winner created quite a buzz in NFL circles with a spectacular pro day workout, showcasing his impressive skills and showmanship as a franchise quarterback candidate. A remarkable workout conducted in a T-shirt and shorts must be kept in perspective, but Manziel's play on tape suggests that the NFL game will not be too big for him when he makes the leap to the next level.