SportsCrack

Sport Crack Mock Draft Round 2: The Whole Damn Thing

I know that there are some people who dislike Round 1 Mock Draft‘s, seeing as how most of it can be (and most often is) incorrect. Get one pick wrong and your entire Mock Draft can go down the tubes. Never mind that a Round 2 mock draft is basically like predicting which Bengals players will be arrested this season. You might get a lot right, but your going to miss a couple of people. It’s inevitable.

I am aware of this and after having already thrown myself into a Round 1 I figured, why the hell not throw myself into a Round 2. Instead of breaking it into three categories which will likely progressively lose interest, I will pound out one entire Round 2 Mock Draft. I will get most of them wrong, but who cares? In my mind the entire reason for mock drafts is not seeing if those people will get 100% correct (which they most certainly will not) it’s that your educating your readers (and yourself) on the entire draft. The majority of fans only get into who their team selects. Read a Mock Draft, and you get a better feel on who is going where and why for the entire league. If your reading them for accuracy, than your idiot. That’s all I have to say.

So if you don’t like Mock Drafts, just stop reading, because your brain might explode at my prognostications. If you want to be educated a bit more on the draft, specifically Round 2, who most fans don’t pay attention to mainly because of their lack of knowledge, than please read on. Join me in a journey of learning about the upcoming NFL Draft, because there are no games going on and this is the purest NFL fix I can get right now.

As always, enjoy.

You can read round 1 in three parts: Here, here and here (Don’t ask me why I broke it up in three, because I’m not entirely sure). I’m done now, I promise -- here’s the draft:

Looking to build on their offense and be a well rounded team, a TE this early might be a stretch but Bennett is definitely capable of making contributions.

Having already taken Jake Long in Round 1, the Rams would do well to further build upon the weakest part of their team: the offensive line. A good thing, too, because if they don’t than Marc Bulger might not be around for much longer.

With Matt Ryan at the helm of the offense, the Falcons will need a big capable body to protect him. Look no further than Sam Baker from USC, the best offensive lineman on the board for the Falcons to take.

With Jared Allen likely gone, the Chiefs need someone else to plug in on the defensive end spot. As we saw from the Super Bowl, two skilled tight ends can wreak havoc on even the best QB and offensive line.

The Jets are in need of a WR and James Hardy is the best WR available. Is he going to win rookie of the year? I doubt it, but the Jets need depth at WR and James Hardy certainly has the skills to fill a role in the Jets offense.

If you take a potential franchise QB, why not take as many talented offensive lineman as you can? Duane Brown, along with Sam Baker have the potential to protect Matt Ryan for a long while.

The Ravens defense, while still skillful, isn’t getting any younger. And with recent injuries, expect the Ravens to take some defensive backs if capable players fall in their lap.

Although the 49ers might want to look at taking a QB in the draft, the smart thing to do would be to build upon their defense. Their offense has the tools to put up some points so if their defense is built upon, they could be the sleeper in 2008 many picked them to be last year.

We all know the Saints offense is capable of putting up big numbers, so there’s no reason they wouldn’t take a linebacker along the lines of Dan Connor in the second round.

The Bills need targets for whoever their QB is in 2008 to throw to. A big body like Carlson will do wonders in the red zone.

As of late, though the defensive line hasn’t played up to par, expect the Broncos to attempt and remedy the situation with a defensive tackle or end early in the draft.

Classic example of a team picking the best available player to fit their needs. Morgan will add excellent depth and extra options for the Panthers defensive scheme.

Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton battling it out for the starting job? Does that sound unappealing to anyone else? The Bears would be smart to add a skilled rookie in the mix through the draft. Not to mention, many people are saying Joe Flacco could be the sleeper of the entire thing.

The Detroit secondary? Meet Tyrell Johnson. He’s going to make you better.

The fastest player in the entire draft who also happens to have the best first name in the entire draft. With a potential Chad Johnson trade coming up, it would behoove the Bengals to take a WR -- especially with the release of Chris Henry.

With no safety depth and a safety along the lines of DeCoud being available, expect the Vikings to pull the trigger.

With DeAngelo Hall being dealt to Oakland, Atlanta looks to begin filling their defensive needs with this pick. They would be more than happy to land Lee here.

Yes, they took Devin Thomas in Round 1 -- but why not take another receiver in Round 2 and hope they both work out? Since they didn’t score a premier wide receiver in free agency, that wouldn’t be a bad move.

With Chris Williams in the bag at this point, Justin King in the second round to fill their cornerback need would make many in Arizona very, very happy.

Avery along with Malcolm Kelly, barring the rookies both being busts, would do wonders for the Redskins receiving corps. Jason Campbell would be thrilled.

Having already landed a receiver in the first round in Limas Sweed, the Bucs would improve their offensive line greatly by landing Rachal here. He was a beast at USC and looks to translate into a successful pro player.

With no glaring weaknesses to work on really, the Steelers can work on building depth at various positions after the first round. First up? Defensive backs.

Moore will add depth and a lethal option to cycle in when the rest of the defensive line gets winded.

Fred Davis has the potential to become a great tight end and he will have no problems in regards to opportunity with Matt Hassleback slinging footballs at him all year.

Whether Brett Favre was back or not, adding a tight end would be a great idea for the Packers overall offensive gameplan.

Having already drafted some key players at weak positions, the Dolphins can now address their biggest weakness: Quarterback -- and Andre Woodson would fit their offensive scheme perfectly. Correction, any QB here would fit their offensive scheme perfectly.

With Marcus Stroud gone, building depth upon the defensive line only makes sense.

Forget how good Addai is -- everyone needs a breather from time to time and Jones would keep giving it to offenses when Addai no longer can.

Sure, Ryan Grant broke out last year but there’s a thing called injuries you know and all teams need depth at the skill positions.

T.O. and Terry Glenn aren’t getting any younger, so the Cowboys need a young, talented receiver here to tutor under Tony Romo.

With Maroney’s injury problems and Kevin Faulk’s recent legal troubles -- Ray Rice as a potential third down back is appealing.

Xaiver Adibi? Have fun playing behind one of the best defensive lines in football.

Sport Crack Mock Draft Part 3: 21-31

Continued from Part 1 here and Part 2 here... (or if your lazy, just scroll down)

Although they have a pressing need at defensive end, Malcolm Kelly would fit way too well as a slot receiver for them to pass up on. A legit third receiver could do wonders for the Redskins offense since Randle El and Moss are threats in among themselves so it will give Kelly a lot of chances to get open for [[Jason Campbell[[.

Thomas Jones didn’t quite live up to expectations last year in New York and while they could do anything with this pick, after Stewart there is a bit of a drop off at RB. Some brave souls are also claiming Jonathan Stewart will become a better pro running back than Darren McFadden. We’ll have to wait and see.

With Alan Faneca gone the Steelers are in obvious need of a guard. Since the Steelers have failed to cease playing smash mouth football for their entire history, expect them to take Albert with the 23rd pick -- he’ll fit in to their smashmouth just fine.

There’s one thing I can say in defense of Vince Young: As inconsistent as he’s been, he’s never really had a lot of playmakers or even what one would classify as an above average receiver on the field with him in Tennessee. Although many other receiver’s are ranked higher, and with good reason, I think Manningham will have the best pro career out of all of them -- and he’ll take Young’s game to a whole other level.

This is another of the obvious picks. The Seahawks are in need of a tight end and none of the top 24 picks of the draft look like they are going to take him. Now all the Seahawks need to do is cut Shaun Alexander and they should be all set.

Jason Taylor to the Jaguars for the 26th pick? It could happen folks. The Jaguars get a Pro Bowl caliber defensive end and the Dolphins get a talented young defensive tackle that they can pair with Chris Long. It’s a win-win for everyone!

With the release of Shane Olivea and no other glaring weaknesses that are noticeable, the Chargers taking Gosder Cherilus is another example of a pick that would just make sense. Not many people are oohing and ahhing over the kid, but he’s a strong tackle that did a great job of protecting Matt Ryan at Chestnut Hill all of last year.

If the Jets do pull the trigger and make the trade with the Cowboys for the 22nd, 28th and a mid rounder -- the 28th pick would often be the wild card of the bunch. With not too much depth or skill at cornerback, they could very well take Brandon Flowers who’s an excellent man to man cover corner and would fit right in with Eric Mangina’s defensive scheme.

I haven’t seen any other mock draft that has the 49ers taking Brian Brohm and it confuses me to no end. I’ve said it before and I will say it again: The San Francisco 49ers are in desperate need of a QB. Alex Smith is not the real deal and they need to start getting some kind of insurance for the future. If Brian Brohm went in the draft last year he would have easily been the first QB taken. He very well could be a franchise QB for the 49ers -- and to me, that’s a difficult thing to pass up.

The Packers might rather have Flowers here, but if he goes to the Jets at 28 than they’d be just as happy to take Reggie Smith. The Packers need a bit of depth at CB and Reggie Smith will be just fine being a nickel back and studying under Al Harris and Charles Woodson next year.

One of the weaknesses that the defending Super Bowl champs have going into next year is their secondary. Luckily for them, no other team really needs a safety in the first round out of those picking ahead of them. With the top rated safety in the entire draft, the Giants get lucky with this one.

-*-New England Patriots forfeit their 31st pick after allegedly violating league rules.

Sport Crack Mock Draft Part 2: 11-20

Classic case of a team filling a need. Some are saying that they are going to trade down in order to get a receiver, but there’s going to be a very talented cornerback or two available for the Bills right here. Why not take one? They could take Talib here as well and again, it's entirely up to their scouting department. Jenkins just seems like a better fit for the Bills defensive unit.

Part of Chicago’s problem are the quarterbacks they have on the team, yes -- but the other problem is the receivers. Sure, Devin Hester is a speedster and a one of a kind on special teams -- but I can count multiple times off hand of seeing him drop key passes last year. With the departure of Bernard Berrian and the lackluster quarterbacks battling for the starting job, the Bears will need a stud wide receiver here.

Does Matt Millen even realize you can take defensive players in the NFL Draft? I don’t think so and until recently, I don’t think he realized you could draft players other than receivers. While he may get some jabs for drafting a skill player yet again in the first round -- if Mendenhall is available here it only makes sense. Kevin Jones looked promising the past couple of years but he’s too much of an injury risk and they desperately need a running back to consistently compliment the passing game.

A lot of people have been blaming Edgerrin James for not producing well in Arizona. While could be partially to blame I think the real culprits are the offensive line. After his first year in Arizona (1159 yards, 6 TD), Edge was remiss about his season. He didn’t know what he was doing wrong -- until one of his coaches told him nothing. They looked at some tape together and realized he had been running exactly where he should have been the whole time and it was amazing he got as much yards as he did. The blocking got a bit better last year, but it still needs help. In steps Chris Williams.

This one of those instances where, if Harvey is here -- Minnesota is 115% going to take him. They filled a need at WR and S with the signing of Bernard Berrian and Madieu Williams respectively. Some have the Vikings taking Brian Brohm here but I think that is absolutely ridiculous -- it would effectively tell Tarvaris Jackson they have given up on him and that wouldn’t do good for his confidence, let me tell you.

With Dunta Robinson prepped to miss the entire 2008 season with an ACL injury, the Texans desperately need a CB here. The good thing is that at least one should be available. The bad thing? They will likely get stuck with whoever is left out of the batch of cornerbacks in the first round. Worse things could happen and they could all be gone -- but that is highly unlikely.

After failing to obtain Randy Moss in free agency and not really bothering to go after anyone else, the Eagles are in need of a WR. This pick could easily turn into Limas Sweed, too, and it will come down to whoever they like more. The important thing is that Donovan McNabb will hopefully get what he’s been missing since the departure of T.O. and to a lesser extent, Donte Stallworth -- a playmaker at WR.

Tampa Bay is just as much in need of a WR as Philadelphia and will likely take whoever the Eagles do not. The good thing is that both Thomas and Sweed are very talented and both should be available for them to take. But crazier things have happened in the draft, so you never know.