The Dale Bentley vs Jimmy Krueger draft showdown

It's draft time again!  Jimmy and I have decided to have a little competition.  We're predicting our team's picks by round.  One pick per round.  Five points for correctly picking the player, three points for correctly picking the position and one point for predicting the correct side of the ball. (And a million points to me for correctly predicting that Jimmy would have the Packers taking both a Wisconsin Skunk and a player from Alabama!) 

Pittsburgh Steelers vs Green Bay Packers

(with hopefully better results than that Super Bowl that I refuse to recognize)

2014 Pittsburgh Steelers Draft Predictions 

1.  Darqueze Dennard - CB - Michigan St.

2.  Donte Moncrief - WR - Ole Miss

3.  Jordan Zumwalt - ILB - UCLA

4.  Lache Seastrunk - RB - Baylor

5.  Ross Cockrell - CB - Duke

6.  Beau Allen - DT - Wisconsin

7.  Quincy Enunwa - WR - Nebraska

2014 Green Bay Packers Draft Predictions

1.  Ryan Shazier - LB - Ohio St.

2.  Austin Seferian-Jenkins - TE - Washington

3.  Jimmie Ward - S - Northern Illinois

4.  A.J. McCarron - QB - Alabama

5.  Shaquille Richardson - CB - Arizona

6.  Jared Abbrederis - WR - Wisconsin

7.  Kevin Pamphile - OT - Purdue

We're probably both 100% wrong, but it's fun to pretend we know stuff.

Some thoughts: Draft Day 2013

I absolutely love today.  I'm not a man who really gets excited much, but today is definitely the exception.  Better than Christmas morning.  Some of my best memories are of draft day with friends.

I've tried to make a few mock drafts, and they are really frustrating.  There are so many variables.  So many different scenarios that it's impossible to predict, so I'm just going to give a few thoughts on what I expect from this draft.  I may be wrong on all of the, but that's the fun of it.

1.  If the Chiefs don't draft Luke Joeckel out of A&M, pretty much every prediction that everybody has made is fucked.  It's going to change a lot of things at the top of the draft.

2.  I think three quarterbacks will go in the first round, and I don't think Matt Barkley will be one of them.  I think Ryan Nassib and Geno Smith will both go in the top 10.  I don't know why, but I feel like Nassib will be a Jet.  It just feels right.  If the Jaguars are smart, they'll take Smith at #2 because Blaine Gabbert is a huge piece of shit that they drafted too high in the first place.  Then again, they need pretty much everything, so they might take an offensive lineman or maybe try to trade down and pick up some extra picks that they'll ultimately miss on anyway 'cause they are a crap organization.

3.  I really feel like Chance Warmack will go to the Titans.  He's a monster that I'm sure Mike Munchak would love to mold into an even monstery monster.  Chris Johnson probably wouldn't mind him in Tennessee either.

4.  I really like the name Bjorn Werner.  I think he goes late 1st round/early 2.  Also, whenever I hear his name, I think of this guy:

5.  Kenny Vaccaro to the Carolina Panthers.  Gut feeling.  

6.  My beloved Steelers will go with a pass rusher, I hope.  If we take a wide receiver in the first round, I'll be pretty sad.  I really hope Barkevious Mingo will be there at 17, but I don't think he'll fall that far.  I could see the Jets taking him with one of their two picks or possibly the Saints picking him up.  A lot of "experts" have us taking Jarvis Jones from Georgia, but the guy has a spinal defect called spinal stenosis, and he could be perfectly fine for a 10+ year career, or he could play one snap in preseason and be out for his career.  I guess that's true of anybody, but it just seems like kind of a gamble.  My other Steelers predicitons are John Simon, OLB/DE, Ohio St., in round 2 or 3, and Christine Michael, RB, Texas A&M, in whichever round they don't take John Simon.  Tyler Bray in round 4, a big corner in a late round, and tight end/mlb depth in the middle to late rounds.  

7.  Another gut feeling:  Robert Woods, WR, USC, is the Texans pick.  

8.  The Dallas Cowboys.  The pride of the state of Texas.  America's team.  I have no idea what they do.  Whatever they do, thought, I will ridicule it and try to start arguments with Cowboys fans.    I think D.J. Fluker will be there at 18 for them.  Gives them a couple good, young offensive tackles.  Also, basically any offensive lineman they draft will be an upgrade.  Doug Free is a turnstyle.  I could also see them taking Eric Reid, the safety from LSU.  Jerry could trade down, though.  Afterall, he is Jerry Jones and smarter than everybody else.  I could also see them taking a run at Tavon Austin for whatever reason.  

9.  San Francisco packages their first round pick and the pick they got from KC in the Alex Smith trade and moves up into the middle of the first round to take a corner.  ATL will also try to move up, making picks 12-20 pretty tradeable, I think.  

10.  Manti Te'o wakes up and realizes it's all been a dream.  He's really a 55-year-old factory worker named Ted from Tulsa, Oklahoma.  I think Te'o is an idiot, but he's good at football, and that's all that matters today.  I could see him in Chicago or maybe Green Bay.  He hopes it's Green Bay because he's pretty sure he could talk Clay Matthews into letting him braid his hair.  

11.  Kevin Minter, ILB, LSU to the Denver Broncos.  

12.  Chris Berman will say something like "There's a new 'Sharrif' in town," when Sharrif Floyd gets drafted (by Oakland maybe.) This is maybe the prediction I'm most sure of because Berman is dumb and old and thinks things like that are funny and should be on tv.  

13.  I want Margus Hunt to be a Viking because he sorta looks like a Viking.  Like a real Viking.  He's from Estonia.  I wanted to make a joke about Estonia, but then I realized about the only think I know about Estonia is that Margus Hunt is from Estonia.  

14.  I'll probably be drunk by pick 20, so most of you should expect some incoherent texts from me that I'll ultimately be embarrassed about.  

15.  I think they Lions try their darndest to trade out of their spot.  

16.  The Eagles will take Chip Kelly's guy, Dion Jordan.  

17.  I think a tight end will be taken a little too high.  Basically anywhere before 20 I think is too high.  Ertz and Eiffert are good, but I don't think they're that good.  

18.  The Pats will gamble because they can. Tyrann Mathieu will get a good long look from them in the 2nd round.  In the first, I see them taking a NT.  Maybe Jesse Williams from 'Bama or John Jenkins from Georgia.  

19.  I think the Packers take a good look at Jenkins, too.  

20.  I don't like Tavon Austin.  I don't know where he goes and I don't really care.  

Whatever happens over the next 3 days, I know I'll enjoy it.  It's football Christmas without all those annoying religious undertones.  Can't hate a holiday like that!  

Random Thoughts

I have been pretty busy with school the past couple of weeks and hadn’t have time to write about some sports issues.

1. I absolutely hate the Mavs. I went to the Mavs game Wednesday night (4/14) half expecting the Spurs to play their starters, but they rested Duncan and Ginobili. I was fine with it. I mean I would have rested them too. However, the Mavs played ALL of their starters, the entire game! I guess there is a maximum IQ that a Mavs fan can have because they didn’t realize that they were beating our backups. Barely. The Mavs ended up winning by 6, but they were cheering like it was a legitimate playoff win. Give me a break. Running tally for me seeing Mavs/Spurs games in Dallas. 0 wins for the Spurs 4 wins for the Mavs. FML!

2. Game 1 started off great. The Spurs jumped out to an early lead, but couldn’t maintain. Duncan missed close shots, Jefferson had an off game, and George Hill started, played 18 minutes but had zero points. Not the stellar effort I would have hoped for in Game 1 of the playoffs. My thoughts most of the game were “How do you start George Hill over Tony Parker?” That changed last night. Greg Poppovich is an f’n genius! What better change of pace than to put an all star point guard in when the Mavs are resting old man river a.k.a. Jason Kidd? Last night was awesome. From the very beginning, going down and getting autographs from the players to 2 min left in the game when the Mavs fans left their seats to “beat traffic.” That Dallas traffic at 11:30pm is horrible man. I also enjoyed the epic fail by the Mavs to try and embarrass Tony Parker by playing his rap video. Parker Rap Video Oh you didn’t know he had a rap video? Me either. I really like Cory’s cameo at 0:28. I also think Cory’s dance moves are pretty sick at 1:39. Still, I wish he had done the worm oh well. Running tally Mavs 4, Spurs 1! Finally!

3. It’s Draft Day! This day has been like a holiday for me for as long as I have been watching football. The format is different this year so it makes it harder to get everyone together like the old days, but it’s still the draft! As long as the Packers don’t end up with Tebow and somehow the Steelers, Texans, or Cowboys end up with him or Colt McCoy, it will be a great draft! Ladies and Gentlemen the St. Louis Rams are on the clock

Buffalo to pass on Clausen?

We're beginning to hear rumors, from multiple sources, that the Bills could pass on Jimmy Clausen with their first round pick and take Dan Williams, the DT from Tennessee, instead. This could cause Clausen to drop all the way to San Francisco's 2nd pick at 17. If he doesn't get picked there, he could potentially fall out of the first round, completely.

If Buffalo does pass on him, look for them to try and take Tim Tebow with their second round pick.

Mock for our teams

I decided to do a mock for the teams we cheer for as well. See what you think:

18. Pittsburgh Steelers - Taylor Mays. S USC. With Polamalu being injured the majority of last season, I think the Steelers will look to add depth to their somewhat thin secondary. I think Taylor Mays will give the Steelers a nice compliment to Polamalu and he could probably beat out Ryan Clark right now.

20. Houston Texans - Ryan Matthews. RB Fresno State. I know Cory likes this pick, but I also think that this pick makes sense. The Texans were ranked number 1 in passing offense, but number 30 in rushing offense. Steve Slaton could use some help in a thin backfield that includes as Dale says Ryan "her momma is dying" Moats and Arian Foster. That stellar 1,2,3 combo produced only 92.2 rushing yards last year.

22. New England Patriots - Jermaine Gresham. TE Oklahoma. The Patriots lost Ben Watson to Cleveland and tried to replace him with fatso Alge Crumpler. If you have seen Alge lately, you know the Pats got him strickly for blocking. Gresham would take some of the coverage of Moss and Welker and make Brady's job a lot easier.

23. Green Bay Packers - Bruce Campbell. OT Maryland. It's no secret that the Packers need help on the offensive line. Clifton and Tauscher are both in their mid 30's and are falling apart (thanks Warren Sapp). The Packers had the best passing numbers in the playoffs last year, but thanks to the offensive line, our season ended prematurely. Campbell will give us a Jonathan Ogden (6-7, 310lbs) type body on a weak line.

27. Dallas Cowboys - Earl Thomas. S Texas. The Cowboys released Ken Hamlin recently making Alan Ball the starting free safety. I think the Cowboys will get a good deal drafting Thomas. Thomas is 5-8 and 208 lbs and ran a 4.37. Pretty much equivalent to a faster Bob Sanders. I'm not saying he's going to be as good, but maybe too good for the Cowboys to pass up.

30. Minnesota Vikings - Jahvid Best. RB California. The loss of Chester Taylor made the Vikings pretty thin. The Vikings currently have only 3 running backs on their roster: Peterson, Albert Young, and Ian Johnson. Best will give the Vikings a nice speedy compliment to the work horse that is AP. At a 40 time of 4.35, he could also take some of the punt returns so Percy Harvin can rest his migraine prone head (sorry Greg).

2010 Mock Draft 1.0

Alright, 2 weeks before the draft I wanted to give my prediction for the Top 10 picks:

1. St. Louis Rams – Sam Bradford –Bradford is the best fit for the Rams’ new rebuilding season. I mean they already cut Bulger and is A.J. Feeley the answer? The Rams will take Bradford, have him learn under Feeley, and then let him start around Week 6.

2. Detroit Lions – Ndamukong Suh. I was thinking the Lions could draft OT here as well. But, I would find it hard for Detroit to pass on a guy that is this much of a beast. We all saw what he was capable of in the Big 12 Championship (sorry Pierce) and I think that game single handedly made him a top 5 pick. I don’t think he will be able to do that on a consistent basis, but I do think he is the BPA here.

3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Gerald McCoy. With Suh going to Detroit, I think the Bucs will draft BPA as well. They could very well draft an offensive lineman, but Raheem Morris is a defensive minded coach. With the team finishing tied for 26th in rush defense, I feel the Bucs will try and improve this and draft McCoy.

4. Washington Redskins –Russell Okung. With McNabb in town, it is time for the Redskins to turn their attention to the offensive line. The Redskins finished tied for 4th in sacks given up last year. The only healthy tackle on their roster is Mike Williams. Okung gives them a large frame (6-6, 305) and strength (38 reps) to help protect McNabb.

5. Kansas City Chiefs – Trent Williams. Kansas City has to find a way to protect Matt Cassell. The Chiefs offensive line gave up 45 sacks last season. Williams is a guy that is moving up a lot of draft boards right now and may not even be available, but I think this will be a good option for the Chiefs.

6. Seattle Seahawks – Brian Baluga. Seattle needs help on the offensive line. They just traded G Rob Sims to the Lions and are running thin. Baluga gives them a big body at 6-6 312lbs to shore up the right side and hopefully protect Hasselbeck.

7. Cleveland Browns – Eric Berry. Berry is by far the best defensive back in the draft. The Browns are more than one player away from being good, but Berry is the best defensive player at num. 7. The Browns ranked 29th last year against the pass and Berry gives them a big, fast body in the secondary.

8. Oakland Raiders – Anthony Davis. This was a tough one for me. I thought about just putting the guy with the fastest 40 time here. However, I think Al Davis will come to his senses and give JaMarcus Russell or Bruce Gradkowski or whoever is back there some protection. Raiders were 3rd in sacks given up last year and their best OT right now is Khalif Barnes.

9. Buffalo Bills – Jimmy Clausen. If Clausen has a good Pro Day, I will find it hard for the Bills to pass on him here. I know Jim Kelly wants Tim Tebow, but no. 9 is too high for him. Clausen gives the Bills another young arm to mold. Trent Edwards will be the starter this season, but if he continues to struggle, it will be Clausen’s job before too long.

10. Jacksonville Jaguars – Dez Bryant. Biggest reach here IMO. Jacksonville hasn’t had a solid number one wide out since Jimmy Smith left in 2005. I know Bryant has character issues, but he also has raw talent. He will give David Garrard size and speed to get open down the field.