mayoclinic

Here's Pat Kirwan's latest 1 round mock from NFL.com:

Mock draft 2.0: Free agency, trades shed light on teams' intentions

He has the Pats taking Larry English at #23, but notes "The Patriots may eventually surrender this pick for Julius Peppers, but for now they take an outside linebacker who had 31 sacks in college and can be groomed to play in the Bill Belichick defense."

Absent from the 1st round: Connor Barwin, Clint Sintim, Sean Smith, Alphonso Smith, DJ Moore, Darius Butler, Louis Delmas, Alex Mack and William Beatty.

Some other picks of note:

- Stafford going #4 to Seattle
- Crabtree going #6 to Cincinnati
- Hakeem Nicks the 3rd WR taken, going #17 to the Jets
- Ziggy Hood #20 to Detroit - seems like one of the biggest reaches
- Jarron Gilbert #32 to Pittsburgh
- Only one 1st round RB (Knowshon Moreno at #28 to the Eagles)
- No Brandon Pettigrew in the 1st round

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"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

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JSn

Crappo, you beat me. He's really sticking to his Peppers story, eh?

It would be dope if Al Smith slid to #34 (ok, is our pick 34 or 35?), but I can't imagine it.

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mayoclinic

Smith may slip - he's quicker than fast, and didn't look particularly fast at the combine. Combined with his height, some teams may pass.

I love the bevy of players available to us in the 2nd round. My fantasy draft:

- #23 for Peppers. I know the cap room probably insn't there, but I'm not ready to declare defeat yet.
- #34 - Connor Barwin, OLB
- #47 - Sean Smith or Louis Delmas, S
- Trade #58 and #89 to move up to around #43-44 for OT William Beatty

Add Leigh Bodden in FA and we would be in amazing shape. AD and Mayo would be our ILBs with Guyton backing up both, or AD moving outside at times. Peppers and Woods (with some AD) would be our starting OLBs while Barwin learns the ropes, with Peppers and Barwin becoming the starting due in 2010. Meriweather, Smith/Delmas and Sanders would be our main safety rotation, while Bodden/Hobbs/Wheatley/Wilhite would take care of the CBs. Leave our DL alone. Beatty would eventually take over at LT from Light, with Light moving to RT and Kaczur/Levoir as backups (or possibly Kaczur moving inside to RG eventually to take over from Stephen Neal).

Time to wake up. But it was nice while it lasted.

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"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

"The key to any successful organization is to anticipate things, not react to them." - Michael Lombardi

JSn

I'll take a hit off your pipe...

#23 - Rey Megaloogie
#34 - Julius Peppers/Alphonso Smith
#47 - Luis Dumass/Barwin
#58 - Sean Smith/Max Unger

The splits are contingent on the Peppers thing. I would not trade the #23 and big $$ to get him.

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mesoslo

Iam glad that DE are projected to be available late in the first round. Iam guessing peppers and taylor are probally the reasons. I think the cardinals, eagles and steelers will draft RB, late in the first round.

I dont know why the ravens would use their pick on a WR, especially when they already lost bart scott, and might also loose Ray lewis.

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patsinthesnow

Which USC linebacker is a bust/fraud? The reason I ask is 1 college football team does not have 3 future starters/or stars at one position.

I think Clay Matthews is the real deal out of all 3 of them.

Box_O_Rocks

USC has four in this draft, though Maiava is projected to Day Two.

Of the "big" three, Cushing will be quite good in a 4-3 defense, he'd probably do a fair job in a Dallas/SD 3-4 too - I don't consider him a good fit for NE.

Matthews would be quite good in a 4-3, he may also be a good fit for a Dallas/SD 3-4 - he's popular for people mocking for NE, but I don't see him as a great fit here. He'd probably be the best option of the three.

Maualuga is overrated in my book, he'd be okay in a defense like Baltimore's which protected Ray Lewis, he'd be a waste in NE's 3-4. I really hope SD does draft him.

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PatsChamp88

Good analysis I tend agree with your points