* Ye Official 2012 Mock Draft Thread!! *

[Off The Grid]

Originally Posted by State

First Round

27—Andre Branch, DE, Clemson. This is a perfect fit for the Patriots’ 3-4, a player they had highlighted in hopes that he would fall to them. They have Branch rated higher than Whitney Marcilus.



31—Looking to trade down, but not offered sufficient value they pull a rabbit out of the hat and pick Jamell Fleming, CB, Oklahoma. They’ve studied him a lot and understand his skills match very well with what they like to do: press zone CB. A perfect fit. And he’s got good size, too. And they heard rumblings about him going early in the second round. They’ve got to shore up that woeful secondary.



Second Round

48—George Iloka, FS, Boise State, is their highest rated free safety—they like him better than SS Harrison Smith, the Mike Mamula of this draft—who can also play strong safety This continues the height movement in the defensive backfield began in earnest last year with CB Ras-I Dowling. Iloka, 6’3”, ran a 4.49 on his pro day, eclipsing his mediocre Combine of 4.63.



62—Some guys in the Patriots war room are beating their chests to go for Jonathan Massaquoi, OLB from Troy, whom many scouts think has untapped potential. But this is too early. The mistake with Ron Brace, the cartoon-loving NT taken out of BC in the second round, still irritates & worries them. They know if Vince goes down, they’re screwed. They need insurance. A can’t miss prospect in the second round. A guy who knows the system. A tough, hard-nosed football player. Josh Chapman, NT, Alabama. And they don’t think he makes it out of the second unpicked.



Third Round

93—Competition at the RB spot, where they know rookies have the easiest transition. Fumbling troubles by Ridley—just as he was separating himself from the pack last year—and the injury that plagued talented Shane Vereen, the 56th pick makes BB antsy. They really like the ridiculous 4.3 speed and deceptive toughness of Cincinnati’s Isaiah Pead, who showed up big in a Senior Bowl, garnering MVP. Just like another Patriot, Deion Branch. He’s got the speed to be the homerun hitter they wished they had since Baltimore took the Rutgers RB, Ray Rice just ahead of them. And who knows what the Navy will do with Eric Kettani or if elder statesman Kevin Faulk will retire or not. This is a nice pickup at a position they need to replenish.



Fourth Round

126—Finally, one of my pets. The tremendous WR out of Arizona with bigger hands than Blackmon, a vertical leap of 39”—which means at his height of 6’3” his elbows are near the basketball rim—Juron Criner. He is a TD waiting to happen. Welker and the TEs are no longer the only go-to guys in the red zone when we’ve got a bigger, taller, stronger, more talented David Givens. Got to keep Tommie “touchdown” Brady happy. He should have been drafted in the third, but there are just so many talented guys at this position this year. He gets pushed down.

Terrific work, man!!

I really enjoyed the way you presented this story!! Props!!

[Avenger]

I like this guy as a UDFA WR
Lavasier Tuinei - GoDucks.com - The University of Oregon Official Athletics Web Site

He's tall and has decent speed. He was the Rose Bowl Offensive Player of the Game. His father also played in the NFL for San Diego, Indianapolis and Chicago. He played FS in high school could be a good utility player in the mold of Troy Brown.

[Off The Grid]

Originally Posted by Avenger

This is my most recent mock draft

Well, I can't edit it to illustrate it, but that's very impressive Work, Brother Avenger!!

[Avenger]

Originally Posted by Off The Grid

Well, I can't edit it to illustrate it, but that's very impressive Work, Brother Avenger!!

Here it is in text form

1 27 Traded to KC for picks 44, 146 and 2013 1st, NE also sends pick 126
1 31 Traded to Eagles for picks 46 and 88
2 44 Vinny Curry DE/OLB Marshall
2 46 Harrison Smith S Notre Dame
2 48 Bruce Irvin OLB/DE West Virginia
2 63 Traded to NO for picks 91, 164, 181 and 2013 3rd
3 88 Brandon Boykin CB/KR Georgia
3 91 Trenton Robinson S/CB Michigan State
3 94 Josh Chapman DT Alabama
4 126 Traded to Chiefs (see above)
5 146 David Molk C/OG Michigan
5 164 Danny Coale WR/P Virginia Tech
6 181 Kellen Moore QB Boise State

[Joey007]

A little off topic. What's everyone's opinion on Shea McClellin?? The "experts" say his stocks rising up to maybe ven the first round. I would love having him on our team. Anyone else??

[Patriot Missile]

Originally Posted by Joey007

A little off topic. What's everyone's opinion on Shea McClellin?? The "experts" say his stocks rising up to maybe ven the first round. I would love having him on our team. Anyone else??

He's no secret around these parts. Sift through some threads and you will find lots of posts with gushing appraisals.

[Wilfork#75]

I wasn't sure where to put this, and I didn't want to start a new thread so I'll leave it here. One guy that has been of interest to me is OT Jonathan Martin from Stanford. At the end of the season he was a possible top 5 pick, and a month ago he was a top 12 pick. Now his stock is sliding and he may be available at the end of round 1 (although I personally don't think SD could let him get past them). I saw in another thread ATippett56 posted the idea that if Martin was on the board at 27, we could trade down with the Eagles. But what if we drafted Martin instead. It may seem silly after drafting Solder last year and having Vollmer on the roster, but I think its an idea that could have some merit. First, Vollmer is a free agent at the end of the year and after an All Pro year in 2010, he could be looking at quite a sizable contract. With the cap expected to remain relatively flat over the next few years, a large contract for Vollmer could make it difficult to re-sign some of our other guys in the near future. The bigger issue however is Vollmer's injury history. To put it bluntly, his back injury scares the crap out of me. We saw how limited he was on the field last year with it, and if it's something that could hinder him long term I don't think you could justify giving him a big long term deal.

Thats where Martin could come in. I personally have him rated higher than Vollmer and Solder coming out of college, and I think he has become one of the more underrated players in this draft. He is a natural LT,but with Solder on the roster he is probably better suited to RT here. He is a big, athletic and intelligent guy who should fit well into this system. The only knock on him seems to be a lack of elite core strength, but I think that is something that could be worked on. At the end of round 1 I think he is great value.

If we were to draft Martin, that could leave us with 2 options. If Light retires, we could keep Vollmer and he would likely start at RT. Martin would be the backup at both LT and RT, and could also likely fill in at OG. Then we decide whether it is worth keeping Vollmer long term at the end of the season. The other option is possibly flipping Vollmer to a team in need of OT help at the top of the 2nd round. The Rams, Browns, Dolphins, Bills and Cards could all be looking for help at OT, and a high 2nd for Vollmer would be good value for both teams. Martin steps in at RT and is a healthy, cheaper option for the next 4 years. He might not have as high a ceiling as Vollmer, but he is a fairly safe pick.

Now, I'm not saying I want to do this or I would do this, but I think it could be something to keep in mind. If the Pats are worried about Vollmer's back long term, a high pick on an OT could make sense.

[bruschi_warrior]

Just left the ESPN message board (Thank God). Here is a mock draft......

#27 - Michael Brockers, DT
#31 - Vinny Curry, DE/OLB
#48 - Kelechi Osemele, OG
#93 - Trumaine Johnson, CB/FS
#112 (projected pick) - Jaye Howard, DT
#126 - Ron Brooks, CB

Brockers can play strong side 4-3 DE or 4-3 DT as well. He is strong enough to hold an edge at DE and if he plays inside, it could help free up Wilfork on the inside especially if you have a couple of edge rushers in passing situations.

Osemele is someone that I got to watch a lot of this year and the guy is someone that you could bring in and be a long term solution at guard. He also has a high motor. That and if there is one thing that I think the Pats would be making a mistake on is not taking guys in the SEC or the Big 12 for this draft class.

Those two conferences played at a high level this year. I don't know enough about Silatolu to make that kind of call.

I saw enough of Curry to know that the guy could be the next JPP but more polished coming out of college.

[Off The Grid]

Originally Posted by Avenger

Here it is in text form

1 27 Traded to KC for picks 44, 146 and 2013 1st, NE also sends pick 126
1 31 Traded to Eagles for picks 46 and 88

2 44 Vinny Curry DE/OLB Marshall



2 46 Harrison Smith S Notre Dame



2 48 Bruce Irvin OLB/DE West Virginia



2 63 Traded to NO for picks 91, 164, 181 and 2013 3rd


3 88 Brandon Boykin CB/KR Georgia



3 91 Trenton Robinson S/CB Michigan State



3 94 Josh Chapman DT Alabama



4 126 Traded to Chiefs (see above)


5 146 David Molk C/OG Michigan



5 164 Danny Coale WR/P Virginia Tech


6 181 Kellen Moore QB Boise State

Tremendous Worksmanship, Brother Avenger!!

[Blackluck]

Re Taking Martin:

If Martin is sitting there at 27 a number of teams will be falling over themselves for a trade. While I am personally never opposed to drafting O line - and agree 100% with your logic - I think the potential return in a trade would be too great to pass up.

Originally Posted by bruschi_warrior

Just left the ESPN message board (Thank God). Here is a mock draft......

#27 - Michael Brockers, DT
#31 - Vinny Curry, DE/OLB
#48 - Kelechi Osemele, OG
#93 - Trumaine Johnson, CB/FS
#112 (projected pick) - Jaye Howard, DT
#126 - Ron Brooks, CB

Very little chance Brockers falls to 27; while I can't see him falling past 20, Denver takes him at 25 if he does drop. I like the rest of your mock- but I'm also resigned to Belichick passing on this years OLB class (McClellin, Curry, Branch) as he has in the past (i.e. Reed, Barwin, et al. )