Keiper has Pats taking...(Mock(3/4/08

[slash83]

• The name you can expect to hear more leading up to the draft is Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. Now that the Patriots have lost Asante Samuel to free agency, I have the Division I-AA cornerback going to New England with the seventh pick. If the Pats pass on Rodgers-Cromartie, the Saints could take him with the No. 10 pick.

1 Miami Dolphins Chris Long, DE Virginia
2 St. Louis Rams Glenn Dorsey, DT LSU
3 Atlanta Falcons Matt Ryan, QB Boston College
4 Oakland Raiders *Darren McFadden, RB Arkansas
5 Kansas City Chiefs Jake Long, OT Michigan
6 New York Jets *Vernon Gholston, DE Ohio St.
7 New England Patriots (from SF) Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, CB Tennessee St.
8 Baltimore Ravens Sedrick Ellis, DT USC
9 Cincinnati Bengals *Phillip Merling, DE Clemson
10 New Orleans Saints Leodis McKelvin, CB Troy


http://insider.espn.go.com/ncf/insider/columns/story?columnist=kiper_jr_mel&id=3275203

question on a chat with Mel: Chris (Gilford, NH): Mel, has Rodgers-Cromartie really jumped that much to warrent the Patriots selecting him with number seven overall?

Mel Kiper: If he had a Michigan helmet on or a USC helmet on, he would be a guaranteed No. 7 pick. You wouldn't have known he was from Tennessee State if he had a different helmet on at the Senior Bowl practices. He has done everything right. He has nailed this whole process so far. He's the No. 1 CB in this draft. He moved up after the Senior Bowl practice and he moved up even further after the combine workouts. He could go 7, 8, 10, 15.

 

[cstjohn17]

• The name you can expect to hear more leading up to the draft is Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. Now that the Patriots have lost Asante Samuel to free agency, I have the Division I-AA cornerback going to New England with the seventh pick. If the Pats pass on Rodgers-Cromartie, the Saints could take him with the No. 10 pick.

1 Miami Dolphins Chris Long, DE Virginia
2 St. Louis Rams Glenn Dorsey, DT LSU
3 Atlanta Falcons Matt Ryan, QB Boston College
4 Oakland Raiders *Darren McFadden, RB Arkansas
5 Kansas City Chiefs Jake Long, OT Michigan
6 New York Jets *Vernon Gholston, DE Ohio St.
7 New England Patriots (from SF) Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, CB Tennessee St.
8 Baltimore Ravens Sedrick Ellis, DT USC
9 Cincinnati Bengals *Phillip Merling, DE Clemson
10 New Orleans Saints Leodis McKelvin, CB Troy


http://insider.espn.go.com/ncf/insider/columns/story?columnist=kiper_jr_mel&id=3275203

question on a chat with Mel: Chris (Gilford, NH): Mel, has Rodgers-Cromartie really jumped that much to warrent the Patriots selecting him with number seven overall?

Mel Kiper: If he had a Michigan helmet on or a USC helmet on, he would be a guaranteed No. 7 pick. You wouldn't have known he was from Tennessee State if he had a different helmet on at the Senior Bowl practices. He has done everything right. He has nailed this whole process so far. He's the No. 1 CB in this draft. He moved up after the Senior Bowl practice and he moved up even further after the combine workouts. He could go 7, 8, 10, 15.

A top 6 like that is a worst case scenario for the Patriots, of the available options I would consider Harvey, Clady, Groves or the highest rated corner.

 

[slash83]

A top 6 like that is a worst case scenario for the Patriots, of the available options I would consider Harvey, Clady, Groves or the highest rated corner.

If thats how it played out then I would take a shot with DRC.

 

[patsfaninpa]

Agree about the Top 6. But, I think someone would be willing to trade up for S.Ellis if he is there at 7. There is a big drop-off from him to the next DT. K.Balmer-UNC. Mel has Ellis going 8 to baltimore. I think teams like Cincy,Carolina,Denver and Chicago could use him. Panthers traded K.Jenkins too. I would think that they'd love to move up and snag S.Ellis. I would want their 1st and 2nd. Would still allow us to get one of the top 3 cb's: Cromartie,McKelvin or M.Jenkins. Get a fairly high 2nd rounder too. How bout C.Avril and J.Goff in 2nd Round?
OL and CB in 3RD. Greco and C.Jackson. TE in 4th. C.Stevens.

 

[WhiZa]

I'm with you all about the top 6. I would not complain about a trade out of the spot if that's how it played out. I really think the Raiders taking McFadden at #4 is the pivot point. If he starts falling all hell is going to break loose!

 

[jeffbiologist]

Ya, that is worst case scenario. If we cant trade down I think we are stuck between Ellis and Harvey. Ellis can play the nose, and from the Giants we can learn that you can never have too many good DL. Yes, we have Wright, but he would be a serious upgrade over LeKevin and could provide a much better insurance policy behind Vince. If Vince goes down where is our run defense?
Ellis is the better athlete, but I think Harvey will be rising up boards soon too. His size is hard to overlook, and when he is ON he is a rare pass rusher(a definate NEED on this team). Clady is also making a late rush to be the #1 Tackle in the draft, but that works better for another scenario or trade.
DRC is going to be a good player, but CBs can be JAGs in our system. Good ones can be had in the 2nd-3rd rd. I dont think there is a chance we go CB so high...

 

[BradyToMoss]

• The name you can expect to hear more leading up to the draft is Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. Now that the Patriots have lost Asante Samuel to free agency, I have the Division I-AA cornerback going to New England with the seventh pick. If the Pats pass on Rodgers-Cromartie, the Saints could take him with the No. 10 pick.

1 Miami Dolphins Chris Long, DE Virginia
2 St. Louis Rams Glenn Dorsey, DT LSU
3 Atlanta Falcons Matt Ryan, QB Boston College
4 Oakland Raiders *Darren McFadden, RB Arkansas
5 Kansas City Chiefs Jake Long, OT Michigan
6 New York Jets *Vernon Gholston, DE Ohio St.
7 New England Patriots (from SF) Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, CB Tennessee St.
8 Baltimore Ravens Sedrick Ellis, DT USC
9 Cincinnati Bengals *Phillip Merling, DE Clemson
10 New Orleans Saints Leodis McKelvin, CB Troy


http://insider.espn.go.com/ncf/insider/columns/story?columnist=kiper_jr_mel&id=3275203

question on a chat with Mel: Chris (Gilford, NH): Mel, has Rodgers-Cromartie really jumped that much to warrent the Patriots selecting him with number seven overall?

Mel Kiper: If he had a Michigan helmet on or a USC helmet on, he would be a guaranteed No. 7 pick. You wouldn't have known he was from Tennessee State if he had a different helmet on at the Senior Bowl practices. He has done everything right. He has nailed this whole process so far. He's the No. 1 CB in this draft. He moved up after the Senior Bowl practice and he moved up even further after the combine workouts. He could go 7, 8, 10, 15.

Right on Mel. I've been saying this since that rainy Senior Bowl in Bama and all I've been hearing is that he can't justify the #7 value. He's the top corner on the board, the top athlete next to DMac with the highest upside of anyone coming out. I'm all for trading down into the 11-15 window to hope to land him, but like Mel says and what I've been saying, he will not get past the Saints at #10. As a matter of fact with Ryan gone, I can see Baltimore at #8 going corner whether it be DRC or McKelvin and a trade down for us into the 14 hole and we might not have either of the two top corners.

 

[dryheat44]

I'm with you all about the top 6. I would not complain about a trade out of the spot if that's how it played out. I really think the Raiders taking McFadden at #4 is the pivot point. If he starts falling all hell is going to break loose!

The Raiders just gave Justin Fargas a 8 million dollar signing bonus on a three year deal. They have money invested in Michael Bush. They have Dominic Rhodes carrying a big salary cap hit (which they could eat). There's no freakin' way they can justify drafting McFadden at #4 overall. If they do, it's time to take the keys away from Al.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

He has Baltimore passing on a QB. That is interesting.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

The Raiders just gave Justin Fargas a 8 million dollar signing bonus on a three year deal. They have money invested in Michael Bush. They have Dominic Rhodes carrying a big salary cap hit (which they could eat). There's no freakin' way they can justify drafting McFadden at #4 overall. If they do, it's time to take the keys away from Al.

Let's not forget that this is the same Al Davis who thought Lane Kiffin would voluntarily resign so that Davis wouldn't have to pay him the salary due on his contract. . . . I wouldn't rule it out, frankly, no matter how stupid it might seem.

 

[dryheat44]

Let's not forget that this is the same Al Davis who thought Lane Kiffin would voluntarily resign so that Davis wouldn't have to pay him the salary due on his contract. . . . I wouldn't rule it out, frankly, no matter how stupid it might seem.

They did force Rhodes to re-negotiate his deal today....so maybe....No, I still don't think so. I mean, key in all this was they offered Fargas that contract with the knowledge that they could have McFadden if they wanted to, so I'm guessing they realized that it's hard for anybody to play better than Fargas did for them last year, so sign him and cover another position with the #4 pick.

 

[WhiZa]

The Raiders just gave Justin Fargas a 8 million dollar signing bonus on a three year deal. They have money invested in Michael Bush. They have Dominic Rhodes carrying a big salary cap hit (which they could eat). There's no freakin' way they can justify drafting McFadden at #4 overall. If they do, it's time to take the keys away from Al.

That's good to know. Looks like he'll be sitting there for the Jets. Which either means we're getting Gholston or we'll have some valuable trade bait.

 

[VJCPatriot]

The Raiders should draft Ellis, not McFadden. Their defense is terrible. Well just about everything about them is terrible, but you get the idea. Until they beef up both of their lines, offensive and defensive, even a stud like McFadden won't help them out much.

 

[JoePats]

Troy isn't in the SEC but they're not 1-AA either.

Edit---Oops...I confused the colleges of McKelvin and DRC

 

[sg14]

The Raiders should draft Ellis, not McFadden. Their defense is terrible. Well just about everything about them is terrible, but you get the idea. Until they beef up both of their lines, offensive and defensive, even a stud like McFadden won't help them out much.

Didn't Warren Sapp retire the same day as Farve, so very few people noticed??

 

[WhiZa]

Didn't Warren Sapp retire the same day as Farve, so very few people noticed??

Yup. Since 2002 Sapp has been better known as the sticky substance that came from trees

 

[Afterlifemobile-86]

Troy isn't in the SEC but they're not 1-AA either.

Edit---Oops...I confused the colleges of McKelvin and DRC

Troy is Sun-Belt Conference (D-1A) just some FYI.....

 

[GPR11788]

He has Baltimore passing on a QB. That is interesting.

Other than Matt Ryan, there isn't another quarterback that warrants a 1st round pick. Brain Brohm is the 2nd best prospect and he is predicted to go in the early 2nd round.

 

[GPR11788]

The Raiders should draft Ellis, not McFadden. Their defense is terrible. Well just about everything about them is terrible, but you get the idea. Until they beef up both of their lines, offensive and defensive, even a stud like McFadden won't help them out much.

I agree, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if they took him, seeing how they are making some questionable decisions this offseason.

 

[DaBruinz]

Other than Matt Ryan, there isn't another quarterback that warrants a 1st round pick. Brain Brohm is the 2nd best prospect and he is predicted to go in the early 2nd round.

Brohm has fallen behind Flacco according to many scouts. In fact, Flacco has, supposedly, moved himself into the late 1st round while Brohm is looking at the mid to end of the 2nd.