2011 Mock Draft
by Caleb Johnson
While it’s all premature speculation, to put it lightly, and most of these team needs will be filled by 2011, it’s always fun to look ahead at what’s on the distant horizon when it comes to college prospects. New Era Scouting’s Caleb Johnson brings to you his 2011 NFL Mock Draft, complete with the best freshmen players in the country from the 2007 season.
2011 Mock Draft (Freshmen) 1. Miami Dolphins - OT Lee Ziemba, Auburn Before you even think of having a passing game, you have to have someone to protect your quarterback’s blindside. Who knows who the Fins’ quarterback will be in 2011, but Ziemba is a great fit. He started every game as a true freshman and was one of Auburn’s best linemen.
2. St. Louis Rams - CB Eric Berry, Tennessee The Rams struggled at stopping the pass in 2007, so what better way to improve upon the defensive backfield than drafting someone who can play both safety and cornerback. Starting at both positions as a true freshman, he tallied four interceptions and an SEC freshman record 207 yards on interception returns.
3. Oakland Raiders - RB LeSean McCoy, Pittsburgh In 2011, Justin Fargas will be 31, Dominic Rhodes 32 and Lamont Jordan 33. McCoy, who’s quickly emerged into one of the best young backs in college football. With 1572 yards and 15 touchdowns rushing and receiving as a true freshman, McCoy is a prototypical NFL back with great vision and hands to boot.
4. Kansas City Chiefs - OG Maurkice Pouncey, Florida The Chiefs’ rushing offense, just a year ago considered one of the best in the NFL, quickly hit a downward spiral to the league’s worst in 2007 after the retirement of Will Shields. With Brian Waters nearing the end of his career, the Chiefs need to bring in a dominant guard to open up cutback lanes for Larry Johnson. Pouncey started 10 games as a true freshman and held his own against LSU’s Glenn Dorsey.
5. Atlanta Falcons - QB Sam Bradford, Oklahoma The Falcons will have probably drafted their future quarterback by 2011, but if by some chance they haven’t, Sam Bradford being on the board would be a great pickup. As a redshirt freshman, Bradford led the country in passing efficiency and threw 36 touchdowns to only 8 interceptions.
6. New York Jets - DE Cameron Heyward, Ohio State The Jets finished 29th in the league against the run in 2007. Enter Cameron Heyward, son of former NFL running back Craig ?Ironhead? Heyward. At 6-foot-6 and 282 pounds, Cameron is a great fit as a defensive end in the 3-4, and he tallied ten tackles for loss on the nation’s best defense as a true freshman after taking the starting job mid-season.
7. San Fancisco 49ers - WR Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech By now, everyone knows who Michael Crabtree is. The redshirt freshman who led the nation with 132 receptions, 1962 yards and 22 touchdowns receiving probably won’t stick around in college this long, but assuming he does, he would be a great fit for a receiving corps that desperately needs a star.
8. Baltimore Ravens - QB Jake Locker, Washington If the Troy Smith experiment falters, Baltimore will be looking for a quarterback. Locker is a true dual-threat passer, and he burst onto the scene his redshirt freshman season rushing for 986 yards and 13 touchdowns while passing for 2,036 yards, 14 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. While he needs improvement in the passing department, he has loads of potential to succeed in Ty Willingham’s offense.
9. Cincinatti Bengals - DE Everson Griffen, Southern Cal Cincinnati, meet Everson Griffen. He’s the perfect fit to improve on your defense’s league-worst 22 sacks from 2007. Highly recruited out of high school with a 4.3 forty-yard-dash time at 6-foot-2 and 265 pounds, Griffen quickly made his presence felt in Los Angeles with 5 and a half sacks as a true freshman despite not starting a game.
10. New Orleans Saints - LB Rennie Curran, Georgia The Saints, who sported the 26th ranked defense in the league this past season, could use a quick outside linebacker who is capable of covering the middle of the field and good on the blitz. Curran finished 4th for the Bulldogs in tackles with 46 while only starting four games. He added seven tackles for loss, a sack and seven quarterback hurries.
11. Buffalo Bills - CB Donovan Warren, Michigan It’s no secret that the Bills need some help in their defensive backfield given their 29th ranked pass defense. Warren, who started 12 games for Michigan, could be their man. A former five star prospect, the 6-foot-0 cover man made his first career interception to seal a victory against Rose Bowl-bound Illinois.
12. Denver Broncos - DT Gerald McCoy, Oklahoma The Broncos couldn’t stop the run in 2007. Oklahoma led the Big XII in rush defense. A big part of this was the play a couple highly regarded defensive tackles, one of which being McCoy, the 4th ranked recruit in the class of 2006. A 6-foot-4, 291 pound redshirt freshman, McCoy had six tackles for loss for the Sooners.
13. Carolina Panthers - QB Tyrod Taylor, Virginia Tech Jake Delhomme and David Carr are not long-term fixes at quarterback for the Panthers. Just up the road in Blacksburg, Virginia, there’s a true freshman who wowed many college football enthusiasts with his athleticism at the position. Taylor finished his year completing 53.7% of his passes for 927 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions. He added 429 yards and six scores on the ground.
14. Chicago Bears - RB Knowshon Moreno, Georgia Cedric Benson isn’t turning into the back the Bears hoped he would be when they took him with the 4th pick in the 2005 NFL Draft. Adrian Peterson isn’t an answer in the long-term. Moreno, who had 1587 yards and 14 touchdowns this season and brings an impressive combination of speed and agility to the table, could be the answer that the Bears’ rushing game is looking for.
15. Detroit Lions - CB Kareem Jackson, Alabama The once-promising Lions were held back this season by the league’s second-worst pass defense. Jackson, as a true freshman, intercepted three passes, broke up six passes and was fifth on the team with 66 tackles, including four for loss.
16. Arizona Cardinals - CB Omar Bolden, Arizona State The Cardinals, also hampered by a porous defensive backfield in 2007, are looking to take that next step with a powerful offense and get to the playoffs. A highly regarded recruit out of California, Bolden made an immediate impact in the Sun Devils’ impressive 10-3 season under first year head coach Dennis Erickson, totaling 33 tackles, six pass break-ups and an interception.
17. Minnesota Vikings - WR Dez Bryant, Oklahoma State The Vikings seem to be in good shape for the future, but they’re still looking for that game-breaking presence at wide-receiver that they’ve lacked since Randy Moss’ departure. Bryant, who plays in a powerful offense that has produced many great NFL receiver prospects in the past including Adarius Bowman this year, had 43 catches for 622 yards and six touchdowns as a true freshman, capping it off with nine catches for 117 yards and a pair of scores in an Insight Bowl victory over Indiana.
18. Houston Texans - RB DeMarco Murray, Oklahoma With injuries riddling the Texans’ backfield, the team needs to look towards bringing in a young franchise back. Murray, who started off the season as exciting as anyone in college football with his rushing and return prowess, could be that back. Now it’s all up to getting Texas fans to accept a Sooner as one of their own.
19. Philadelphia Eagles - LB Rolando McClain, Alabama Despite a young and promising stable of linebackers, the Eagles can never be too sure that what they have will pan out. With their offense seemingly set for the future, defense is what needs to be focused on if Philadelphia wants to make it back to the promised land. McClain finished his true freshman year with 75 tackles, five tackles for loss and two interceptions.
20. Cleveland Browns - RB Joe McKnight, Southern Cal Jamal Lewis had a very nice season, but he’s quickly approaching 30 years old. McKnight, widely regarded as the next Reggie Bush and one of the nation’s top overall prospects in the recruiting class of 2007, has shown flashes of brilliance, rushing for 610 yards and three touchdowns and catching 23 passes for 203 yards and another score.
21. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - DT Marvin Austin, North Carolina The Buccaneers, who were middle-of-the-road in rush defense this past season, have been looking for the next Warren Sapp to control the line of scrimmage. Look no further than Marvin Austin. A big piece of the puzzle in Butch Davis’ rebuilding process, Austin started four games as a true freshman, recording 26 tackles, six for loss and four sacks.
22. Washington Redskins - WR Terrance Tolliver, LSU The Redskins passing offense is good, but Jason Campbell has never been provided a big red zone target at receiver. The 6-foot-5 Tolliver is one of the next in line in a great tradition of LSU receivers. A five-star recruit out of high school, Tolliver finished the season with ten catches for 249 yards and three touchdowns for the national champion Tigers.
23. Tennessee Titans - WR Arrelious Benn, Illinois If the Titans want Vince Young to succeed, they need to surround him with more talent at the receiver position. Benn was not held without a catch during the whole 2007 season, had only two games with less than four catches, and totaled 54 receptions for 676 yards and two touchdowns, including five catches for 80 yards and a score in a Rose Bowl loss to Southern Cal.
24. Pittsburgh Steelers - CB Tavious Polo, Florida Atlantic The Steelers sported the league’s best defense this season, but with Deshea Townsend nearing the end of his career they need to build toward the future. Not many people know of Polo besides the fact that he ended Kentucky quarterback Andre Woodson’s streak of 325 passes without an interception, but the 6-foot-1 redshirt freshman cornerback finished tied for sixth in the country with seven interceptions and added 52 tackles, two pass break-ups and a forced fumble.
25. Seattle Seahawks - DT Scooter Berry, West Virginia The Seahawks could use more of an interior presence on their defensive line. Berry, at 6-foot-2 and 285 pounds, could plug in at the 3-technique and thrive. Berry, a redshirt freshman, is big part of the reason for West Virginia’s top ten defense. Berry finished the season with 27 tackles, five tackles for loss and a forced fumble for the Fiesta Bowl champion Mountaineers.
26. New York Giants - DT Brian Price, UCLA The Giants have an aging defensive line and could use more depth on it to continue their development toward a Super Bowl. Price was a monster at defensive tackle his true freshman season for the Bruins, racking up ten tackles for loss and forcing two fumbles.
27. San Diego Chargers - OG Anthony Davis, Rutgers By the time 2011 rolls around, Mike Goff will probably be retired and LaDainian Tomlinson nearing the end of his great career. With Davis, the Chargers could extend LT’s career with the franchise, giving him a few more pro bowls and building towards future success on the ground. Rutgers’ rushing offense got off to a rough start, but since Davis became the starter, running back Ray Rice rushed for more than 100 yards in every game.
28. Jacksonville Jaguars - WR Jeremy Maclin, Missouri As if Jacksonville didn’t have enough big play threats already, Jeremy Maclin could add to the scary list of playmakers and provide a great kick returner to give Maurice Jones-Drew a breather when he eventually takes the full load on offense. A true freshman, Maclin finished 7th in the country in all-purpose yards, scoring four touchdowns rushing, nine receiving, two on punt returns and one on a kick return for the 12-2 Tigers.
29. Indianapolis Colts - DT Torrey Davis, Florida The Colts rush defense has improved quite a bit from the league’s worst in 2006, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t still a lot of room for improvement. The highly recruited Davis, who is set to take over as a starter next season for the 9-4 Gators, finished the season with one tackle for loss while playing sparingly.
30. Green Bay Packers - S Major Wright, Florida Even with the Packers enjoying great success this season, they still have yet to have someone step up at the strong safety position. Florida’s Wright is a fierce hitter who started most of the year for the Gators. Finishing the season with 38 tackles, the mean streak of Wright showed by forcing three fumbles. He will likely switch to strong safety next season after playing free safety as a true freshman.
31. Dallas Cowboys - RB Terry Grant, Alabama With Julius Jones leaving, the Cowboys will once again be in need of a change-of-pace back to share the load with Marion Barber. Despite not playing in the last two games of the season for the Crimson Tide, Grant finished his redshirt freshman year with 891 yards rushing and eight touchdowns, along with 176 yards and a touchdown on 26 catches.
32. New England Patriots - LB Obinna Ezeh, Michigan As if the Patriots really had any needs, by 2011 they will have probably figured out that they need to start bringing in some young linebackers as Teddy Bruschi would be entering his 16th season in the league, Mike Vrabel his 15th, Adalius Thomas his 12th, Larry Izzo his 16th, Chad Brown his 19th and Junior Seau his 22nd. Ezeh finished his redshirt freshman season with 77 tackles, five for loss and a forced fumble.