Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Final Mock

As we all must know by now, Miami has inked Jake Long to a 5 year, 57 million dollar contract. Congrats, and a cookie if you can name the last offensive lineman drafted #1 overall.


2. St. Louis Rams: Chris Long
3. Atlanta Falcons: Glenn Dorsey
4. Oakland Raiders: Darren McFadden
5. Kansas City Chiefs: Vernon Gholston
6. New York Jets: Matt Ryan
7. New England Patriots: Derrick Harvey
8. Baltimore Ravens: Branden Albert
9. Cincinnati Bengals: Sedrick Ellis
10. New Orleans Saints: Keith Rivers
11. Buffalo Bills: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie
12. Denver Broncos: Chris Williams
13. Carolina Panthers:Ryan Clady
14. Chicago Bears: Jeff Otah
15. Detroit Lions: Leodis McKelvin
16. Arizona Cardinals: Jerod Mayo
17. Kansas City Chiefs: Gosder Cherilus
18. Houston Texans: Jonathan Stewart
19. Philadelphia Eagles: Devin Thomas
20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Rashard Mendenhall
21. Washington Redskins: Phillip Merling
22. Dallas Cowboys: Mike Jenkins

23. Pittsburgh Steelers: Calais Campbell
24. Tennessee Titans: Limas Sweed
25. Seattle Seahawks: Kenny Phillips
26. Jacksonville Jaguars: Desean Jackson
27. San Diego Chargers: Antoine Cason
28. Dallas Cowboys: Jamaal Charles

29. San Francisco 49ers: Quentin Groves
30. Green Bay Packers: Aqib Talib
31. New York Giants: Dan Connor

Cowboys (61):DaJuan Morgan. Why Morgan? He's a talented player who projects as both a free and strong safety. While raw and injury prone, he should become a regular contributor if given some time to learn the craft. That makes him a great fit here; Ken Hamlin will likely become a free agent after this season, and Roy Williams' future is just as unsure as our knowledge of how many times he will be burned by a tight end.



Cowboys (92): Jeremy Zuttah. Zuttah's strengths are his versatility and athletic ability. (Starting to see a pattern?) As SI announcer guy will inform you in the video below, Zuttah is a workout warrior, finishing amongst the top OL performers in four different events. He is probably a developmental prospect, but there's no need to rush with our line. It will be good to rest easy, however, knowing that an injury to Andre Gurode will no longer knock out any semblance of an offense. Plus,I'm pining to get a replacement for Kyle Kosier. ;)



Cowboys (163) Frank Okam. Without a question my favorite semi-obscure player in this draft. Okam transcends the adjective 'massive'; he's the largest defensive player in this draft pool. Okam is a powerful run stopper and demands multiple blockers; the definition of a nose tackle to me. When I brought his name up to Norm Hitzges a few weeks ago, he dismissed Okam as being too tall to play the nose. Bullocks! I've never understood how that was considered a slight. His flaws? He's an underachiever who takes plays off. He won't be asked to start here, so there's no reason to think he won't be productive during his limited snaps. In addition, he hails from my favored university, and-best of all- he scored a 39 on the Wonderlic score, which (very) roughly translates to an IQ of 138. This is a football player who plans to go to law school. Please, Jerry, make this happen!



Cowboys (167): Peyton Hillis. There aren't many needs on this team, but fullback's one of them. Deon Andersen showed some promise while on the field, but sustained a major injury that may persist in plaguing his career. The biggest thing I look for in a fullback is the Moose factor; I want to see him block. Unfortunately, reports on all of the top fullbacks in this class have been very inconclusive on that front. The consensus, however, appears to be that Hillis is the most capable in that respect. Also a capable receiver who ran well out of the backfield, he could conceivably take over as the team's third running back.



Cowboys (235) Matt Flynn. There's nothing wrong with grooming a young backup QB, and this draft should have some fine options available in the later rounds. Flynn hails from the national champion and displays a lot of the traits you want from your backup QB. He takes care of the ball, displays good accuracy, and shows a never-say-die attitude. Adept at eluding pass-rushers and blessed with enough speed to cut between blockers and parley the situation into a sizable gain. Flynn lacks arm strength and isn't quite as proven as you'd expect an LSU senior to be, but is a solid young prospect nonetheless.

Cowboys complete trade for Pac-Man Jones

Per Mort, It's done.
A conditional fourth this year, possibly more if he fulfills certain stipulated performance markers (or gets on the field, what a novel concept).
Supposedly, the Boys will be reimbursed if he does not get reinstated, and they've reworked his contract into a four year deal with NO guaranteed money.
What I found interesting was the mandated handout to charity. Wow, that's an enormous sum-even for a pro athlete. Step in the right direction, though. Let's hope he doesn't disgrace his new pals into refunding the check a few months later.