Mock Draft cont.

Here is the continuation of a mock draft that I have already started. You'll find listed first what I think each team will do with their pick, followed by what I would do if the choice were mine. Make sure to check out the first 10 picks before reading on here.

11. San Francisco: Ted Ginn Jr., WR
The Niners might look to add another weapon for young QB Alex Smith and WR is a need. They have Antonio Bryant on one side who is solid, but opposite him is Arnaz Battle who is a better fit in the WR3 role. Local standout Dwayne Jarrett could be an option as well, but Ginn is rising and Jarrett falling with speed being the reason. Speed kills in the NFL and Ginn has loads of it, while Jarrett might be a step slow. Watch the 40 times at the combine for these 2 WRs and others because that stat more than any other will change their draft status.
My pick: Levi Brown, OT
It's difficult to predict what San Francisco will do in the draft before free agency. The Niners have more salary cap room than any other team and proved last year that they are close to being able to compete for a playoff birth. The Niners have needs at WR and defense, but signing Donte Stallworth and/or Adalius Thomas could reduce those needs. I'd go with Brown if I were the Niners and strengthen the protection for Alex Smith. The draft is deep at WR and they might be able to grab a WR such as Sidney Rice early in round 2.

12. Buffalo: Leon Hall, CB[
The Bills front office has shown that they are willing to 'reach' for players of need in the draft. (see D. Whitner and J. McCargo of the 2006 draft). Cornerback figures to be a position of need with the imminent departure of Nate Clements in free agency. Hall has tenuous hold on the top CB ranking, but that could soon change with Aaron Ross and Darrele Revis coming on strong.
My pick: Dwayne Jarrett, WR
Jarrett is falling on many lists right now. Some pundits don't even have him in the top 5 of WRs. However, I have seen what Jarrett did at USC. He was consistently brilliant and Buffalo has a need to pair a big possession receiver opposite of the deep threat, Lee Evans. If Jarrett can run 4.5 or under in the 40 at the Combine then I think this is a move for Buffalo to make.

13. St. Louis: Amobi Okoye, DT
My pick: Amobi Okoye, DT
Okoye, the run stuffer out of Louisville, is just 19 years old. He can contribute at a high level right now, but carries with him a term scouts have fallen in love with -- 'potential.' St. Louis resides in a division with teams that trot out Shaun Alexander, Frank Gore, and Edgerrin James. Stopping the run is a priority for them to be successful.

14. Carolina: Reggie Nelson, S
My pick: Reggie Nelson, S

15. Pittsburgh: Adam Carriker, DE
My pick: Aaron Ross, CB
Pittsburgh's secondary was torched time and time again last season. New head Coach Mike Tomlin, former Vikings Defensive Coordinator, will likely use his top pick to bring more talent to the defensive side. Both Carriker and Ross would fit nicely with Pittsburgh, but I think the secondary is a more glaring need. Ross might not start as a rookie, but could be used in nickel situation and be brought along slowly as to be ready for 2008.

16. Green Bay: Marshawn Lynch, RB
My pick: Adam Carriker, DE
Running backs are becoming a dime a dozen in the NFL. A back must be truly special to warrant taking him over other needs. Ginn could be the pick here as he has begun to slide a bit in my projections, but I like the idea of pairing Carriker with Adam Kampman on either side of the D-line rushing the passer.

17. Jacksonville: Paul Posluszny, LB
My pick: Paul Posluszny, LB
I think Jacksonville is in a position to take the best available player. Posluszny excelled all throughout college and assuming he performs well enough at the combine -- I anticipate him being the highest ranked linebacker.

18. Cincinnati: Charles Johnson, DE
My pick: Charles Johnson, DE
What the Bengals and Marvin Lewis must consider in this draft is character. Cincinnati can ill afford another season filled with player arrests. Johnson is a good kid out of the University of Georgia who surpassed his teammate and fellow defensive end, Quentin Moses, this past season.

19. Tennessee: Dwayne Jarrett, WR
My pick: Ted Ginn Jr. WR
All signs point to the Titans taking a receiver with their first pick. The value is right and the need is there. Vince Young was lacking many options in his rookie season and Titans GM Floyd Reese will make grabbing a young, talented WR a priority. The need is more pressing when you consider that Tennessee may lose WR Drew Bennett in free agency. University of Tennessee WR, Robert Meachem is a possibility as well, as he has hometown allure.

20. New York Giants: Aaron Ross, CB
My pick: Marshawn Lynch, RB
Lynch is available in my sequence and adding him to the backfield in NY along with Brandon Jacobs brings back memories of "Thunder and Lightning" which the Giants tried to create with Tiki Barber and Ron Dayne. Lynch would complement bruising back, Brandon Jacobs. Lynch brings the speed and pass catching prowess that the Giants lost with the retirement of Barber.

Headlines! Headlines! Headlines!

One of my pet peeves, which I now have an examples of that I can complain about. I really despise headlines that lie (or deceive). Granted, I understand that the whole point is to trick people into reading articles they don't want to read, but c'mon either you have a good product or you don't. Don't piss me off by wasting my time clicking on a link. Well in this particular instance, CNN did not have me fooled. On their website they had the headlined, "Star back expected to be cut." As soon as I read that, I knew it was a joke, because if it truly was a star running back he would not be about to be cut. So, I translated it to mean, a starting RB (which I suppose taking a very loose definition of star, you could claim that the headline wasn't an outright lie). My guess was DeShaun Foster, as I had read rumors that he might be cut. I was wrong, clicking on the link, I found out it was Jamal Lewis, which means that CNN was one word away from giving us a truthful headline. How about, "Former star back expected to be cut." The only people that might consider Jamal Lewis to be a star are Baltimore fans, and I'm not sure if even they would consider him a star. Oh well, when I see headlines that deceive, you can expect me to vent about it here.

Filling in the gaps....

"My guess is that what you are really seeking is fact such as, "Texans coach Gary Kubiak reported that he has interest in signing Jake Plummer if he were on the market and looking at drafting a day one QB to groom under Plummer" The problem is that there just isn't that type of infomration coming out right now. Football is so big that it has become a 12 month sport, and there just isn't 12 months worth of information to report. So we are stuck with opinions (some lame, some not) from writers in markets around the country. "-Hanson (a portion of his comments from the previous post).

That is precisely what I am looking for, they are called reporters, not forecasters. (At least the weatherman's job is forecasting). Reporters on the other hand are supposed to do just that, report. What did so and so say about this and that. What rumors did you extract from Player A and Owner B. Let me come up with my own opinions on what that means for a team. I can speculate and make up scenarios on my own, and don't need someone to do it for me. Unfortunately, we are a society that needs to have our gaps filled. There is no football going on, and thus there is this tremendous gap for those of us who follow it so closely all year around. I'm as guilty of it as anyone else. However, how we choose to fill this gap is often ridiculous. We settle for crap and drivel from reporters, who only write so that they can be employed year round. If only the talents of some of these reporters could be employed elsewhere during the offseason, or there wasn't pressure on them to produce when there is no news worth printing.

The fact is though, that there are many (including myself in the past) who will read anything and everything, even if it is crap, just to fill up that empty spot. This need to fill the gaps of life, manifests itself in many ways. One that is glaring to me, is a need to be on the cell phone anytime I am walking between my workplace and the car, or the car and the house. For some reason there is a fear (at least in me) to be alone with myself and my thoughts, even if it is for two minutes between my workplace and the car. I am willing to call anyone during times when I have a few minutes and am driving and don't have my audiobooks with me to distract me. I'll even be satisfied if I call someone and get their voicemail, if the whole process was long enough to move me along to my next distraction. What does this all mean, I don't exactly know, but I do know, that I am sick of settling for crap in reporting, phone conversations, T.V. shows, movies or even personal relationships all in an effort to keep from having any time to ponder life. Does this mean I'll change? Probably not, but hey had to get that out of my system....

Oh, and if you ever catch me posting crap, seemingly just to post something, feel free to call me out on it, as I will do my best to only post stuff that I find truly interesting and worth sharing, and will try to avoid posting for the sake of posting.

Hypothetical predictions....

"The qualifier "could" runs through many bad predictions. Practically anything "could" happen. Jennifer Lopez "could" go out to dinner with me; Congress "could" set aside partisan bickering in the name of the national interest. Gil Brandt, NFL.com: Houston "is a team that could surprise people [and] make the playoffs." Clark Judge, CBS Sportsline: Drew Henson "has shown signs of becoming the quarterback who could figure into the future of the Cowboys." Henson was waived in training camp. Andrew Perloff of Sports Illustrated: Craig Nall "could follow Matt Hasselbeck's lead and go from being Brett Favre's backup to the Pro Bowl." Nall was third string all season for the Bills and did not appear in a game. Bonus: Megabucks consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton predicted bird flu "could" cause the entire Internet to shut down." - Gregg Easterbrook in Tuesday Morning Quarterback

I would just like to point out that I beat Easterbrook to the punch in complaining about hypothetical predictions. My rant along these lines was posted here Feb. 8th, in the That Time of Year.... post. Glad to know that I'm beating a writer I respect as much as Easterbrook to the punch.

Boycott

So, recently I decided to boycott the installment of the Amazing Race. I must tell you up front that the Amazing Race is one of my favorite shows on television right now. I enjoy watching how people react under stressful conditions, and I like to see other people grow through the experiences they share together. How cool must it be for these people to experience all of this? Very few people get an opportunity to participate in something like the Amazing Race, the Apprentice, Survivor, etc.
Well, this is why it is so difficult me to institute this boycott. I'll miss the show for sure, but I guess I am trying to make some sort of stand as well (futile as it may be). I am boycotting because of the presence of Rob and Amber. Rob and Amber were each on Survivor twice (with Amber winning $1 million). And they have already appeared on the Amazing Race once. Now, why should Rob and Amber be given the opportunity to participate in a 4th reality tv show with the chance to win $1 million? I'm also told that Rob and Amber are involved in a 5th reality show to air at a later date.
Most people do not get the opportunity to participate in something like this once in their lifetime (which is why it is called 'a once in a lifetime experience.' How ludicrous is it that these 2 people get to have 4 once in a lifetime experiences?
Now I realize that CBS is just trying to make a buck and Rob and Amber must bring more viewers into the show. But I am choosing not to participate. I'm not even asking people to join this boycott...I'm just voicing my displeasure at how other people are being looked over and missing out on opportunities because Rob and Amber are dominating the scene. (note: I could just be full of bitterness because I have never been on t.v.)

Casino Royale....(spoiler info. included)

I thought the action and pace of the movie was awesome. Rarely a dull moment, and action that just draws you through the whole thing (other than bit of a hiccup after Bonds gets "saved" from being tortured, when nothing makes sense, which I'll get to later.) Anyway, its the first movie I've seen in a long time that I didn't have a complaint to make to my wife as we walked out of the theatre. However, upon reflection (the next day), the whole girl being "bad" thing does not make any sense at all. If she was bad, then half of her early actions in the movie make no logical sense at all. I'm more okay with this than I normally would be though, because frankly the "twist" of her betraying Bond was not important to my enjoyment of the action, so I cared less than in a movie where the whole plot is based upon the twist and having things be logically consistent. It was an interesting way to go about showing why Bond is so cold-hearted in later movies and has no problem treating women as conquests that deserve no emotional involvement. Probably the best Bond movie I've seen, although coming from me that doesn't mean much, because overall I don't enjoy the Bonds movies.

Occasional Musings

Well, only a few days into my first shot at blogging, and already looking to change things up a bit. Looking to broaden the spectrum a bit beyond just mocking the media. Its easy, but can get a bit redundant, in which case we might as well turn around and make fun of the blogger who is getting boring, because of some felt need to write. So, in an attempt to avoid repetitive drivel. I have teamed up with Hanson to bring you Occasional Musings, which pretty much says it all. When we get a hankering to share something we'll post it. Most of the time the posts will be sports related (especially football/fantasy football), although this could go just about anywhere. Eventually I'll get around to getting a new website with the new name and everything, but for now life is busy (baby #2 on the way), and I don't have time to "make stuff up." Also with it being the football offseason and the combine still a week away, there's frankly not a lot to write about.