2015 NFL Mock Draft – Version 2

Truthfully, I had no intentions of doing another NFL Mock Draft this close to the first one, but sometimes things happen when you least expect it.

Not much change to this draft.  The top two picks remain the same, with QBs Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota.

Once again, this mock draft goes through the first 96 picks.  The next one will likely come out after the NFL Combine.  With the next mock draft, there is also likely to be a couple teams with a few less draft picks, considering the various NFL controversies.

First Round:

PICK	TEAM	PLAYER	POS.	SCHOOL
1	TB	Jameis Winston	QB	Florida State
2	TEN	Marcus Mariota	QB	Oregon
3	JAC	Randy Gregory	DE	Nebraska
4	OAK	Leonard Williams	DT	USC
5	WSH	Amari Cooper	WR	Alabama
6	NYJ	Vic Beasley	OLB	Clemson
7	CHI	Brandon Sherff	OT	Iowa
8	ATL	Dante Fowler Jr.	OLB	Florida
9	NYG	Shaq Thompson	OLB	Washington
10	STL	Andrus Peat	OT	Stanford
11	MIN	Landon Collins	SS	Alabama
12	CLE	DeVante Parker	WR	Louisville
13	NO	Trae Waynes	CB	Michigan State
14	MIA	Benardrick McKinney	ILB	Mississippi State
15	SF	Shane Ray	DE	Missouri
16	HOU	Gerod Holliman	FS	Louisville
17	SD	T.J. Clemmings	OT	Pittsburgh
18	KC	Kevin White	WR	West Virginia
19	CLE (from BUF)	Danny Shelton	DT	Washington
20	PHI	Marcus Peters	CB	Washington
21	CIN	Eddie Goldman	DT	Florida State
22	PIT	Devin Funchess	TE	Michigan
23	DET	Alvin Dupree	DE	Kentucky
24	ARZ	Brett Hundley	QB	UCLA
25	CAR	Melvin Gordon	RB	Wisconsin
26	BAL	Todd Gurley	RB	Georgia
27	DAL	Ereck Flowers	OT	Miami (FL)
28	DEN	La’el Collins	OT	LSU
29	IND	Malcom Brown	DT	Texas
30	GB	Arik Armstead	DE	Oregon
31	SEA	Alex Carter	CB	Stanford
32	NE	Michael Bennett	DT	Ohio State

Second Round:

PICK	OVERALL	TEAM	PLAYER	POS.	SCHOOL
1	33	TEN	Sammie Coates	WR	Auburn
2	34	TB	Lorenzo Mauldin	DE	Louisville
3	35	OAK	Dorial Green-Beckham	WR	Oklahoma
4	36	JAC	Maxx Williams	TE	Minnesota
5	37	NYJ	A.J. Cann	G	South Carolina
6	38	WSH	Kevin Johnson	CB	Wake Forest
7	39	CHI	Jalen Collins	CB	LSU
8	40	NYG	T.J. Yeldon	RB	Alabama
9	41	STL	Cameron Erving	C	Florida State
10	42	ATL	Nate Orchard	DE	Utah
11	43	CLE	Paul Dawson	ILB	TCU
12	44	NO	Hau’oli Kikaha	OLB	Washington
13	45	MIN	Jaelen Strong	WR	Arizona State
14	46	SF	Jordan Phillips	DT	Oklahoma
15	47	MIA	Rashad Greene	WR	Florida State
16	48	SD	Charles Gaines	CB	Louisville
17	49	KC	Cedric Ogbuehi	OT	Texas A&M
18	50	BUF	Xavier Cooper	DE	Washington State
19	51	HOU	Ellis McCarthy	DT	UCLA
20	52	PHI	Derron Smith	FS	Fresno State
21	53	CIN	Denzel Perryman	ILB	Miami (FL)
22	54	DET	Reese Dismukes	C	Auburn
23	55	ARZ	Eric Kendricks	OLB	UCLA
24	56	PIT	Ronald Darby	CB	Florida State
25	57	CAR	Ty Sambrailo	OT	Colorado State
26	58	BAL	Carl Davis	DE	Iowa
27	59	DEN	Arie Kouandjio	G	Alabama
28	60	DAL	Danielle Hunter	DE	LSU
29	61	IND	Daryl Williams	OT	Oklahoma
30	62	GB	Lorenzo Doss	CB	Tulane
31	63	SEA	Duke Johnson	RB	Miami (FL)
32	64	NE	Nelson Agholor	WR	USC

Third Round:

PICK	OVERALL	TEAM	PLAYER	POS.	SCHOOL
1	65	TB	Anthony Harris	SS	Virginia
2	66	TEN	Travis Raciti	DE	San Jose State
3	67	JAC	Chi Chi Ariguzo	OLB	Northwestern
4	68	OAK	P.J. Williams	CB	Florida State
5	69	WSH	Jake Fisher	OT	Oregon
6	70	NYJ	Devin Smith	WR	Ohio State
7	71	CHI	Durrell Eskridge	FS	Syracuse
8	72	STL	Josue Matias	G	Florida State
9	73	ATL	Jeremiah Poutasi	OT	Utah
10	74	NYG	Mario Edwards Jr.	DE	Florida State
11	75	NO	Hroniss Grasu	C	Oregon
12	76	MIN	Ben Koyack	TE	Notre Dame
13	77	CLE	Tony Lippett	WR	Michigan State
14	78	MIA	Tre’ Jackson	G	Florida State
15	79	SF	Quinten Rollins	CB	Miami (OH)
16	80	KC	Ramik Wilson	ILB	Georgia
17	81	BUF	Mike Davis	RB	South Carolina
18	82	HOU	Ty Montgomery	WR	Stanford
19	83	SD	Stefon Diggs	WR	Maryland
20	84	PHI	Markus Golden	OLB	Missouri
21	85	CIN	Ifo Ekpre-Olomu	CB	Oregon
22	86	ARZ	Laken Tomlinson	G	Duke
23	87	PIT	Ameer Abdullah	RB	Nebraska
24	88	DET	Hayes Pullard	OLB	USC
25	89	CAR	Grady Jarrett	DT	Clemson
26	90	BAL	Deontay Greenberry	WR	Houston
27	91	DAL	D’Joun Smith	CB	Florida Atlantic
28	92	DEN	Tevin Coleman	RB	Indiana
29	93	IND	Trey DePriest	ILB	Alabama
30	94	GB	Eli Harold	OLB	Virginia
31	95	SEA	Christian Covington	DT	Rice
32	96	NE	Donovan Smith	OT	Penn State

DISCLAIMER:  Any likeness to any mock drafts done by the professionals is purely coincidental.  If you care to share, please give credit where credit is due.  In other words, don’t claim the work that someone else did as your own.

Side Note:  To close out this post, a recap of the NFL pick records for the 2014-15 season.

Super Bowl: 1-0 (1.000)

Playoffs:  8-3 (.727)

Overall:  179-87-1 (.670)

Last 4 Years: 703-351-3 (.665)

Super Bowl XLIX Pick: Patriots Have a Magical Run Left

With all of the stuff about ‘deflate-gate,’ one tends to forget there is a football game this week.  It’s only the game that determines the champion.

So, let’s talk about the game.  Both the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks had bumps along the way this season, but found their groove when it counted most.

At the beginning of the year, it looked like the magic of the Patriots was gone.  QB Tom Brady was looking like a player who was past his prime.  Bill Belichick was being out-coached, something you never thought you would say.

However, things changed, and the Patriots began to look like the team everyone knew.  Brady was back, and a key part of the team’s past Super Bowl runs, a solid defense.

Seattle, just off winning the Super Bowl, looked like they were suffering from the championship hangover.  The defense was poor, the offense was dreadful, and it appeared the Seahawks were in danger of missing the playoffs.

Around the same time the Cardinals began to have injury issues at the quarterback position, Seattle started to show some life.  The defense was back and wreaking havoc on opposing offenses, and the balanced offensive attack was strong, led by a journalist’s dream interview subject, RB Marshawn Lynch.

This has the potential to be one of the greatest Super Bowl’s ever.  It is extremely difficult to find any weaknesses for either team.

There is one advantage, and the difference maker in this game.  It is the magic of the Patriots, Bill Belichick, and Tom Brady.  I cannot bet against that.  Plus, given all of the adversity New England has faced since their last game, it provides the potential for them to prove the doubters wrong.  That’s something the Patriots are great at.

Final Score:  Patriots 31, Seahawks 27

First 2015 NFL Mock Draft

With the NFL taking the week off before Super Bowl XLIX (the Pro Bowl does not count), it is time for the first Mock Draft of the season.

Believe it or not, all but two teams are looking ahead to the 2015 NFL Draft.  Even with that, New England and Seattle probably have one eye towards it too.

This mock draft is the first of several that will come out.  This first one covers the first 96 picks.  The only picks not definite are the last two, which depend on the outcome of the Super Bowl.  You can take a sneak peek at who I am picking for it too.

Florida State QB Jameis Winston is my number one pick, going to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  While his off-the-field behavior is not as great as Oregon QB Marcus Mariota, Winston is better suited to being plugged into a pro-style offense.

First Round:

PICK	TEAM	PLAYER	POS.	SCHOOL
1	TB	Jameis Winston	QB	Florida State
2	TEN	Marcus Mariota	QB	Oregon
3	JAC	Randy Gregory	DE	Nebraska
4	OAK	Leonard Williams	DT	Southern California
5	WSH	Dante Fowler Jr.	OLB	Florida
6	NYJ	Amari Cooper	WR	Alabama
7	CHI	Brandon Scherff	OT	Iowa
8	ATL	Vic Beasley	OLB	Clemson
9	NYG	Danny Shelton	DT	Washington
10	STL	T.J. Clemmings	OT	Pittsburgh
11	MIN	Kevin White	WR	West Virginia
12	CLE	La’el Collins	OT	LSU
13	NO	Andrus Peat	OT	Stanford
14	MIA	DeVante Parker	WR	Louisville
15	SF	Shane Ray	DE	Missouri
16	HOU	Trae Waynes	CB	Michigan State
17	SD	Landon Collins	SS	Alabama
18	KC	Dorial Green-Beckham	WR	Oklahoma
19	CLE (from BUF)	Malcom Brown	DT	Texas
20	PHI	Jaelen Strong	WR	Arizona State
21	CIN	Eddie Goldman	DT	Florida State
22	PIT	Marcus Peters	CB	Washington
23	DET	Cameron Erving	C	Florida State
24	ARZ	Shaq Thompson	OLB	Washington
25	CAR	Alvin Dupree	DE	Kentucky
26	BAL	Melvin Gordon	RB	Wisconsin
27	DAL	Sammie Coates	WR	Auburn
28	DEN	Ereck Flowers	OT	Miami (Fla.)
29	IND	Benardrick McKinney	ILB	Mississippi State
30	GB	Devin Funchess	TE	Michigan
31	SEA	Todd Gurley	RB	Georgia
32	NE	Jordan Phillips	DT	Oklahoma

Second Round:

PICK	OVERALL	TEAM	PLAYER	POS.	SCHOOL
1	33	TEN	Eli Harold	OLB	Virginia
2	34	TB	Ifo Ekpre-Olomu	CB	Oregon
3	35	OAK	Ty Sambrailo	OT	Colorado State
4	36	JAC	Maxx Williams	TE	Minnesota
5	37	NYJ	Brett Hundley	QB	UCLA
6	38	WSH	Quinten Rollins	CB	Miami (Ohio)
7	39	CHI	Paul Dawson	OLB	TCU
8	40	NYG	A.J. Cann	G	South Carolina
9	41	STL	P.J. Williams	CB	Florida State
10	42	ATL	Ameer Abdullah	RB	Nebraska
11	43	CLE	Arik Armstead	DE	Oregon
12	44	NO	Nate Orchard	OLB	Utah
13	45	MIN	Tevin Coleman	RB	Indiana
14	46	SF	Josh Harper	WR	Fresno State
15	47	MIA	Michael Bennett	DT	Ohio State
16	48	SD	Jeremiah Poutasi	OT	Utah
17	49	KC	Markus Golden	OLB	Missouri
18	50	BUF	Tre’ Jackson	G	Florida State
19	51	HOU	Cody Prewitt	FS	Ole Miss
20	52	PHI	D’Joun Smith	CB	Florida Atlantic
21	53	CIN	Jalen Collins	CB	LSU
22	54	DET	Owamagbe Odighizuwa	DE	UCLA
23	55	ARZ	Reese Dismukes	C	Auburn
24	56	PIT	Duke Johnson	RB	Miami (Fla.)
25	57	CAR	Nelson Agholor	WR	Southern California
26	58	BAL	Justin Hardy	WR	East Carolina
27	59	DEN	Eric Kendricks	ILB	UCLA
28	60	DAL	Danielle Hunter	DE	LSU
29	61	IND	Arie Kouandjio	G	Alabama
30	62	GB	Mario Edwards Jr.	DE	Florida State
31	63	SEA	Xavier Cooper	DT	Washington State
32	64	NE	Anthony Harris	SS	Virginia

Third Round:

PICK	OVERALL	TEAM	PLAYER	POS.	SCHOOL
1	65	TB	Jay Ajayi	RB	Boise State
2	66	TEN	Derron Smith	FS	Fresno State
3	67	JAC	T.J. Yeldon	RB	Alabama
4	68	OAK	Jake Fisher	OT	Oregon
5	69	WSH	Hroniss Grasu	C	Oregon
6	70	NYJ	Senquez Golson	CB	Ole Miss
7	71	CHI	Denzel Perryman	ILB	Miami (Fla.)
8	72	STL	Rashad Greene	WR	Florida State
9	73	ATL	Clive Walford	TE	Miami (Fla.)
10	74	NYG	Tyler Lockett	WR	Kansas State
11	75	NO	Josue Matias	G	Florida State
12	76	MIN	Nick O’Leary	TE	Florida State
13	77	CLE	Hauoli Kikaha	OLB	Washington
14	78	MIA	Alex Carter	CB	Stanford
15	79	SF	Carl Davis	DE	Iowa
16	80	KC	Kevin Johnson	CB	Wake Forest
17	81	BUF	Cameron Artis-Payne	RB	Auburn
18	82	HOU	Tony Lippett	WR	Michigan State
19	83	SD	John Miller	G	Louisville
20	84	PHI	Jaquiski Tartt	SS	Samford
21	85	CIN	Kurtis Drummond	FS	Michigan State
22	86	ARZ	Bryce Petty	QB	Baylor
23	87	PIT	Zach Hodges	OLB	Harvard
24	88	DET	Gerod Holliman	FS	Louisville
25	89	CAR	Mike Davis	RB	South Carolina
26	90	BAL	Za’Darius Smith	OLB	Kentucky
27	91	DAL	Doran Grant	CB	Ohio State
28	92	DEN	Trey Flowers	DE	Arkansas
29	93	IND	Devin Smith	WR	Ohio State
30	94	GB	Josh Shaw	CB	Southern California
31	95	SEA	Laken Tomlinson	G	Duke
32	96	NE	Breshad Perriman	WR	UCF

DISCLAIMER:  Any likeness to any mock drafts done by the professionals is purely coincidental.  If you care to share, please give credit where credit is due.  In other words, don’t claim the work that someone else did as your own.

AFC/NFC Championship Picks

At the end of Sunday night, we will know who will be playing in Super Bowl XLIX.  Then we wait for two weeks.

Last Week: 2-2 (.500)

Playoffs:  5-3 (.625)

Overall:  176-87-1 (.667)

Packers vs. Seahawks (The Seahawks are the hottest team right now, and seem poised to advance to their second consecutive Super Bowl.  Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers led the Packers to the win on one leg.  I don’t think he can do that against that Seattle defense.)

Colts vs. Patriots (At the beginning of the season, many thought it was time to break-up the Patriots and maybe Tom Brady was over the hill.  I think the Bill Belichick-Brady duo has one more Super Bowl appearance left, and maybe even one more title.

Week 8 NFL Picks

Teams are reaching the mid-way point of their seasons, and fans know whether their team is closer to Super Bowl glory, or being on the clock.

Last Week:  11-4 (.733)

Overall:  71-34-1 (.670)

Chargers vs. Broncos

Lions vs. Falcons (Atlanta is going the wrong way, and Mike Smith’s days might be numbered.)

Rams vs. Chiefs

Texans vs. Titans

Vikings vs. Buccaneers (The thriller of the week, part one.)

Seahawks vs. Panthers

Ravens vs. Bengals

Dolphins vs. Jaguars (The thriller of the week, part two.)

Bears vs. Patriots

Bills vs. Jets

Eagles vs. Cardinals

Raiders vs. Browns

Colts vs. Steelers

Packers vs. Saints

Redskins vs. Cowboys

Super Bowl XLVIII Pick: Seahawks Better All-Around Team

The end of the NFL season is upon us, with Super Bowl XLVIII just days away.

Much has been made about this year’s venue, MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, but with the game almost here, attention has turned to the two teams playing, and not the weather.

It usually does not work out this way, but the league’s two best teams from the first week of the season, are meeting in the most important game of the season.

However, it is clear which team will win.  While Denver started off the season as the unbeatable team, Seattle has become that team.

Seattle is proficient in all facets of the game.  As the season wore on, opponents began to unveil several weaknesses on the Broncos.

If this game is a low-scoring game, it swings greatly in the favor of the Seahawks.  If it becomes high-scoring, the Broncos will prevail in the end.

In the end, Seattle is the team with more momentum, and much more well-rounded at this point in the season.

Seahawks 23, Broncos 17

 

AFC and NFC Conference Championship Picks

This is the week the two teams playing in the Super Bowl is determined.  Based on the match-ups alone, this year’s games should be two of the tops in the past few years.

Last Week:  4-0 (1.000)

Playoffs:  5-3 (.625)

49ers vs. Seahawks (San Francisco is the hotter team right now, but it is nearly impossible to beat Seattle at home.)

Patriots vs. Broncos (New England has re-discovered its running game in the postseason, and the offense has exploded.  Meanwhile, Denver has just been doing enough to win in recent weeks.)

Coming up after the Super Bowl, the attention will be turned to the NFL Draft.  Expect the first mock draft to come out just after a champion is determined.

NFL Week 3 Picks

Here are the picks for this week, as it is beginning to become apparent which teams will be competing for a Super Bowl, and which teams are competing for the first pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, which just might be South Carolina DE Jadeveon Clowney.

Last Week:  12-4 (.750)

Overall:  24-8 (.750)

At least it’s consistent.

Chiefs vs. Eagles (Philadelphia and Chip Kelly’s offense are for real.)

Packers vs. Bengals

Rams vs. Cowboys

Chargers vs. Titans

Browns vs. Vikings

Buccaneers vs. Patriots

Cardinals vs. Saints

Lions vs. Redskins

Giants vs. Panthers (By rule, one of these teams will no longer be winless, unless it ends in a tie.)

Texans vs. Ravens (Last year, this is a great game.  Still is a good game, but Houston is just a little better.)

Falcons vs. Dolphins

Bills vs. Jets

Colts vs. 49ers

Jaguars vs. Seahawks

Bears vs. Steelers

Raiders vs. Broncos (Might be closer than people think.  Oakland usually plays really well on Monday nights.)