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NFL mock draft 3.0: Trades, trades and more trades!
We are officially one week away from the 2012 NFL Draft and one week away from the complexity of the 2012 Season changing with every pick.
Teams who need to take advantage of Compensatory Picks
The NFL has announced the compensatory picks for the 2012 Draft, and now 32 extra picks were distributed to 23 different teams on Monday. For those who don’t know, Compensatory picks are handed out to teams based on the number of free agents lost and gained during Free Agency. The Oakland Raiders were the big winners as they didn’t have any picks in the first four rounds of the 2012 Draft.
2012 Mock Draft: AFC South edition
The mock draft journey in the NFL lands us in the AFC South today where things took a turn that nobody saw coming. The Indianapolis Colts have dominated the AFC South for a long time but thanks to Peyton Manning’s neck, found themselves almost going 0-16 before turning it around and finishing 2-14. Not only did the Colts finish 2-14, but they also cleaned house as they fired Bill Polian and Head Coach Jim Caldwell. They are now ready to go in a new direction under new General Manager Ryan Grigson and new Head Coach Chuck Pagano, all led by Andrew Luck. The Jacksonville Jaguars had a ok season but they got a new Owner during the season which is leaving some to speculate if they are going to move to Los Angeles. The Tennessee Titans under first year coach Mike Munchak had a pretty good year finishing 9-7 and coming close to a playoff spot. The big winner of it all, the Houston Texans finished 10-6, and not only hosted a playoff game but also won their first playoff game before losing to the Baltimore Ravens in the Divisional Round. How can each team look to build or rebuild off last season?
Indianapolis Colts
Round 1, Pick 1: Andrew Luck QB Stanford: The Colts did their best this past season, it sure had to be tough beating the Titans & Texans late in the season but hey they lost to Jacksonville and secured the # 1 pick in the 2012 Draft. Just how ironic is this, last year Peyton Manning advised Luck to stay at Stanford for another year and what do you know, Luck is about to be drafted by the Colts. Luck is the best QB prospect to come out since well, Peyton Manning and no doubt will be replacing Manning as the Colts look to start a new era in Indy. Out of all the times for the Colts to struggle, it just happens when Peyton has neck surgery, maybe Peyton should have advised Luck to stay in school for another year once again.
Jacksonville Jaguars:
Round 1, Pick 7: Whitney Mercilus DE Illinois: The Jaguars love drafting defensive lineman, in fact they have drafted defensive lineman every other year in the first round since 2008. So since they took Blaine Gabbert last year, it’s time for another defensive lineman. Whitney Mercilus will be this year’s Aldon Smith and shoot up the draft boards by April. Whitney led the nation in sacks and forced fumbles last season with 16 and had 22.5 tackles for loss, and that will upgrade the Jaguars pass rush and improve the defensive line.
Tennessee Titans
Round 1, Pick 20: Devon Still DT Penn State: Still is currently BPA for the Titans at the moment as they get lucky he falls to them. The Titans haven’t had a real force on their defensive line since Albert Haynesworth. Still ended the season with 55 tackles and 4.5 sacks as he was a true dominant force on Penn State’s defensive line. Standing at 6’5, Still has amazing power and speed to be a true play maker in the NFL and the Titans are lucky he drops to 20 in my mock.
Houston Texans
Round 1, Pick 26: Alshon Jeffery WR South Carolina: There were so many concerns about Jeffery heading into the combine that he was one of the players guaranteed to have a draft night fall. His slide ends at 26 as he gets to go play opposite of Andre Johnson in Houston. Jeffery had a down year compared to his 2010 season but is ready to show teams that he can be a number one receiver in the NFL. The Texans offense gets much better with the pick of Jeffery at the bottom of round one and should make Matt Schaub one happy quarterback.
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Mike Presley is a NFL Featured Journalist for The Penalty Flag. He is a graduate of the Carolina School of Broadcasting and hosts a weekly NFL show on the schools radio station 89.3 The Storm entitled “The Front Seven.” Mike also writes for the racing website www.hardcoreracefans.com. Follow him on Twitter @mikepresley64.
Related articles
- 2012 Mock Draft: NFC North edition (thepenaltyflagblog.com)
- 2012 Mock Draft: AFC North edition (thepenaltyflagblog.com)
- 2012 Mock Draft: AFC East edition (thepenaltyflagblog.com)
Possible Destinations For Mike Wallace
Mike Wallace has emerged as a rising star for the Pittsburgh Steelers ever since being drafted in the third round of the 2009 NFL Draft. It seems that he would be the new receiver for Ben Roethlisberger to grow with but things aren’t exactly going the way Pittsburgh wants it to. As if the playoff loss to the Denver Broncos seemed bad, it will only get worse in a couple weeks when there is a real possibility that Pittsburgh could lose Mike Wallace. The Steelers are $11 million over the cap currently and are working hard in trying to get under the cap for the 2012 Season. They do not have cap room to slap the Franchise Tag on Wallace while tendering him will leave him vulnerable to a team willing to give up their first round pick to take Mike Wallace away. Now who would be willing to part with their first round pick to take Mike Wallace away, here are some possible destinations for Mike Wallace.
New England Patriots: If there was any team wanting to give up a first round pick it would be a team with two first round picks at their disposal. The Patriots are one of the few teams who do have two picks in the first round. Wes Welker is a Free Agent and even if they put the Franchise Tag on him, it would only be a one year deal. Mike Wallace meanwhile is young and fast who can contribute to helping the Patriots get back to the Super Bowl.
San Francisco 49ers: The 49ers want to upgrade at receiver in free agency and the draft. Why not essentially use the 30th pick in the 2012 Draft on a proven Mike Wallace rather take a chance on a late round receiver. Not only would they have the pick to give up, but the money to give Wallace a long term deal, something the cap tight Steelers can not do. They are $35-40 million under the cap, plenty of room to not only re-sign Alex Smith but give Mike Wallace the money he would be looking for.
Houston Texans: The Texans desperately need to upgrade across from Andre Johnson. Why not use it on speedy Mike Wallace? The Texans offense would be even better than it has ever been with teams having to decide between double covering Andre or Wallace. They would instantly become Super Bowl favorites and once again be a top contender in the AFC.
Denver Broncos: If the Broncos ever want to take my advice on how to build around Tim Tebow, using their first round pick on Mike Wallace would be a good start. With the exception of Demaryius Thomas, the Broncos have nothing at receiver. Tim Tebow, whether you want to admit it or not, is improving as a quarterback and if he is to improve even more, he’ll need the receivers to do so. The Broncos know first hand what Wallace can do when they played the Steelers in the wild card round and would do wonders for Tebow.
Baltimore Ravens: In my AFC North mock, I gave the Ravens Rutgers Wide Receiver Mohamed Sanu with the 29th pick in the 2012 Draft. Like other receiver needy teams in this article, why not use a late round pick on a proven player. Baltimore is probably already enjoying the fact Pittsburgh is over the cap and they will have little room to improve on while Baltimore will have cap room to make improvements. So why not one up Pittsburgh by taking their young star receiver away from them. I know Ray Rice is a free agent but he is likely to be Franchised and Anquan Boldin is 32 and isn’t getting any younger. The combination of Torrey Smith and Mike Wallace would help Joe Flacco out tremendously and since they got over the hump of Pittsburgh last season, adding Mike Wallace may be the ingredient needed to get them over the most important hump and into the Super Bowl.
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Mike Presley is a NFL Featured Journalist for The Penalty Flag. He is a graduate of the Carolina School of Broadcasting and hosts a weekly NFL show on the schools radio station 89.3 The Storm entitled “The Front Seven.” Mike also writes for the racing website www.hardcoreracefans.com. Follow him on Twitter @mikepresley64.
2012 Mock Draft: NFC East edition
Welcome to the second Divisional Mock Draft where this week I will feature the NFC East, and the AFC North. It was an interesting season for the NFC East, as the Philadelphia Eagles were expected to be a Super Bowl contender but fell flat after their big spending spree. The Dallas Cowboys were once again plagued by not being able to play well when it mattered most, while the Washington Redskins were still the Redskins despite showing bright spots throughout the season. While the New York Giants finished the season 9-7 and went on to win their second Super Bowl in five seasons and Eli Manning became elite.
2012 Mock Draft: AFC East edition
The 2011 NFL Season is officially over, and the 2012 NFL Season is under way. With Free Agency and the Draft coming up in the next couple months, it is going to be a very busy time for all teams as they look to keep their free agents, or sign away another player from another team. Now let’s skip Free Agency and head right into the Draft. The scouting combine is just weeks away and players will be doing their best to raise their stock and show teams they are worthy of being selected in the Draft.
So with that said, I’m going to do a Mock Draft for every team, by division. Once I get through all the divisions, I will reveal my first 32 team first round mock. For now, take a look at who I have the teams in the AFC East taking, and plenty will change between this and the 32 team mock. Stay tuned for the NFC East mock draft next week.
Miami Dolphins:
Round 1, Pick 8*: Michael Brockers DT LSU: The Dolphins are surprisingly moving to a 4-3 defense and will need players to fit that scheme. Jared Odrick can play one of the Defensive Tackle positions but they need someone else to play the other. Brockers is climbing up draft boards and may be a top 15 pick come April, so reaching for a great player here at 8 won’t be much for the Dolphins.
Round 2, Pick 42: Zebrie Sanders OT FSU: Marc Colombo can and should be upgraded, whether in Free Agency or in the draft. You know how bad he is, he gave up three of the nine sacks that the Eagles had in their game last season. Sanders, or well anyone can be an upgrade over Colombo and they should be focused on protecting Matt Flynn or whoever the Quarterback will be.
* = Pick Based on Coin Flip with Carolina Panthers
Buffalo Bills:
Round 1, Pick 10: Quinton Coples DE, UNC: The Bills are moving to the 4-3 and they need pass rushers. Coples could experience a draft night fall in April but some team will take him in the Top 10 and that will be the Bills. With Marcel Dareus and Kyle Williams manning the middle, they will need edge rushers and Coples can be good as long as he puts fourth the effort, which was a big issue.
Round 2, Pick 41: Zach Brown OLB, UNC: The Bills need as many 4-3 players as possible to help make their transition smooth. They continue to improve their front seven, and Brown is a steal here at 41 and the Bills defense continues to get better.
New York Jets:
Round 1, Pick 16: Courtney Upshaw, OLB, Alabama: The Jets pass rush needs to be upgraded. If the Jets want to ever stop playing second fiddle to the Patriots, then maybe getting to Tom Brady will help. Upshaw had an absolute wonderful season and was named MVP of the National Title game and will provide Rex Ryan his New York version of Terrell Suggs.
Round 2, Pick 47: Nick Toon WR Wisconsin: The Jets are imploding right now, if it wasn’t for Santonio Holmes’ contract, they would probably dump him so why not draft another receiver in the meantime.
New England Patriots:
Round 1, Pick 27(via NO): Vinny Curry DE/OLB Marshall: Patriots defense was horrible last season, at least until they got some players back who were injured. The way the defense played when they got healthy shows what kind of defense they truly have. The Patriots improve their pass rush with Curry and add more youth to their defense.
Round 1, Pick 31: Lamar Miller RB Miami: Make no mistake about it, one of these first round picks will be traded. Right now I don’t project trades even though my 32 team Mock will feature trades. Miller is too good to pass up here at 31, and gives them another weapon on offense to work with.
Round 2, Pick 48: Harrison Smith SS Notre Dame: Patriots once again go defense. Things didn’t work out with Meriweather so they will need another safety. When Mike Mayock praises a player, it’s always a bonus. Smith has nice size(6’2) and has played great for Notre Dame the past two seasons which warrants him as a second round pick.
Round 2, Pick 63: Jared Crick DE Nebraska: 4 picks within the first two rounds, did the Patriots win a lottery or what. They should be able to improve their team with the early picks they got and again they go defense as Crick adds more talent to what was a weak defense for the most of 2011.
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Mike Presley is a NFL Featured Journalist for The Penalty Flag. He is a graduate of the Carolina School of Broadcasting and hosts a weekly NFL show on the schools radio station 89.3 The Storm entitled “The Front Seven.” Mike also writes for the racing website www.hardcoreracefans.com. Follow him on Twitter @mikepresley64.
Giants’ patience with Tom Coughlin pays off with second Super Bowl victory
If there ever was a hot seat that was hotter than the sun, it had to be Tom Coughlin’s seat. Tom Coughlin has always been brought up in discussions of losing his job and no longer being the coach for the New York Giants. You hear the rumors that Bill Cowher is waiting for the Giants coaching job to come open, and that this is the season Coughlin will be fired. Giants fans send in letters to the Mara family calling for Coughlin to be fired, the media always says Coughlin could be fired every time the Giants lose four or five games in a row. Yet through it all, and even with better coaches out there that could take over the Giants, the Giants stay course. They have stood by Coughlin through thick and thin and now it has paid off. Tom Coughlin, who very well could be the most underrated Head Coach in the NFL, has now led the Giants to two Super Bowl victories and it just shows that patience is a virtue and is why the Giants have done what they have done in Super Bowl 42 and 46.
Let’s go back to week eleven where the Giants were riding high after beating the New England Patriots, they were 6-2 and looked to be in the driver’s seat in the NFC East. Then they lost four straight games and fell to 6-6 before finishing the season at 9-7 and beating the Dallas Cowboys in week 17 to win the NFC East. They hosted the Atlanta Falcons in the wild card round where their defense shut out the Falcons offense, only allowing a safety the whole game and moved on to play the Green Bay Packers. This was very similar to the 2007 NFC Championship game where the Giants were once again were the under dogs. Everyone said the Packers would win, but yet it was the Giants again upsetting the Packers to move to the Championship game. This was their second trip to the NFC title game in five seasons, again all because the Giants rode it out with Tom Coughlin.
In the end, the Giants have shown why they kept Coughlin and why they believed in him as their coach. He has now led the Giants to two Super Bowl wins in five seasons despite everyone calling for his head. Despite the fan letters, all the media hype that he should be fired, despite the mid-season losing streaks, above everything Coughlin has continued to prove everyone wrong. Coughlin continues to field solid teams year in and year out, and doesn’t get the credit he deserves, and now with two Super Bowls victories under his belt, his hot seat has now turned to a comfortable seat.
Mike Presley is a NFL Featured Journalist for The Penalty Flag. He is a graduate of the Carolina School of Broadcasting and hosts a weekly NFL show on the schools radio station 89.3 The Storm entitled “The Front Seven.” Mike also writes for the racing website www.hardcoreracefans.com. Follow him on Twitter @mikepresley64.
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Could Jim Irsay’s Antics Cost Indy Andrew Luck?
Twitter and Jim Irsay, two things that do not go together but yet have seemingly done just that. During the course of the off-season, Indianapolis Colts Owner Jim Irsay has been on a Twitter high. Tweeting more than any owner in the league, and probably safe to say any player in the league. I myself have a Twitter(which you can follow me at @mikepresley64) but for those that follow me, you know that I don’t tweet much but when I do, at least it makes sense. When Irsay tweets, we are left to figure out what he is babbling on about and why he shouldn’t be on Twitter. Now let’s move on from Twitter, and go to the Peyton Manning situation. Drafted in 1998, Peyton changed the way the game was played and helped the Colts become relevant again.
They were a mess at the quarterback position before Manning came along and saved their Franchise. He helped bring a Super Bowl to Indianapolis, yet Peyton all of a sudden becomes expendable and just garbage due to his neck injury? If Jim Irsay isn’t careful about how he tweets, and handles the Peyton Manning situation, he very well could cost Indianapolis Andrew Luck in the 2012 NFL Draft.
Time for a history lesson folks, back in 1983, the then Baltimore Colts drafted another Stanford Quarterback by the name of John Elway. This was the first power play done by a player in the NFL Draft, Elway refused to play for Head Coach Frank Kush and threatened to go join the Yankees if the Colts didn’t trade him. The Colts gave in, traded Elway to Denver and the rest is history. Now fast forward to the 2004 draft which saw Eli Manning, Peyton’s younger brother as the top quarterback in that draft. Manning decided to pull a Elway and refused to play for the Chargers, even telling them to not draft him. The Chargers did just that and wound up trading Eli to the Giants for Phillip Rivers, and we all know how that turned out. Is Andrew Luck the next quarterback to follow in the footsteps of Elway and Manning by forcing his way out of Indianapolis?
We all knew that he would be the first overall pick in the draft, what we didn’t know was who was going to draft him. Little did we know, Peyton Manning would need neck surgery, and that the surgery would take so long to heal up that it would cause him to miss the entire 2011 season. The Colts ended up 2-14 on the season and are in the driver’s seat to land Andrew Luck, or not? Imagine being Andrew Luck sitting at home getting ready to prepare for the Scouting Combine and all the activity leading up to the 2012 Draft, and you see how your future owner tweets crazy nonsense and how he is handling the Peyton Manning situation. How much do you think he is thinking about not wanting to play in Indianapolis now? 15 years from now and Luck suffers a similar injury that Manning did, are the Colts just going to toss him aside and move on to the next big quarterback just like they are doing with Manning now?
I have a message to Jim Irsay, stop tweeting and you better make sure this Peyton Manning situation doesn’t get too out of control. Your future quarterback is sitting at home seeing all this unfold and do you think that he wants to come play for you seeing how you act, how you treat a player who ultimately saved your Franchise. I guarantee Luck knows that all of this could happen with him, he is probably thinking that Irsay will just toss him aside like he is nothing, just like he is doing to Peyton Manning. Better be careful Jim Irsay, or your Luck could just run out come April.
Mike Presley is a NFL Featured Journalist for The Penalty Flag. He is a graduate of the Carolina School of Broadcasting and hosts a weekly NFL show on the schools radio station 89.3 The Storm entitled “The Front Seven.” Mike also writes for the racing website www.hardcoreracefans.com. Follow him on Twitter @mikepresley64.
Related articles
- Et tu, Jim Irsay? (thepenaltyflagblog.com)
- Colts’ Irsay Takes the Nuclear Option (thepenaltyflagblog.com)
- Jim Caldwell Fired: What It Means for Andrew Luck (college-sports-university.com)
- Can’t Leave It Alone: Colts Owner Continues Twitter Rants (thepenaltyflagblog.com)
- Peyton Manning has Emotional Meeting with Polian (thepenaltyflagblog.com)
After Further Review: Referees Send Patriots to Super Bowl
Every season, it seems fans finger point at a particular play where they say that is why they loss. As the Baltimore Ravens get ready to head back to Baltimore to prepare for the off-season, it seems their fans can point at many different plays where things could have turned out differently. If the Ravens had just beat one of the teams they loss to, this game could have been played in Baltimore, not New England. Of course when you look at how this game turned out, it seemed you could pin point several times where the Ravens could have won this game. The one play in particular is the 3rd & 6 where they hand it off to Rice on a draw and it went nowhere. After that, the Ravens battled back and with under a minute left, the Ravens were in field goal range.
They moved closer and it seemed we were once again about to try out the new overtime rules, but Billy Cundiff missed the kick and the Patriots won. After examining the final couple plays of the game again, it seemed the Refs decided to choose the outcome by missing two huge plays, including one where we should be talking about the Baltimore Ravens going to the Super Bowl, not the New England Patriots.
Game saving hero Sterling Moore, had committed a illegal touching penalty which normally the officials are quick to throw the flag on that. This time, the refs decided to keep the flag in their pockets. Now I’m all for letting the players play since there are already too many rules that limit defenses as it is, but I wouldn’t be surprised that the flag would have been thrown for PI if this was the Patriots driving trying to win the game. Now remember, earlier in the game Brady threw a interception and wouldn’t you know it, a flag. They called Cornerback Lardarius Webb for illegal contact on a Benard Pollard interception. Now again, would the flag been thrown if say it wasn’t intercepted? Would the flag been thrown if it was incomplete, probably not.
Now let’s go to the end of the game. Back to the play of Sterling Moore, now before I get to the Lee Evans touchdown call, before that play, Moore had both of his hands on the tight end’s waist which should have been called for illegal touching since the ball hadn’t even been thrown yet. This should have gave the Ravens a new set of downs, now to get to what should have sent the Ravens to Indianapolis. It was similar to Pittsburgh except Lee Evans is playing the part of Torrey Smith. Evans had caught the ball in the end zone and seemed to be the game winner. Yet the officials did not call it a touchdown as Moore knocked it loose, but after further review, Evans took two steps in the end zone with full control, which should have been a touchdown.
Billy Cundiff should have never been sent out and in position to miss a Kick, the game should have been won. The new rule for this season states all scoring plays are reviewed, but for something this close, something so close where you can easily miss things like Evans taking two steps. Why didn’t they review the play to get the call correct? Why didn’t they, they already determined that the Patriots were going to win the game regardless and the Ravens are going to be left wondering how things could have turned out if the officials just reviewed it and saw Evans with complete control and that he had took two steps.
Mike Presley is a NFL Featured Journalist for The Penalty Flag. He is a graduate of the Carolina School of Broadcasting and hosts a weekly NFL show on the schools radio station 89.3 The Storm entitled “The Front Seven.” Mike also writes for the racing website www.hardcoreracefans.com. Follow him on Twitter @mikepresley64.
