My Mock, Version 3.0

[zrinkill]

As always your thoughts are welcome.

1a. Antoine Cason, CB, Arizona, 6'0", 190. I remain convinced this guy is the best pure football player among the CBs available. Good enough to be the 2007 Jim Thorpe Award winner as the best DB in the Nation. This guy knocks passes down with regularity. In 2007 he defelected 14 passes (32 in his career). If he gets his hands on it (5 INTs in 2007, 15 in his career) he often goes the other way (twice in 2007, 3 times in his career). He's a solid tackler (71 tackles in 2007, 232 in his career). He also returns punts.

1b. Early Doucet, WR, LSU, 6'0", 211. He reminds me of Marvin Harrison. I'm not saying he will have the same success as Marvin, just that he competes the same way. Runs clean routes. Has good hands. He moves the chains. Is a perfect replacement for Terry Glenn, and if we hang on to Glenn for another year is potentially better than Crayton long term.

2. Ray Rice, RB, Rutgers, 5'9" 195. An Emmitt clone. That is the guy he reminds me most of because of his outstanding vision. He's falling down the Draft boards and I am fine with that because this is a perfect compliment to Barber. He produces. What more could you want at RB? You can measure a 40 time and how many reps of 225 pounds a guy can bench. You cannot measure heart and Ray Rice plays with heart.

3rd round. Owen Schmitt, FB, West Virginia, 6'2", 247. You can't budge me from thinking this guy is a perfect fit in Dallas. I am moving him up a round because I think he is a potential vital piece of a powerful offensive puzzle. Schmitt has two stats that just jump off the page at you. 106 knockdowns and 17 TD blocks. That means 106 times the guy he was blocking hit the ground and 17 times he sprung someone for a TD score. Those stats are unreal for an Offensive Lineman much less a FB. This guy plays with attitude and passion. Our offense needs some of that. Combine him with Barber and we have the meanest RB duo in the NFL. I don't think I have ever seen a more ferocious blocking FB in my life. He has broken 10 facemasks on his own helmets in his college career. That means this guy leaves it on the field every play.

4th round. Heath Benedict, OT, Newberry, 6'5", 321. Nasty, nasty, nasty, nasty. Can also play OG so he is versatile. A ferocious run blocker with 86 knockdowns and 18 blocks that led to TDs. Yes, I like our young O-linemen but I never shy away from adding talent to the OL and this kid is that. A small school steal.

5th round. Spencer Larsen, ILB, Arizona, 6'2", 243. What can I tell you? This guy is my pet. This guy is a born to play football. He was the Defensive MVP of the East - West Shrine Game and the unquestioned inspirational leader of the Wildcats defense. 131 tackles in 2007, 15.5 for losses, 4 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 4 fumble recoveries, 5 pass deflections and an INT. Why the 6th round for a guy like this? Simply put, 40 yard dash. He is not going to fly to the ball. That will never stop him from making tackles. This guy is smart and he reads breaks and angles and gets to the ball. He is a perfect guy to play Special Teams while he is groomed to be an eventual starter. He could rise up draft boards with a good combine. If he does, take him sooner. You'll never regret a guy like this on your football team.

6th round. Darnell Terrell, CB, Missouri, 6'2", 200. Not only is he depth at CB, but he is a natural FS. He had 9 pass deflections in 2007 along with 70 tackles. Also has some time at WR so he has good hands. He ransk 5th all time on Missouri's receiving list with 138 career receptions, but it is at DB where the NFL will want him.

7th round. Markus Monk, WR, Arkansas, 6'6", 218. Jerry gets his Razorback. Monk is probably a project but he is coming off a knee injury or he might go a lot higher in the Draft because he does have some skills. Coming into 2007 he held Arkansas' career TD mark after 11 in 2006, and he was 8 short of the SEC record. The injury derailed that, but hopefully not his logn term promise.

As usual I give you the links to previous versions so you can see how my thinking changes, and invite you to rip it apart and share what you think.

Version 2.0

http://cowboyszone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=111774

Version 1.0

http://cowboyszone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=111499

I really like this one .... I desperately want Felix or Ray on this team next year.

 

[ayjackson]

I really don't like this one at all.

I'd like a better man cover corner than Cason, who excels in zone coverage.

I'm not sold on Doucet yet, certainly not enough to take him in the first round.

Ray Rice is not my preference as a 8 carry back to compliment Barber.

If we take a fullback in the first three rounds I'll cry. They're just not a big enough part of the offense to justify it. Taking two backs with our first four picks, when we already have Barber and Anderson and will likely add a veteren FA is not something that gets me excited.

Heath Benedict looked extremely raw at best (horrible at worst) at the Senior Bowl and, while an interesting project, is too early at our 4th.

I like Spencer Larser and would not wait past the 4th round to take him, unless there is another great value pick there.

The last two picks are decent.

 

[theogt]

Unlike versions 1 and 2, this mock I would actually need to see how the draft played out before I could give a honest opinion. On paper set up against a value board I would not be thrilled. As in the other versions I like Cason and Larsen. Benedict would eb a steal in the 4th. My questions revolve around Doucet, Rice and Schmitt and it's not about talent it's about value.

Like I said, this one is a hard one to judge with out seeing the rest of the draft. Some mocks you just look at and can tell there would be value no matter who's gone or on the board. This one I feel would assume we had a bunch of guys go higher then expected.

Hmm...I don't get the value comments. They're taken here at or below their projected spots.

 

[TheCount]

Hmm...I don't get the value comments. They're taken here at or below their projected spots.

Not to mention that we are picking near the end of all those rounds, so it's not like we're jumping on them early, in most cases they'd be falling to us.

 

[Sasquatch]

1a. Antoine Cason, CB, Arizona, 6'0", 190. I remain convinced this guy is the best pure football player among the CBs available. Good enough to be the 2007 Jim Thorpe Award winner as the best DB in the Nation. This guy knocks passes down with regularity. In 2007 he defelected 14 passes (32 in his career). If he gets his hands on it (5 INTs in 2007, 15 in his career) he often goes the other way (twice in 2007, 3 times in his career). He's a solid tackler (71 tackles in 2007, 232 in his career). He also returns punts.

What's Cason's actual 40? I've seen it listed anywhere from 4.38 to 4.55.

 

[TheCount]

What's Cason's actual 40? I've seen it listed anywhere from 4.38 to 4.55.

All will be revealed in April.

 

[Hostile]

What's Cason's actual 40? I've seen it listed anywhere from 4.38 to 4.55.

I'm betting around 4.48.

 

[ayjackson]

What's Cason's actual 40? I've seen it listed anywhere from 4.38 to 4.55.

or worse....Scouts.com list it as 4.60!!

 

[TheCount]

NEEDS TO IMPROVE
Ray does not need to improve anything. He just needs to continue to grow as a human being. He cannot get any taller to satisfy all the experts who want to downgrade him because of his height. He cannot run any better for those who want to downgrade him for the lack of competition.

Oh really? Ray might be the first guy in the history of professional sports that does not need to improve a single thing.

 

[TheCount]

Can you do me a favor and get one on James Hardy, is that's up there, I'd appreciate it.

 

[marchetta]

Oh really? Ray might be the first guy in the history of professional sports that does not need to improve a single thing.

After decades of study, Drew has determined what he believes make a NFL RB great. His determining factors are quickness to the LOS, vision, instincts, and lateral agility. Ray Rice has an abundance of ALL these attributes, and he uses them perfectly. That's why he doesn't need to improve on them. The only thing he lacks is break away speed (ala Emmitt Smith). Drew has said that speed is overrated at the NFL level. A NFL RB doesn't need speed if he has most of the aforementioned attributes, and R.Rice has ALL those attributes not just some. Drew said that if a RB has all these attributes and speed to go along with it he's a 1 in a million player (ala Barry Sanders), but they usually only come along once in a lifetime.

 

[ayjackson]

I remember a lot of speculation last year about how fast Leon Hall and Darelle Revis were. They ran 4.4 at the combine/pro day and were the top two CBs taken.

 

[TheCount]

Awesome, thanks Marchetta.

I like the guy, I hope we get him, and I was actually thinking about Plaxico when I read about him. I thought he'd be a slow guy but saw a few clips of him on Youtube beating guys deep, they also had a couple of interviews of him and he didn't even so much as crack a smile once. I think we need a few more non-nonse types on offense, and to find that at the WR position is pretty rare.

I just don't think he'll last till our 2nd first rounder unfortunately.

 

[marchetta]

Awesome, thanks Marchetta.

I like the guy, I hope we get him, and I was actually thinking about Plaxico when I read about him. I thought he'd be a slow guy but saw a few clips of him on Youtube beating guys deep, they also had a couple of interviews of him and he didn't even so much as crack a smile once.

I just don't think he'll last till our 2nd first rounder unfortunately.

You're welcome. Yeah, JH has that don't waste my time look. He's a bit intimidating when interviewing. He'll look you in the eye and answer your questions, but he has that don't waste my time asking me dumb arse questions stare. I'm just praying our scouts are knowledgeable enough to realize the impact that this guy could have lined up opposite TO.

 

[TheCount]

You're welcome. Yeah, JH has that don't waste my time look. He's a bit intimidating when interviewing. He'll look you in the eye and answer your questions, but he has that don't waste my time asking me dumb arse questions stare. I'm just praying our scouts are knowledgeable enough to realize the impact that this guy could have lined up opposite TO.

You and me both brother, talk about picking your poison. One guy will embarass you and make fun of you while doing it, the other guy just wants to embarass you. And then there's Crayton, who will get in front of the cameras before it happens and tell you that you're going to be embarassed.

 

[TheCount]

Bowman is really falling, I remember there was talk about him going as high as late 1st, now he may be lucky to go in the 2nd, but more likely the 3rd, maybe even 4th.

I do like Kelly though, he's almost certainly a 1st rounder, I'm kind of hoping he gets picked early so that Hardy can slide down to us.

 

[Hailmary]

Has Drew critiqued Hawkins yet? I know I've already asked a while ago...

Thx!

 

[marchetta]

1a. James Hardy, WR or Leodis McKelvin, CB
1b. Antoine Cason, CB or Early Doucet, WR
2. Chris Johnson, RB or Ray Rice, RB
3. Philip Wheeler, ILB or Tavares Gooden, ILB
4. Owen Schmitt, FB

If our draft turns out close to your list I'd have to squeegee my monitor.


1a. James Hardy, WR or Leodis McKelvin, CB
James is Drew's #1 WR, and thinks he could develop into a tougher version of Plaxico and an unstoppable deepthreat WR like R.Moss.

McKelvin is said to have the best/fastest feet of any CB to come out in years. He's almost flawless in his CB techniques.

BTW, Drew loves Dominque Rogers Cromartie. He says DRC has the potential to be the best CB in the entire league. Drew calls him the R.Moss of CBs. Even though the league has eliminated the shutdown CB, that DRC could overcome the league's impositions and be a true shutdown CB. Drew said he wouldn't be surprised if a team took him in the top 10 picks.

1b. Antoine Cason, CB or Early Doucet, WR
Drew says Cason is the smartes CB to enter the league in years. He's like having a coach on the field. He will be exceptional in a zone defense, because he's so smart he can jump routes. Also, he has the ability to "pressure" WRs, because he's so smart that if they make any error running their route, he will make them pay. He understands zone defenses, situational route running, and he can anticipate what a WR is going to do.

Doucet is another favorite of Drews. He sees him having a big impact for the team that gets him. He says Early best bet would be to go to a team that already has #1 and #2 receivers and allow Early to be a situational WR the 1st year. Then, his 2nd year he'll be ready to be an impact #1 WR. Drew compares him to Wayne (WR Indy), and says Early is a bigger and better version of Wayne.

2. Chris Johnson, RB or Ray Rice, RB
Drew says CJ is going to be a faster version of B.Westbrook (RB Iggles). Drew says he is the same size as BW and has the same running style and attributes as BW. However, he's not ready to carry the load of a #1 RB. He needs to be a 3rd down RB his 1st year, and then he'll be a true #1 RB, just like Westbrook, his 2nd year.

Drew loves R.Rice. He thinks RR will develop into an Emmitt Smith type workhorse RB that will lead his team to Superbowls for years to come.

BTW, Drew also likes DMac. He thinks DMac has the potential to develop into a bigger version of Gale Sayers. He thinks DMac has the skill set to develop into the best RB to EVER play in the NFL. However, DMac has a lot to learn and refinements to make. DMac's RB skills aren't as advanced as R.Rice's at this point. While he may have a higher ceiling than R.Rice, he also has more bust potential due to his running style and fumble-itis, while R.Rice has virtually zero bust potential.

3. Philip Wheeler, ILB or Tavares Gooden, ILB
I don't know much about his player, but Drew likes him, and thinks he has 1st rd talent, but thinks he's playing out of position. I'll post the analysis.

4. Owen Schmitt, FB
Everybody loves this guy. He has more heart and tenacity of any player in this draft. He's a throwback from another era.

 

[TheCount]

Bradford looks interesting, could be a good bargain later. I was hearing some buzz about a guy named Dexter Jackson (App State) who might be another guy to look for later, he took Doucet's spot in the Senior Bowl after he got injured, anything on him? He's on the small side but is apprently a burner with good hands.

I was kind of being hopeful on Wheeler, I think he'll be gone before our pick in the 3rd.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

it would suck if MIke Jenkins, McKelvin and Rogers-Cromartie are all gone before 22

but that's very possible

damnit

I love Wheeler though