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April 10, 2014Details of Jaguars offer to Alex Mack reported
April 10, 2014Are pundits souring on the quarterbacks? After having the “Big 3” being taken within the first few picks, ESPN’s Todd McShay still has Blake Bortles being the first quarterback to be selected, but not until the fourth-overall pick as used by your Cleveland Browns.
Conceding to his Big Board, McShay has Houston selecting All-Universe defensive lineman Jadaveon Clowney with the first-overall pick. From there, Auburn’s Greg Robinson goes to St. Louis and Buffalo’s Khalil Mack gets nabbed by Jacksonville at No. 3.
I think this pick would come down to Bortles or WR Sammy Watkins. I’m going with Bortles. While he isn’t a perfect prospect at QB, he has the highest ceiling of any quarterback in this class. He has some improving to do with his mechanics, but he showed clear progress in that area during his pro-day workout, and he checks all the boxes in terms of his size (6-foot-5, 232 pounds), intangibles, character, mental makeup and leadership ability. He can also make plays with his legs and is more creative than he gets credit for.
McShay has Watkins going fifth to Oakland, Mike Evans going seventh to Tampa Bay, Johnny Manziel (who he had going fourth-overall last month) going eighth to Minnesota, and Teddy Bridgewater falling to Tennessee at No. 11.
Choosing Bortles over Watkins at No. 4, McShay once again pegs the Browns as selecting a wide receiver with the 26th-overall pick. This time, the receiver du jour is Florida State’s Kelvin Benjamin, the 6-foot-5-inch giant who was hauling in passes from Jameis Winston.1
This pair of picks would give Cleveland a young and potentially explosive passing attack to develop (TE Jordan Cameron and WR Andrew Hawkins would help round out an impressive receiving corps). Benjamin has a lot of developing to do as a route-runner and is inconsistent catching the ball on tape, but he is a red-zone nightmare who does a great job of coming down with 50-50 balls.
Fans of size will also like that McShay has pegged Nebraska cornerback Stanley Jean-Baptiste in the second round. The 6-foot-3-inch corner would presumably step and provide size across from Joe Haden.
Derek Carr, a player recently linked to the Browns at No. 4, does not get selected in either of the first two projected rounds.
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(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
- “It seemed like every time I looked up I had picked another wide receiver. There are a lot of teams with needs at the position, and a lot of good receiver prospects in this draft.” — McShay [↩]
38 Comments
the pundits still have a month to drive page views on their sites.
players the pundits think the Browns will pick now include:
#4: Bridgewater, Watkins, Manziel, Robinson, Matthews, Mack, Bortles, Clowney, and Kanick is the only one I have seen list Evans
#26: Bridgewater, Carr, Lee, Cooks, Beckham, Lee, Mosley, Martin, Lewan, Dennard, Roby, Verrett, Fuller, Sua-Filo, and I’m sure plenty more.
What does this mean? Well, obviously, the Browns will trade down a few slots from #4, then use those assets to trade up a few slots from #26 and end up with Justin Gilbert and Eric Ebron and the pundits will all complain that they never saw it coming to drive post-draft page clicks.
seriously. the more the ‘big boards’ and mock drafts change, the more intrigue for the draft WHICH IS BEING AIRED BY ESPN
is WFNY planning on doing a reader poll for the draft?
If the top 3 play out the way McShay has here, unless the Browns absolutely believe in Bortles, there’s no reason not to grab Watkins and just grab a QB with one of their next two picks.
Until they start inventing new players, I’m done with these mock drafts.
With the 4th pick in the 2014 NFL draft, the Cleveland Browns select Alonzo McGillicuddy, fullback, Northern South Dakota Tech.
Speaking of, I took the liberty of forwarding ESPN the mgbode mock draft on the Ravens’ pick (well done!). It’ll only be a matter of time now before you’re sitting aside Pompadour Kiper and boy wonder McShay. Also, my agent fees are a mere 20%.
Dude, why do you hate wolves so much? I know these guys are no Thunderwolves, but still…
http://www.keloland.com/_images/data/239×179/18845.jpg
I would watch a Key and Peele mock draft. Their East/West All-Star Game bits are hilarious.
If they started now, they could do a pick a day for the 1st rd.
thank you very much for the kind words. and go Thunderwolves!
Funny how all of these mocks have a different QB “falling” to the Browns at #4. I guess they are pretty confident the Browns will be drafting a QB at #4.
If the Browns even take McGillicuddy at #4, I am so done with this team. A FB? Are you serious?
No, the OBVIOUS choice at #4 is Igor Schmidlap, MLB, Cheboygan Community College and Dental School.
By the time the draft actually happens, these chowderheads will have had every team taking every player at some point.
Wouldn’t that be something? And just imagine, the first time he appears on TV, the entire WFNY community will simultaneously exclaim, “That’s not AT ALL what I thought mgbode looks like! And what’s with the pocket protector? I mean seriously, the X-52 model? That is so ’90s Tech Bubble.”
The Direwolves.
no pocket to protect! the pen gets clipped right onto the shirt and whatever happens, happens. I’m a rebel.
http://www.quickmeme.com/img/22/226ea82f18e00f1042dd7612d2944bdfb2f5e5a1e54b3734e27327b08e7d0758.jpg
Wow. That truly is NOT AT ALL what I thought you look like.
ah, the good old North Central Michigan College though everyone knows they are the Penguins.
they are now my favorite of these we have found just for this shirt they sell. that’s right, they have not lost a football game since 1958! they haven’t played any games either, but that is just a minor detail.
http://collegestore.ncmich.edu/StoreImages/96-637199-2.jpg
After seeing that, WFNY slapped the transition tag on you. Sorry bud, looks like you’re staying here for another year in the nerd club.
that may or may not be me. for the protection of my identity, I will not reveal the true answer.
My agent will now indicate that I should be released from such obligations and that I would be happier in a different environment that was more stable and has much more hard hitting analysis without delving into the light side of the sporting world. Then, I will sign on with Y!Sports anyway to become the guy who writes these articles (below) and dare WFNY to match:
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/david-price-advice-thanksgiving-travelers-ladies-let-man-225322618–mlb.html;_ylt=AwrBEiH3C0dTsk0A9nZNbK5_
If we’re going to go defense, then I think we need to draft Wes Skokey, CB, Daytona Catholic Institute.
I could see that. Dude’s 6’7″ and runs a 2.6 forty. He rocked the shuttle run at the combine, too. I think the fact that he only has one foot and has been brain dead since his sophomore year in H.S. (bad pole vaulting accident) will cause him to fall to #4 right into the Browns’ lap.
That whole brain dead situation is only problematic if we play zone.
But I do wonder if his kneecap width will be a liability.
Dude had 42 interceptions his senior year. But, if you’re worried about that kneecap, we could always go with Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas Agriculture and Mechanical.
He’s supposedly good at football.
I think it has less to do with pundits souring on a particular prospect and more to do with these so-called draft experts trying desperately (and unsuccessfully) to keep this pre-draft process interesting.
I don’t know how many mock drafts you can do before you’ve statistically exhausted every possible variation, but I am willing to bet we are approaching that number. The NFL was dumb to delay the draft until May with the hope of generating more excitement.
I, and I am willing to acknowledge I am probably in the minority, am already bored with it. From the whole “Farmer didn’t go to ______’s pro day” non-story to our present “I will unveil my 112th mock draft” this offseason is a dud. Wake me up on draft day, and then wake me up again in September, when they are actually doing something that matters, like, I don’know, playing games.
Nothing like a good collection of expert mock drafts to narrow things down.
As in who you guys want?
Or who we expect. Either way, just have a vote each day on the next pick and build from there. Might be a bit late to put it together though.
I love the draft. And, I think this is too long. I’m ready to be gearing up for the actual draft, not impatiently waiting for another month.
How did Kiper become the draft guy? Was it dumb luck?
He was given the assignment back in the 80s when noone cared about the draft. He went crazy minutia with it and put in absolutely crazy amounts of work for something that noone else cared about.
Well, it turns out, lots of people care about the draft if the information on everything is more readily available (which is what Kiper created).
Hey, I don’t see you contributing any hidden gems to our 2014 Mocked-Draft.
Well, my favorite guy, Blake Decker, is a true freshman for Scottsdale Community College in the good old WSFL. And, Jovon Robinson of the Georgia Military College is a true freshman.
So, next year, you are going to be seeing me push hard for Blake at QB and we have 2 years to see if Jovon can sustain his success with a tough independent JCC schedule. I mean, they have a huge rivalry with East Mississippi Community College and back that up with games against powers like Georgia Prep Sports Academy. It’s a tough slate.
I don’t think the the actual draft is too long. I think the wait is too long. Moving it back a month sucks.
Shortening the first round time was great, and splitting up the rounds was great.
I love the draft. Let’s go back to 14 rounds!
as long as we start it in March, I’m game. 14 days before March Madness begins is the NFL draft = happy days.
of course, this would be Achilles reaction to that announcement:
http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/276/files/2014/03/AZstateBench.gif