My take on the draft

Howdy, y'all. Unfortunately, God has planned the Jewish holidays in a manner which will kill my draft experience this year. The 7th and 8th days of passover will forbid me from following it in any way, so I'm somehow missing both draft days. I will be more anxious than Brady Quinn a year ago and more pissed off than Mark Cuban during the same general timeline on sunday night. Gah!

Anyway, I saw Grizz's post about people posting their predictions tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, that's not really an option for me. So here it is; I'm sure you've all been pining for my always-reserved opinions.

Firstly, random predictions. Possible sliders: DRC,Mendenhall, James Hardy. I think a lot of teams are going to be worried by the lack of footage available on Cromartie, as intrigued as they are by his physical abilities. There's virtually no good film of him in college, andpeople are drawing their entire assessment based on a senior bowl tape. Mendenhall's stock actually seems to be lower than Stewart's for the first time since the combine. I don't know why, but people are bagging on him. I'd be shocked if it was Peter King's wonderment about his inability to win a starting job prior to this year, but that's what the opinion dropoff seems to have coincided with.  Hardy's a tremendous red zone threat who lacks polish and has significant character issues. He's a top 15 talent who will likely end up in round 2.

2. St. Louis Rams: Chris Long

3. Atlanta Falcons: Glenn Dorsey

4. Oakland Raiders: Darren McFadden

5. Kansas City Chiefs: Vernon Gholston

6. New York Jets: Matt Ryan

 7. New England Patriots: Derrick Harvey

8. Baltimore Ravens: Branden Albert

9. Cincinnati Bengals: Sedrick Ellis

10. New Orleans Saints: Keith Rivers

11. Buffalo Bills: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie

 12. Denver Broncos: Chris Williams

13. Carolina Panthers:Ryan Clady

14. Chicago Bears: Jeff Otah

15. Detroit Lions: Leodis McKelvin

16. Arizona Cardinals: Jerod Mayo

17. Kansas City Chiefs: Gosder Cherilus

18. Houston Texans: Jonathan Stewart

19. Philadelphia Eagles: Devin Thomas

20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Rashard Mendenhall

21. Washington Redskins: Phillip Merling

22. Dallas Cowboys: Mike Jenkins

If this scenario comes to pass, the Cowboys will be beyond elated. Jenkins is the best player left on the board and adds to what is becoming an incredible secondary. Jenkins has some character issues, but is as good a cover corner as is availabe on the entire board. In addition to providing security for an Adam Jones meltdown, this addition will completely wipe out the possibility of any team desiring to go 4-wide against us.            23. Pittsburgh Steelers: Calais Campbell

24. Tennessee Titans: Limas Sweed

25. Seattle Seahawks: Kenny Phillips

26. Jacksonville Jaguars: Desean Jackson

27. San Diego Chargers: Felix Jones

28. Dallas Cowboys: Jamaal Charles

I realize that I'm defying convention by going with Charles, and it may seem like homerism toward a Longhorn. Charles, however, is a legitimate first round talent who complements MB as well as any running back left on the board. I am of the mind that this team is not searching for additional young wideouts, and besides the only three worth taking at this juncture are gone. If Charles can get over his fumbling problems as many talented runners have done in the past (Think Tiki Barber) he could be an immensely productive player.

I 29. San Francisco 49ers: Quentin Groves

30. Green Bay Packers: Aqib Talib

31. New York Giants: Dan Connor

Cowboys (61):DaJuan Morgan. Why Morgan? He's a talented player who projects as both a free and strong safety. While raw and injury prone, he should become a regular contributor if given some time to learn the craft. That makes him a great fit here; Ken Hamlin will likely become a free agent after this season, and Roy Williams' future is just as unsure as our knowledge of how many times he will be burned by a tight end. Cowboys (92): Jeremy Zuttah. Zuttah's strengths are his versatility and athletic ability. (Starting to see a pattern?) As SI announcer guy will inform you in the video below, Zuttah is a workout warrior, finishing amongst the top OL performers in four different events. He is probably a developmental prospect, but there's no need to rush with our line. It will be good to rest easy, however, knowing that an injury to Andre Gurode will no longer knock out any semblance of an offense. Plus,I'm pining to get a replacement for Kyle Kosier. ;) Cowboys (163) Frank Okam. Without a question my favorite semi-obscure player in this draft. Okam transcends the adjective 'massive'; he's the largest defensive player in this draft pool. This man is a powerful run stopper and demands multiple blockers; the definition of a nose tackle to me. When I brought his name up to Norm Hitzges a few weeks ago, he dismissed Okam as being too tall to play the nose. Bullocks! I've never understood how that was considered a slight. His flaws? He's an underachiever who takes plays off. He won't be asked to start here, so there's no reason to think he won't be productive during his limited snaps. In addition, he hails from my favored university, and-best of all- he scored a 39 on the Wonderlic score, which (very) roughly translates to an IQ of 138. This is a football player who plans to go to law school. Please, Jerry, make this happen! Cowboys (167): Peyton Hillis. There aren't many needs on this team, but fullback's one of them. Deon Andersen showed some promise while on the field, but sustained a major injury that may persist in plaguing his career. The biggest thing I look for in a fullback is the Moose factor; I want to see him block. Unfortunately, reports on all of the top fullbacks in this class have been very inconclusive on that front. The consensus, however, appears to be that Hillis is the most capable in that respect. Also a capable receiver who ran well out of the backfield, he could conceivably take over as the team's third running back. Cowboys (235) Matt Flynn. There's nothing wrong with grooming a young backup QB, and this draft should have some fine options available in the later rounds. Flynn hails from the national champion and displays a lot of the traits you want from your backup QB. He takes care of the ball, displays good accuracy, and shows a never-say-die attitude. Adept at eluding pass-rushers and blessed with enough speed to cut between blockers and parley the situation into a sizable gain. Flynn lacks arm strength and isn't quite as proven as you'd expect an LSU senior to be, but is a solid young prospect nonetheless.