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First and foremost, thank you so much to everyone for participating. There were only a handful of GMs that signed up and then disappeared, 29 of you all came through and it's much appreciated. Funny part was that the first couple of stand-ins needed were for our NFC East counterparts the Eagles and Giants. The other no-show was for the 49ers. I guess true Cowboys fans just couldn't bring themselves to doing anything to help our rivals, even in a fantasy world of mock drafts.
As each of the GMs has done their own amount of research setting the stage for their picks, we are still going to give them their shine, just without the bells and whistles of the prior posts. I will provide video of each player, via DraftBreakdown.com. Also, if you click on the selection number in each pick announcement ("25th selection", "26th selection", etc), you will go to the NFLDraftScout.com page for each player, for a list of their detailed strengths and weaknesses.
So without further ado, here are the next four picks in our Community Draft!
With the 29th selection in the BTB Community Mock Draft, GM Birddog26 and the New England Patriots select...
LB, Manti Te'o, Notre Dame.
Due to time restraints, BD was unable to provide the justification for the pick.
With the 30th selection in the BTB Community Mock Draft, GM StarloverinWNC and the Atlanta Falcons select...
DE Tank Carradine, Florida State.
Atlanta is one of the premier organizations in all of football at this point in time. They boast quality starters across the board on both sides of the football. Have excellent coaching, a solid front office, and a whopping 11 pics in this months draft.
What Atlanta lacks is any serious depth, they have a suspect secondary, and average linebacker play. They had a key departure in free agent cornerback Brent Grimes. They also had cap casualties to starting DE J. Abraham and feature RB M. Turner.
However they made some key low-cost acquisitions in running back Steven Jackson from the Rams and Osi Uminiyiora from the New York Football Giants.
In my opinion their biggest need is cornerback but with the top three prospects off the board the value just isn't there. I considered Jamar Taylor but I don't think he is the best player available. Others I considered were Jesse Williams and the falling Demontre Moore from Texas A&M.
But in the end I think that the best available player at a position of need is Tank Carradine. he's a physical specimen at 275 pounds and has the ability to add more bulk to his frame. He excelled when inserted into the starting lineup at Florida State recording 11 sacks, 13 TFL, & 9 QB hurries. Tank was a JUCO transfer from Butler where he helped lead the team to the title game and in two seasons recorded 26 sacks. This kid has immense talent and would have likely been a top 10 pick, but he tore his ACL in late November. The surgery was performed by Dr Andrews and he's rehabbing with AP's trainer. There's no reason to believe he can't come back and be a force in the NFL its just gonna take time. Fortunately for Atlanta with the signing of Osi they can afford to wait on Tank until mid season or even 2014. This game is won in the trenches and Atlanta realizes that, thus they take the coveted pass rusher over the more immediate need for corner back with #30. In reality I believe Atlanta will trade up in the first round for Rhodes or Trufant or they'll trade up in the second for Banks, Taylor, Poyer, or Amerson.
With the 31th selection in the BTB Community Mock Draft, GM KD Drummond and the San Francisco 49ers select...
S Jonathan Cyprien, Florida International.
Jonathan Cyprien will end up being the best safety to come out of this draft class, period. He has great ball skills and can fill the hole like you'd want any safety to. Don't let the small school fool you, FIU produced TY Hilton last year and Cyprien is a better prospect. He acquitted himself incredibly well against top tier competition over the years, including Texas A&M, Rutgers and as you see below, Teddy Bridgewater and Louisville.
With the 32th selection in the BTB Community Mock Draft, GM ProBowlFactory and the Baltimore Ravens select...
WR Keenan Allen, WR, California.
I actually didn't pay a lot of attention to needs on this team with this pick, though I didn't disregard them completely. The choice was really coming down to Manti Te'o, Jonathan Cyprien and Keenan Allen, but when I saw Te'o come off the board at #29 the decision became a little easier and then Cyprien was taken the pick before. Therefore, Allen became the clear choice. Keenan Allen is a player that will fit right in with what the Raven's like to do. Tough, Physical and full of heart. Let me sum up a lot of what I could say with a quote from my favorite draftnik by far, Mike Mayock. "If you watch this kid on tape. If you like him, he's Anquan Boldin. If you don't like him, he's speed deficient."
When watching "Game Changers" on NFL network, Allen compared himself to Anquan Boldin during the interview portion. We all know that players like to compare themselves to certain players, although that comparison is typically prodded out of them by the media. However, this time, draftniks all around actually say he is pretty spot on with this self-comparison. Meanwhile, most others rarely really compare to the players they claim to be most like. He isn't a fast receiver, but neither was the 'Quan. Both ran around the 4.7 range pre-draft. Allen did have the knee injury though and actually is seen as more of a 4.55 guy on tape, which many say is what he would time if he was fully healthy. Rob Rang of CBSSports also compares him to Jordy Nelson of the Green Bay Packers.
One final cog in the mechanism that is this draft selection was the fact that Anquan Boldin just got traded to San Francisco, and the Raven's could really use a guy to come in and fill the role of the 'Quan on their offense. Will he come in and be Boldin from the start, most likely not. The first step toward doing that would probably mean him coming in and having a 10 catch, 217 yard, 2 touchdown performance in his first game. We all know that is highly unlikely, not to mention coming anywhere close to the many other records Boldin set early in his career, like fastest to 300 receptions and most receptions in first 26 games.
Since we know he won't be Anquan Boldin (He'll be Keenan Allen), let's stop the comparison there and take him for what the Raven's are getting. Allen is a tough, physical receiver who won't shy away from contact and won't just fight for the football, but all-out brawl for it. He isn't a burner by any means, but he has pretty sure hands in traffic and is also a "hands" catcher. If not for his injury, he would probably go a lot higher. He sounds like a Raven, so for the purposes of this mock, we'll make him one.
Here's a final look at our BTB Community Mock Draft, First Round.
Draft Pick | Team | 2012 Record | Assigned GM | Selection |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Chiefs | 2-14 | Trueblue122 | Luke Joeckel, OT, Texas A&M |
2 | Jaguars | 2-14 | Alpha | Dee Milliner, CB, Alabama |
3 | Raiders | 4-12 | FuriousDman | Jarvis Jones, DE/OLB Georgia |
4 | Eagles | 4-12 | JimmyK | Dion Jordan, OLB, Oregon |
5 | Lions | 4-12 | Souna21 | Ziggy Ansah, DE, BYU |
6 | Browns | 5-11 | Tennessee_Jed | Sharrif Floyd, DE, Florida |
7 | Cardinals | 5-11 | Glory Daze | Eric Fisher, OT Central Michigan |
8 | Bills | 6-10 | I'm Jed & I hate the giants | Geno Smith, QB West Virginia |
9 | Jets | 6-10 | Antonio S | Star Lotulelei, DT Utah |
10 | Titans | 6-10 | TNCowbyfan | Chance Warmack, OG Alabama |
11 | Chargers | 7-9 | MosesArt | Lane Johnson, OT Oklahoma |
12 | Dolphins | 7-9 | hectorthegreatone | Xavier Rhodes, CB Florida State |
13 | Buccaneers | 7-9 | YumaCactus | Tyler Eifert, TE Notre Dame |
14 | Panthers | 7-9 | TARHEEL PAUL | Sheldon Richardson, DT Missouri |
15 | Saints | 7-9 | Rena | Kenny Vaccaro, S New Orleans |
16 | Rams | 7-8-1 | Terry | Tavon Austin, WR West Virginia |
17 | Steelers | 8-8 | sumdudeiknew | Cordarelle Patterson, WR Tennessee |
18 | Cowboys | 8-8 | Kegbearer | Bjoern Werner, DE, Florida State |
19 | Giants | 9-7 | Invictus XI | Barkevious Mingo, DE, LSU |
20 | Bears | 10-6 | Hookem Up | Jonathan Cooper, OG, North Carolina |
21 | Bengals | 10-7 | Da Jugganot | Alex Ogletree, LB, Georgia |
22 | Rams | 7-8-1 | @Tonekupone | Eddie Lacy, RB, Alabama |
23 | Vikings | 10-7 | gasman8 | Desmond Trufant, CB, Washington |
24 | Colts | 11-6 | Travlr | Datone Jones, DE, UCLA |
25 | Minnesota | 12-6 | DirtHeavy | Arthur Brown, LB, Kansas State |
26 | Packers | 12-6 | hashishkabob | Sylvester Williams, DE, North Carolina |
27 | Texans | 13-5 | LizardState | Robert Woods, WR, USC |
28 | Broncos | 13-4 | realfanandairman | Kawann Short, DT, Purdue |
29 | Patriots | 13-5 | Birddog26 | Manti Te'o, LB, Notre Dame |
30 | Falcons | 14-4 | StarloverinWNC | Tank Carradine, DE, Florida State |
31 | 49ers | 13-5-1 | KD | Jonthan Cyprien, S, Florida International |
32 | Ravens | 14-6 | ProBowlFactory | Keenan Allen, WR, California |
So what do you think? Did anybody make the perfect pick? Don't forget to answer our poll about the best pick out of these final four selections.