2012 Mock Draft (1 Viewer)

[Kenny Powers]

I messed up.

Yesterday Pat Kirwin did a mock that looks pretty good to me.

24. Pittsburgh Steelers Fletcher Cox, DT, Mississippi State:

Fletcher Cox, DT, Mississippi State: It may come down to Cox and Worthy for this spot. Fletcher Cox plays hard every single play, and at 6-4, 295 pounds, can play the nose or "5" technique. With Aaron Smith gone, and Casey Hampton a question mark at best, Cox is an excellent fit.

31. Pittsburgh Steelers (Mock trade from New England for Mike Wallace) Stephen Hill, WR, Georgia Tech:

No one is sure if a team will go after Mike Wallace, but it is possible, and the Patriots have two first-round picks and plenty of salary cap space. Wallace is 26 and would be a great fit in the Patriots offense. The Steelers could select fast-rising Hill after his big combine to replace the loss of Wallace.

Oof I pasted his reasoning from the link. So the Steelers are going to draft a 4-3 DT? A guy who doesnt even weigh 300lbs is going to play NT? Didnt they draft Aaron Smith's replacement last year in Cameron Heyward?

I actually heard Kirwin on a local sportstalk show a week or 2 ago, and he said he thinks Pittsburgh has to and will keep Wallace. Now he's gone? Also, with all their holes, no way they draft a WR in the 1st. Not to mention, their selections of Wallace, Brown, and Sanders in the 3rd, 6th, and 3rd rounds respectively has shown they can find WR talent late.

The rest of his mock looks reasonable, but he's way off on the Steelers.

 

[MAC_32]

I find it hilarious that Stephen Hill is listed as Mike Wallace's replacement. Holy hell that would be a terribl edecision.

 

[Kenny Powers]

Poe had one of the absolute best combines anyone has had in years. Agree with it or not, it is going to drastically change his draft position.

Teams get burned by what prospects do in shorts and a t shirt every year, that's probably never going to change, still doesn't discount it being a poor decision. What Dontari Poe did last week is little different than what Chris Henry (no, not the dead one) did 4 years ago. Had Poe been talked about as a potential late round 1 prospect earlier I'd feel differently, but I never saw him as looked as anything more than a potential day 2 question mark before last week. There's a reason he was talked about as that day 2 wildcard and whatever team gets him will find out why, he's a much better athlete than football player.

Both Kiper and McShay had Poe as top 25 talent prior to the combine, or in other words, pretty much a 1st round lock.

Probably the only 2 draft guys I don't follow, fitting they are the ones to rank Poe too high.

When you say "day 2", do you mean the new day 2 which would be 2nd or 3rd round, or old day 2 which would mean round 4+? Just thought of that. When I first read it, I took it as round 4+ and I dont see how that is possible by anyone knowledageable, and how big of a gap there would be between them and Kiper/McShay.I also know before the combine I saw multiple mocks, walterfootball among others, having the Steelers taking Poe at 24. There was also a lot of talk locally of him being 1 of their top targets in the 1st round. By all accounts I was reading, he was anything but a day 2 project.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

If Richardson drops like that and the Bengals don't make a move to get ahead of the Jets to grab him, I will be very disappointed.

As a Jets' fan and a holder of the 1.01 in one league I would love for it to happen, but I don't think it will.

 

[MAC_32]

Poe had one of the absolute best combines anyone has had in years. Agree with it or not, it is going to drastically change his draft position.

Teams get burned by what prospects do in shorts and a t shirt every year, that's probably never going to change, still doesn't discount it being a poor decision. What Dontari Poe did last week is little different than what Chris Henry (no, not the dead one) did 4 years ago. Had Poe been talked about as a potential late round 1 prospect earlier I'd feel differently, but I never saw him as looked as anything more than a potential day 2 question mark before last week. There's a reason he was talked about as that day 2 wildcard and whatever team gets him will find out why, he's a much better athlete than football player.

Both Kiper and McShay had Poe as top 25 talent prior to the combine, or in other words, pretty much a 1st round lock.

Probably the only 2 draft guys I don't follow, fitting they are the ones to rank Poe too high.

When you say "day 2", do you mean the new day 2 which would be 2nd or 3rd round, or old day 2 which would mean round 4+? Just thought of that. When I first read it, I took it as round 4+ and I dont see how that is possible by anyone knowledageable, and how big of a gap there would be between them and Kiper/McShay.I also know before the combine I saw multiple mocks, walterfootball among others, having the Steelers taking Poe at 24. There was also a lot of talk locally of him being 1 of their top targets in the 1st round. By all accounts I was reading, he was anything but a day 2 project.

I mean the new day 2. As in, he could emerge as a day 2 target for some teams depending on how his offseason goes. The product was not their in school, but he shows the physical tools to be successful if he figures out how to use them.He then blew all those ideas out of the water in Indy, now his stock is ridiculously high. There's only downside to taking a guy like Poe in round 1, draft substance not potential. Draft potential later.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

The thing about Upshaw is where he fits. He didn't look particularly good in the linebacker drills and combined with the number of 3-4 teams in the NFL that's a combination that could cause him to slip.Brockers only had one okay redshirt sophomore season and showed up terribly at the combine. But with the number of 3-4 teams desperate for NT help, he'll probably get overdrafted.

Im confused. You say there is a shortage of teams using a 3-4 so Upshaw will slip, but because of how many teams run a 3-4 Brockers will get overdrafted.It's a moot point though because Upshaw projects as both a 3-4 OLB or 4-3 DE.

My statement isn't that hard to reconcile since, IMO, Upshaw doesn't project well as a 3-4 OLB as you seem to think. So if he isn't picked by the Titans pick, looking at the teams at the bottom half of the 1st round (well, maybe the Browns), there's every reason to think he could fall a lot farther.

Brockers is in no way a NT (depending on source he is between 305-325lbs), he projects as a 4-3 DT or possibly a 3-4 DE.

We'll see after his pro day. But he didn't have great stats at LSU (yeah, yeah - double team this and that) and he didn't show much explosion at the combine that would make you think he'll be a special player.I know people pooh pooh the combine these days but it does tell you things.

 

[uwftbl]

Green Bay finishes last in the league in defense and "doesn't have any real needs???"

 

[Andy Dufresne]

I guess DT's have always spooked me since "sure fire" first rounder Alan Branch lasted until the 2nd round back in 2007. Yes, I remember he had injury concerns too.

 

[Kenny Powers]

Brockers is in no way a NT (depending on source he is between 305-325lbs), he projects as a 4-3 DT or possibly a 3-4 DE.

We'll see after his pro day. But he didn't have great stats at LSU (yeah, yeah - double team this and that) and he didn't show much explosion at the combine that would make you think he'll be a special player.I know people pooh pooh the combine these days but it does tell you things.

He still isnt a NT, and you said he may not drop out of the 1st and would get overdrafted because of 3-4 teams needing a NT, while his best fit is a 4-3.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Brockers is in no way a NT (depending on source he is between 305-325lbs), he projects as a 4-3 DT or possibly a 3-4 DE.

We'll see after his pro day. But he didn't have great stats at LSU (yeah, yeah - double team this and that) and he didn't show much explosion at the combine that would make you think he'll be a special player.I know people pooh pooh the combine these days but it does tell you things.

He still isnt a NT, and you said he may not drop out of the 1st and would get overdrafted because of 3-4 teams needing a NT, while his best fit is a 4-3.

I backtracked. And I'm still not sure what to make of him. But to say he couldn't play NT is not correct. Many NTs in the league are around the 325-330 mark. In fact, of the ones I looked at, only one (Terrence Cody) was above 330. Most were right around 325 and some were even sub-310.