Pick 7 - San Francisco 49ers

The pick here is Prince Amukamara.  People will learn to pronounce this kid's name.  He's a gifted cover corner with good size and run support skills.  He can compotently play both man-to-man or zone coverage while supporting against the run.  Essentially, he is the type of corner that you can plug and play in any system that Jim Harbaugh and his staff want to run.  He's a piece that would not need to be discarded in 3 years if a new coach is hired.  (Ask the Lions how that repeated strategy works).

In evaluating the Niners roster it is pretty clear that this is a talented group that underachieved in a weak division last year.  The door is open for this team to step through and make the playoffs against a division where everyone  finished nearly .500 or below.  Amukamara will help upgrade the secondary and defensive unit.  Harbaugh might be tempted to go offense here, but people underestimate Harbaugh's commitment to defense.  He went to Michigan.  He played for the Bears and the Colts (an underrated defense at the time).  He runs the football to control tempo.  He knows that no game is won on just one side of the ball because he has a high footbal IQ.  If one of the top flight QBs is available here he might be tempted, but the two QBs I consider worth drafting are already gone.

Keep in mind baseball is right around the corner.  Brian will be posting his fantasy baseball list based on regression analysis of each players' last 1800 at-bats.  He routinely uses this list, makes 4 moves during a season, and wins the fantasy baseball league.  Only God has a better list.

Pick 6 Cleveland

Pick 6 for Cle. caused by Jake Delhomme, words you hear a lot.  Thankfully they've decided to turn it over to Colt McCoy and the pain can end.  This would have been a perfect spot for A.J. Green, but he's gone, so they must regroup.  There are no other offensive needs that can addressed here, because the talent just isn't there, so the Browns will have to go Defense.  Robert Quinn or Vonn Miller would have been slam dunks here if they stuck in the 3-4, but they've gone to Dick Jauron's defense which means 4-3 with big run stopping ends.  I'd still consider Miller here, he could play Will or Sam on running downs and end on passing downs, and I'd also think that Adrian Clayborn would interest Jauron, but not this high.

So the choice has to be uber talented cornerback Patrick Peterson.  He's too good not to take, and if he doesn't work out at corner he'll be a Sean Taylor (R.I.P) type Safety

Pick 5 - Arizona Cardinal

The Pick - Cam Newton

The Cardinals are in dire need of a quarterback.  If the Bengals pick Gabbert then the Cardinals are left to either draft a prospect or resort to free agency.  Perhaps the Cardinals attempt to sign Carson Palmer in the offseason and spend this pick on a 3-4 outside linebacker like the versatile Von Miller.

I've got the Cardinals picking Newton because the coaching staff is familiar with the play of Big Ben.  Whisenhunt could look for Newton make plays outside the pocket and extend plays with his size and speed just like Ben does in Pittsburgh.

The quarterback position is evolving.  In the 90s and even the early 2000 everyone was looking for a drop back quarterback to get the ball out on time and spread the field with a powerful arm.  Now a days there is more than one way to get the job done.  Quarterbacks that move around and make something out of nothing can save drives and cover up a lot of weaknesses on your football team.

This is a lot earlier that most people have Newton coming off the board.  Some of that is certainly justified with Newton's troubles at Florida and Auburn.  It takes a fairly idiotic man to get caught taking money in the SEC.  They have protocols for these type of things and it's pretty simple.  However, I think his ability to move and throw the ball will keep Larry Fitzgerald from sitting down in the middle of the locker room, dousing himself in gasoline and lighting himself on fire like a Buddhist Monk.

If I was running Arizona that would be priority number one with me.  No Larry Fitzgerald fiery martyr moments this year.  He's probably the most talented wide receiver playing today and currently his best chance to get a catch is to set up a jugs machine behind center.  Simply tragic.

End of an Era in Utah

A sad day to see Jerry Sloan resign in Utah. How did it come to this. We may never know what was said between Sloan and general manager Kevin O'Conner. I hope he truly did try and talk him out of it. Seems like it should have ended differently, maybe with a gritty playoff loss, or maybe Karl Malone cheap shoting him and ending his career, or maybe like we all hoped another shot at the title without Jordan there to crush his dreams at the last gasp. Farewell Jerry Sloan, you made the idea of playing basketball in Utah more than just a joke, hopefully it stays that way.

Pick 4 - Bungles

After spending years trying to fill the void of Boomer Esiason (and think how sad it was that they were pining for the days of Boomer) they Bengals finally hit the jackpot, the prototype NFL quarterback, mechanically sound, the man who if you were going to sculpt a statue of a quarterback would be the man you had pose for it (easier now that he is a statue after they destroyed his leg), was the consensus number 1 pick by all the experts.  Cinci's inept scouting department could just sit back and do what the world told them, and despite our expectations they actually took him.

For years Palmer has probably regretted that, if only he could have come down with the flu, or been photographed with communist terrorist strippers (or started a dog fighting cockfighting Mike Tyson fighting ring) and fell because of character concerns he could have played for a real team and had the career he deserved.

Now he's had enough and wants to play for a real team (I hear Arizona is nice this time of year), and it's the time for the Bengals to show it wasn't a fluke when they got Palmer and they can in fact draft a reasonable quarterback.  Here are their choices

Blaine Gabbert:                I've never seen him, know nothing about him other than people love him

Cam Newton: Would probably steal Marv Lewis' laptop and write "Cam's" in glitter on it, also not the most accurate, has no prostyle experience, afraid to compete (left Fla. because he didn't want to sit a year instead played Juco against scrubs for a year).  Basically a more athletic Jamarcus Russell (without the arm strength).  No Thanks

Jake Locker:  A four year starter who still needs lots of learning, is it his coach from his first 2 years fault?  Don't know, but he should have ironed out the wrinkles by now, needs some time (2 years?) to get ready.  Bengals won't wait.

Ryan Mallet: Great arm, his feet will determine his future, if he can get his footwork down could be another great big quarterback, if not, he could take up a lot of room on the bus.

Christian Ponder: Just mediocre enough that he matches the Bengals draft strategy?  He'll be okay, but not here.

So Blaine Gabbert it is, the experts had it right with Palmer, and god knows the Bengals don't know what to do, so go with Gabbert, throw him to the wolves, and see if he brings home wolf pelts.

Pick 3 - Buffalo Bills

The Pick - A.J. Green WR Georgia

It has been a long time since the glory days of Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas and Andre Reed.

The Bills are currently a team without an identity.  The team ranked in the bottom half of the league in nearly every major team statistic (passing, rushing, rush defense).  The only bright spot being the team ranked 3rd in the league in pass defense.  Of course, when the more talented teams in the division are kicking your ass they usually don't need to pass the ball.  They're running out the clock with run plays while you're desperately passing to get back into it.  Volume is the problem.  Opponents ran 571 run plays against the Bills while only throwing 473 times.

With all that said, the right move for a franchise this far down in the league is to draft the best player available.  In this case that is A.J. Green.  Green has been a star since he stepped foot on Georgia's campus.  His impact on the Bulldogs season was apparent when he returned from one of the more ridiculous suspensions in modern history.  (Reggie Bush's parents lived in a $250,000 paid for by agents/boosters and it took 5 years to investigate.  Green sells something that belongs to him and the NCAA cracks down in a few months.)  In any event, the Bulldogs were a completely different team with Green's athletic ability and incredible skill back in the lineup.  Green dominated all comers and showed his superior talent during the second half of the season, while the Bulldogs went from also ran to bowl eligible status.

I've seen some mock drafts saying that the Bills are "okay" at wide receiver with the emergence of Stevie Johnson.  Johnson is a good player.  Lee Evans is definitely serviceable.  However, the team needs an identity.  Ryan Fitzpatrick can get the job done as a signal caller.  The team should give him another year to develop while adding an uber-talented weapon to give this team a much needed identity.  It is time for the team to be something other than simply "okay" or more accurately "mediocre" at every position.  If Fitzpatrick doesn't get it done then they can draft another QB next year, a la the Cowboys drafting Michael Irvin just before getting Troy Aikman.  At the least the new QB would have a ton of targets.

The Bills need to address issues with offensive line, pass rushing linebacker and perhaps tight end later in the draft.

Mock Draft - Pick 2

On the Clock - Denver Broncos

2. Denver Broncos - Nick Fairley

One of the top players in this draft, and at a position of need this just makes way too much sense.  I doubt he'll have the impact that Suh provided the Lions last year, but honestly no one can be expected to.   This pick has the opportunity to be one of the huge tipping points in the draft however, and could go a lot of different ways.

First, if someone wants to take a quarterback early, this is the spot to trade to.  Ryan Fitzpatrick has shown once again that he can start and quarterback and run an offense well enough that fans won't change the channel, but long-term if the Bills want to be competitive he's not the answer.  So they may be inclined to take Gabbert with the third pick.  If not there is no way he falls all the way past Arizona at 5, with Carson Palmer ready to retire if he isn't traded, and a mannequin dressed in Kurt Warner's old jersey Arizona's best option one of these teams will take Gabbert, and one of them may even move up in front of the Bills to do it.

With Champ Bailey likely to depart Patrick Peterson (or P.P) as he will be known from this point forward will also factor in.  Taking a CB this high is risky though, and until P.P runs the short shuttle and 3 cone drill and shows he has the agility and change of direction to hang in the NFL I can't slot him in here.

Also if John Fox isn’t sold on Tim Tebow he could take Gabbert here as well.  But I think it’s worth giving Tebow a shot after what he showed at the end of the year, knowing that if it goes bad Gabbert real wasn’t a once in a lifetime quarterback that you missed out on, and you can probably draft someone comparable next year.

Mock Draft - Carolina Panthers on the Clock

Brian and I will be putting together a mock draft by alternating picks.  I'm up first

1.  Carolina Panthers - Da'Quan Bowers - DE Clemson

Bowers is the top pass rusher available in this draft.  The Panthers roster is depleted at virtually every position.  The Panthers need to start rebuilding.  In the NFL there are three marquis positions that define the modern franichise:  (1) Quarterback; (2) Left Tackle; and (3) Pass Rushing defensive end or linebacker.  It's no secret the modern game is based on passing.  The three key players in every pass play are those listed above.  With the departure of Julius Peppers the Panthers lost the best overall talent available at this position.

The only other possibility here would have been Fairley from Auburn.  Fairley is a player in the Warren Sapp mold which makes him valuable against both the pass and the run.  However, defensive tackles can be limited in their impact on the game because they often play a limited number of snaps.  As a result using the number one pick on a player that may play only half your defensive snaps is not necessarily a good plan.

The last piece that makes this the smart pick is the possibility of a collective bargaining agreement.  If a new CBA is reached then it will almost certainly include a rookie wage scale.  The enormous price of the number one draft pick has forced many teams to reach for the best QB available in recent years, regardless of that player's grade.  A franchise can only justify paying $50 million guaranteed to the quarterback position.  A rookie wage scale means that other positions are more likely to factor into the number one pick.  It would also increase the potential to trade the top picks in the draft because with less money invested the top picks would no longer be an all or nothing proposition.

The Book of Challenges

Brian and I have always talked about writing a book called the Book of Challenges.  The book would center on how to properly use your coach's challenges in a NFL game.  This subject comes up because in the Pittsburgh-Ravens game Mike Tomlin used a challenge on the opening play of the game for approximately 15 yards of field position.  On the play the return man, Webb, was tackled at the 35 yard line, but the referees ruled he was not down.  He got up and ran to the 50 yard line before being tackled again.  Tomlin challenged the play and won.  The announcers, Dierdorf and the guy I always mix up with Bryant Gumble, praised Tomlin for challenging the play.  They are both idiots.

Here is how the Book of Challenges looks:
Chapter 1 - Turnovers
Chapter 2 - Touchdowns
Chapter 3 - Turnovers that lead to Touchdowns
Chapter 4 - That's it.  You do not challenge anything that does not result in a turnover or a touchdown. The only possible exception being third down plays that would result in a fourth down, which are essentially turnovers.

The point is simple.  With only two challenges those challenges must be reserved for plays that result in points.  Turnovers result in points.  Touchdowns result in points on the board.  Herm Edwards once said something smart (it might be the only time) "You play to win the game."  Well, points win the game.  15 yards does not win the game.  In fact, it wins nothing.

If you blow your challenges on 15 yard plays then you might end up running out of challenges.  You only get 2, unless you are right about both.  Even then you only get three.  Any time there is a questionable turnover a coach should use their first challenge in order to save points or gain points, depending on your prospective.  However, if you've used one of your challenges on the first play of the game then you really can only afford to risk a challenge if it is a turnover that leads to a touchdown.  You cannot challenge a regular turnover and must rely upon your defense to make it up.  Either your defense gets a stop after turnover they caused or they make a stop after your offense turns it over.

In the aforementioned Pitt-Baltimore game Tomlin had to use his second challenge in the first quarter when Big Ben coughed up the ball and everyone except Corey Redding stopped playing.  Redding scored a touchdown on the turnover and Tomlin had to try to stem the tide.  Now if this game comes down to a questionable call in the subsequent three quarters Pittsburgh has to live with whatever call happens on the field.

This is especially dangerous because so many NFL officials have adopted a wait and see approach to fumbles and other calls.  Rather than blow the whistle and risk depriving a team of the fumble recovery or extra yardage, the officials rely upon replay to sort it.  The replay of plays when a whistle makes a challenge impossible has trained the referees to swallow the whistle rather than make the right call immediately.  It is a matter of preventing them from embarrassing themselves.

Turnovers.  Touchdowns.  Turnovers that lead to Touchdowns.  That's it.