As always individually we have strong feelings of who is or who is not a player and the situation is liquid with regards to the draft up until the very end, although I think it becomes somewhat clearer at the end. I try not to post or get real involved in player movements particularly higher rankings, but moving guys both up or down after the season with the exception of some fine tuning, because it ultimately is an ill timed guess based mostly on what we read or view on you tube and there is nothing wrong with that. But it generally ends in useless arguments and defensiveness about “our guys” So now we are 48 hours or so from the draft..lets go on the record officialy with a reference point for future claims of hitting gold....... Obviously the reports coming out about who is interested in who makes it a little easier to guess some of the guys teams are interested in….but still it is just a guess…my GUESS…. #1: JAKE LONG: Solid pick in my opinion. Got that one right!!!!! #32: I see this as a trade area, either up to get a targeted player (QG?) or down to add picks. With that said as of now I see this pick being Chad Henne. Personally I think Henne is the best QB in the class and a better prospect than John Beck by far. And no I am not a John Beck hater…..just see what I see….Henne has a better Arm than Beck, throws crossing and out routes better. Beck may or may not have better touch on the deep ball that is debatable. I hear lots of great things about Becks “intangibles” and all the bad, about the APP State loss and other losses when Henne was QB....point taken. I still see Henne as a much better prospect than Beck and the #1 QB (yes better than Matt Ryan…bash away) in this class. He could be a Dolphin smokescreen and that does not change my opinion of him. #57: Tracy Porter/Tyrell Thomas/Justin King. Any of these are solid at this choice although Porter is the best cover guy. So I go Porter here. Round 3: Brad Cottam/ Martin Rucker/ John Carlson. I am not a fan of Carlson at all but this would be a spot. Possibly a slight bit early for Cottam but this is generally not a deep TE class. Rucker is the best receiver of these 3, but I think Cottam’s size and blocking ability win out….Cottam a bit early. Round 4: Eddie Royal, Will Franklin, or Marcus Monk. My feeling is Will Franklin has the most upside and is the pick although Royal is versatile and probably the better more polished player right now. Monk is intriguing because of his numbers and reputation. My pick Will Franklin slightly over Eddie Royal. Round 5: No pick…could change on draft day. Round 6a: Brian Johnston/Chris Harrington/Jeremy Thompson. Simply based on the attention given my pick is Jeremy Thompson from Wake. Round 6b: Poppinga/ Lumbada/Silva/Caleb Campbell/Hightower/Parmlee. I think you look at a ST guy that can contribute at some point positional. I think the highest upside is either Caleb Campbell who may not last until round 6 or Hightower. My. Pick Hightower. Round 7a&b. Not much difference at this point between UDFA’s and draftees. It is a crapshoot at this point but some intriguing stories/players that could potentially be available include any of the guys mentioned in round 6, small school projects, injured guys, or sliders: Guys like: Martel VanZant (deaf and a good football player), Matt Flynn, Colt Brennan, Thomas Brown, Kevin O’connell, Brian Witherspoon, Fernando Velasco, Tommy Blake, Andy Studebaker, Jacob Hester, Andrew Crumney, Ezra Butler. So we have my 2 cents official draft guess: 1) Jake Long OT Michigan 2a) Chad Henne, QB Michigan 2b) Tracy Porter, CB Indiana 3) Brad Cottam, TE Tennessee 4) Will Franklin, WR Mizzou 5) NP 6a) Jeremy Thompson, DE Wake Forest 6b) Tim Hightower RB Richmond 7a) Fernando Velasco, C/G Georgia 7b) Sean Murphy, OG Utah State
