Levi Brown (Penn State)
We're one week out, and I took a look at some of the top free mainstream media mock drafts (meaning: other than Kiper's premium site). The "gurus" have the following players projected for the Falcons with the #8 slot as of April 20th.
-- LaRon Landry, S (LSU) - SI.com, NFL.com B, NBC and ESPN SportsNation
-- Levi Brown, OT (PSU) - Yahoo
-- Amobi Okoye, DL (Lville) - Sportsline A
-- Alan Branch, DT (Michigan) - NFL.com A
-- Gaines Adams - DE (Clemson) - Sportsline B
Personally, I'm hoping for Levi Brown. I think the miracle trade to land Calvin Johnson is sort of a pipe dream given how badly the Tampa Bay Bucs need a WR. We would have to outbid them to get into the Top 3. Kiper thinks the Falcons still have a shot. I'd like to be wrong.
The Falcons haven't had a franchise offensive tackle like Brown in 10+ years. It would be nice to see what Ron Mexico could do with some decent pass protection.
Donde es el protection? (El pun es muy intended)
As for the Landry pick, I don't get it. Generally, there are only about two safeties taken in the first round. History has shown that you can get high quality Safeties, Running Backs, Offensive Guards and Centers in Round 2 and 3. If you're drafting a Safety with a Top 10 pick, he needs to be a Roy Williams or Sean Taylor type impact player. I've never thought of Landry in those terms.
It'll be interesting to see what they do with the pick. Ideally, Charles Johnson would slip to the 2nd Round for them. But that's asking a lot.
See Also:
-- Falcons Eye Landry - AJC
-- The #8 Pick in History -- AJC
-- Web's Largest Mock Draft Database (list) -- HailRedskins.com
-- AOL's Main NFL Fanhouse - Fanhouse
-- Mock Draft: Animals for our Personal Zoo - Kissing Suzy Kolber (warning: profanity)
-- Quien Es Mas Macho: Brady Quinn or Sanjaya Malakar - Kissing Suzy Kolber (warning: profanity)
PWD
11 comments:
Paul, why do you think it would be asking alot for Charles Johnson to slip to them in the second round? Literally every mock I've seen has Charles going after the 1st round. The Falcons have the 7th pick and the 12th pick in round 2, so it seems pretty likely to me that they'd have a shot to pull the trigger on him come their second or third pick.
I know this make me sound like a DisneyDawg, but whoever gets CJ, at whatever level, is going to be a happy team. Personally, I don't think he'll last to the Falcon's second round pick.
I misread your comment to I deleted my response.
Yeah, he's not projected to go in the 1st round by the 8 sites linked above. However, I just think it's a lot to ask to have the Falcons pick the guy that most of the state wants them to pick.
Be it Calvin or Charles.
pwd
You may be right there. I think there is an excellent chance he'll be there for them in round 2, but having them actually select him (or Moses) is another story. Also, I think it'd be a mistake for the Falcons to pick Calvin. They have so many needs that they could get some serious help with by using those second/third round picks that they'd most likely have to give up some of to move up to #2 or #3. They can make a pretty nice S/DE/DT, DT/DE/OT or OT/DE/S haul in this draft.
Personally I hate for Shock to play for the Falcons. He will never get a shot behind the overhyped Micheal Vick. Atleast if they go elsewhere they have a chance to win.
Someone's gonna have to explain to me why its a lot to ask the Falcons to pick a UGA player. I don't get it now nor have I ever understood why Falcons pass up UGA players. How is this a losing proposition to them? And if Charles is the best player available that meets their needs at the time of their pick, then tell me why they wouldn't pick him????
This crap is why I now hate the Falcons.
Seriously. As of right now, no UGA player looks to be taken in the first round. I'm almost positive we can get Johnson in the 2nd round with AT LEAST our second pick in that round. I'm under the impression that we'll probably take a RB with our first pick in round 2 (cough--Michael Bush--cough).
I don't mind them not drafting Falcons when value doesn't line up with need.
And I'll give this ownership group and McKay a lot more slack than their predecessors in this area.
But the Rankin Smith family were absolute idiots about drafting Dawgs.
They didn't draft Hines Ward and took a WR from Nebraska instead. They didn't draft Rodney Hampton and they took some bust out RB instead. They didn't make an effort to bring Herschel home when he was in the twilight of his career and still making valuable contributions as a special teamer.
But...this ownership has done better than its predecessors.
I'm still unsure of why you prefer Brown over Landry in the first round. Almost everyone agrees that road-grade O-Linemen are easier to get in the later rounds than standout defensive performers. After having seen Landry play in person and on screen for 4 years now, I'm hard-pressed, especially with the lack of a truly hard hitting safety on the current roster, not to take Landry in the first round. And while I agree that better linemen will only be better for Vick, our defense is definitely in more need of immediate help than our offense.
Unless, of course, Calvin falls into our lap by some series of events (I do not suggest we trade up for him in any event, but if somehow he were to last to 8, take him).
It doesn't matter what round or what pick the Falcons make, they will screw it up.
Paul - the Falcan'ts took Jammi German out of Miami instead of Hines.
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