NFL Mock Draft #1

1. MIA-Chris Long, DE Virginia. The Dolphins need a sure pick and Long is as sure as they come. Dorsey has a lot of potential but injury concerns might hurt his stock.

2. STL-Glenn Dorsey , DT LSU. The Rams need a lot of help on defense but there isn’t guy in the secondary worth drafting so high. Big Glenn combined with Adam Carriker and Leonard Little will be a strong combination.

3. ATL-Jake Long, T Michigan. Although the Falcons need to draft a big name to start the image makeover, the team’s new G.M. is from the Patriots. Thus they will take the best player available. Long is real solid and can contribute immediately.

4. OAK-Darren McFadden, RB Arkansas. If the Cowboys don’t trade up Al Davis won’t be able to pass up this amazing talent. Sure there is character issues, wait that makes him more attractive to the Raiders.

5. KC-Ryan Clady, T Boise State. After sulking for awhile as Jake Long doesn’t make it this far, the Chiefs take the next best thing in Clady who is athletic as the big men come. Check out his block on the famous touchdown play vs. Oklahoma as he seals the way for Ian to make the proposal.

6. NYJ-Sedrick Ellis, DT USC.  Despite being attracted to Ryan, they have too much invested in Pennington, Clemens and possibly Brad Smith? The d-line needs all the help it can get and Ellis has been tearing up workouts and is athletic enough to play some DE in the 3-4.

7. NE-Vernon Gholston, DE Ohio St. This super freak will end up where most other tremendous athletes do, in Foxboro. He will probably look real good at outside linebacker and guess what, the Pats just released Roosevelt Colvin.

8. BAL-Matt Ryan, QB Boston College. I know seeing him this far down seems not possible but teams seem to have different views about his potential. With several top pick qbs not performing well as of late, it makes it hard to invest so much. The Ravens however, need a successor and can release Boller if Ryan somehow falls to them.

9. CIN-Kentwan Balmer, DT North Carolina. The next athletic d-lineman from NC is here. Hopefully he will do better things than Ryan Sims.

10. NO-Keith Rivers, OLB USC. He is a little bit of a reach here because of his recent injuries concerns but you have to like his athletic nature. A strong defense tranlates into wins for the Saints and their big time offense.

11. BUF-Malcolm Kelly, WR Oklahoma. Getting someone to take attention off Lee Evans is a top priority. Kelly has the potential to command double teams and will make a big impact.

12. DEN- Derrick Harvey, DE Florida. Why not add another defensive lineman from Florida to fix the pass rush which seems to be a top priority year after year. They have greater needs at linebacker but no others are good picks here.

13. CAR- Leodis McKelvin, DB Troy. This up and coming defensive back can immediately add some speed to the secondary that needs some help. Hopefully the return of the moose and Dwayne Jarret’s possible improvements aid the WR core.

14. CHI- Aqib Talib, DB Kansas. A lot of mixed views are coming his way as of now. They will look at receiver hard with the losses of Muhammad and Berrian. DeSean Jackson is valuable but with Hester his return skills will go to waste.

15. DET- Jonathan Stewart, RB Oregon. Mendenhall is closing the gap fast and possibly passing Stewart on many team boards but Stewart is an absolute beast that brings a physical running attack to Detroit. They also need major DB help.

16. ARI- Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, DB Tennessee-State. Another great athlete that will help shore up Arizona’s spotty secondary. After moving Rolle to safety there is a vacancy. They also need d-line improvements.

17. MIN- Phillip Merling, DE Clemson. Despite using numerous picks on defensive ends, they just haven’t panned out so for now, the Vikings are forced to take another. Despite some people’s views, I think the WR core will be ok with Rice and Allison and Wade.

18. HOU- Mike Jenkins, DB USF. It is exciting to the see the Texans young d-players develop each year. They add another here to help the secondary catch up to the progess of the LBs and D-linemen.

19. PHI- Chris Williams, OT Vanderbilt. They have an older O-line and Winston Justice as a backup. So far I’m not impressed with him. They can choose between him and Jeff Otah.

20. TB- DeSean Jackson, WR CAL. The Bucs salivate as Mr. Stretch the Field himself slides to pick 20. With Ike Hilliard and Galloway aging, they have a real need for speed.

21. WAS- Jeff Otah, T Pittsburgh. With numerous O-line injuries, they add some youth. If only a talented young safety was available. RIP Mr. Taylor. They are gonna miss him.

22. DAL- Rashard Mendenhall, RB Illinois. Assuming they don’t trade up, Mendenhall or Stewart would be a great addition with game-changing speed that Barber doesn’t have. No offense to him because frankly if I was anywhere near him he would purposely run me over on his way to the endzone.

23. PIT- Quentin Groves, DE Auburn. Another great athlete that can play either in a 4-3 or 3-4. They need d-line help because when Aaron Smith got hurt, teams noticed and took advantage.

24. TEN- Mario Manningham, WR Michigan. Wide receiver help is at the top of the list. They resigned Gage which could prove smart but more aid is needed. Sweed will be looked at. Another Longhorn to Longhorn connection? If only Limas hadn’t gotten injured.

25. SEA- Reggie Smith, DB Oklahoma. This young guy has lots of talent and Seattle’s secondary never seems fixed despite several attempts to do so.

26. JAX- Lawrence Jackson, DE USC. They simply need a better pass rush and they lose McCray. Another huge athlete comes to town. Have you ever noticed how small Jones-Drew and Northcutt look on the sideline and in the huddle?

27. SD- Branden Albert, G Virginia. O-line is getting older so for now this is the pick. Hopefully he will fair better than the last few o-linemen from the big V. Maybe D’Brick and Elton Brown can resurrect their careers.

28. DAL- Limas Sweed, WR Texas. Chances are a Longhorn staying in Dallas will call for a standing ovation. One can’t ever be sure with T.O. and Glenn is just simply old.

29. SF- James Hardy, WR Indiana. This 6′6 beast isn’t crazy fast but he seems unstoppable when he runs good routes. Talk about needing WR help.

30. GB- Calais Campbell, DE Miami. This 6′6 beast, wait that sounds familiar. Anyway this giant can aid a d-line starting to age. Fan favorite KGB can’t play forever and this guy can stop the run and get to the passer.

31. NYG- Dan Connor, LB Penn St. Antonio Pierce is aging and injuries hurt the group this past year. Connor doesn’t stand out in workouts but his film doesn’t lie, he’s simply a football player.

Autograph hounds hindering hobby

I started reading a blog about some guys who make a yearly trek down to several spring training sites in order to obtain autographs. This seemed very intriguing to me, not only because I have never been to spring training and wanted to here about it, but also because getting so many autographs and meeting so many players in just a week sounds amazing. One of those guys obtained around 200 autographs during his first day on site. That is remarkable. I have not obtained that many through mail requests during this whole year, my first as an avid autograph collector.

I was stoked to read about the daily entries after reading about the first day. Then I noticed a link about the collector to a website. I became intrigued and clicked away. I then found out the guy operated a cards for sale inventory webstore. This really saddened me. I can’t ever imagine selling my memorabilia unless basically I was on the verge of being broke and starving. Many pieces have great stories about the obtaining of them, especially those pieces obtained at spring training.

The guy repeatedly asked players to sign numerous pieces and sometimes this added up to over ten items. Are that many autos of one player really needed? If they are for sale, then I bet so. Players aren’t stupid and understand when guys are out to make a buck. This really hurts the hobby because people like myself have a harder time obtaining autos in some instances because players question whether the item will just be on Ebay tomorrow. I realize that I am becoming an adult and this shouldn’t be a concern that an adult should worry about. However when a young person has a harder time getting their hero’s graph because of the auto hounds out there, a problem exists.

P.S. I received four cards in the mail today, one autographed card a piece from football players Andre Reed and Brian Blades and baseball players Mark Grace and Bobby Bonilla. You can assume they will be displayed on my apartment wall the rest of the year and not for sale online any time soon.