This is going to be a mock draft where everyone gets to pick the way they think the draft ought to go down. I'll do a post every Friday with which teams are going to be up that week and all you need do is email your selections back to us. Richard is going to aggregate and compile the results for Tuesday. We will take a quick a look at the four teams up for that week; then you can make the pick that you think makes sense for them. That should take us right through the draft when we will see the best and the worst BFTB drafters. The best will be crowned AJ, Emperor of the Draft; the worst shall be Al Davis, Emperor of the Daft. My initial thought was to have everyone email their picks so we would have reduced 'group think'; but we seem to be pretty cantankerous lot willing to make our judgments so just post a comment down below.
The first pick in this years draft goes to the hapless Detroit Lions who managed a record breaking 0-16 mark in the regular season. You almost can't go wrong with Detroit; they were execrable on both sides of the ball. How bad? This bad:
Many have the Lions taking Mark Stafford as a franchise QB to start things off; I could easily see them taking one of the top offensive tackles too. The head of the SBN Blog for the Lions doesn't seem big on the mocks, but has pretty fair traffic and discussion. Those are some great fans.
The second choice in the draft belongs to the St. Louis Rams. I was a fan back when I was a kid and they were still in LA. A quick look at their overall stats:
It's amazing how fast you can go from the 'greatest show on turf' to 'killing the grass'. This is another team that needs help on both sides of the ball. One of the stud offensive tackles, standout wide receiver Michael Crabtree or one of the top defensive picks would all work here. There is an interesting thread over on Turf Show Times about their pick, and here is their mock database.
Third choice in the draft belongs to the Kansas City Chiefs. After seeing them twice this year; they look pretty close to a turn around to me. Their secondary of Safeties and corners were solid; but they have no pass rush. The spread offense and pistol formation seemed fairly effective; whether they can keep Tony Gonzalez is the big question.
Some think Thigpen isn't up to the job and they ought to take Sanchez or Stafford if available. To me it looks like they have to get somebody to get heat on the QB. To complicate matters they might be shifting to a 3-4 defense too. Either Brian Orakpo/Everette Brown look good to help bring some pressure. Arrowhead Pride has a ridiculous amount of draft comments; here is their breakdown of the choices.
The Seahawks come in with the number four pick. They have an aging/injury prone group of wideouts; if Crabtree is there they would probably take him. Here is how they fared during the regular season:
They could also grab one of the offensive tackles. Here is the offseason check list over at Field Gulls. If you want to check for a player at a position, don't forget Mayock's top five prospects by position.
Ok, there it is, just put your picks down in comments. If you have some post-combine regret over a pick we will be pretty lenient about letting folks swap around.