The NFL Scouting Combine \u2013 the most overly scrutinized event in all of sports. Every
\nyear the top college football players from across the nation display their skills in a series of tests, workouts, and drills. Thousands of talent evaluators representing each of the 32 NFL teams
\nattend this event looking to find \u201cThe Next Big Thing.\u201d However, in today\u2019s age, many of these
\nscouts focus more on 40-yard dash times than on-field performance itself. It is such a shame that
\na player who put up incredible statistics against great competition, drops down in the Draft due
\nto a poor performance at the Combine. So now that this circus is over with and free-agency is
\nabout to kick-off here is an in-depth look at a 2013 1st round mock draft:<\/p>\n
1. Kansas City Chiefs – Luke Joeckel, OT, Texas A&M \u2013Andy Reid made a bold move trading much for Alex Smith. Looks like Brandon Albert is going to walk away in free agency so left tackle is a big need and Joeckel\u2019s likely the pick over Eric Fisher.
\n2. Jacksonville Jaguars – Sharrif Floyd, DT, Florida \u2013 Floyd has been flying up draft boards. Star Lotulelei left the Combine with a heart condition, so Floyd should be the guy at 2.
\n3. Oakland Raiders \u2013 Geno Smith, QB, West Virginia \u2013 The worst franchise in the league makes another incredibly poor pick here. This squad has so many bigger needs than quarterback, but take a wild guess which QB ran the fastest 40? Geno Smith.
\n4. Philadelphia Eagles \u2013 Eric Fisher, OT, Central Michigan \u2013 Michael Vick was absolutely destroyed last year. With Chip Kelly\u2019s new offense in place, that cannot afford to happen. Tackle makes the most sense and Fishers not too far behind Joeckel.
\n5. Detroit Lions \u2013 Dee Milner, CB, Alabama \u2013 The Lions always take the best player available and Milner is that guy here, which actually bodes well for them as the Lions\u2019 secondary is absolutely horrific.
\n6. Cleveland Browns \u2013 Dion Jordan, DE\/OLB, Oregon \u2013 Jordan is a fairly interesting prospect as he had a down senior year, but his freakish athleticism was displayed at the Combine. Hybrid lineman\/linebacker who can provide major help to Cleveland\u2019s D.
\n7. Arizona Cardinals \u2013 Chance Warmack, G, Alabama \u2013 Guards are never taken this high but Arizona\u2019s offensive line was that bad last year.
\n8. Buffalo Bills \u2013 Cordarrelle Patterson, WR, Tennessee \u2013 Very raw prospect but would be a interesting complement to an offense featuring the explosive C.J. Spiller and Stevie Johnson.
\n9. New York Jets \u2013 Jarvis Jones, OLB, Georgia – When was the last time the Jets had a decent pass rush? Not since the New York Sack Exchange of the 1980\u2019s! So many needs for this team that new GM John Idzik would be wise to trade down and get more picks. Jones has some injury concerns, but his upside is scary, and he would immediately make an impact.
\n10. Tennessee Titans \u2013 Jonathan Cooper, OG, North Carolina \u2013 The Titans would love to have Warmack if he falls to them, but if he does not then they\u2019ll settle for Cooper.
\n11. San Diego Chargers \u2013 Ezekiel Ansah, DE\/OLB, BYU \u2013 Ziggy\u2019s potential is ridiculous and the Chargers would love to add his skill set to their defense. He has all the makings of a Jason-Pierre Paul type of guy.
\n12. Miami Dolphins \u2013 Lane Johnson, OT, Oklahoma \u2013 With former number one pick Jake Long likely leaving, the Dolphins are going to need a guy to protect Ryan Tannehill\u2019s blind side.
\n13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers \u2013 Desmond Trufant, CB, Washington \u2013 The Buc\u2019s secondary was even worse last season after trading Aqib Talib to the Pats. Trufant\u2019s 4.3 40 should put him in play for Tampa.
\n14. Carolina Panthers \u2013 Star Lotulelei, DT, Utah \u2013 Star was a consensus top-5 pick before his heart scare at the Combine. His stock all depends on the results of his tests, but the Panthers would love to add him to their defense.
\n15. New Orleans Saints \u2013 Bjoern Wener, DE, Florida State \u2013 The Saints should make every single one of their draft picks on defensive players. New coordinator Rob Ryan has his work cut out for him trying to fix the worst D in history, and Werner would be a great piece to start with.
\n16. St. Louis Rams \u2013 Kenny Vaccaro, S, Texas \u2013 The Rams have been looking to add a leader in their secondary and the clear top safety in this draft Vaccaro would certainly help the Rams out.
\n17. Pittsburgh Steelers \u2013 Barkevious Mingo, DE, LSU \u2013 the Steelers always seem to draft solid defensive players in the early rounds and Mingo would add some youth to their aging D.
\n18. Dallas Cowboys \u2013 Sheldon Richardson, DT, Missouri \u2013 the Cowboys would jump on this guy in a second as Jay Ratliff is coming off a poor season and Monte Kiffin is looking to implement his 4-3 Tampa Cover 2 D in the Big D.
\n19. New York Giants \u2013 Damontre Moore, DE\/OLB, Texas A&M \u2013 Moore is coming off a huge season with the Aggies, but his poor combine performance will prevent him from being a top-10 guy. With Osi gone and Tuck struggling, Moore would be a nice selection for the G-Men.
\n20. Chicago Bears \u2013 Tyler Eifert, TE, Notre Dame \u2013 Chicago got no production whatsoever from their tight ends last year, and Eifert looks to be a special talent.
\n21. Cincinnati Bengals \u2013 Eddie Lacy, RB, Alabama \u2013 BenJarvus Green-Ellis may have the most awesome name in the NFL, but he simply is not a workhouse back. Lacy can definitely be that type of player for them.
\n22. St. Louis Rams (from Washington Redskins) \u2013 D.J. Fluker, OT, Alabama \u2013 another Bama product comes off the board as the Rams second 1st rounder, from the RG3 trade, should be a lineman to protect the fragile Sam Bradford.
\n23. Minnesota Vikings \u2013 Tavon Austin, WR, West Virginia \u2013 Austin looks like a Percy Harvin clone and if the Vikings decide to trade the out-spoken Harvin, Austin is the selection here.
\n24. Indianapolis Colts \u2013 Xavier Rhodes, CB, Florida State \u2013 Value pick here as the Colts secondary has been weak for a while now, and Rhodes has a ton of upside.
\n25. Seattle Seahawks \u2013 Sylvester Williams, DT, North Carolina \u2013 The only hole on the Seahawks defense seems to be a lack of an interior lineman, and Williams fits the need well.
\n26. Green Bay Packers \u2013 Barrett Jones, OL, Alabama \u2013 The three time national champion\u2019s versatility would be a nice addition to the poor Packer O-Line.
\n27. Houston Texans \u2013 Keenan Allen, WR, California \u2013 If it weren\u2019t for Andre Johnson, Matt Schaub would have probably put up Mark Sanchez-type numbers. The quarterback needs a clear-cut number two receiver and Allen could be the answer.
\n28. Denver Broncos \u2013 Matt Elam, safety, Florida \u2013 After the disastrous conclusion to the AFC Divisional Round game against Baltimore, the Broncos will look to upgrade at safety and Elam\u2019s
\npotential is tremendous.
\n29. New England Patriots \u2013 Alec Ogletree, LB, Georgia \u2013 Top 10 talent with plenty off the field issues. Won\u2019t be a problem for the Pats though as they will shape Ogletree up to be an absolute stud alongside Jerod Mayo.
\n30. Atlanta Falcons \u2013 Margus Hunt, DE, SMU \u2013 Sleeper pick here as the Falcons have a need for a defensive end with the release of John Abraham.
\n31. San Francisco 49ers \u2013 Jonathan Banks, CB, Mississippi State \u2013 the Niners are the most well- rounded team in the league, and with a record 15 draft picks look for them to trade up. Despite a
\npoor Combine, Banks could shine in San Francisco.
\n32. Baltimore Ravens \u2013 Manti Te\u2019o, LB, Notre Dame \u2013 the most overanalyzed college player in recent memory, Te\u2019o will be assigned the incredibly difficult challenge of replacing one of the greatest linebackers the NFL has ever seen \u2013 Ray Lewis. Good luck with that Manti!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The NFL Scouting Combine \u2013 the most overly scrutinized event in all of sports. Every year the top college football players from across the nation display their skills in a series of tests, workouts, and drills. Thousands of talent evaluators representing each of the 32 NFL teams attend this event looking to find \u201cThe Next…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":703,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"portfolio_post_id":0,"portfolio_citation":"","portfolio_annotation":"","openlab_post_visibility":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[52,484,497,676,1534,1945],"class_list":["post-3867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports","tag-52","tag-college","tag-combine","tag-draft","tag-nfl","tag-scouting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/703"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3867\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}