mock draft 1.0

1. St. Louis Rams:  Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma

The consensus choice here is Suh, and it’s certainly true that St. Louis needs help on its d-line, especially if it wants to see some return on its previous d-line investments.  It’s also true that in a number of respects, not the least of which is experience in a pro-style offense, Jimmy Clausen is the better pick.  Bradford, however, has extraordinary accuracy and much better arm strength than his rival Colt McCoy; he’s also a huge improvement over Clausen in terms of not being an enormous prick.  The NFL’s bust rate is directly related to work ethic and leadership ability, and Bradford has both in spades.  Neither Bradford nor Clausen is going to have the immediate impact of a Matt Ryan, and the very height of their potential is Aaron Rodgers, not Peyton Manning.  Like Rodgers, Bradford would benefit immensely from sitting and learning a system (not to mention getting some offensive weapons and protection), a luxury he won’t have.

He’s the best option regardless, and while he’ll suffer through some rough early years, he has the potential to be the face of the franchise in a few years.

Other Possibilities:  Jimmy Clausen, QB, Notre Dame; Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska

2. Detroit Lions:  Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska

Suh and Gerald McCoy, like Glenn Dorsey and Sedrick Ellis two years before them, increasingly seem like a “1 vs. 1a” in terms of potential.  Unlike those two, Suh and McCoy don’t have a devastating injury (Dorsey’s chop block) and documented troubles handling the run (Ellis) between them.  Suh would provide much-needed help on the interior of Detroit’s line, which has to be one of the league’s worst.  They could also use Berry or Okung here, but safeties never get taken in the top three and Coach Schwartz has been vocal in his support of veteran left tackle Jeff Backus.

Other Possibilities:  Gerald McCoy, DT, Oklahoma; Eric Berry, S, Tennessee

and all my instincts, they return.

--I just finished my first mock draft, along with a list of the 20 best prospects in the draft.  I'll put it up in a little while, and update it after next week's Combine/big free agent moves.  Whether the workout warriors whose stocks rise become Mike Mamulas or Vernon Davises remains to be seen.

--For any fan of Roger Ebert (and as a used-to-be aspiring film critic, I'd certainly put myself in that category), this is a must-read.

--Stop while you can, Justin Vernon.  There's no reason for you to turn into the next Travis Morrison (gone from one of the best lyricists in indie music to complete outcast).

i guess we'll just have to adjust.

Going into the 4th quarter, the Super Bowl had given me absolutely everything I could have wanted.  Manning and Brees were both flawless, and the Saints were pulling ahead.  Fortunately, the tide continued to trend in the Saints' favor.  Unfortunately for the Colts, it meant an embarrassing meltdown in coaching and execution, including a pick that some blithering idiots (as far as football goes, anyway) have already decided defines Manning's career.

Nothing could be further from the truth.  As Aaron Schatz of Football Outsiders pointed out, we don't remember Favre by his Super Bowl loss to the Broncos.  Manning is still the greatest quarterback to play the game, and there's no doubt in my mind that he'll get another ring--if not several--by the time he retires.  Schatz's comment also served as a cagey reference to the historic similarities between the two games, which were one Reggie Wayne drop in the waning minutes from sharing the same final score (31-24).

will you feel better, will you feel anything at all?

In the days before Facebook, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, I made a livejournal account.  I can't remember exactly when and have long since deleted the thing, so I'm assuming sometime during freshman year of high school.  I don't remember what its name was, either (probably something along the lines of "Walter Explains it All" after my preteen idol, Melissa Joan Hart), but I definitely remember the picture I used for it, the cover to King Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King.  I haven't changed much in that respect, and I think we're lucky that I never got into Mars Volta, because that could have just as easily been a Goldfinger'd Telly Savalas.