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2014 NFL Mock Draft 3.0 is here – following week three of the college football season. With some things settling in for what appears to be the long-term, we begin to hone the team needs based off two weeks of the NFL schedule. 

Finally, you can trash my draft order as there was no science involved – just my best guess after watching two weeks of play. I think the one thing we can all say is that the Jags are the odds-on favorite for the No. 1 pick – Teddy Bridgewater. After the Jags, you’re guess is as good as mine, so go ahead and litter the comment section with my team this…or my team that.

Without further ado, we bring you mock draft 3.0. Read the rest of this entry » «2014 NFL Mock Draft – Marcus Mariota climbing, while Clowney falls a spot»

Joshua S. Kelly – USA TODAY Sports

No. 3 Clemson at North Carolina State Thursday 7:30 PM on ESPN

The Thursday night contest appears to be a dramatic mismatch – and it probably is. That said, the Wolf Pack has some NFL talent on their roster, making this a solid matchup for draft fans. The best part of this contest will be when Clemson is on offense matching up against a fairly solid NC State secondary. They are big in the backend as Tajh Boyd will be looking for another signature performance in 2013.

What we’ll be watching:

Sammy Watkins vs. Dontae Johnson

I want this matchup early and often during this Thursday night contest. Dontae Johnson is waiting to burst onto the scene among the draft community. This could be the contest that the bubble bursts on whether he’s legit or not.

Sammy Watkins is back to his old self after a down season – in relation to his monster freshman season. Watkins is a tough matchup for anyone with his agility. What we haven’t seen is someone physical and fast try to manhandle him at the line of scrimmage. It’s my hope that Johnson take the challenge to see what both these guys are truly made of. Read the rest of this entry » «2014 NFL Draft Watch: Week 4»

Week three was all about the Crimson Tide and the Aggies. That game certainly didn’t disappoint – despite having enormous expectations. Johnny Football is very quickly proving he provides more punch on the field than he does off it. He is going to make things real interesting for NFL talent evaluators as the ultimate high risk, higher reward pick.

It wasn’t just the Aggies and Tide that put on some spectacular performances. The late game between Wisconsin and Arizona State rewarded those that stayed up to watch it and features two movers on our list.

As always, I remind readers that this is a three week culmination – not just a week three look at performances. Therefore, you won’t find AJ McCarron on this list. McCarron looked very mediocre in week one and very good against A&M. One good performance (against a bad D) is not enough to make the stock up list. After the break check out those heading north or south in this week’s stock up/stock down column. Read the rest of this entry » «Week Three NFL Draft Stock Report»

Brad Penner – USA TODAY Sports

Three weeks of college football has passed us by and things are going as planned for the most part. While the nitpickers have been out in full force on the Jadeveon Clowney front – he’s as advertised.

While Clowney is the headliner of this group there’s plenty of top notch talent in this defensive group. UCLA’s Anthony Barr has the look of a future NFL star. Barr’s raw athletic gifts caught the world by surprise last year but added some season to his game in 2013 should secure him as a top five prospect.

Barr isn’t the only linebacker prospect with some serious ability. Alabama’s C.J. Mosley would have been a first round pick had he chose to come out in the 2013 NFL Draft. Mosley opted to stay at Alabama for his senior season and the only question will be what position he’s going to fill at the next level. The underclassmen linebackers feature a handful of impact players highlighted by Florida’s Ronald Powell. Powell has been very good since returning from an ACL injury. Powell has the physical abilities to take over games as a pass rusher.

In the defensive backfield it’s all about Brad Roby. Roby has the makings of being an elite, lockdown corner in the league. With speed to burn, Roby’s ability to close on the ball leave him with few peers.

As we said in the offensive rankings – these will be changing as new names emerge, some take a tumble, and a few take their seats atop this draft class. After the break, we take a look at our defensive position by position rankings for the 2014 NFL Draft. Read the rest of this entry » «2014 NFL Draft Defensive Position by Position Rankings: More than just Clowney»

It’s rebound week for Jimmy

Week one of the NFL season didn’t go as planned for our picks. A game over .500 just isn’t good enough. Either no one was reading or they were taking it easy on me the first week – but I received no email death threats after barely cracking the .500 mark. This week I’m going back to the winning formula and we’ll see how we fare.

Miami at Indianapolis (-3.5)

The Miami defense surprised me a bit last week in Cleveland. I knew they were going to be good but I didn’t think they would be that good. Andrew Luck is going to have to stay on his toes as Miami loves to send pressure. The difference this week will be that Luck is not Brandon Weeden. This one is too close for comfort but Indy comes out victors and prove to be a force in the AFC.

Indianapolis 27, Miami 24

St. Louis at Atlanta (-6.5)

The Rams can get after the quarterback and the Falcons struggle to protect the passer. Can the Falcons start out 0-2? I don’t think so. Ryan and his offensive weapons score just enough to sneak out a big win and avoid starting the season on a two-game losing streak.

Atlanta 26, St. Louis 24  Read the rest of this entry » «NFL Week 2 Picks Against the Spread»

Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

We are two weeks into the 2013 college football season and already there have been some major curveballs thrown our way as it relates to the 2014 draft class.

David Fales may not be who we thought he was. The one concern I had was grasping a new system and how well he’d function with it. After two games things are looking good for Fales as he needed to be great to overcome some of the physical limitations. Fales isn’t the only one struggling but it’s the risers that have me a bit miffed.

I wasn’t a Zach Mettenberger guy based off previous tape but he’s slowly making me a believer. Cam Cameron is proving he’s worth every penny as Mettenberger has been outstanding early this season. Another quarterback that is making me a believer is Derek Carr. Carr’s faulty mechanics – threw off back foot more often than not – appears to be a thing of the past.

On the defensive side of the ball the talk will be surrounded around Jadeveon Clowney. Coming into the season as the clear cut No. 1 there’s only one place to go and that’s down. Clowney’s conditioning or lack thereof has come into question but that won’t matter one bit come May. He’s a top shelf talent with rare physical tools and a lock to be taken in the top three of this draft. Any other opinion is just noise and most likely trolling for reads.

Two games is such a small sample size but it gives us a pretty good idea of how things will play out. All this is likely to change – probably drastically – over the next eight months but it’s always fun to look back at these and have a good laugh. After the break, we’ll break down each position. Read the rest of this entry » «2014 NFL Draft Offensive Position by Position Rankings: Getting to know our early thoughts on this group of prospects»

Will Adrian Hubbard be able to shake Johnny Football?
John David Mercer – USA Today Sports

Week two of the college football season didn’t disappoint as we saw some great games that will shape the course of the 2014 NFL Draft. As the body of work continues to grow for these teams and prospects the reality begins to set in that we are getting into the heart of the evaluation process.

Week three’s slate of games features the one everyone has been waiting for – Alabama versus Texas A&M. An offseason filled of Johnny Football drama will officially be taken over by the on the field play. Manziel has his shot at erasing a bit of the drama with a monster performance against Nick Saban’s defense. For Saban and the Tide it’s redemption day as they look to revenge their only 2012 loss.

This weekend won’t just be about Alabama and Texas A&M as there remains some very solid games that are sure to shape our draft opinions. After the break we check out some of the contests and prospects that we will be keeping a careful eye on this weekend. Read the rest of this entry » «2014 NFL Draft Watch: Week 3»

Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Week two of the college football season didn’t disappoint. We saw a handful of great games and some even better individual performances. Today, our Shawn Burns takes a peak at some of his top performances from week two’s slate of games.

Aaron Murray – Georgia- Murray played perhaps his best game of his career in the win over South Carolina. He completed 17 of 23 passes for 309 yards and four touchdowns. He had great accuracy in the pocket, and also showed some improved athletic ability when he was forced to leave the pocket. His biggest throws of the game were made on the move with touchdown passes to Toddy Gurley and Justin Scott-Wesley. Murray has struggled against top 25 opponents in his career but came up huge against a talented Gamecock defense. The win keeps the Bulldogs in the National Title hunt and gives them early control of the SEC East. Murray needs to be at his best as the season moves on. The Bulldogs host LSU in two weeks, and they still need to navigate their way through the SEC. Aaron Murray beat South Carolina for the first time in his career, and in the process, he improved his draft stock with NFL scouts. All in all it was a great day for Murray and the Bulldogs between the hedges at Sanford stadium.  Read the rest of this entry » «Week 2 CFB Standout Performers»

Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports

Week two of the college football season saw it’s fair share of great matchups. The Miami/Florida game was a statement game for a program in need of making a statement. The Hurricanes win not only helped on the field but likely helped in the homes of recruits. Miami/Florida wasn’t the only entrée on the menu with plenty of intriguing matchups that will shape the 2014 NFL Draft.

It’s important to remember that this is a stock report. Guys like Aaron Murray – who played arguably his best game in his UGA career – were on the losing side of week one, so we won’t include them in this our week two stock report. This is a culmination of two week’s performances and who’s trending north or south based on both weeks. Read the rest of this entry » «Week Two NFL Draft Stock Report»

Kicking off the 2013 season

The 2012 season was a record breaker for our picks against the spread weekly column. We finished at over 50 games above .500 for the season – a record that had some of you playing our weekly picks in your betting pools and had an email death threat for an off week. As the 2013 season gets underway, we look to continue the hot streak. 

New England (-9.5) at Buffalo

E.J. Manuel has been announced the starter of this contest – if that’s of any consolation to Bills fans. A week one contest against the division rival Pats awaits the rookie signal caller. Even if Manuel is fully healthy, I like the Patriots in this contest.

New England 31, Buffalo 17

Atlanta at New Orleans (-3.5)

All logic points to this one going to Atlanta. As most of you know by now, we been successful by going against logic. The New Orleans defense is scary bad but Atlanta hasn’t sold me on their defensive prowess either. I’m taking the Saints at home in a back-and-forth contest of division rivals.

New Orleans 38, Atlanta 31 Read the rest of this entry » «NFL Week 1 Picks Against the Spread»