Archived: Who should be the first pick in the 2008 NFL Draft? (expired: 2008-04-26 12:00 PM)

archived this issue: gethro

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1 DE/LB Vernon Gholston Ohio St Jr. 6-4 255
Virtually the entire mock draft world has moved to the Dolphins taking Michigan offensive tackle Jake Long in recent days, and Miami clearly is giving him priority in terms of its pre-draft contract negotiations. But when it's all said and done, we're forseeing Long and his agents leaving the Dolphins' take-it-or-leave-it below-market offer, and rolling the dice that the No. 2 Rams will ante up. It's obviously a very fluid situation, but our sense is Bill Parcells' focus will shift from Long to Gholston in the near future. As for Chris Long, who has topped our mocks for a while now, it would seem that the Dolphins love his maximum-effort playing style, but also believe he may already be as good as he's going to get.
 

Clarke Judge's comment in his mock draft: Chris Long, DE, Virginia: Because he fits the Dolphins' 3-4 and because he's Parcells' kind of guy.

 

Don Banks: In transitioning to the 3-4 defense, football czar Bill Parcells obviously craves a veteran on the nose. Thus, Long remains the safest, most polished pick on the Dolphins' board, and the odds-on favorite to get the call.

 

Mel Kiper: 1. Glenn Dorsey, DT, LSU (6-2, 292) | Previous: 3
Disruptive force along the interior. If there is one nonskill position player fans should watch, it's Dorsey. He always makes plays or opens up space for his teammates.

(that one might not fly)

Scout, Inc.'s top guy is Darren McFadden.

The only worry with this option is that the experts are making predictions the whole time and we lose all of that evidence. There's more potential for an interesting debate when you leave it as "who should" though.

I like "who should"... it opens it up a little more...

I think that's a mis-type on Brian's part.

"Who should be the first pick....?" is probably what he meant.

I think that might work better than who will.

The first pick in the draft isn't something anyone wins. It's the Dolphins, and they have the choice of these five.

If we're going to include 5, then maybe it should be "who should win" or both. I'd vote for both.

Just so it doesn't get lost in the shuffle... I would like to point out one of the previous comments... care of gethro:

I'm antsy in my pantsy.

Meanwhile, if you think people will weigh-in for all 5 options, then this looks good to me.

Looks good. These are the five with a shot.

Those lists probably won't change between now and draft day, so why not?

As of April 1, here's where what consensus is for mock drafts

Scouts, Inc:

1. Darren Mcfadden

2. Chris Long

3. Jake Long

4. glenn Dorsey

5. Matt ryan

6. Ellis

Mel Kiper's

1. Darren McFadden

2. Matt Ryan

3. Glenn Dorsey

4. Chris Long

5. Sedrick Ellis

Don Banks (as of 3/13)

1. Chris Long

2. Jake Long

3. Matty ryan

4. Darren McFadden

5. Glenn Dorsey

Clarke Judge

1. Chris Long

2. Glenn Dorsey

3. Matt Ryan

4. Darren mcFadden

5. Glenn Dorsey

Rob Rang of SportsXchange (via CBSSportsline)

1. Chris Long

2. Glenn Dorsey

3. Jake Long

4. Darren McFadden

5. Matt Ryan

What do you all think? Seems like we can remove Sedrick Ellis from this list for sure. And Chris Long and Darren McFadden are the only two listed as top picks. I think we should keep Ryan, both Longs, McFadden adn Dorsey.

Anyone have a problem with this many?

OK, it's the end of March. Are these still the major candidates? If so, approve it (so gethro can relax).

I'm antsy in my pantsy. I wanna approve now.

I still say we wait until the end of March and then put this up with a few guys depending on the evidence. ESPN should have an experts pick up at some point where we can guage who makes sense to leave up as a choice.

Just to confirm my earlier point, this was written by ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay:

Senior all-star games and the NFL scouting combine are in the books, which means player rankings should not change much between now and April's draft.

I don't think we need to wait. These are the consensus guys. Nobody is going to move up to number one that is not on this list. These guys are far too established for that to happen. And it's doubtful any of them will move far down (barring injury), as the combine is over and pro days don't make movers and shakers.

I think we should hold off a little longer... if we wait until 4-5 weeks prior to the event, chances are the list will narrow a bit more (to probably 4 players)... I just don't want to rush this and then have no one picking 2-3 of the options we listed because we jumped the gun.

cool -- agree that Brohm is off.

DJ Gallo's updated NFL Draft prospects is:

McFadden

Matt Ryan

Long #1

Long #2

Longar Longar

Glenn Dorsey

I think we can limit this to five people - Matt Ryan, Jake Long, Chris Long, Glenn Dorsey and Darren McFadden.

Brohm has dropped way off. This is from the invaluable ESPN.com Hashmarks blog, written by Matt Mosley:

"A scout told me last night that Brohm's now in the second round on a lot of boards."

I can't imagine when we get closer that experts will be calling for 7 different people.

Is this too many positions?

Chris Steuber's mock @ scout.com:

1. Chris Long

2. Jake Long

3. Glenn Dorsey

4. Darren McFadden

5. Brian Brohm

Frank Coyle of draftinsiders.com (via rivals.com)

Matt Ryan

Chris Long

Glenn Dorsey

Darren McFadden

Jake Long

CBSSportsline.com

1, Cedrick Ellis

2. Glenn Dorsey

3. Matt Ryan

4. Chris Long

5. Jake Long

Scount, Inc. like McFadden (via ESPN)

1. Darren McFadden

2. Chris Long

3. Glenn Dorsey

4. Matt Ryan

5. Jake Long

ProFootballTalk.com:

1. Miami Dolphins: Chris Long, defensive end, Virginia.

2. St. Louis Rams: Sedrick Ellis, defensive tackle, USC.

3.* Oakland Raiders: Darren McFadden, running back, Arkansas.

4.* Kansas City Chiefs: Jake Long, left tackle, Michigan.

5.* Atlanta Falcons: Glenn Dorsey, defensive tackle, LSU.

Here are Kyle Smith's comments so you don't have to look on the old issue:

Here is some new evidence.
 

Todd McShay, ESPN.com: Matt Ryan, QB

Mel Kiper, Jr., ESPN.com: Glenn Dorsey, DT

 

Scott Wright, Draft Countdown: Chris Long, DE

Don Banks likes Chris Long

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