ESPN's Todd McShay stated on SportsCenter Thursday that Johnny Manziel is the No. 1 player on the Cowboys' draft board.

ok...?

top 5(ish) players where i care about seeing go:

1. manziel

2. clowney

3. HAHA

4. Aaron Donald

5. Pryor/Beckham

Also Marquise Lee/Benjamin hoping they drop to the 2nd round.

Hahhhh, that is just desperately screaming TRADE UP WITH US PLEASE WE WANT MOR PICKZ.

i said this the other day when talking about draft rumors and even worse "reports."  yesterday i talked about jay vs mort on browns and manziel and today you mentioned todd mcshay has manziel #1 overall for dallas yet i read another report today with ian rapport saying cowboys had bortles #1 on their qb rankings. 

so which one is it?  and how is it possible that 2 national reports both have REPORTS that are saying different things?  so stupid

-- Edited by MFisH on Thursday 8th of May 2014 06:15:28 PM

Dan's Top 10 Mock Draft to come in 30......

1. Houston Texans - Jadaveon Clowney, DE, South Carolina

The Houston Texans want out of this pick for sure, but won't get the compensation they want, so they will be stuck drafting the most talented player in this year’s draft. Not a bad problem to have.

2. St. Louis Rams - Greg Robinson, OT, Auburn

The Rams need help desperately at LT to protect Sam Bradford, and they will use this pick for one of the few plug-and-play elite tackles in this year’s draft. Not a flashy pick, but a good one. Note: Don't be shocked if the Rams pull the trigger on Sammy Watkins at this pick.

3. Jacksonville Jaguars - Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M

The Jacksonville Jaguars need something to get them going. Although Manziel has publicly declared that he does not want to play for Jacksonville, I feel that they will take him at this spot. The Jaguars need a spark, or their own fan base will be petitioning for a move to London.

4. Atlanta Falcons - Khalil Mack, LB, Buffalo (Trade with Cleveland)

The Falcons will pull another move like they did to secure Julio Jones, which worked out great for them. They will give up many picks in this draft to get a player that has been argued as being the best talent in this year’s draft.

5. Oakland Raiders - Sammy Watkins, WR, Clemson

The Oakland Raiders love flashy picks, and they will be given a gift this year in that Watkins is seemingly a lock to be a great NFL wide receiver. As bad as they need a QB, they will look to future rounds and hope for good play from newly acquired Matt Schaub. 

6. Cleveland Browns - Jake Matthews, OT, Texas A&M (From Atlanta)

The Browns are reported to really like Matthews at the 4th spot. They know of Atlanta’s desire to get Clowney or Mack, and will work magic to acquire more picks in this year’s draft, are the while still taking the player they originally wanted.

7. Detroit Lions - Mike Evans, WR, Texas A&M (Trade with Tampa Bay)

The Lions desperately want to move up in the draft to get Sammy Watkins, but will not have the firepower to make this happen. They will opt for the next best thing, a close second, in Mike Evans. Mike Evans across from Calvin Johnson with Matt Stafford throwing the passes will be fun to watch.

8. Minnesota Vikings - Darqueze Dennard, CB, Michigan State

Dennard was an all-around playmaker his entire career at Michigan State. I expect new coach Mike Zimmer to pounce of the opportunity to draft this skilled a player in his first draft.  

9. Buffalo Bills - Taylor Lewan, OT, Michigan

There will not be many great options for the Bills at this spot, but I expect them to take the next available tackle with their pick, in order to get some help for 2nd year QB EJ Manuel. 

10. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Aaron Donald, DT, Pittsburgh

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will employ a similar tactic that the Browns played with the Falcons. They will recognize a team desperate to move up, and will end up drafting a player they would have drafted at their original spot anyway. The Buccaneers have been linked to Donald as he has been moving his way up draft boards, and look for new coach Lovie Smith to take a defensive starter in his first draft with the team.

 

Can you guys re-post yours? I want to compare and am too lazy to go back and look.

Jpoo wrote:

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Team	Player	Position	School	Rationale
Houston Texans	Jadaveon Clowney	DE	South Carolina	Despite all the QB posturing, the Texans go for the once in a generation prospect and they're smart to do so. The QBs this year just aren't spectacular, and as proved by Seattle a dominate D with an adequate QB can get the job done. Smart move.
St.Louis Rams	Greg Robinson	OT	Auburn	I think they skip over Sammy Watkins here, they've draft a lot of Receivers over the past few years (Austin/Bailey/Quick/Givens) just to name a few. I think they shore up the right side of their O-Line here so Zac Stacy can keep the chains moving.
Jacksonville Jaguars	Khalil Mack	DE/OLB	Buffalo	Some draftniks are calling him a better prospect than Clowney, I don't know about all that, but the dude is indeed a beast. Gus Bradley is the former Seattle DC… you think he likes defensive players? Jags get a much needed edge rusher.
Cleveland Browns	Jake Mathews	OT	Texas A&M	CURVEBALL!!! They're not terribly happy with their current RT, and getting Mathews to play opposite Joe Thomas could create possibly the best Tackle tandem in the league.
Oakland Raiders	Sammy Watkins	WR	Clemson	They go BPA here, they'll probably trade out of this spot, but who knows.  Schaub gets a weapon for the year.
Atlanta Falcons	Taylor Lewan	OT	Michigan	They're kinda pissed that both Robinson and Mathews are gone, but Lewan isn't a bad consolation prize. They need to get stronger on the offensive line, Lewan has a nasty streak that should help a lot.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Johnny Manziel	QB	Texas A&M	McCown is a stop gap right now for Lovie, and Glennon isn't his guy. They take the chance on who could either be Drew Brees 2.0 with legs or Tim Tebow 2.0… we shall see.
Minnesota Vikings	Aaron Donald	DT	Pitt	Very early possibly to some, they have Linval and Shariff you say, well Shariff aint one Zimmer's players. They say Donald is possibly Geno Atkins 2.0, who better to utilize that then Geno's old DC?
Buffalo Bills	Mike Evans	WR	Texas A&M	They want weapons to prop up EJ Manuel, I wanted the Giants to draft him really badly….
Detroit Lions	Anthony Barr	LB	UCLA	The Lions are reportedly looking for another player with the ability to russ the passer, and Barr has that ability in spades. He might be a bit of a project, but the dude can ball.
Tennessee Titans	Justin Gilbert	CB	Oklahoma St.	Losing Alterraun Verner has left the Titans with a pretty sizable hole at CB, Gilbert will be an absolute STUD. They happily take Gilbert.
New York Giants	Zack Martin	OT	Notre Dame	Versatile, can play any position on the line, just the way the Giants like him. Reese has been called out for "risky" picks in the past, they go ultra conservative and get a very solid player.
St.Louis Rams	HaHa Clinton-Dix	S	Alabama	Their safety play was abysmal last year, this guy will be an absolute stud. A good defense gets so much better.
Chicago Bears	Darqueze Dennard	CN	Michigan St.	Did you see that run defense last year? They're taking whoever the best remaining defensive player is.
Pittsburgh Steelers	Kyle Fuller	CB	Virgina Tech	They're practically screaming that they'll be taking a CB here.
Dallas Cowboys	Timmy Jernigan	DT	Florida State	My god is their defense pathetic, they need this so damn bad.
Baltimore Ravens	Calvin Pryor	S	Louisville	Can you name their other safety? Theres a reason for that… Pryor and Elam should team up to make a NASTY safety tandem for years to come.
New York Jets	Odell Beckham Jr.	WR	LSU	They added Decker, but that’s not even close to enough. They need more skill players, him and Decker should be a nice combo.
Miami Dolphins	Ja'Wuan James	OT	Tennessee	Might be considered a reach here, but they supposedly have a first round grade on him. Wouldn't surprise me to see them trade up to grab someone else.
Arizona Cardinals	Ra'Shede Hageman	DE/DT	Minnesota	They added Jared Veldheer solidifying their line, and don't forget they drafted Johnathan Cooper last year. Now they go back to defense, this guy is a physical freak. Darnell Dockett is getting old, Hageman can be a very nice replacement.
Green Bay Packers	CJ Mosley	ILB	Alabama	They need to get faster. They keep getting killed by the running QB, so they pick up Mosley to stop that. Can you name their other ILB besides AJ Hawk? And no it's not clay, he's an OLB.
Philadelphia Eagles	Dee Ford	DE/OLB	Auburn	I know what you're thinking… DeSean is gone they need a WR!!!! This draft is just jam packed with WR prsopects, so instead they find someone able to rush the passer opposite Barwin. Ford should work out nicely.
Kansas City Chiefs	Xavier Su’a-Filo	OG	UCLA	Their offensive line was DECIMATED this free agency period, they need to rebuild quickly. Su'a-Filo should be an absolute mauler in the run game , allowing JC to keep it going.
Cincinnati Bengals	Bradley Roby	CB	Ohio St.	Pacman & Terrance Newman are ageless wonders at this point, they won't last forever. Not to mention Leon Hall is coming off majory surgery.
San Diego Chargers	Louis Nix III	DT	Notre Dame	They need a CB also, but they can't pass up this Wilforkian prospect. They lost their NT to the Steelers and have a HUGE gaping hole there now.
Cleveland Browns	Derek Carr	QB	Fresno St.	They get their man.
New Orleans Saints	Kony Ealy	DE	Mizzou	Will play opposite Cam Jordan and will terrorize opposing OL's.
Carolina Panthers	Morgan Moses	OT	Virgina	You say bull****, it's gotta be a WR!! Well their O-Line situation is nearly as bad as their WR situation, they need to keep Cam up right, and this draft is so deep they can get WR's all the way through the 4th round.
New England Patriots	Jason Verrett	CB	TCU	I personally garuantee this pick will be traded, but I don't mock trades so… They go BPA
San Francisco 49ers	Brandin Cooks	WR	Oregon St.	They need more offensive weapons, some calling this dude DeSean Jackson light should slot in nicely with Vernon/Crabtree/Boldin.
Denver Broncos	Ryan Shazier	OLB	Ohio St.	I got Von Miller to the left of me and Shazier to the right, scary scary thought.
Seattle Seahawks	Joel Bitonio	OT/C/G	Nevada	WHO?!?!?! The Seahawks aren't afraid to grab their guy when they think it's worth it (Bruce Irvin) They lost their RT to the Jets and have a nice hole there. Bitonio is versatile and should slide in nicely.

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Couple of tidbits i've read....


NFL.com's Ian Rapoport reports the Falcons tried to trade back into the first round to draft Dee Ford before he was selected by the Chiefs at No. 23.

The 49ers considered trading up for LSU WR Odell Beckham, but decided the price was "pretty stiff."

The Florida Times Union feels No. 3 overall pick Blake Bortles will open the season as the backup to Chad Henne.

- as an eagles fan i'm not overly exicted this morn but i wouldnt say im upset either.  obviously it sucks when the player you really wanted (HAHA) was one pick ahead and we couldn't get him or at least trade up and ended up with a player none of us every heard of.  that being said, it is not neccessarily a bad thing, its just all the predraft coverage does for months is focus on 20-30 guys and marcus smith wasnt one of them.  he had 14.5 sacks which was second in the entire country last year so he has some skill.  chip kelly really focuses on a players body type compared to their position and smith fits the bill so we'll see what happens, it comes down to coaching now.  also nice to pick up an extra 3rd in the process once Haha was gone and there was no clear cut favorite for the #22 pick. 

- guess we'll see how they address saftey and Wr now, both those positions went in bulk last night (esp saftey) so lets see whos left in the middle rounds.

- only true surprise early on was blake bortles at #3 (so much for PK finding no team who "loved" him.  great reporting).  i will be shocked if this kid isnt a bust there, esp with no weapons early in his career.  better hope blackmon sobers up for this season!

- love what the browns did, they are the clear cut favorites to win the afc north now and probably for the rest of the decade.  manziel to gordon all day and they have a high second (lee maybe?) could be lethal once they get another weapon.  btw, is manziel allowed to wear tim couch's #2 or is retired there?

- speaking of the browns, funny how gilbert was a top 10 pick but is going to have 0 pressure on him when it comes to fan expectation because all the focus will be on manziel.  i saw the front page of one of the cleveland papers and the headline was manziel, huge pic of him and then in the bottom right corner it was like "oh yea we got gilbert also" haha how many other top 10 picks can you say that about?

- don't like what the bills did.  don't get me wrong watkins might be great in the next few years but to give up next years 1st was a lot.  this team was not 1 we away like atlanta was when they got julio and this could come back to bite them next year if they're giving up on a top 10 pick.  like josh said, manuel better step it up cuz a great wr means nothing unless he has a good qb.

- i like the saftey the steelers got.  fast at 4.37 40 and big too, what is he like 225?  wait, hes an inside inebacker??!  just playing, knowing the steelers he'll probably be in the pro bowl in 3 years.

 

 

ESPN's Britt McHenry reported on SportsCenter Friday that the Jaguars would have drafted Blake Bortles even if Jadeveon Clowney slipped to No. 3.

Theres a couple of guys in there that i did some minor research on this morning regarding best available at a position

If the Giants were somehow able to draft Lawrence Taylor in his prime again Graziano would find a way to say it was an awful move. Graziano is a dick who's sole purpose is to rip the Giants, **** that guy.

Loves it:

Odell Beckham - Will play the Greg Jennings role, lots to like here.

Weston Richburg - Best Center in the draft, needed this badly, between Pugh/Schwartz/Richburg 3/5 of our O-Line is now set for at the very least the next 5 years. A lot to like with that trio.

Andre Williams - The bruiser RB from BC, how can you not like this Brandon Jacobs lite?


The rest I can't honestly form an opinion on .

MFisH wrote:

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MFisH wrote:

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Guarantee and heard it here first:

Clowney will be the #1 overall draft pick.  once he goes through the combine and run's a 4.4-4.5 40 and the texans see no qb is worth the #1 overall pick, clowney will be too tough to pass on esp when you can combine him with jj watt.  they will sign a quick fix qb or maybe keep shaub and keenan for another year and go clowney.  and when i brag about this in a few months after all the "draft experts" update their mock drafts just remember that as of now nobody has clowney at #1 and most have him at #5.

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from jan. 9th.  i would just like to point out that as of now i am 1 for 2 on this prediction and that 1 comes in what i put in bold for the quote above after me reminding nick that i made this prediction MONTHS ago and nick followed up with a text last night saying "Haha clowney has been pegged #1 for 2 years woahhh."

but clowney #1 wasn't even the real point, i want to thank you for proving my main point which is that you act like things were a given back when i made this prediction 4 months ago, a prediction that was so damn good that they now seem like facts many months later and i even knew you were going to say that so i made sure i added that section in.  talk about a double layored prediction.

i havent waivored once since making this prediction so if clowney does indeed go #1 as expected i want props from nick going 2 for 2!   

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 sorry didnt happen. now how about my props for predicting a) bortles will be the first QB taken (which you immedialty compared to my blain gabbert pick) and b) Qbs sliding down the board which you immediatly shot down because manziel would be top 5?

Arians was quoted as saying "There was only one Franchise QB in the draft this year, and the Jaguars got him." Interessstttinnngggg.

as for the eagles draft i am pretty happy but i'll be honest, other than the wr from oregon that we drafted in round 3 i dont think i've ever noticed these guys while watching them play.  they did fill all their holes and added depth, now it comes down to coaching.  here were some notes i found intersting:

- in round 1 eagles had the 22nd pick and targeted 6 players they thought either could fall to them or they might be able to trade up and get.  2 of them were #20 cooks (saints traded up to get him) and #21 HAHA (packers took him) so the next highest rated player they had was the guy they drafted in marcus smart but they knew they could get him a little later in the draft and traded back with the browns and picked up an extra 3rd rounder and still got the guy they wanted.  manziel not going in the top 22 hurt the eagles, but the only thing i am worried about is having earl thomas flash backs and seeing HAHA turn into one of the best safties in the game and we were 1 pick away from getting him.

- in round 2 eagles targeted 2 wr they wanted, marquise lee and jordan matthews.  once lee got picked chip/howie knew they needed to trade up to get matthews and they did.  apparently this guy is the exact opposite of desean and came to all the pre-draft interviews already broken down certain eagles game film from last year and had questions ready.  that really impressed chip so hopefully his off field work can match the on field production djax had. i usually don't even pay attention to who the eagles had come visit them because multiple years andy picked a guy in round 1 who never visited them but i guess now i need to start paying attention for future years!

 

some other thoughts:

- after thinking about it more, why did the giants pass on donald for beckham?  donald was easily the best DT in the draft and the giants best 2 wrs are cruz (undrafted) and randle (end of 2/3rd round?) where their last 1st round pick at wr isnt even with the team anymore.  i feel they could have drafted a WR in the middle rounds who could fill the nicks void much easier than they can draft a domiante dt like donald, who could end up being a beast but that's just me guessing.

- speaking of LSU wr's, i loved the jarvis landry pick for the dolphins.  when i watched LSU games last year he made big plays and catches every game. i saw he ran a poor 40 time in the combine which is why he dropped to the 3rd round but i can easily see him becoming a good player in a few years.

- our boy terrance west to the browns! and in the 3rd round! i thought a d1aa player like him woulda fell to the 5th round so good for him and lets go browns!

- damn andy reid drafted chips boy deanthony thomas.  andy always loved little rb/wr threats so he probably will put him to good use.  back in the day andy wanted sproles but he signed with NO instead and then he tried doing this with mccluster so hopefully thomas works out better for him.  i know eagles liked him but with sproles on the roster it made no sense to draft him.

- michael sam going in the 7th round wasn't very surprising and good for him getting drafted, hopefully this turns into a non story quickly.  however, didn't the most sterotypical scene of him being drafted just happen?  you know, hysterically crying and then kissing his bf on national tv?  if you were writing this scene as a joke what else could you add in to make it more sterotypical for a gay man just being drafted? haha 

i'm not saying crying is a bad thing because a lot of them did including clowney and mike evans from round 1, i'm just saying if a person were to write the most sterotypical thing possible for a gay man being drafted the first 2 things that come to mind would be 1. crying the whole time and 2. kiss his bf, and he did both those things.

For fun my projected 53 man roster


Offense:(23)
QB: Eli, Nassib
FB: John Conner
RB: Jennings, Williams, Wilson
WR:Cruz, Randle, Beckham, Jernigan, Manningham
TE:A.Rob, Larry Donnell, Kellen Davis
T: Pugh, Beatty, Charles Brown
G:Snee, Schwartz, Jerry
C: Richburg, Walton


Defense: (26)
DE: JPP, Ayers, Damontre Moore, Kiwanuka
DT: Hankins, Jenkins, Patterson, Kuhn, Bromley
LB:Beason, Jacquain, McClain, Paysinger, Herzlich, Kennard
CB: DRC, Prince, WTIII, Jayron Hosley, Zack Bowman
S: Rolle, Brown, Taylor, Demps, Berhe

ST: (4)
K: Brown
P:Weatherford
LS:Zak DeOssie
KR/PR: Trindon Holliday