Monday 26 January 2009

Monday's mocks

It's Super Bowl week, in seven days time we'll know whether the Seahawks will be facing the world champions in the NFC West next season. With the conclusion of the Senior Bowl it's time to look at what the pundits are predicting for Seattle in this year's draft.

In case you missed it this weekend, here's my updated mock draft. We also reported on Rob Rang's latest prediction, which can be found here. For Mel Kiper's video blog, click here.

Draft Tek's software has calculated a new mock with some interest. Ever wondered which direction Seattle will go if Michael Crabtree isn't available? The Draft Tek computer predicts the Seahawks will go for the best offensive tackle on the board.

Chris Steuber at Scout.com has posted a new mock draft. He gets bonus points for having the most aesthetically pleasing mock. Steuber has also updated his big board and lists his Senior Bowl risers and fallers.

Matt McGuire has been reporting from the Senior Bowl this past week. In his updated mock draft he was the Seahawks taking Michael Crabtree. He doesn't think the 'Hawks will go offensive tackle due to the money they have invested in Sean Locklear.

Ever wondered what fans from other teams are predicting? Check out Mike McCarthy's feedbag (Green Bay), Arrowhead Addict (Kansas City), Pewter Plank (Tampa Bay) and NE Patriots Draft (New England).

Predictably a lot of mock drafts are sending Michael Crabtree to Seattle. If you want to read some of the justifications as to why: Draft King, College Talent Scout, Draft News, NFL Draft Experts, Consensus Draft Services.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rob. Don't know if you've seen Todd McShay's latest mock draft, but he suddenly has BJ Raji going to the hawks at 4 and Crabtree dropping to 7th. I used to have a lot of respect for Mcshay's insight, but this could change that quickly. Apparently he didn't watch the Senior Bowl, just the practices during the week. When it came to game time, Eric Wood and various other South offensive linemen shut down Raji. He was completely ineffective in that game. Ironically he still has Crabtree ranked 2nd on their top 32 players. I like Raji still, but not over Crabtree and with the 4th overall pick.

Rob Staton said...

Thanks for bringing it to my attention Chris. I would be stunned if the Hawks took Raji for the reasons I wrote about earlier in the week - he has big character red flags that don't go with Tim Ruskell's line of thinking. Aside from that fact, Ruskell likes consistent production not a 'flash in the pan'. Raji is only that high in McShay's mock because of the Senior Bowl work outs. As you say, he was shut out in the game by guys who are 2nd and 3rd round picks at best.

Also, we rotate DT's so much it means a big investment at tackle unlikely for 35 snaps a game.

It's still early days and pundits are still fitting into their mocks. McShay has changed his mind on the Hawks every week so far. He isn't a Hawks fan so I wont be too harsh on his picks, I'm sure there are fans from other teams who would pull my mock draft apart!

Tony said...

Thanks for the pub!

Anonymous said...

Hi Rob,

Last year Miami took Jake Long number one and had him signed befor the draft started. I understood from the media guys that only the first pick gets that option. I love the idea that once the first pick is signed, the 2nd should have that choice and so on. This would provide some leverage for the teams to sign players befor they are a lock at the position and drag thier feet to sign so they can make sure they bank the most possible. What do you think? It takes out some of the drama from day one, but I see more benifit than loss.

Big Joe

Rob Staton said...

Hi Joe, it's an interesting proposition. I guess you could pretty much make the draft an ongoing process from a certain start date. You could essentially just have a time period similar to free agency to get the first round done... but of course, what happens when one team can't get a deal done? It could last forever! So I suppose you'd still need the actual two day period eventually. I think you make a good point though, why can't team number two be on the clock straight away? In a stricter financial situation like the world is in right now, it might make more sense especially for the teams paying top dollar at the top of round one.