It looks like the Houston Texans will take USC running back Reggie Bush with the No. 1 overall pick. The hottest spot in the draft to make a trade will be with the New Orleans Saints and the second pick. The only team the Saints could make a trade with -- and still get defensive end Mario Williams -- is the New York Jets. New York could trade up from the fourth overall pick and take USC QB Matt Leinart. Tennessee, which has the third pick, would then take Texas QB Vince Young. From what I have been told, the Titans have a very high opinion of Young. Vince Young might be available when the Raiders pick seventh. But, will Oakland take a QB on the first day of the draft two years in a row?The next place you could see a trade is with the sixth overall pick, owned by the San Francisco 49ers. The sixth spot is where you will begin to hear Maryland tight end Vernon Davis' name come up. Teams like the Cardinals, Rams and Broncos could all have an interest in the tight end; then again, the 49ers could keep the pick and draft Davis. Here's another scenario. Young is still on the board when the Raiders pick at No. 7. They already have two quarterbacks (Aaron Brooks and Andrew Walter), so they could make a deal with a team that has an interest in Young. Another interesting spot to watch is with the Jets' second pick in the first round. They could go with Ohio State center Nick Mangold with the 29th pick, but don't be surprised if they take outside linebacker Bobby Carpenter, also from Ohio State. Carpenter is in the same mold of Mike Vrabel, another Ohio State alum. Vrabel's defensive coordinator with the Patriots last season was Eric Mangini, now the coach of the Jets. If the Jets don't take Carpenter, don't be surprised if the Steelers take him. Remember, before he signed with the Patriots, Vrabel originally was drafted by the Steelers. As for the latest first-round projections, there are two noticeable changes. The first is that I have 10 defensive backs going in the first round. Florida State's Antonio Cromartie, who missed the entire 2005 season with a knee injury, had a tremendous individual workout (40-yard dash in the 4.3 range and a 44-inch vertical leap). In fact, he showed such great hands catching the ball that teams might be curious to see what type of wide receiver he could be. He's a cornerback in the NFL, but has the athleticism and hands to play on offense. Cromartie isn't the only versatile defensive back in the first round. Michael Huff of Texas will initially be a cornerback in the NFL, but played safety in college; Ohio State's Donte Whitner played safety at Ohio State, but could be corner at the next level or a great cover safety; and Jason Allen was both a safety and corner at Tennessee. The true cover cornerbacks in the first round are Johnathan Joseph, Tye Hill, Ashton Youboty, Kelly Jennings and Richard Marshall. The other noticeable change is how far the running backs (Laurence Maroney, LenDale White and DeAngelo Williams) have fallen, but it has nothing to do with their productivity. Arizona (10th pick) and Minnesota (17th pick) were looking at running backs in the first round before addressing those needs through free agency (the Cardinals signed Edgerrin James and the Vikings grabbed Chester Taylor). One player from the Big Ten who has fallen is Penn State defensive end Tamba Hali. He didn't have great individual workouts; still, you cannot question his body of work on the field. Hali could still go late in the first round, but if he doesn't, a team will be getting a steal in the second round. My Big Board will be updated the second week of April, while the next first-round projections will come out on April 17. The final projection will be April 28, the day before the draft. First-Round Projections 1. Houston Reggie Bush, RB* USC 2. New Orleans Mario Williams, DE* NC State 3. Tennessee Matt Leinart, QB USC 4. N.Y. Jets D'Brickashaw Ferguson, T Virginia 5. Green Bay A.J. Hawk, LB Ohio St. 6. San Francisco Vernon Davis, TE* Maryland 7. Oakland Vince Young, QB* Texas 8. Buffalo Brodrick Bunkley, DT Florida St. 9. Detroit Michael Huff, DB Texas 10. Arizona Jay Cutler, QB Vanderbilt 11. St. Louis Chad Greenway, LB Iowa 12. Cleveland Kamerion Wimbley, DE/OLB Florida St. 13. Baltimore Haloti Ngata, DT* Oregon 14. Philadelphia Winston Justice, T* USC 15. Denver (from ATL) Chad Jackson, WR* Florida 16. Miami Donte Whitner, S* Ohio St. 17. Minnesota Ernie Sims, LB* Florida St. 18. Dallas Jason Allen, S/CB Tennessee 19. San Diego Johnathan Joseph, CB* South Carolina 20. Kansas City Tye Hill, CB Clemson 21. New England Santonio Holmes, WR* Ohio St. 22. Denver (from WSH) DeAngelo Williams, RB Memphis 23. Tampa Bay Antonio Cromartie, CB* Florida St. 24. Cincinnati Jimmy Williams, CB Virginia Tech 25. N.Y. Giants Kelly Jennings, CB Miami 26. Chicago Richard Marshall CB* Fresno St. 27. Carolina LenDale White, RB* USC 28. Jacksonville Marcedes Lewis, TE UCLA 29. N.Y. Jets (from DEN) Nick Mangold, C Ohio St. 30. Indianapolis Laurence Maroney, RB* Minnesota 31. Seattle Ashton Youboty, CB* Ohio St. 32. Pittsburgh Sinorice Moss, WR Miami * denotes underclassman Stock Rising Late first round, early second round Chris Chester, C -- Oklahoma Orien Harris, DT -- Miami D'Qwell Jackson, LB -- Maryland Davin Joseph, G -- Oklahoma Taitusi "Duece" Latui, G -- USC Manny Lawson, DE -- NC State Rocky McIntosh, OLB -- Miami Leonard Pope, TE -- Georgia Eric Winston, T -- Miami Early to middle of second round Joseph Addai, RB -- LSU Brodie Croyle, QB -- Alabama David Thomas, TE -- Texas Zach Strief, T -- Northwestern 3rd round Will Blackmon, CB/WR -- Boston College Chris Gocong, DE -- Cal Poly SLO Devin Hester, CB/WR/returner -- Miami Tarvaris Jackson, QB -- Alabama St. Calvin Lowry, S -- Penn St. Danieal Manning, CB -- Abilene Christian David Pittman, CB -- Northwestern St. Willie Reid, WR/Returner -- Florida St. Joe Toledo, T -- Washington Guy Whimper, T -- East Carolina James Wyche, DE -- Syracuse Stock Dropped Jason Avant, WR -- Michigan Dominique Byrd, TE -- USC Tamba Hali, DE -- Penn St. Thomas Howard, LB -- UTEP Mathias Kiwanuka, DE -- Boston College Ko Simpson, DB -- South Carolina Alan Zemaitis, CB -- Penn St. He did not speculate as to what we would have to give up to move 2 spots to get Leinhart. I hope we stay were we are and leinhart or D'brick falls to us there!
That's a whole lot of DB's he has going in the first round, and only 3 OL with two of them going to us. Interesting.
Anyone know why Dominique Byrd "stock dropped". He is a pretty good pass-catching TE, maybe a decent pick-up later in the draft if he falls.
Byrd's numbers are the USC pro day were not good. Very low reps on the bench press. Also if I recall he was only 6'3".
OK Mel...In his rant he writes how the Jets could get Mario..Or trade up adn get Leinart....Than he talk about them taking Mangold at 29...but they could take Bobby Carpenter....But has the taking Furgeson and Mangold in his mock... If the Jets take 2 OL in the 1st round, I will eat the bowl of paperclips SundayJack has left around...
If Lendele White is still on the board at # 21, the Patriots will take him. I would have no problem if the Jets took two o lineman with their first two picks.
At the USC pro-day, Lendale White stock fell and I mean big time. White was have said too have tweaked a ham string and has not been working out at all. He used that as an excuse. He gained 8 lbs and was supposed to try and trim up too around 230 and now ways 244 lbs. I understand that he hurt his leg, but you can still bench press and work your upper body. Matt Leinart, Bush, and Winston Justice made White look like a chump. Bush benched 225 lbs 31 times and Leinart did it 26 or 27 times. White is supposed to be a power back and only benched it 16-18 times? I would'nt be suprised to see White go in the second round.
boo the point of this draft is to pick up 1 non OL in the 1st rd since theres so much depth we could go OL with our 2nd or even 3rd rd pick. least thats my logic..........1 OL in the 1st rd or 2 in the 2nd/3rd hopefully mangold at 29 and a skill player with the first pick whether it be trade down or stay. this is just my opinion tho
Really? Centers are a dime a dozen? That is why there are so many in the HOF? Why there was such a demand for Bentley? Why Mawae was credited for much of Martin's success? Come on....
And if he isavailable at # 35 when the Jets pick, I would take him. I judge the guy more on how he performed at USC than his pro day workout. The man is simply a perfect Northeast RB. He carried the load in the Championship game.
For the record, I wouldn't mind if we spent the #35 pick on a center, but giving a first round pick to a center seems like a stretch to me. O-line wins you ball games, but that doesn't mean you reach in the early rounds just to fill some holes.
i dont want a "powerback" whos throwing weights around like a DB. if im wrong sue me but didnt he only do positional drills at the combine? sore hamstring 6 weeks from catching a few balls and running around cones? yeah hes a physical specimen. real hard worker. even so, his hamstring doesnt excuse his lack of overall preparation. like someone said he has "ron dayne" written all ove rhim. I think the Giants ruined him by running him as a power player when he just actually wasnt. hell i hope he proves me wrong for his own sake but he can do it somewhere else with his half-ass attitude. this is the NFL, not USC.........its what have you done for me lately, not oh what can we do for you? hes in for a shock
Do you realize that the bench press has aboslutely nothing to do with any football motion, whatsoever (even for lineman)? It's only still tested because it has been used for so long. With a second round pick, I would easily draft White.
