Sorry for that minor glitch in the poll, apparently I selected the wrong date for it to close, resulting in the fastest poll ever. Fortunately, I caught it only ten minutes afterwards and adjusted it, so get back to work, DN'ers!
Mock Goodell once again takes the stage, announcing- "With the twenty-fourth pick in the mock DN 2011 draft, the New Orleans Saints select... Akeem Ayers, Outside Linebacker from UCLA*!" He then continues, "I have also decided to level a fine of ten million dollars on the Saints for their dirty level of play, as well as a fine of one half million dollars on the referees involved for their dirty level of play-calling, during the 2009 NFC Championship game. This money will be taken and given towards the victims, the Mighty Minnesota Vikings, for them to build a glorious stadium of the future that shall be the crown jewel of the NFL and cause Jerry Jones to weep with jealousy upon arising every morning for the following ten years."
Our mock draft, my story. I decide what is said by mock Rodge. I wanted to fine the refs more, but they would have just defaulted if I had. Gotta keep it all realistic, ya know.
Anyhoo, we're onto pick number twenty-five, this one belonging to the Seattle Seahawks, who made dubious NFL history by being the first team to enter the playoffs with a sub-.500 winning record in a non-shortened season. They
gave us all some visceral pleasure by proceeding to beat the Saints in the first round, before moving onto a gimme-win for the Chicago Bears.
Despite being in the playoffs, the Seahawks obviously have several holes to fill, being that they did so with that fine 7-9 record. Furthermore, while the NFC West doesn't exactly appear to become a bastion of mighty teams in the near future, the Seahawks will have to worry about the rise of the St. Louis Rams as they try to stay competitive in a division where the only possible route to the playoffs will be through winning the division**.
So what holes will the Seahawks focus on with their first round pick?
Obviously, the Seahawks will be hungry for their QBOTF, as Matt Hasselbeck is nearing the end of his career- and may not even be ending it with the Seahawks. Other positions are trickier to nail down, as Pete Carroll had an interesting strategy of basically using a revolving door at practically every position throughout the season.
To do my best, however, aside from QB, the Seahawks could be focusing on another glaring weakness- defensive end. As we all know, this draft is quite deep with that position, and while many of the top rated prospects have flown off the board like hotcakes, there are several players still available who in any other draft would have been rated very highly at that position.
Both of those said, however, the Seahawks are also embarrassingly bad in the secondary, and could look to work on that. Furthermore, their offensive line is in shambles, and they might want to consider that, particularly if they fully intend on riding with the aging Hasselbeck for another year or two.
This should be an interesting one. Because of that, I've stocked the options a bit more than in previous mocks. Vote away, DN faithful!
*OK, NOW Ayers is off the board.
**Unless the NFL grants my dream of fixing that whole "a 7-9 team can get into the playoffs" problem, in which case, winning the division may not even be good enough for an NFC West team.
- Carolina Panthers - Cam Newton, quarterback, Auburn
- Denver Broncos - Patrick Peterson, cornerback, LSU
- Buffalo Bills - Marcell Dareus, defensive tackle, Alabama
- Cincinnati Bengals - Blaine Gabbert, quarterback, Missouri
- Arizona Cardinals - Von Miller, linebacker, Texas A&M
- Cleveland Browns - A.J. Green, wide receiver, Georgia
- San Francisco 49ers - Prince Amukamara, cornerback, Nebraska
- Tennessee Titans - Nick Fairley, defensive tackle, Auburn
- Dallas Cowboys - Tyron Smith, offensive tackle, USC
- Washington Redskins - Julio Jones, wide receiver, Alabama
- Houston Texans - Da'Quan Bowers, defensive end, Clemson
- Minnesota Vikings - Jake Locker, quarterback, Washington
- Detroit Lions - Robert Quinn, defensive end, North Carolina
- St. Louis Rams - Cameron Jordan, defensive end, California
- Miami Dolphins - Mark Ingram, running back, Alabama
- Jacksonville Jaguars - J.J. Watt, defensive end, Wisconsin
- New England Patriots - Aldon Smith, defensive end/outside linebacker, Missouri
- San Diego Chargers - Ryan Kerrigan, defensive end, Purdue
- New York Giants - Mike Pouncey, offensive guard, Florida
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Adrian Clayborn, defensive end, Iowa
- Kansas City Chiefs - Anthony Castonzo, offensive tackle, Boston College
- Indianapolis Colts - Nate Solder, offensive tackle, Colorado
- Philadelphia Eagles - Gabe Carimi, offensive tackle, Wisconsin
- New Orleans Saints - Akeem Ayers, outside linebacker, UCLA