Mock Goodell stands at the podium, impatiently tapping his foot as he has been waiting to hear on the Colts pick for nearly four hours now. Suddenly, mock Bill Polian rushes to the stage, sweating profusely. "Sorry Mr. Goodell, I didn't realize we did mock picks on the weekend," mock Polian breathlessly explains.
"That's OK, Bill," Goodell says, taking the slip from his hand. "You know what? Just to show there's no hard feelings, why don't you help yourself to the cookies out in the back alley."
"Sweet!" mock Polian says as he rushes off to join a group of angry draft picks who have been locked out back. Snickering, mock Goodell opens the slip and announces- "And with the twenty-second pick of the mock DN 2011 draft, the Indianapolis Colts select... Nate Solder, Offensive Tackle, Colorado!"
Solder sealed this one up quite nicely with 60% of the vote. I haven't actually checked all of the mock draft results, but I'm fairly confident that is by and far the largest win percentage to date. It really doesn't surprise me, however, as the Colts needed help on their O-line and Solder was (at least to me) not only the BPA by far but also an absolute steal at twenty-two.
Now we move onto pick number twenty-three, the Philadelphia Eagles, who are best known for four things last season: riding the Michael Vick resurgence wave, an absolute stunning come-back win against the Giants, getting their arses kicked by the Mighty Minnesota Vikings in the first NFL Tuesday game in I believe 300 years, and giving up a playoff game to the Packers and allowing them to progress in their playoff run. If this was a tweet, this is where I would use the hash-tag #sourgrapessuck.
The Eagles are a fairly solid team. Their blitz packages on defense are well-known to befuddle many an O-line and quarterback, their receivers aren't too shabby, and for now they seem to have quarterback locked down just one season after letting Donovan McNabb go to a divisional rival. So what are their weaknesses, the areas they could be looking to address with their first round pick?
The Eagles are surprisingly weak at O-line. The reason why I use the word "surprisingly" here is because thanks to Vick's scrambling ability, it's not as obvious as, say, the weaknesses on our O-line or the Colt's O-line, which were trying to protect rather immobile quarterbacks. Of course, Andy Reid doesn't like Vick running for it- he'd rather him be a passer, which is the smart route to go. And upgrade here could allow Vick to focus more in that direction.
Their secondary, while serviceable last season, is another potential liability. Asante Samuel is a vet who's future with the team is in fact uncertain. Aside from him, they really don't have any outstanding playmakers, and overall they are quite shallow at the corner position. Defensively, they could also use an upgrade at OLB, but with Akeem Ayers off the board, I'm not quite sure that this is what they would select at this pick.
So let's see where the Eagles go to try and remain atop the NFC East. Vote away, faithful DN'ers... and sorry again about the extreme tardiness of this draft selection!!!
Draft Recap:
- 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