With the third pick in the DN mock draft, mock Roger Goodell strides to the podium with a mock card in his mock hand, leans over and speaks into the mock microphone and says:
"With the third pick in the 2012 Daily Norseman Mock Draft, the Minnesota Vikings select Matt Kalil, T, USC. And because Sean Payton is such a whiny little bitch, I have considered his appeal and not only turned it down, but added an additional 6 months."
And the mock crowd at the Mock Draft Party at Mock Winter Park erupts with mock applause and approval.
The first three picks have been absolute no-brainers, but with Cleveland, there are several options available to us. Although Eric mentioned in his opening post that we aren't doing trades in this mock, there has been chatter about the Browns (along with the Dolphins) being interested in trading into the #3 spot the Vikings have to draft Texas A and M QB Ryan Tannehill.
But since trades are out, we'll have to wait for draft night to see if that goes down. For this, we have one of several different directions for the Browns. We could try and set the Cuyahoga River on fire again as that's worked well for Cleveland in the past. And it's fairly emblematic of the Browns in general since they came back into the league. Then we could play Adele's 'Set Fire To The Rain' while the river burns and laugh at the Browns, because as Vikings fans, we'll always be able to say 'well, at least we aren't Cleveland fans'.
So, who's it going to be?
But since we're trying to be super cereal here, the Browns have some pretty decent options in front of them. Their best running back for the last couple seasons is now in Kansas City, and assuming they go with QB Colt McCoy, he'll need somebody to hand off to and throw to. They already have a pretty good pass defense, but Morris Claiborne is probably the best prospect on the board at this point, and the strategy of taking the best player available is never a bad option. But do they surprise everyone and decide they need a QB and go with Tannehill?