There are few SB Nation people who I consider cooler than 3k of Turf Show Times. Three reasons:
Rock out with your mock draft out: 3k
1: He’s an NFL Draft fiend.
2: He frequently links to MTD.
3: He puts a ton of work into his mocks.
If you want to see a combination of all three, check out his 2011 mock draft here. Doing a mock draft this time of year accomplishes only one thing: It fills your heroin-like need for draft goodness. Because of that, I have a hard time ripping his draft order (Jacksonville first, Minnesota over Baltimore in the Super Bowl). It’s also hard to criticize who he has going where.
For this exercise, we’ll hit on some players I don’t have ranked in my top 75 who he has being drafted. And some explanation on my part.
- 1. Jacksonville Jaguars - Andrew Luck | QB | Stanford
Why he is excluded: In the initial top 75, I didn't include redshirt sophomores. Specifically, because I haven't seen quite enough of Luck. However, the evaluation process at MTD is non-stop. Someone is sending me Stanford games to check out, so expect some Luck talk throughout the spring/summer when I get to it.
12. Tennessee Titans - Sam Acho | DE | Texas
Why he is excluded: I don't think he's quite the playmaker Sergio Kindle and Brian Orakpo were. There's a certain explosive ferocity missing in Acho's game. He's solid, and that's it. He's in the next group (coming soon!), however.
18. Arizona Cardinals - Nick Foles | QB | Arizona
Why he is excluded: Foles is the next junior quarterback in my QB rankings. His frame is good, but he comes from a gimmicky spread offense. His pocket presence is very questionable. Also this.
30. New Orleans Saints - Evan Royster | RB | Penn State
Why he is excluded: Slow feet. It's harsh, but true. A running back with slow feet won't get very far.
43. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Todd Pinkston | OT | Pittsburgh
Why he is excluded: He's in the next grouping of players. I don't dislike him, but I'm not blown away.
49. Houston Texans - Nate Potter | OT | Boise State
We he is excluded: See above. Potter's upside is greater than Pinkston's, though.
53. San Francisco 49ers - Don'ta Hightower | MLB | Alabama
Why he is excluded: There were moments in the four games Hightower played last season that he looked better than Rolando McClain. That's high praise. But he's coming back from injury and moving from outside to inside linebacker. He has to show his worth before I rank him.
54. Green Bay Packers - Ryan Williams | RB | Virginia Tech
Why he is excluded: Williams didn't make the cut because he's a redshirt sophomore. But it will be interesting to see how many less carries he gets this season now that Darren Evans is back from injury. It should be noted that Williams has missed time this spring with a bruised knee.
62. New Orleans Saints - Mark Herzlich | OLB | Boston College
Why he is excluded: We left Herzlich off because he missed all of last battling cancer. When he’s on, he’s a top 20 player. He’ll just have to prove it again this fall.
64. Minnesota Vikings - Derek Wolfe | DT | Cincinnati
Why he is excluded: Right now, I don't see a lot in Wolfe. He's not overly powerful or athletic. There are several other tackles better – Jerrell Powe, Jarvis Jenkins, Drake Nevis.
But this is all the fun of doing mocks in the spring and summer. So I encourage all of you to continue putting up mocks in the FanPosts.
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