THE HERALD’S 2009 MOCK DRAFT
Published 11:17 pm Friday, April 24, 2009
1) Detroit: QB Matthew Stafford, Georgia. The Lions have 75 million reasons to hope he succeeds.
2) St. Louis: T Eugene Monroe, Virginia. In the past 24 hours, the Rams started favoring Monroe over Jason Smith.
3) Kansas City: T Jason Smith, Baylor. The Chiefs are looking at DE Tyson Jackson for 3-4 defense, but also like Smith.
4) SEATTLE: QB Mark Sanchez, USC. Aaron Curry is the safer pick, but Sanchez could mean a bigger future.
5) Cleveland: LB Aaron Curry, Wake Forest. Crabtree may have talked his way out of this spot.
6) Cincinnati: WR Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech. The Bengals’ phones will be ringing with trade proposals.
7) Oakland: WR Darrius Heyward-Bey, Maryland. Tom Cable likes big guys, but Al Davis likes speed.
8) Jacksonville: WR Jeremy Maclin, Missouri. He will get tutored by one of his idols: Torry Holt.
9) Green Bay: T Andre Smith, Alabama. With an aging line, the Packers take the first big gamble of the 2009 draft.
10) San Francisco: DE Brian Orakpo, Texas. The Niners need just 15 seconds to select a perfect fit for their 3-4 scheme.
11) Buffalo: DE Aaron Maybin, Penn State. Pass rushers are coming off the board quickly.
12) Denver: DE Tyson Jackson, LSU. The Broncos resist the urge to end the Kyle Orton era before it begins.
13) Washington: DT B.J. Raji, Boston College. The Redskins are trying desperately to trade up for QB Sanchez.
14) New Orleans: CB Malcolm Jenkins, Ohio State. What Jenkins lacks in speed, he makes up for in size.
15) Houston: CB Vontae Davis, Illinois. Maybe the Texans should get back-to-back picks in every round, every year
16) San Diego: MLB Rey Maualuga, USC. Too many similarities to Junior Seau for Chargers to ignore.
17) N.Y. Jets: DE Everette Brown, Florida State. With no available QB, the Jets try to talk Steve Young out of retirement.
18) Denver: LB Brian Cushing, USC. The Broncos continue to rebuild NFL’s worst defense.
19) Tampa Bay: QB Josh Freeman, Kansas State. He could go even sooner; there aren’t many QBs out there.
20) Detroit: LB Clay Matthews, USC. Let’s make this easier: step forward if you don’t want an SC linebacker.
21) Philadelphia: RB Beanie Wells, Ohio State. Brian Westbrook can’t take hits forever.
22) Minnesota: CB Darius Butler, Connecticut. The Vikings might more prefer Hasheem Thabeet’s defensive presence.
23) New England: RB Knowshon Moreno, Georgia. The Pats are ready to end the Laurence Maroney experiment.
24) Atlanta: DT Peria Jerry, Mississippi. The Falcons need help on defense; LB is also a possibility.
25) Miami: WR Hakeem Nicks, North Carolina State. Pennington, Brown and Co. need another offensive weapon.
26) Baltimore: T Michael Oher, Mississippi. Someone to watch over Flacco’s “Blind Side.”
27) Indianapolis: C Max Unger, Oregon. Jeff Saturday’s replacement should play plenty of Sundays.
28) Buffalo: TE Brandon Pettigrew, Oklahoma State. His blocking ability could give the Bills’ running game a boost.
29) N.Y. Giants: T Eben Britton, Arizona. He has time to develop on a deep, veteran team.
30) Tennessee: WR Percy Harvin, Florida. A bit of a risky pick, but he’s the playmaker the Titans need.
31) Arizona: LB Clint Sintim, Virginia. This productive pass rusher could give the Cardinals their missing piece.
32) Pittsburgh: DE Robert Ayers, Tennessee. The Steelers like to develop defensive talent.
