On ESPN.com, Mel Kiper, Jr. and Todd McShay have both released new mocks — and both cover the first three rounds of the draft.
Both are available using ESPN Insider, so for those of you that don’t have it, here’s the rundown on their predictions.
The Broncos have four picks in the first three rounds — one of just two teams along with New England to have four picks among the first 70 — and Kiper and McShay have the club taking the same player on three of the four picks.
McShay and Kiper both see Alabama’s Marcell Dareus headed to Denver as the second overall selection.
McShay: “The Broncos are in desperate need of a true impact defensive tackle to anchor new coach John Fox’s 4-3 defense and will be holding their breath until Carolina picks. Denver will be thrilled if Dareus falls here because he fits the mold of an every-down difference-maker and also carries minimal baggage.”
Kiper: “There are several guys Denver could take here to bolster their defense, but Dareus makes a lot of sense. A scheme-versatile player who can be a disruptive, penetrating force as an interior lineman, or a fantastic pass-rusher as a defensive end in a 3-4 scheme, Dareus is a safe pick. He doesn’t have remarkable quickness, but his agility and versatility at a full 319 pounds is the stuff of an elite lineman. Denver could also consider a corner or linebacker here, but Dareus fills a significant, immediate need.”
In the second round, the Broncos have two selections — Nos. 36 and 46 overall.
With those picks, Kiper and McShay both see UCLA safety Rahim Moore and Notre Dame tight end Kyle Rudolph donning orange and blue in the NFL. The only distinction is that Kiper sees Moore as the earlier selection, while McShay has Rudolph going at No. 36.
In the third round, the two ESPN personalities finally differ, as McShay sees Denver going with North Carolina inside linebacker Quan Sturdivant, while Kiper predicts the pick will be a defensive lineman — Christian Ballard, from Iowa.
As for some other updated mock drafts, Dareus seems to be the consensus.
Sports Illustrated’s Don Banks agrees that Dareus will be Denver’s pick.
“If anybody really is cooling on the draft prospects of the Alabama defensive tackle, I couldn’t uncover the origin of their waning interest,” he wrote. “As one talent scout told me: ‘He’s a great kid and he plays good. The rest is just agent talk.’ Works for me. Dareus to a Broncos team that is transitioning to a 4-3 defense under new head coach John Fox is as logical as any projection anyone will make this year.”
On CBSSports.com, Chad Reuter and Rob Rang both see Dareus in Denver.
Reuter: “Da’Quan Bowers failed to put up the exceptional pro day needed to quiet fears about his health, so Denver instead picks the playmaker on the interior needed to play off edge rushers Robert Ayers and Elvis Dumervil.”
Rang: “The Broncos have a variety of needs, but none bigger than at defensive tackle. Denver finished 31st in the NFL in run defense last year and recently released former starters Justin Bannan and Jamal Williams. Dareus is the best run-stuffing defensive tackle in this class and among the safer picks. Barring a trade down, he should be a no-brainer here.”
As for FoxSports.com, Adam Caplan goes with Dareus as well.
“With the decision to go to a 4-3 scheme on defense, the need for interior defensive linemen like Dareus has taken on an increased importance in recent months,” he wrote. “He would come right in and start. Bowers also could come right in and play.”
FoxSports.com has also compiled a couple other mocks from Peter Schrager, Scout.com and WalterFootball.com. WalterFootball goes with Dareus as well, but Scout and Schrager are dissenters, going with Nick Fairley and Patrick Peterson, respectively.
Two more dissenters include CBSSports.com’s Pete Prisco and Clark Judge, who predict Peterson and Fairley, respectively.
Prisco: “You can never have enough good corners these days, and Champ Bailey isn’t a kid anymore. Peterson will be an elite cover player.”
Judge: “When John Fox took over Carolina he had the second pick and chose Julius Peppers. It’s deja vu all over again.”
With less than a month to go until draft day, there’s a pretty extensive update. We’ll see how many opinions change between now and then.
-Gray Caldwell, DenverBroncos.com
Tags: 2011 NFL Draft
And 3rdGeneration, Paea could go with the Chiefs at #21, the Colts at #22 or N-E like mikey said or many other places before he lands to #36, just saying.
And yeah, all this b.s. over here about this governement shutdown and for zero reasons, could of easily done without any of that on this football site….
However the only thing that it points out to me is that the NFL is even more pathetic running its business than the governement is running theirs!
How low can the NFL exactly go!?!?!?!?!?!
I feel sick…
And Legwold is only now bringing to the forefront what we discussed here about a month ago I think, the fact that there will be no undrafted free agents this year as things stand:
Some rookies, who watched the seven rounds go by without hearing their name called on the draft weekend, have often said it worked out for the best because they could then have their pick of interested teams that may need a little more help at their position.
Trouble is, however, those players could be left out in the cold this year, waiting for lawyers and negotiators on both sides of the NFL’s current labor squabble to posture less and negotiate more.
If the current lockout isn’t lifted, if there isn’t some ruling by a judge before this year’s draft, there is no free agency in place. That means the players who aren’t drafted would go unsigned and have to wait and see.
That would rob teams of the ability to bring in those players who had draftable grades but were not selected. It would also rob those players of an opportunity to get into a training camp and make a roster as Vaughn did with the Broncos last season.
And in a seven-round draft, there are some talented players who, because of injury or some other reason, aren’t selected.
And for whatever it’s worth, this is what Legwold says about the top of this draft class:
In this class, many scouts see defensive players such as Patrick Peterson, Von Miller and Marcell Dareus as longtime starters in the league.
And I can’t disagree with any of that, so to answer the question by imready earlier, that in case the Panthers pick Dareus who should we pick? My choice would be Von Miller.
Baylin,
I was gonna ask you the same thing cuz i dont look at old mocks.
http://www.cbssports – .com/nfl/draft/mock
http://walterfootball – .com/draft2011.php
http://www.fftoolbox – .com/nfl_draft/2011/2011-nfl-mock-draft.cfm?writer=28&page=1
http://www.mynfldraft – .com/NFL-Mock-Draft
All the NFL.com analyst mock drafts
Most agree top 5 dts
Dareus
Fairley
Wilkerson
corey luiget
Stephen Paea
After Marvin Austins pro day, he has been on the rise and in the latest mock drafts, he is going in the first
as far as Chiefs go, the understanding by most is Phil Taylor from Baylor cuz he is the only true NT in the draft for their 3-4 scheme.
This is not wishful thinking … sure youve shown me a draft but for the most part all the mocks I see I RARELY ever see him go in the first.
No doubt he is first round worthy but most situations have him going in the 2nd. But Im sure I dont need to tell you that anything is possible. I dont doubt that im sure if u look around enough u can find a mock of him goign in the first round but the general concesus based on the ones ive read dont have him going in the first round.
Baylin,
I was gonna ask you the same thing cuz i dont look at old mocks.
http – ://www.cbssports – .com/nfl/draft/mock
http – ://walterfootball – .com/draft2011.php
http – ://www.fftoolbox – .com/nfl_draft/2011/2011-nfl-mock-draft.cfm?writer=28&page=1
http – ://www.mynfldraft – .com/NFL-Mock-Draft
All the NFL.com analyst mock drafts
Most agree top 5 dts
Dareus
Fairley
Wilkerson
corey luiget
Stephen Paea
After Marvin Austins pro day, he has been on the rise and in the latest mock drafts, he is going in the first
as far as Chiefs go, the understanding by most is Phil Taylor from Baylor cuz he is the only true NT in the draft for their 3-4 scheme.
This is not wishful thinking … sure youve shown me a draft but for the most part all the mocks I see I RARELY ever see him go in the first.
No doubt he is first round worthy but most situations have him going in the 2nd. But Im sure I dont need to tell you that anything is possible. I dont doubt that im sure if u look around enough u can find a mock of him goign in the first round but the general concesus based on the ones ive read dont have him going in the first round.
(I put hyphens cuz anything with more than one link needs moderation)
Your choice would be von miller bay? i recall u once sayign that u live in texas and have watched von and he is not that impressive. I sure u dont doubt that he will be a starter but im pretty sure u said that once. I think that you are just very anti PP but then again maybe u just think von miller is the next best choice. But please tell me the use of a speed rusher in the 4-3 that will play the Sam where his QB rushign skills will rarely be used. He is a solid LB without rushing the QB but lest face it, his strongest skill set is the rush …. Just my take….
Just when you thought the CBA thing couldn’t get worse, the NFLPA has added D Smith as a lawyer to their suit! That sort of looks like Conflict of Interest to me! That all but guarantees there is no possibility of talking this thing out. He doesn’t want to talk it out. He wants to sue, then sue, then sue some more. Personally, I hope the NFLPA gets spanked in court and told to grow up! Quit acting like a bunch of spoiled little brats and take care of business. And stop hiding behind retired players and admit that it is all about money in your pocket. Taking care of retired players is no more than third or fourth on your list!
Never said anything of the kind about Von Miller TRB, it was about Bowers after his Bowl game and we talked about it then.
And as far as PP vs Von Miller, it’s an easy choice for me, I think we need to go front 7 with the first pick period.
I would bet it on my life that you said it bay but too many blogs to sift through for that lol but on the slight chance that I could be wrong and read the wrong name attached to the post, I’ll listen to the words directly in front of me.
Its funny, u know we may call the NFL and NFLPA babies, but at least rodger goodell and DeMaurice smith reduced thier salary to $1 and 0 respectively but what did congress do? Make sure they will still get payed no matter what … and these are the leaders of our country (granted Goodell and Smith moves were probably just to save face/PR but at least they did that much)
My wish list goes
PP. Then Dareus. If we stay at 2.
If Dareus is off the board and EF-X has no intention of drafting the CB, then TRADE back. I’m totally against Von Miller. I would rather have Bower, Fairley or Quinn. We have Dumervil and used a first on DE/OLB two years ago. I got the feeling that Ayers has the support of the guys in the locker room. And I’ve already mentioned it before, had Ayers not done what was asked of him his rookie season, Dumervil would not have reached the 17 sack mark.
If we were to stay in the 3-4, then by all means Von would be my pick here. Especially since Moss and Reid are gone bye-bye.
I’m still skeptical with Marcel at 2 for the fact DT is deep this year. And how much of a game changer can a DT really be? Compared to a CB who also excels at returning?
To be fair, I’m skeptical with PPs, 9 on the wonderlic. Then again, what does Two trains leaving the Terminal at the same time, one headed to Carolina, the other to Denver. If one train averages a speed of 65 mph with 8 stops lasting 15 minutes each and the second train averages 75mph with 12 stops lasting 5 minutes each, which train arrives at their destination first- have to do with a 3 WR set, single HB on 3rd and 6 with 1:36 left on the clock and the D needs the ball back to give Ort..er…Tebow the ball back for a game tying drive?
Just my take!
2Ps = D in 11
Then again, we could ALL be wrong and Gabbert gets the call at #2!!! How mad would you all be?
If Carolina takes Dareus at #1,then we take Fairley at #2,imo.
We need a dominant DT,and Fairley is dominant!!!
Actually Quinn might be a better way to go than Miller, specially that we could pretty much trade down a few spot and pretty much have good odds of still landing him.
BFE, the more I go the less I believe in Fairley, work ethics, every down lineman and all. I see big odds of him not living up to the hype.
You dont have to convince me sndvl. U know im with u all the way. And I agree that Quinn over Von. As I said, we arent in the 3-4 and in the 4-3 Von is not as useful. Maybe Having DE Quinn will get his brother TE quinns head back in the game. Plus Quinn aint play last season so no health concerns for what its worth but when he played he was dominant. Dunno about bowers tho, I heard word that the only reason we brought Bowers in was if he fell so far that he was available in the second round. And believe the man is falling. Funny Bowers and Fairley started off at the top….
Bay if we go LB there are a lot of great LBs we can get in the 2nd and 3rd rounds,Martinez,Mattews,Jones,and Sheppard,and a sleeper in Carter from NC.
I stilll think Fairley is a beast,and I would take him,just me.
Let’s just put both our hopes into the Panthers drafting someone other than Dareus! At least that’s what I’m doing, because Dareus being there makes this #2 pick an easy decision for me, him not being there is all together a different animal and I would have to seriously start hoping that someone trades up for our pick.
Agree 100% baylin. By the way, you asked once upon a time; and yes I do live in Austin. So, we’re neighbors of sorts. I am still trying to find verification of the Bronco player who wore a retired number for a time, till someone in the front office caught the error.
Agreed!
BFE what up bro? Broncos rule!
Lets hope that Marcell Dareus is there at our #2 pick. I think the Panthers are going after a QB with the 1st over all pick.
If Dareus is not there at #2 then I`m not sure if we should trade back 2 or three spots and get another 2nd round pick or not. Not sure what I want yet. I like Nick Fairley buthe can turn out to be another Haynesworth. I`m undecided at this time.
BFE, I`m glad your still enjoy the new Accept CD. Dude I`m looking forward to the draft bro. I can hardly wait.
strand, we’ll open up the draft contest this Thursday.
Austin, good to know, I live in Lago, man that was like a month ago I asked you that….
I`ll be ready Bay. It`ll be fun.
BFE I hear that the LB from NC Carter is a speedster, fast LB. I heard that he had knee surgery in January. I hope he`s ready for the begining of the season if we draft him. IF he wasn`t hurt he`d be a higher pick from what I know.
Doe`s Robert Quinn still have the Tumor in his Brain or is it gone? Doe`s anyone know? Is he totally healthy now?
Yeah, I know Baylin. I work nights, I usually read the blogs, but I’m too far behind to talk to anybody live. I figure if I leave a message nobody will ever read it.
Strand, Last I heard on the subject, Quinn still has the tumor but it is benign. Still a point of concern for a lot of teams, though. Probably the main reason he has been sliding lately.
strand,I hope the Panthers go QB with the #1,so we don’t have to worry about getting Dareus with our #2 bro!
If the Panthers take Dareus,then if we do decide on Fairley or someone else,I wouldn’t be against trading down a few spots and picking up another 2nd and maybe a 3rd round pick,since Fairleys stock is falling,we could probably get him with a #10 pick or so,plus get more picks!
I just hope we get that Beast at DT that we so badly need!!!!!!!!!!
For anyone who is an ESPN insider (requires subscription), I’d really appreciate knowing how the University of Montana’s draft prospect are rated. Here is the link:
http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/draft/schools?letter=d&id=2301&year=2011&_slug_=montana&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnfl%2fdraft%2fschools%3fletter%3dd%26id%3d2301%26year%3d2011%26_slug_%3dmontana
I like Chase Reynolds but don’t think he has the right physical skill set for an NFL running back. Eric Stoll may be able to make it as a safety.
Thanks Henryac. I`m glad it`s Benign. If he`s playing football it must not be effecting him much at this time. Kinda wild.
I`m with you on the BEAST DT BFE. We need a plugger up the middle against the run big time.
nice one trb (7:38). that was a heck of a comeback there. u know what u are talkin about and i think its possible u’ll b chastised no more. you are right, paea is definately considered about the 4th or 5th rated dt and with marvin austins rise you can be sure he may very well be there at #36. if we take pp with the 2nd and paea with the 36th pick we will be in good shape. and von miller baylin?? not even near who i would take at #2. not with quinn, bowers, peterson, heck even fairly sitting there. miller will be very good in the 3-4 but a sam in the 4-3 would not be his best position in the pros. neither would de. but u def know ur stuff so maybe you know sumthin i dont about him. i am one of the few who keep saying peterson with the 2nd pick and i’m definately sticking to it. its the right pick in this draft and in our situation. i think there is a good chance fox goes for dareus, tho, and its not like i would hate that. dareus is an awesome pick too so its a win win for me.
and ya i know i’m behind but i’m like austin, i work too much to be chattin live tho i love the blogs. very informative and thoroughly entertaining.
louisiana, hardly ever on but never missing a shot at taking jabs, you crack me up, watching the Masters so better things to do than to jab back, haha.
thx louisiana. Im a PP and Paea hopeful so I try to stay imformed and keep my glimmer (no matter how little) of hope alive. I think PP is the best choice but like you im not opposed to Dareus … its not like he sucks or anything, far from it. Just thinking most efficient way to use our limited picks. Theres a strong possibility Paea goes in the first but from what ive seen in mocks, the ranking of DTs and the rise of Austin, he is looking like early second. Im hoping maybe his senior bowl injury will make teams hold off on pulling the trigger too early. All i know is Fox said DL is deep and that the broncos will give paea full attention if he is available at 36. But all would have to go perfectly right for my dream to come true lol and I am far from the luckiest guy. TRB out…
I am a PP fan. We are not going to win the SB this season. Having a solid backfield is huge……. Every year there are excellent defensive linemen. Rarely are there CB that are being considered in the top 5. Very rare talent. Don’t forget how much a great CB can help with stopping the run….. Trade down a few spots pick up an extra pick or two and get PP then take a few d-linemen.
Look at how Polamalu can control a game. Not saying PP will be as dominant, but he has that kind of talent.
Just my take.
All of the players listed in the top 5 would be an improvement from what we had.
Man you can’t kill PP fans can you? Its like zombies they start creeping out of the blogosphere like the Thriller video… lol
Front 7 in 11 or craps!
We prefer the Walking Dead. Zombies is so derogatory! Lol
2Ps = D in 11
HAHA sndvl! lol sorry didn’t mean to offend….
Dareus is the ideal pick,..but I still cross my fingers on PP..aha..
one sports writer made an interesting point..he said Von Miller will be the second pick!!!..but then he went on to the Broncos will trade him down to a team in the mid-first for several more picks.IDK!!
PP set aside, I forgot to mention how awesome is the pic of Schlereth on the front page with his beedy steely eye, capturing the intensity of the moment to perfection.
And yea, back to PP, I think it’s best to let his fans have their moment now because three weeks from now it’s my opinion that they are certainly not going to have much to celebrate about, and it doesn’t stop at PP, there is also the PP & Paea movement and same thing applies here. Anyhow come Thursday the draft contest opens up and everyone will be able to put their predictions on paper for the records, not who you wish you could get mind you, but who you think we will get, just thought I needed to clarify with all this PP nonsense, LOL.
Front 7 or trade down is my new motto and mojo while I’m at it!
And I can see the picking Von Miller and trade him down for picks, but if you do that you could do it with Peterson as well I would think. But that goes back to what I attempted to say yesterday, that I agreed that after Dareus there are only two players who should be considered sure hits this year and it’s Von Miller and PP, and just because I picked Von Miller over PP the world then erupted, LOL.
I don’t hide it, I don’t like skill players as much as guys doing the grunt work and PP represents one of the position nowdays where half the prima donnas come from, the other half coming from the WRs, so absolutely nobody should be surprised here that I would give the nudge to Von Miller over PP. And with a 9 wonderlick result, PP on an INT is very liable to run it to the wrong end zone, a la Jim Marshall, haha!
And TRB, after sleeping on it I do remember now that at one point I said I wouldn’t want Von Miller AS A #2 PICK (instead of Dareus), never talked about the what if Dareus is gone scenario and top that off with the fact that I’m a guy living in Longhorn country and Von Miller is an archrival Aggie and I probably made him sound worse than he is out of habit, so I’m kind of glad I rectified that a bit yesterday saying he is tops at front 7 after Dareus in this year’s draft. So you’re not hearing voices yet, just thought you’d like to know that, LOL.
Talking about the draft contest:
The draft contest entries will be taken starting this Thursday April 14th and ending Thurday the 28th at 4pm Mtn time. For bloggers wishing to enter, I need the name of the players we will pick in the first three rounds and the order in which they will be picked, #2, #36, #46 and #67 picks (as of now, assuming no draft day pick trades are made). IMPORTANT: Only one entry per blogger, only first entry counts, so if in doubt wait until the 27th deadline to post. No exceptions, too much re-work for me.
Highest number of correct players picked will win with the tie breaker being at what # those players were picked.
No prizes of any kind, just PRIDE, the biggest prize of all!
This contest is not way affiliated with the Bronco organization, just an in house blogger creation.
Unless Fox knows more about it than us, but I can of doubt it since he is not allowed contact with players, but it certainly looks like Miami may be ahead of the curb over us regarding DeAngelo, at least if you listen to Williams:
DeAngelo Williams is viewed as the best tailback on the free agent market, and there’s plenty of speculation that the Miami Dolphins have an interest in signing the Carolina Panther. Sources inside the organization use Williams as an example of the shifty, scatback type this offense is missing, the kind of runner who can make something out of nothing, creating yards on his own. Williams himself has heard the rumors about Miami’s interest, and doesn’t shy away from admitting his interest in playing for the Dolphins is mutual. “This is a place I’d like to live,” said Williams.
…, but I kind of doubt it…