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
The prize in the contest is PRIDE! Sounds good to me. I`m ready for the fun to begin.
Not the report, it was a correction, just thought that was worth clarifying!
BTW, in my contest post, there are two entry deadlines, one obviously in error, the new deadline is the 28th at 4pm Mtn time, not the 27th!
Bay, It`s getting close to the draft. I`m looking forward to April 28. The truth will be known finally as to who we pick. It`s the final count down. Marcell Dareus!
Anyway, since we are on a new page let me repost it with the correction:
The draft contest entries will be taken starting this Thursday April 14th and ending 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 28th 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 affiliated with the Bronco organization, just an in house blogger creation.
Oh, so we can wait until a few hours before the first pick of the draft. Interesting.
Marcell Dareus = MD = Doctor of Defense to return the D In Denver!
That name has a nice ring to it.
Yeah, I figured that might be the only way to boost the number of entries since some bloggers may only come on the day of the draft to check what’s going on, that was the only reason, nothing will change in the last few days, teams will be just as silent about their picks even playing more mind games with eachother if anything.
The draft will start at 5:30pm Mtn time.
I hear you.
I am not understanding this draft stuff this year. Maybe someone can take a few minutes to explain it to me. How are the teams going to be interested in trading up or down if they are not going to be able to talk to the players that they draft until possibly just before the seasone starts, if even then. Would they be interested in trading anywhere or just getting their draft picks in their order and getting the draft over with. I mean, they are not going to be albe to work with these new guys at all are they? No contact with them or anything?
One of the ESPN analysts had a qb going no. 1 and Von Miller going to Denver as teh no. 2 pick, but I did not see or hear of any mention of trading him for other picks.
I`m sure that the only players that can be traded are the ones being drafted. No other players can be traded this year.
About trading Miller, that’s what broncos20 said last night, I just repeated what he said, don’t really know..
And yeah, you got a point weatherman, you wont have the right to a player so that you could trade him, you’ll have to trade picks for picks is the only way I would imagine, hadn’t really thought it thru, just saw his post and went with it, but it doesn’t make sense.
I am not doubting it bay, I was just throwing out what I had seen on ESPN the other night when they were discussing it. There have been so many different “analysts” giving so many different “opinions” that it has become way to confusing for someone new to this stuff to really understand it all I guess.
By the way everyone, I wish to offer my apologies for my rant the other night on the government thing. It is just that it really ticked me off to see our elected officials acting just like a bunch of two year olds, and I was trying to compare them to the owners and NFLPA doing this CBA. They all are acting just alike!
Seems noone is thinking of those of us that are actually payng their way.
But maybe an unsigned player acquired in the draft can be traded for a player or picks on draft day, that may just be the case, like back when Eli Manning was traded by the Chargers (who just picked him) to the Giants for Rivers (who they just picked).
Bay, I was thinking the same thing but am not sure. We`ll find out come draft day I bet.
Or maybe find out a few days before the draft starts.
Man, can you just imaging all of the hoopla of being one of the top five picks and going to finally sign with the team to find out that you have been traded to another team for someone else. Man that would hurt.
I just talked myself into believing you can trade an unsigned player you just picked to another team for picks, LOL, meaning broncos20 probably heard right.
Weatherman1, we`re living in tough times. Your just speaking out of frustration. And ya, I agree in that they were all acting like two year olds. Freedom of speech bro.
In the case of Eli, that’s what he wanted, he said he wouldn’t play for the Chargers.
But Rivers had to be shocked!
It doe`s make sense.
Despite the Chargers, S.D. would be a good place to hang your hat.
But in football terms, hang your helmet. lol
By the way bay, since so many of these teams do not have a blog of any type going until this fall sometime, I went to NFL.COM and posted your letter to all of the stories aboout the CBA where Mr. Goodall and those were making their case to us.
Nah, Spanos is an awful owner, that’s why he always got so many personnel issues there, many unhappy campers every year.
Ya, thats true.
Yeah, I saw that, the one where you had to split it in two parts right? Anyway many of us did what we could with it, I posted it like on about 8 teams sites, the Jets erased it after moderation though, LOL.
The Jets team site erased it. Weird.
They obviously didn’t take too kindly to us calling for a boycott.
They would! I posted it over all the FL and GA teams. Every other one that I went to you had to join, or they did not have a blog. So that is when I went to nfl.com and said the heck with this and started posting it to the different stories there that I could post it to. I figured that there would be more people going there over this cba thing reading what is going on anyway. I had to split it on several of them, but hopefully the message gets there.
Anyway, not a PP fan awake yet!
They are like most in their twenties or teens so they stay up late and get up late, haha.
Feels good to go a couple hours without PP in every other sentence….
To me, if they take it off of their blogs, then they are not listening to what the people have to say to them, or they just don’t care what is being said, or thought by the people that support them.
Typical. And when the Jets make their first pick they will ALL BOO as usual. Unhappy campers they are.
Amen to that.
If you lived anywhere around New-York, you’d be unhappy too, LOL.
Whenever PP comes on I always want to go take a leak…
Most of what I have seen on t.v. is Marcell Dareus for Denver. That on ESPN was the only one that I saw that was different.
I`ve been to Up-State New York only. Awesome scenery. Beautiful country.
LMAO!!!!!! Freaken Crazy!!!!!!
Hey! At least congress got a deal done before the deadline! LOL
PP EXPRESS. PP IN 2011. WHOOO. WHEN I SAY “PATRICK” YOU SAY “PETERSON”, PATRICK _______ . P-SQUARED WILL SOON BE IN TH BUILDING. I WONDER WHAT NUMBER HE WILL WEAR. MAYBE 27. MORENO NEEDS A FRESH NUMBER AND FRESH START. HE AINT DOING 27 JUSTICE ALA ATWATER AND DARRENT WILLIAMS. BESIDES ALL WAYS BEEN A DB NUMBER IN BRONCOS COUNTRY. WOOOO DID I MENTION PP?
How bout that? That should take care of the lack of PP. You asked for it. “Let there be PP” and there was PP lol. Later Days, TRB out..
ps: sounds about right bay, referring to our discussion on Von Miller.
pps: I wont lie, I am a PP fan in my twenties and was definitely up/out all night lol. But I didnt sleep in. had to be in church.
Time to take a leak baylin! Like i was talkin about work pulled me away yesterday shortly after posting. Contest sounds cool & i’m gonna stick patrick peterson down as the #2 pick, & hopefully fox does the right thing & takes him. Not as confident in the fact paea will be there as i am we will take pp tho. Maybe marvin austin or luiget will be tho. Two more great picks. I’m not totally sold on rudolph & would rather go rahim moore with our 2nd round 2 pick, but wouldnt hate the rudolph pick. Then go after sturdivant with the 3rd rounder and dj williams in the 4th (we’d have to trade up of course). Just cannot wait for the draft. GO BRONCOS
Oh ya and i’m 32 so i guess not all pp fans are quite so young. But i gotta say if we pick him & moore we will be really stout in the secondary & can get some stud d linemen next year. There will be far more dareus’s out there in next cupla yrs but no more petersons. THINK ABOUT IT!!
Hahaha, how bout them apples Bay. 2 PP post back to back. Its like we just synced up and decided to attack at the same time lol
btw, loisianna, Jaiqwuan Jarrett seems to be the fave at safety now. We brought him in for a workout and many teams did the same as well. Ive heard him going anywhere between round 3 and 5 but with as many teams showing interest and bringing him in for visits, im willing to bet on 3. Heres some video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnCQkoIZOFg
Of course, it’s pm, you guys are all back on, haha, and I will let you have the floor since this is Sunday at the Masters, cheerio!