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1. Who will be the No. 1 overall pick in tonight's NFL Draft?
If you believe the rumors the Texans have been trying to shop this pick for a while but likely aren't receiving good enough offers. That makes sense. You really have to be given a major bounty to move out of the 1st overall pick. Anything less and it can be a PR nightmare even if you move back a few spots and get a very good player with a nice long career. You don't want to be the team that gave up the top pick and watched someone else get a future Hall of Famer.
Is Clowney that kind of talent? Yeah, probably. The NFL minds seem to have settled on the fact that Houston is going with Clowney and when that happens we almost always see the predictable pick. I'm currently in the mind that it'll be mildly shocking if Clowney doesn't go No. 1 overall.
2. We're going to set the over/under on quarterbacks taken in the 1st round at 3.5. Where do you place your bet?
From a "that guy was really good in college" standpoint this draft looks quite loaded at quarterback and you'd think with all the teams with bum play at the position there'd be 4 or 5 going in the first round. Then again, the NFL Draft is a weird place that can easily confound someone who watches hundreds of hours of college ball.
I really want to take the under here, though. I'm assuming Seattle, San Francisco, New England, Carolina, New Orleans, Cincinnati, Green Bay, Miami, NYJ, Baltimore, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Chicago, NYG, Detroit, Atlanta, and Buffalo aren't even thinking about taking one. You could make a case Denver, San Diego, Kansas City, and Philadelphia could give someone a look but none of them seem likely to pull the trigger.
That leaves: Houston, St. Louis, Jacksonville, Cleveland, Oakland, Tampa Bay, Minnesota, and Tennessee as the teams likely to draft a quarterback.
I have the Texans taking Clowney so that leaves 7 teams remaining. Will 4 quarterbacks go to those 7 teams? Looking at this way it seems unlikely. The only thing that gives me pause is that both St. Louis and Cleveland have two picks each in the first round.
I'm convinced the Browns are taking a quarterback, and probably with their top pick. Sure they just signed Vince Young but that's a very strong indicator that the team needs a quarterback in the worst way.
St. Louis seems likely to stick with Bradford. In a vacuum it'd be nice to draft someone with their second pick and groom him for a year (maybe two) while the Bradford era (or should I say contract?) plays itself out. Seeing as though they don't have much cap room they're probably not going to add a decent sized rookie contract onto Bradford's $17.6 million cap hit for next year. Trading him doesn't look like a realistic option and restructuring his contract might be unnecessarily risky for someone who hasn't proven a while lot in the NFL.
I'll take the under.
3. Where will the Notre Dame prospects be taken in the Draft?
OL Zack Martin- 19th overall to Miami
Everyone and their mother has Martin going to the Giants earlier in the Draft. That feels so right. But maybe too right. He's been linked to the Dolphins in the past so I say he slips a few picks and lands in Miami.
DT Louis Nix- 29th overall to New England
Lots of talk about Tuitt going here. That could work too.
DE Stephon Tuitt- 46th overall to Pittsburgh
Would he last this long? It could happen.
TE Troy Niklas- 73rd overall to Buffalo
The Bills need a dynamic tight end and have been linked to Eric Ebron down at their 9th overall pick. I bet they pick up a receiver there and get Niklas early in the 3rd round.
OG Chris Watt- 159th overall to Jacksonville
This is me guessing.
WR TJ Jones- 165th overall to San Diego
Jones is the victim of a ridiculously strong wide receiver draft.
LB Prince Shembo- 207th overall to Denver
He seems like the type of athlete the Broncos might like to develop in the later rounds.
4. What will be the major story line that everyone is going to complain about for receiving too much coverage?
If the past week is any indication it has to be Teddy Bridgewater. He'll be at the Draft and there's a decent chance he'll sit there for the first half of the first round with both networks talking about him constantly. We'll be put out of our misery I think once a team moves up and snags him late in the first round. One of the teams that passes on him real early (Jacksonville? Tampa? Minnesota?) would be really dumb not to make a move.
I guess if that happens there will probably be 4 quarterbacks taken in the first round and I should take the over from the bet above.
5. Those poor, poor running backs. How many will be taken before the start of the 5th round?
My wild guess is that there will be 5 taken in the first 140 picks. Carlos Hyde, Tre Mason, Jeremy Hill, Bishop Sankey, and Lache Seastrunk are the only ones I'd bet on.
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