Saturday, January 21, 2012

2012 NFL Mock Draft, 1.0

The 2012 NFL Draft is in three months, but it's not too early to project which prospect might go where.

Here is how we see the first round going:

1. Indianapolis Colts: Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford
2. St. Louis Rams: Matt Kalil, OT, USC
3. Minnesota Vikings: Morris Claiborne, CB, LSU
4. Cleveland Browns: Robert Griffin III, QB, Baylor
5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Trent Richardson, RB, Alabama
6. Washington Redskins: Dre Kirkpatrick, CB, Alabama
7. Jacksonville Jaguars: Justin Blackmon, WR, Oklahoma State
8. Carolina Panthers: Devon Still, DT, Penn State
9. Miami Dolphins: Riley Reiff, OT, Iowa
10. Buffalo Bills: Courtney Upshaw, LB, Alabama
11. Kansas City Chiefs: Jonathan Martin, OT, Stanford
12. Seattle Seahawks: Nick Perry, DE, USC
13. Arizona Cardinals: Melvin Ingram, DE, South Carolina
14. Dallas Cowboys: David DeCastro, G, Stanford
15. Philadelphia Eagles: Luke Kuechly, ILB, Boston College
16. New York Jets: Mark Barron, SS, Alabama
17. Cincinnati Bengals (via OAK): Janoris Jenkins, CB, North Alabama
18. San Diego Chargers: Zach Brown, LB, UNC
19. Chicago Bears: Michael Floyd, WR, Notre Dame
20. Tennessee Titans: Whitney Mercilus, DE, Illinois
21. Cincinnati Bengals: David Wilson, RB, Virginia Tech
22. Cleveland Browns (from ATL): Kendall Wright, WR, Baylor
23. Detroit Lions: Alfonso Dennard, CB, Nebraska
24. Pittsburgh Steelers: Cordy Glenn, OT, Georgia
25. Denver Broncos: Dwayne Allen, TE, Clemson
26. Houston Texans: Dontari Poe, DT, Memphis
27. New England Patriots (from NO): Michael Brockers, DT, LSU
28. Green Bay Packers: Andre Branch, DE, Clemson
29. New York Giants: Dont'a Hightower, ILB, Alabama
30. Baltimore Ravens: Vontaze Burfict, ILB, Arizona State
31. San Francisco 49ers: Mohamed Sanu, WR, Rutgers
32. New England Patriots: Chase Minnifield, CB, Virginia

Sunday, January 15, 2012

NFL Picks for the Sunday Games

Through the first six games of the playoffs, the home team (i.e., higher seed) has won and advanced in all six games.  According to Matt Pomeroy of NFL Network Research, home teams have not started 8-0 through the wild-card and divisional round of the playoffs since the wild-card round was added in 1978.

Will the home teams (Baltimore and Green Bay) win their respective games to advance to the AFC and NFC Championship Games?

Here are my picks for the Sunday games:

Baltimore over Houston: The Ravens have won all of their home games despite a .500 record on the road. Will rookie quarterback T.J. Yates be able to handle the pressure both from the Ravens defense and the situation? The Texans will try to use the running game as much as possible, but I see Yates making a mistake down the stretch and the Ravens advancing to the AFC Championship Game.

NY Giants over Green Bay: The Giants nearly beat the Packers the first time they met during the regular season and they have looked during their three-game winning streak. In the NFL (or any sport), it's important to peak at the right time and it seems like the Giants are doing just that after their 24-2 win over Atlanta last week. It's been a few weeks since the Packers played a meaningful game and I think it will much longer before they play their next meaningful game.

Who do you think will win on Sunday?