2009 NFL Mock Draft

To go along with the 2009 Bracketology that's been up for weeks, ESPN has now released their first edition of a 2009 mock draft. If it holds anywhere close to being true, it's going to be a great year of football in the SEC. Overall, 13 of the 32 first rounders are projected to be from the SEC, including 7 of the top 10.

Obviously, there's some fairly presumptuous assumptions predicting a lot of underclassmen including Stafford, Moreno, Harvin, and Tebow. It's even more presumptuous to assume that the Cowboys will be in the Super Bowl. Tony "Mr. Clutch" Simpson-Romo turns into Ryan Leaf in the 2nd half of playoff games...

Another interesting tidbit is that - while there are a baker's dozen projected in the first round - only 6 schools are represented. LSU leads the way with 4, Florida has 3, Georgia and Ole Miss 2, and Auburn and Alabama each have 1. Anyway, here are the 13 SEC players projected and their notes.


3. Kansas City Chiefs -- Matt Stafford*, QB, Georgia
Another injury-plagued and disappointing season out of fragile QB Brodie Croyle will force the Chiefs to address the position with this high draft pick in 2009. If the supremely talented Stafford continues to progress as he did last fall, he could easily emerge as a top-five pick next April.

4. Miami Dolphins -- Al Woods, DT, LSU
At 6-foot-4 and 320 pounds, Woods is a physically imposing defensive tackle with enough size and strength to anchor the middle of a 3-4 defense.

5. Cincinnati Bengals -- Sen'Derrick Marks*, DT, Auburn
The Bengals got shut out in their pursuit of an elite defensive tackle in this year's draft, but 2009 will be more kind. Marks is an undersized playmaker with the first-step quickness to disrupt as a 3-technique tackle, which is exactly what Marvin Lewis' defense needs along its front.

6. Oakland Raiders -- Andre Smith*, OT, Alabama
Smith stepped in immediately as the Tide's starting left tackle and continues to improve with more coaching and game experience. The Raiders could enlist a player with his kind of skills to take care of their most recent first-round investments in QB JaMarcus Russell and RB Darren McFadden.

7. Chicago Bears -- Tim Tebow*, QB, Florida
It's almost certain that the Bears will need a quarterback come next offseason. Unfortunately, next year's crop of signal-callers does not look promising at this point. Bears fans won't be thrilled if the team uses a high pick on another Gators quarterback following the failed Rex Grossman experiment, but Tebow's unique blend of skills and rare intangibles might be too good to pass up. Should Tebow elect to leave school early, however, his uncommon skill set could make him the most difficult prospect at any position to grade.

8. San Francisco 49ers -- Michael Oher, OT, Mississippi
Oher, who possesses the size and athletic ability to develop into an upper-echelon starting tackle in the NFL, would make an ideal bookend opposite 2007 first-rounder Joe Staley.

10. New York Jets -- Knowshon Moreno*, RB, Georgia
Moreno burst onto the scene as a redshirt freshman in 2007 and he should build on that momentum as a first-year starter behind a more mature offensive line during the upcoming season. The Jets were not able to land McFadden in this year's draft but Moreno would be worth the wait if he's available in 2009.

19. Washington Redskins -- Greg Hardy*, DE, Mississippi
Hardy is flying under the radar right now despite notching 10 solo sacks the past two seasons, and the Redskins will be looking for a young pass-rushing threat after failing to land one during the latest draft.

20. Minnesota Vikings -- Percy Harvin*, WR/RS, Florida
Staying healthy for a full season would all but guarantee Harvin a spot in the first round of the NFL draft, either next year or in 2010.

21. Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- Ciron Black, OT, LSU
The Bucs will be looking to enlist the services of a talented left tackle prospect such as Black, who displays quick feet for a 6-5, 315-pounder.

25. Pittsburgh Steelers -- Tyson Jackson, DE, LSU
Jackson is among the elite senior defensive prospects right now but that might not hold up for 12 full months, as he's simply not a great fit for every team's defensive scheme. At 6-5 and 290, Jackson is best suited to play defensive end in a three-man front like the one employed in Pittsburgh.

27. New York Giants -- Brandon Spikes, ILB, Florida
The Giants could use a quick and powerful tackling machine like Spikes after failing to address that need early in the 2008 draft.

31. Dallas Cowboys -- Demetrius Byrd, WR, LSU
Wide receiver is the one area Dallas did not address during an otherwise promising 2008 draft. Byrd has a lot to prove as a senior but he certainly has the blend of size and deep speed it takes to emerge as a first-round draft pick.

Random Links for a Tuesday

* When Title IX was passed several years ago, it led to the emergence of more sanctioned women's sports. Things like rifle and field hockey give the university's sports information employees something to do in their spare time from football, basketball, and baseball. But Title IX has nothing to do with this: Ice Hockey is becoming prevalent in the SEC.

Fortunately Kentucky, Auburn, and Ole Miss have remained hockey-less. ESPN finally stopped wasting air time on hockey a few years back, but they still show the highlights in a desperate attempt to convince people south of the Mason-Dixon line that hockey is relevant. It's not. Sure it's fun to knock back a couple of cold ones at a minor league game and hope for a fight, but seriously... Ice hockey? in the SEC? No thanks. Just because it's prevalent, doesn't mean it's relevant.

* ESPN continues their hate affair with new Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino. In a mockery of mock drafts, Gregg Easterbrook suggests the Falcons use their pick on:

3. Atlanta Falcons: Eliot Spitzer, former governor, New York. Falcons owner Arthur Blank explains: "Compared to Bobby Petrino, this guy is a class act."

* The AJC has a good read up with questions SEC teams need to answer before football starts up

* Owch... And can someone tell me why the announcer thinks the ball bounced in the dirt?

David Pollack to retire from NFL

UGA great David Pollack has announced that he's retiring from the NFL. It's not exactly a surprising announcement - he hasn't played in a game since early 2006 - but it is a sad reminder that life isn't always fair. The guys at The Blue Workhorse have a few thoughts on Pollack's (too) brief NFL career.

Pollack was a 3-time All American while at UGA. Opposing coaches basically schemed their offense to go away from Pollack and he still almost always was in the middle of the play. Perhaps he's most remembered for this play from the 2003 South Carolina Game.

A little bit of everything

Fox Sports has 20 burning questions about the 2008 college football season, including a few involving the SEC.

#5- Which teams will be the most disappointing?
Alabama- not quite there yet, but the fans are getting impatient. It takes time to build a great team.

I can’t imagine this will be the case anywhere outside of Tuscaloosa. I know the Tide won the recruiting national championship (and have the shirts to prove it), but few outside the Tide Nation really expect a whole lot out of that team this year. They’re certainly headed in the right direction under Saban, but they finished 7-6 and won the Indy Bowl last year. What expectations do they have that they’ll be so disappointed this year?

#6- Which BCS teams will be the sleepers this year?
SEC- Mississippi State

I think the Bulldogs will be closer to disappointing than the Tide will be. MSU is coming off an 8-win season and a bowl win. Seeing as how they were (quite possibly) the worst 8-win SEC team in history last season, their luck will most likely run out this season. Their abysmal offense was just that in their 6-0 (in OT) spring game. They get Vandy and Kentucky at home in conference, but no way they approach last year’s success.

8- Which BCS conference will prove to be the strongest?
yada...yada...yada...But this year looks like it will be the year of the Big 12.
The SEC will drop off a little bit this year. Kentucky doesn't have 'Dre, Tenn. doesn't have Ainge, Vandy is Vandy, Mississippi State is very mediocre, Mississippi and Arkansas have new coaches, Alabama has had strong recruiting classes, but still isn't there yet and South Carolina has so many question marks, you pretty much have to peg them as a .500 team. Auburn, Florida, Georgia and LSU are the big dawgs. The rest are puppies.

She’s right and wrong here. I’ll give her that Kentucky will be worse this year, MSU is mediocre and that Vandy is Vandy. I think the Hogs will struggle this year rebuilding under Petrino. But that’s where our agreement stops. Why is Tennessee disqualified because Ainge is gone? No way they win the East again this year, but the Vols are hardly a “puppy” as she claims.

Alabama will most likely improve over last season and they suffered a few painfully close losses. Ole Miss has a chance to be one of the most improved teams in the country under Houston Nutt. South Carolina was one of the top teams in the country before they suffered a collapse for the record books.

Sure, the SEC will be weaker than last year. Kentucky and Mississippi State won’t make bowl games this year after notching bowl wins last year, but Ole Miss and South Carolina could replace them if the cards fall right. I don’t think the SEC is ready to pass that torch off just yet..

12- Which new first year coach will have the most success?
You have to go with Bobby Petrino. …if the Hogs come out of this season with a winning record, then that will have been a huge success.

I guess that depends on your definition of the word success. If Petrino guides Arkansas to a 7-5 record and Houston Nutt does the same thing for Ole Miss, who’s had more success? My guess is that – at season’s end - Rebel fans are happier with Nutt than Hog fans are with Petrino.

20- Who will win the Heisman?
Tim Tebow of Florida is the obvious front-runner. But there are some others who will make a strong case; RB Noel Devine of West Virginia, QB Pat White of West Virginia, QB Chase Daniel of Mizzou, RB Beanie Wells of OSU, QB Sam Bradford of Oklahoma, RB Knowshon Moreno of Georgia, WR Michael Crabtree of Texas Tech, U Jeremy Maclin of Mizzou, QB Max Hall of BYU, and RB Joe McKnight of USC. Sleepers: PJ Hill of Wisconsin, WR/RB Percy Harvin of Florida and QB Colt McCoy of Texas.
My three way-too-early early picks are Knowshon Moreno (Georgia), Sam Bradford (Oklahoma) and Chase Daniel (Mizzou)

Of course Tebow is the frontrunner. How could he not be with a collection of YouTube videos like he has?

As usual it’s a wide open race. Look for tOSU’s Chris Wells to get a lot of pub down the stretch as the Buckeyes roll through the directional school equivalents in the Big10+1. You can count on Homer Herbie to begin the season long fawning in July or August, whenever he and Corso start getting their worthless mugs on TV on a daily basis.

19- Can LSU repeat?
Heck yeah! A few things have to happen, but the odds are good they can repeat. If Miles can get his QB situation under control, then this could be a special year for the Tigers. Their schedule is what dreams are made of. They play eight games at home, and four on the road, including at Auburn, at Florida and at Arkansas to close out their campaign. If they don't slip up at South Carolina and beat Georgia in Death Valley, they have a solid shot at being undefeated. The Georgia game is the big question mark in terms of them being undefeated, but they can still win the division crown since Georgia is in the SEC East, and LSU is in the West. Playing in any BCS bowl is not an unrealistic expectation for the defending champs, and neither is getting to the Big Dance.

The Tigers certainly have as good a shot as anyone. Their non-conference schedule is a joke, so no worries there. No way they survive undefeated, but if they have just 1 loss and win the SEC Championship Game, no way they don’t deserve a hot to defend their title. Of course, that’ll all depend on QB play and whether or not Perilloux is even on the team this August...