It Is What It Is: NFL Draft Extravaganza 2011

It's getting to be a sports writer's favorite time of year; the NFL Draft, and for now I am going to put the fact that there probably won't be any football next year on the backburner. I love the pre-draft atmosphere and all the speculation it incurs both as a fan and a writer. So this week I am going to take a look at a couple teams who could go in a few directions with their picks, and of course discuss what Coach Belichick and Co. could do with their picks, but let's face it, he's going to use his voodoo magic with the picks and find some stud and make all of us look like morons for our predictions. 

Carolina Panthers

The Panthers are like the Detroit Lions a couple years ago in the sense that they have a garage that's a total mess and don't know where to start cleaning. That is the task new head coach Ron Rivera is charged with. He has maybe two players, Jon Beason and James Anderson, on defense that he could build his defense around, but other than that he has nothing but average, at best, players taking the field. But good defensive talent can be found later, their biggest need is at signal caller because Jimmy Clausen plays like the quarterback of my high school team the year we went 1-10. Sources around the silver and blue are saying the Cam Newton is the guy for them. I can see this; they need a leader and can surround him with talent that is already there because their offense is the one place where they do have talent with Jonathan Stewart, Steve Smith and a solid offensive line. So look for them to take Newton and turn him into their franchise. 

Washington Redskins

After the Donovan McNabb experiment failed and Albert Haynesworth is a fat load, the Redskins are left with chaos. There are talks about handing to the offense to Rex Grossman, excuse me while I wet my pants laughing, because he is clearly a franchise quarterback. Their receiving core consists of Santana Moss, who was good eight years ago and they have no running backs to speak of, but Mike Shanahan finds value picks in late rounds that he can plug into his zone blocking system. So that leaves them two ways to go and they are both offense, because like I said with the Panthers you can find defensive talent in later rounds, and that is wide receiver and quarterback. With Cam Newton not available, Blaine Gabbert makes sense because he came from a spread system in college and can make throws on the run or in a moving pocket. If they go with a wide receiver Julio Jones makes sense for them, a strong, tough receiver who can go up for the long ball. 

Minnesota Vikings

Simple solution to the Brett Farve/Joe Webb situation; trade and get Tim Tebow, John Elways doesn't like him and wizard-like head coach John Fox thinks Kyle Orton is the future of that franchise, excuse me while I urinate myself laughing again. Why waste a draft pick on someone who might fail? Tim Tebow is a winner and if he goes to Minnesota where they have Adrian Peterson and Sidney Rice already in place for him to work with, you can let him take his winning attitude and work with a team that needs that in the PF (Post-Farve) era. Recently there has been talk of Donovan McNabb going to Minnesota, but he is past his prime and can't keep up with the pace of the game anymore. Bringing Tebow in gives you a young guy who wants to work and win, not someone who is trying to eek out a couple more paychecks until he retires. 

The New England Patriots

This brings us to our beloved Patriots and what they will do with their picks. Over the years Coach Belichick and Co. have mystified us, made us wonder and made us cheer with how they have used their draft picks. Last year they hit an absolute homerun with their draft picks with guys like Devin McCourty, Brandon Spikes, Aaron Hernandez, and Rob Gronkowski. But a couple years ago they had an absolute awful draft with "Big Bang Clock" Merriwether and Stephen Gotskowski being the only two remaining. So as we approach this years draft, where Coach Belichick has masterfully maneuvered to have two picks in the first round, what will they do? They have needs in a couple places, the first being at defensive end. This is a good pick to address late in the first with J.J. Watt from Wisconsin. The kid plays with a great motor and fits nice into their scheme. But if Marcel Dareus is available or of they trade up, that is a strong move to make. Dareus fits the mold of Ty Warren and can play that 3-4 end position well. If they don't with their second pick has to be an offensive lineman. Guard is a viable option with Logan Mankins still pissed about his contract, someone like Mike Pouncey could be a good pick here. If they go tackle Anthony Costonzo could be groomed to be Matt Light's replacement. 

With only a week until the draft sports fans are going to see every team dissected over and over again by Todd and Mel, but don't listen to them and if anyone asks you why you are questioning their analysis, just say you get your information from Jon Young. It is what it is.