Final Mock
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Monthly Archives: May 2014
Final 2014 Mock Draft
The Machine’s Draft Day Drinking Game
The Machine’s Draft Drink-a-thon! Happy Drafting!
Can’t make it to The Machine’s Draft Party? Well, that sucks for you. But have no fear…we got your back with our play at home game. How can you make the Draft better, you ask in amazement? By playing The Big Red Sports Machine’s Draft Drink-a-thon. It’s fun, it’s easy, it’s guaranteed to impress the ladies, and you can play along at home or at your favorite watering hole. Here are the rules:
1. Draft catchphrases. There are certain phrases you only hear during the Draft. Why? We don’t know, but we love them. For this reason alone, we give ESPN the slight lean over the NFL Network for your draft day coverage. That, and, Kiper. Duh, winning!
The following phrases are worth a shot of beer:
- Raw talent
- Off-the-field or character issues
- Live arm
- High motor
- Straight line speed
- Great Value
- Upside
- Best player available
- Intangibles or Measurables
- Trade Down
- War Room
- New Regime
- Read-Option
- Edge Rusher
- Gets to the Second Level
- Quick feet
- Plays in Space
- Johnny Football (*new for 2014)
2. Videos/references. Each of these are beer-finishing worthy:
- Video of Jadaveon Clowney knocking that dude’s helmet off
- References to Johnny Manziel’s height or off-field issues
- Reference to Mel’s hair
- Player on-stage photo-op with family/entourage of 15+
- First player to cry when their name is called
- Reference to when Tom Brady was drafted (we’ll also accept Brady’s Combine picture)
- Reference to Aaron Rodgers draft day slide
- Video of Brady Quinn in the green room
- Video of Bill Tobin’s infamous “who the hell is Mel Kiper?” interview during the ’94 Draft
3. On the Clock Chug. When your team is on the clock, you have to finish a full beer before the pick is called. Note: if your team trades down, they’re on the clock twice, meaning that’s two full beers. Cowboy up, it’s the Draft!
Basically, if it doesn’t look like this than you’re probably doing it wrong…..
Or this:
That’s it. Three simple rules to make sure you maximize your Draft Day (weekend) experience. Cheers!
The 2014 ‘What if’ Mock Draft…
Can you feel the excitement?! We are a mere two days away from the NFL Draft. Draft parties are finalized, Big-Boards are coming together, smoke screens are thicker than Andy Reid’s mid-section, and Mock Drafts are all looking….the same, 1) Jadeveon Clowney 2) Greg Robinson……blah, blah, blah. But the reason we are all tuning in Thursday (thru Saturday) is because the draft never falls the way any of us expect (NFL GM’s included). You never know where drama will unfold, but it does every year. Be it Aaron Rodgers free fall in 2005, Mario Williams going over Reggie Bush (and Vince Young) in 2006, or the Patriots trading up to make Jerod Mayo a Top 10 pick in 2008. It’s reality television that pits your teams front office against the rest of the league. I’ll have plenty of time to unvail my “real” mock draft, but for now I’m going the contrarian approach and asking some hypothetical questions along the way. (Big shout out to KFFL for their Mock Draft Machine).
What if the Texans aren’t sold on Clowney and view Mack as every bit the athlete and prospect. If so, and if he is a better scheme fit than why not make it back-to-back #1 overall picks for the MAC?! Move over SEC, there is a new powerhouse in NCAA Football.
What if the Jaguars are sick of “playing it safe”? What if this year they play to win…now! Johnny Football gives this team instant star power in a way few prospects can. How many seats does Wembley Stadium hold?
What if Mike Evans is the first WR off the board? It might send #TwitterMock into a tizzy, but it wouldn’t shock The Machine. People only want to focus on Evans height and wing span, which are spectacularly awesome, but fail to mention how great of an athlete this kid is. Go look at his Combine numbers, they are off the chart. He is a height/weight/speed freak built to play receiver in todays NFL.
What if the Falcons don’t do any wheeling-and-dealing and land the top OT?
What if Tampa Bay doesn’t believe in the Myth of the First Round Quarterback and feel like this is their only chance at landing a Franchise QB prospect?
What if the Vikings and Bills aren’t bullshitting about their affinity for Donald and Ebron, respectively? Will they put their money where their mouth is and bypass an elite OT prospect in Mathews to get “their guy”?
What if the G-men are content with their offseason offensive line make-over and instead give Eli another weapon? There hasn’t been a shortage of people willing to throw Rueben Randle under the bus this offseason.
What if the Bears and Steelers swap notes on defensive backs this year because both teams are in desperate need of secondary help?
What if WR’s::2014 1st Round as OT’s::2013 1st Round?
What if Miami does something crazy like actually get value with a draft pick?
What if Teddy Bridgewater is as good as we all thought he was 6 months ago? This would allow the Chiefs to let Alex Smith walk after this year. If the Packers can draft Aaron Rodgers with Brett Favre on the roster than this pick not might not be as far-fetched as you might think.
What if Easley, Roby and Matthews turn out to be the best DL, CB, and WR of this draft class? The rich get richer.
And finally, what if Kate Upton does show up the The Official Big Red Sports Machine 2014 Draft Party?
I get all my Draft info from The Big Red Sports Machine.
The Machine’s Draft Party – Join Us!
We’re two days away from the Draft, and the excitement is mounting! What’s better than reading our mocks and visiting our site every day? How about your chance to party with The Big Red Sports Machine during the Draft? Think you can out Draft us? Think you can out drink us? Want Roid Rage to autograph your chest? Well here’s your chance.
When: Thursday, May 8, 2014 (note: if you didn’t know this was the date of the Draft, do not show up).
Time: 8:00 pm to ???
Where: Wintonaire, 628 Winton Road, Rochester, NY (b/t Browncroft and Merchants)
This is your chance to Draft with the pros. We’ll have drink specials, Machine-swag you can win, chicken wings, and much, much more! It’s not confirmed yet, but Kate Upton will be making an appearance. Other special guests include our degenerate friends and whatever cougar hits on Roid Rage. You won’t want to miss that!
I get all my Draft info from The Big Red Sports Machine.
The Myth of the First Round Quarterback
As the Draft approaches, The Machine smiles with delight. Each year, the slate is wiped clean, each team is reborn, and the Draft begins the process of building your team into the next NFL powerhouse. Hell, it’s even a good time to be a Jets fan. It’s also a great time to test your knowledge of your team, and see how your mock matches up to the “experts”.
One common theme each year is that teams at the top of the Draft need to grab that franchise quarterback. “New regime, new quarterback” is often thrown around. But is that really true nowadays? Is spending a first round pick on a quarterback a must? Recent history would tell us otherwise. Let’s look at The Machine’s uber-fancy chart of the last two years of playoffs teams, and where these quarterbacks were drafted.
|
2013 |
||
| Team | QB | Round (pick) |
| Broncos | Peyton Manning | 1st (1) |
| Indy | Andrew Luck | 1st (1) |
| Carolina | Can Newton | 1st (1) |
| Kansas City | Alex Smith | 1st (1) |
| San Diego | Philip Rivers | 1st (4) |
| Green Bay | Aaron Rodgers | 1st (24) |
| New Orleans | Drew Brees | 2nd (32) |
| Cincinnati | Andy Dalton | 2nd (35) |
| San Fran | Colin Kaepernick | 2nd (36) |
| Philly | Nick Foles | 3rd (88) |
| Seahawks | Russell Wilson | 3rd (75) |
| Patriots | Tom Brady | 6th (199) |
|
2012 |
||
| Team | QB | Round (pick) |
| Broncos | Peyton Manning | 1st (1) |
| Indy | Andrew Luck | 1st (1) |
| Washington | RGIII | 1st (2) |
| Atlanta | Matt Ryan | 1st (3) |
| Baltimore | Joe Flacco | 1st (18) |
| Green Bay | Aaron Rodgers | 1st (24) |
| Cincinnati | Andy Dalton | 2nd (35) |
| San Fran | Colin Kaepernick | 2nd (36) |
| Seattle | Russell Wilson | 3rd (75) |
| Houston | Matt Schaub | 3rd (90) |
| Minnesota | Joe Webb | 6th (199) |
| Patriots | Tom Brady | 6th (199) |
Over the last two years, having a first round QB gives you a 50% chance of making the playoffs. That’s it. Not really overwhelming odds, about the same odds The Machine has to date Kate Upton. Obviously, much more goes into making the playoffs than having a first round quarterback…but that’s exactly our point.
Yeah, a 50% chance seems right.
Football is the ultimate team sport, and teams should be focused on building a balanced team, and valuing team positions (OL, DL, Secondary) over individual skill positions (QB, RB, WR). Look no further than the reigning Super Bowl Champions, the Seattle Seahawks. Seattle’s rise to Super Bowl Champion did not come on the arm of a first round QB or the hands of a legit #1 WR. Instead, Seattle had a dominant offensive line that made Marshawn Lynch (a Buffalo Bills reject) a Top 5 RB, and gave Russell Wilson the time to throw to a collection of no name WRs. And we all know about their punishing defense.
Also, of the QBs that were taken in the first round, the majority of them were taken #1 overall (Peyton, Cam, Andrew Luck). These players were known to be can’t miss, franchise QBs.
So what does that tell us? Unless there’s a can’t miss talent at QB, you’re better off addressing other needs, and waiting to draft a QB later.
Is anyone falling faster than Teddy?
Face of the franchise? Another good decision by Johnny Football.
Now let’s apply that concept to this years’ Draft. There are a lot of QB needy teams, including Houston, Jacksonville, Cleveland, Oakland, and Minnesota, all of whom have Top 10 picks in the Draft. Here’s the list of the Top QBs: Blake Bortles, Johnny Manziel, and Teddy Bridgewater. None of these guys have the same pedigree or ranking as Peyton, Cam, or Andrew Luck, or even RGIII or Matt Ryan. Simply put: while some (or all) may turn into great QBs, you certainly can’t call any of them a can’t miss prospect.
What that has resulted in is a couple of things. One, teams at the top of the first round are thinking twice about drafting a QB in the first. Teddy Bridgewater, the consensus #1 pick three months ago, is now falling out of the first round…Johnny Football is also dropping. Two, teams are looking at the next group of Quarterbacks in the class.
Jimmy’s leading the Day 2 charge of QBs.
Indeed, the focus has been shifted to the second and third rounds, and the buzz is now over guys like Derek Carr, Jimmy Garropolo, Tom Savage, Zack Mettenberger, and AJ McCarron. People are looking for the next Russell Wilson, or Colin Kaepernick. Logan Thomas and Tajh Boyd are also getting some attention.
Could this be the best QB in the Draft?
Point is: you don’t need a first round QB to have success in the NFL. Don’t buy into the myth that you “need” to draft one in the first round. The best QB in the Draft could be sitting there on Day 2.