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I had originally planned for this weekend to be nothing but free agency rumors flying everywhere... but the NFL's "negotiation period" has turned out to be a bust in terms of being anything fans should care about.. So, as we've been doing for a while now, we continue to look ahead to the draft.
Mike Tanier, who previously wrote for Football Outsiders and now for USA Today's Sports On Earth, (and an Eagles fan) released his love it/hate it mock draft in which he describes why fans of each team should love and or hate each of his picks.
Interestingly, he has the Chiefs taking QB Geno Smith #1 overall even after the Alex Smith trade. There's some sense in it because it would allow Reid to sit Smith behind a veteran and develop him, much like he did with Donovan McNabb. Still, I think he paid too much for Smith for him to be just a stop gap until Geno Smith is ready in a year.
Plus, given Reid's kind of odd spending so far, it seems like he's trying to win in the short term.
For the Eagles, he's got Central Michigan OT Eric Fisher.
Chip Kelly opted out of this year's unimpressive quarterback class so he can rebuild the Eagles offensive infrastructure. Fisher can replace Jason Peters eventually (or immediately, if Peters' injury problems persist), and he can start on the right side as a rookie, allowing Todd Herremans to move back inside and quell an emergency at guard. Fisher can help Kelly take the Eagles' signature play of 2011-12 out of the playbook: Michael Vick dropping back, sprinting away from a rush straight up the middle, throwing an errant pass and getting injured.
For a full analysis of each pick, check out Sports on Earth.
| Pick | Team | Player |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kansas City Chiefs | Geno Smith, QB, West Virginia |
| 2 | Jacksonville Jaguars | Luke Joeckel, OT, Texas A&M |
| 3 | Oakland Raiders | Dee Milliner, CB, Alabama |
| 4 | Philadelphia Eagles | Eric Fisher, OT, Central Michigan |
| 5 | Detroit Lions | Bjoern Werner, DE, Florida State |
| 6 | Cleveland Browns | Damontre Moore, DE, Texas A&M |
| 7 | Arizona Cardinals | Matt Barkley, QB, USC |
| 8 | Buffalo Bills | Ryan Nassib, QB, Syracuse |
| 9 | NY Jets | Cordarrelle Patterson, WR, Tennessee |
| 10 | Tennessee Titans | Sharrif Floyd, DT, Florida |
| 11 | San Diego Chargers | Lane Johnson, LT, Oklahoma |
| 12 | Miami Dolphins | Xavier Rhodes, CB, Florida State |
| 13 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Desmond Trufant, CB, Washington |
| 14 | Carolina Panthers | Star Lotulelei, DT, Utah |
| 15 | New Orleans Saints | Jarvis Jones, OLB, Georgia |
| 16 | St. Louis Rams | Keenan Allen, WR, California |
| 17 | Pittsburgh Steelers | Ezekiel Ansah, DE, BYU |
| 18 | Dallas Cowboys | Kenny Vaccaro, S, Texas |
| 19 | NY Giants | Kevin Minter, MLB, LSU |
| 20 | Chicago Bears | Chance Warmack, G, Alabama |
| 21 | Cincinnati Bengals | Barkevious Mingo, OLB/DE, LSU |
| 22 | St Louis Rams (from WAS) | Eddie Lacy, RB, Alabama |
| 23 | Minnesota Vikings | Tavon Austin, WR, West Virginia |
| 24 | Indianapolis Colts | Dion Jordan, OLB/DE, Oregon |
| 25 | Seattle Seahawks | D.J. Fluker, OT, Alabama |
| 26 | Green Bay Packers | Robert Woods, WR, USC |
| 27 | Houston Texans | Johnathan Hankins, DT, Ohio State |
| 28 | Denver Broncos | Sheldon Richardson, DT, Missouri |
| 29 | New England Patriots | Johnthan Banks, CB, Mississippi State |
| 30 | Atlanta Falcons | Alex Okafor, DE, Texas |
| 31 | San Francisco 49ers | Johnathan Cyprien, S, Florida International |
| 32 | Baltimore Ravens | Johnathan Cooper, G, North Carolina |