Granted, I don't think anyone could have seen the flurry of picks in the early first round of the draft last night coming, but nonetheless, my attempt at a mock draft in Thursday's IDS was far from perfect. Several names went in the first round that I never even considered, while a couple players who I thought were sure things went undrafted. What that means, of course, is that there are still a number of damn good players available in the draft tonight.
In no particular order, here are a few of the players still around that I think are deserving of going fast tonight:
Courtney Upshaw, OLB/DE, Alabama- I had Upshaw going ahead of his teammate Dont'a Hightower and attribute his wait to simply not matching up well with some teams' defensive schemes. He would be best as a 3-4 linebacker, maybe with the Ravens at pick 35.
Janoris Jenkins, CB, North Alabama- Easily the most talented player on the board, it was clearly character issues that kept Jenkins from being picked. The Rams have three picks in the round and can afford to take a chance on a talent like Jenkins, including as early as the first pick tonight.
Coby Fleener, TE, Stanford- Not an elite prospect, but easily the best this year, Fleener makes perfect sense to the Colts with the second pick tonight where he would be reunited with Andrew Luck, his college quarterback.
Reuban Randle, WR, LSU- Randle is the best reciever left in my opinion, besting Stephen Hill and even AJ Jenkins who was picked yesterday. Given his shoddy quarterbacks in college, I think he may be destined for a better career in the pros than he had at LSU.
Jerel Worthy, DT, Michigan State- I happened to see Worthy play this season and can attest to his ability to simply manhandle interior offensive linemen.
Lavonte David, OLB, Nebraska- I can only assume that David's slightly undersized stature attributed to his fall. It is hard to find anything else to knock him on.
