NFC South Mock Draft for First Round

Filed under: Buccaneers, Atlanta Falcons, Panthers, Saints, NFC South

Here is a scan of some mock drafts and looking at some of the picks for the NFC South.

Rob Rang of CBS Sportsline has Carolina taking LSU corner Patrick Peterson with the first overall pick.

Rang has Tampa Bay taking Miami corner Brandon Harris at No. 20, the Saints grabbing Temple defensive tackle Muhammad Wilkerson with the pick at No. 24 and the Falcons taking Notre Dame tight end Kyle Rudolph at No. 27.

My take:

Dead on with Peterson. Carolina needs to grab him ahead of Auburn's Nick Fairley.

Tampa getting Miami corner Harris is a good choice, too, given the defensive leanings of coach Raheem Morris. He wants corners who play man-to-man. This will be Ronde Barber's last season. There is not a starting corner in the group behind Aqib Talib and Barber.

Rang has the Falcons taking Notre Dame tight end Kyle Rudolph with the 27th pick, but when you consider what happened to the Falcons in the postseason, Atlanta has to upgrade defense. They could do that with free agents, of course, and snag a replacement for Gonzalez, but I think they have their guy in Clemson's Michael Palmer.

Richard Langford, a guest columnist with Bleacher Report, has Carolina taking Fairley with the first pick, Tampa Bay taking Iowa defensive end Adrian Clayborn at No. 20 and New Orleans selecting Georgia linebacker Justin Houston.

Langford also has the Falcons taking Rudolph.

My take:

It is a long way to draft day. Let's see how the Panthers view Fairley when they examine him for a couple of months.

The Bucs will go for more defense in this draft and will get a pass rusher like Clayborn, if they can. They were next to last in the league in sacks with 26 and need something else to threaten quarterbacks besides defensive tackle Gerald McCoy.

The Saints will get some more help on defense and could grab Justin Houston of Georgia, but I don't think so. When I saw Georgia play, Houston looked like a stand-up guy, not a hand on the ground guy. Saints play a 4-3 and he is too light for end, but rangy for linebacker.

Todd McShay of ESPN has the Panthers taking Da'Quan Bowers of Clemson, Tampa Bay getting Ryan Kerrigan of Purdue, Houston going to the Saints and Atlanta taking Mike Pouncey.

My take:

What tape was McShay watching to make him think Pouncey was going in the first round? He had trouble snapping to the quarterback and Drake Nevis of LSU just hammered him.... all game. He likely has Pouncey going as a guard, but there is probably not a personnel guy who thinks he is as good as his brother.

Bowers to Carolina would be my second pick for the Panthers behind Peterson.

 

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Source: http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2011/02/10/nfc-south-mock-draft-for-first-round/

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