[Chief Rum]

2004 Mock Draft

What the hell! Here's my crack at a mock draft of the first round, with brief capsules to explain the pick.

1. NY JETS: RB Shane Muncy, North Carolina Muncy may not end up the best player in this draft, but he's the only back that really suits the Jets' top need.

2. CLEVELAND: CB Rick Stone, Virginia Tech This draft is pathetic for passers, the Browns' top need. So Stone makes for a nice consolation prize to fill their second need.

3. ARIZONA: WR Herman Bernhardt, Penn State Muncy is gone and the defensive ends aren't good enough to get picked here, so the Cards go with someone to help their third need.

4. WASHINGTON: DT Lenny Wilson, Butler This one is easy. Wilson is maybe the top player left ont he board, and the Skins are needy for interior linemen.

5. NEW ENGLAND: T Mitchell Jennings, Indiana This one, too, made sense. Top need and tyop remaining player matchup.

6. CHICAGO: T Gus Horner, Vanderbilt This is just a tough match for the Bears, who need a QB, CB or WR. No QBs fit, and the top CB and WR are gone. So the Bears go witht he best available player.

7. GREEN BAY: S Gabe Buchanan, Texas Tech Once again, the Packers have a bad fit here. They also need CB and WR ina weak draft for them. Their third need, OLB, doesn't really have any impact players at all. So they grab Buchanan, which should make them happy.

8. NEW ORLEANS: T Tommy Compton, Kentucky The Saints might be tempted to take DT Maciokas here, but it would eb a reach. Figure them to fill their #2 need here instead with a more appropriate player.

9. PHILADELPHIA: RB Bart Wells, Georgia Tech This pick makes sense. The Eagles also need WR and CB, but their #3 need RB is too ideally suited to the next back to ignore.

10. CAROLINA: G Will Nickell, Washington This is a best available player situation. Nickell is way too good to still be on the board past this point.

11. DETROIT: DT Barry Macioka, Washington Here's the second straight Husky. The Lions will be happy Maciokas fell to them.

12. DENVER: OLB Glenn Levine, Hawaii This is the first time I feel a team may have to reach. The Broncos need linebackers way too much to ignore Levine, who will be gone by the time they get back up again. They actually need an inside linebacker more, but this draft is too weak at the position.

13. HOUSTON: WR Eddie Westbrook, Duke The Texans will be disappointed Maciokas is gone. They will decide to take Westbrook over the next DT Lyon, who would be another slight reach here.

14. KANSAS CITY: G Kim Deskiewicz, Arkansas-Pine Bluff The biggest needs for the Chiefs are way gone or nowhere near good enough for this pick, so they will go with the best available, which is "The Desk."

15. JACKSONVILLE: TE Winfred Bradford, Kansas Bradford is a bit of a reac here, but this fills a need for the Jags. Even the best available players at this point were running into logjams and/or established vets on the Jags' roster.

16. CINCINNATI: RB Clay Shepard, Boise State This is another spot that makes a lot of sense. Not only does Cincy need a workhorse back, Shepard is even a bit long for this spot. He should have gone a few picks higher.

17. SAN DIEGO: WR Emmitt Downs, Central Florida Downs is a reach here, but the Chargers need help at WR.

18. INDIANAPOLIS: DT Grady Lyon, Memphis This is more or less who the Colts would expect to get at this point. If not Lyon, they would probably pick Levine, if he were available.

19. SAN FRANCISCO: DE Norman Sonntag, Arizona It's either reach for a corner or take the best available player. Sonntag really should have been picked by now, so this should be a good pick for the Niners.

20. ATLANTA: DE Lewis Jones, Pittsburgh Jones is another long overdue pick who is just a shade worse than Sonntag. The difference here is the Falcons actually need a defensive end.

21. NY GIANTS: DE Dean Maxwell, Central Florida Back to the best available player. It just happenes to be another defensive end.

22. MIAMI: T Melvin Winter, Arizona This is a slight reach, but the Fins won't care. They have huge line problems and Winter is just what they need.

23. BALTIMORE: DE Bart Lofton, California The Ravens will be pissed that two of the top three defensive ends went to teams that really didnb't need them, forcing them to reach a liitle to take Lofton.

24. SEATTLE: T Cole Kelley, Colorado The Seahwks will want to get a better tackle here than this slight reach, but they have too many huge line issues to ignore the best remaining tackle.

25. MINNESOTA: CB Burt Foley, Georgia Tech The Vikings need a corner back, among other psoitions. Foley isn't the best corner left (Duff is), but they need corner help now, so they need to grab the guy who is closer to being ready to play right away.

26. DALLAS: CB Geoff Guthrie, Washington State Another pick, another corner that needs to play soon. The Cowboys have a huge need here, so they, too, will have to ignore the best talent in Duff and go witht he next best "ready" corner.

27. OAKLAND: QB Bernie Palmer, Northwestern It's a testament to the weakness of this draft that this over-emphasized position should get its first pick way down here. Palmer will likely step in right away for the retired Rich Gannon.

28. BUFFALO: T Cornell Fulcher, Akron Fulcher is a slight reach, but the Bills can't resist the chance to fill a hole.

29. TAMPA BAY: CB Lorenzo Duff, Oregon State The Buccs don't really need a corner, but their other needs don't fit, and Duff has too much talent to last much longer than here.

30. TENNESSEE: QB Kenneth Poole, Stanford Time to get a guy groomed to eventually replace McNair.

31. ST. LOUIS: WR Hugh Wagner, Boston College Let's face it. Can the Rams ever have enough receivers? Wagner doesn't really suit a need, but he's the best available player.

32. PITTSBURGH: QB Mel Penick, Winona State The Steelers don't want to be put into the situation of choosing between Mark Brunell and Tommy Maddox again, so they pick this guy to eventually take over the reigns of the offense.

CR