Lou Pickney's 2024 NFL Mock Draft

National Football League
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Reader feedback is always welcomed here at DraftKing.com. Send your thoughts to me at LouPickney@gmail.com.

One more......would you be surprised at all if Denny Green drafts Maurice Clarett in the later rounds?

Lou: It is possible that the big three (Ronnie Brown, Cadillac Williams and Cedric Benson) will be gone by pick #8. I don't think it's a lock, but it might happen. If so, I concur that either going QB (Aaron Rodgers or Alex Smith) or if all five are gone then LB Derrick Johnson would be the best choices from there.

Dennis Green showed his lack of confidence in McCown during the season when he benched McCown in favor of Shaun King in a September game with the Falcons after McCown had fumbled three times. I'm not quite sure that McCown ever earned his way back into Green's good graces, and it wouldn't surprise me at all to see the Cardinals go RB/QB or QB/RB in the first two rounds.

Another option might be the Cards acquiring Travis Henry from Buffalo. I know talks between the two sides have cooled considerably, but the Bills still need to move Henry and they face competition from the Colts (Edgerrin James) and the Seahawks (Shaun Alexander) with teams looking to move good RBs. If I'm Arizona, I'd prefer to get a brand new RB versus a guy with some miles on him (to put it in automotive terms), but as Marshall Faulk proved in St. Louis, you can get productive years out of a RB even when other teams have decided to move on from them (also think of Priest Holmes in Kansas City).

Maurice Clarett is a real wild card, but someone will take a flier on him, probably sooner than people anticipate. I'm not saying day one, but I'd say if he's not gone by round five, that'd be surprising. The guy was a winner at Ohio State. It'll take some time to get the rust off, but I don't get the impression that he's the second coming of Lawrence Phillips or anything. Would anyone be surprised if the Raiders took him with their high pick in Round 4?

Going back to the Cardinals for one last thing: if they can acquire a RB (like T. Henry) outside the draft, they could go QB in round one and still potentially get a good CB prospect in round two. With Fabian Washington's blazing speed pushing him into round one, that's just one more CB added into the mix. And with talented guys like LSU's Corey Webster good (but not quite Round 1 material), there will be chances for the Cards to boost their secondary in the draft.

From: Paul Erickson
Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2005 8:53 PM
To: LouPickney@hotmail.com
Subject: Edwards or Williams

Do to living in the midwestI have seen alot of Braylon Edwards and I hardly know anything about Mike Williams. I am a bears fan, and I was curious as to why you the mock draft has them taking Williams. Is he that much better than Edwards.

Lou: Mike Edwards was an exceptional player in his time at USC. He made some catches that amazed me. His one-handed TD grab against Oregon State might be the single-most memorable play in Pac-10 football since the Cal/Stanford "band game" kickoff return in 1982. If you saw it, you won't forget it.

Williams has been compared with Michael Irvin; he's a (nearly) 6'5" receiving machine. In just two seasons at USC, he set the school's all-time TD reception record with 30. He has hands of glue. In his 90 minute workout day held in Tampa (his hometown) earlier this month, he didn't drop a single pass. Not one.

Contrast that with Braylon Edwards, who is an impressive receiver in his own right. Edwards has a slight edge in speed, at least in the 40 yard dash. Edwards appeared to overcome his problem of dropping the ball this past season, a problem that plagued him enough in 2003 to convince him to return for his senior year (which proved to be a GREAT decision).

Either way, the Bears would land a top-notch receiving prospect. But in the end, I think the Bears will be unable to pass up a 6'5" receiver who can run a sub 4.6 40 yard dash and catch nearly anything. Ultimately the decision belongs to the Bears; we'll see what they decide to do.

From: impagljj@wilkes.edu
Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2005 4:37 PM
To: LouPickney@hotmail.com
Subject: About your mock draft...

You analysis is a complete disgrace. You seem to have no grip on the reality of football, by any means. Unfortunately, I've been looking at your mock drafts for quite some time now. This one is by far the worse. If you had any common knowledge for football and the NFL, you would definitely know that the Dallas Cowboys would never, never take a WR like Williamson at pick #11. And to make it worse, you claim they will get Aaron Rogers. You are pathetic. Please stop wasting your time as well as other peoples time by creating your lame ass mock drafts. Just think about it man...in what world would Dallas ever, ever waste two very good first round picks, on those two players? Your a disgrace, please give up.

Lou: E-mails like this make me laugh. You know, if I didn't like a particular website, I don't think I'd go back to it over and over and over again. But that's just me.

Apparently you didn't read the note at the bottom of the 3/15/05 mock draft, next to the Aaron Rodgers pick at #20. It read: "Presuming that this pick will end up in New Orleans' possession via a trade with Dallas." Of course Dallas wouldn't take Rodgers there, that's obvious. Hence the asterisk and the note at the bottom.

As for #11, I do take issue with you there. If the Darren Howard trade doesn't happen, okay, then the Cowboys go DE there. But if it does, and the Cowboys have only the #11 pick remaining, why not take Williamson? There's a chance that Williamson might not even be on the board at that point: if the Bears take Braylon Edwards, the Bucs might take Tampa native Mike Williams at #5, leaving the Minnesota Vikings to cry... then take Williamson at #8 (or perhaps say screw it, take Alex Barron, and then go with a WR at #18).

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