Cadillac vs. Benson
National Football League
Draft King Mailbag
January 3, 2005
Lou Pickney, DraftKing.com
Reader feedback is always welcomed here at DraftKing.com. Send your thoughts to me at LouPickney@gmail.com.
From: jmckenzie@***.com
Sent: Friday, December 31, 2004 12:54 PM
To: Lou Pickney
Subject: I just wanted to say.....
I think your latest mock draft (12/30) is the most realistic mock draft I have seen so far. The only pick that I'm not sure about is Miami...because choosing between Cadillac Williams and Cedric Benson is kind of a toss up at this point. But other than that, I completely agree with the rest of your selections.
I myself am a Browns fan. Hopefully, they'll use their heads and select either Mike Williams, Antrel Rolle, or Derrick Johnson. With a pick that high, they could probably trade down two or three spots and still land one of the three players that I just mentioned, while maybe picking up an extra 2nd/3rd round pick (that may be unrealistic...but there could be a team out there that is desperate for one of the elite players in this draft and willing to give away a 2nd round pick).
Unfortunately, they'll probably draft the best available offensive tackle. But the problem there is that nobody knows who the best tackle is. As you know, there's not really any standouts in this year's draft. So, if I were them, I'd go for a guy who I know is going to be a stud...hence, Mike Williams, Antrel Rolle, or Derrick Johnson. And I definetly wouldn't go for a quarterback in the first round when a guy like Kyle Orton may be available in round 2. Besides...you could still keep Jeff Garcia or maybe pursue Kurt Warner.
And maybe, just maybe...they could fix the offensive line through free agency. But we'll see how that goes.
Lou: There seems to be a split about who the best RB prospect is. I like Cadillac Williams myself, though clearly Benson's career stats at Texas are impressive. Both should be solid prospects. If Miami takes one of them (barring a big free agent pickup), I think they'll be moving in the right direction.
Mike Williams, Antrel Rolle or Derrick Johnson would all make excellent additions to the Browns. Johnson to Cleveland is not something I've heard much chatter about, but it makes perfect sense. Rolle would obviously be a great benefit for the secondary, so it's hard to argue with him.
As for the best OT prospect, the top two are Virginia JR D'Brickashaw Ferguson and Florida State SR Alex Barron. If Ferguson returns to Virginia, I think that makes Barron the #1 OT prospect by default (with an honorable mention to Jammal Brown of Oklahoma). There is no one in this draft at the level of Robert Gallery (last year's top-ranked OT prospect), but that's not to say that the guys this time around are second-rate (Gallery was just an elite prospect).
