Lou Pickney's 2025 NFL Mock Draft

National Football League
Draft King Mailbag

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

This is the final mailbag prior to the 2005 NFL Draft. Feel free to e-mail with comments about the draft, winners and losers, etc. for a mailbag to come after the draft.

Hi Lou, I'm Willie Mackey from Wichita Kansas I read your thoughts on Draft king.com. Like what you said about the boys and wondered if you thought Dallas would be a contender this year with there picks. And the the add on defense with Howard possible coming do you think Dallas goes back on top in defense this year.

Lou: It's now or never for Bill Parcells. He didn't plan for a long-term stay in Dallas, but he wants to win before he leaves. He took Dallas to the playoffs in 2003, which was incredible to me with the team that he had, but he wants more than that. And he wants it now. Improving the defense was his top priority, oh and landing Drew Bledsoe for another QB reuniting didn't hurt on offense.

Because of the learning curve associated with the position, Parcells opted to go to the free agent market, with Jerry Jones shelling out a deal worth $25 million over five years to land Cleveland free agent CB Anthony Henry. Linebacker looks to be a position that will be addressed in the first round, and DE might be as well, depending on if there's a draft-day deal for Darren Howard. NOLA.com reports that New Orleans wants a mid-range first rounder for him, that Dallas has offered the #11 for the #16 and Howard, but to this point it hasn't happened. My guess is that Dallas could ship the #20 pick to the Saints for Howard, perhaps making the Saints throw in a later pick in the draft as well to seal the deal.

Anyway, to actually answer your question, I don't think they'll be the #1 defense in the NFL, but they will in all likelihood be much improved on the defensive front. Parcells knows the importance of defense in winning games, and that's why he's made it such an off-season priority. If he has any say, they'll be great.

From: seefigure4@juno.com
Sent: Friday, April 22, 2005 4:02 PM
To: loupickney@hotmail.com
Subject: Panthers draft,,

Lou,

I can't help but be overwhelmingly happy with Carolinas free agency moves this off-season. FINALLY, they get aggrssive and go get what they need. They had quite a few needs in my opinion at the begininng of the off-season, a lot of which might be shored up now. Mike Wahle (OT), Ken Lucas (CB), Idris Bashir (S), MArlon McCree (S), Freddie Jones (TE), Chris Draft (LB), and Tom Rouen (P)... I would think now their biggest concerns are WR, RB, OL, QB? Lou, do you think the 14th pick is a tough spot for the Panthers this year? IF Cedric Benson somehow manages to slip to 14, do we draft him as being the best available athelete at that point? Or if none of the Big 3 RB's are left, how about a WR? Also, the possibility of drafting Khalif Barnes is a rumor in the area, too..

Lou: The Panthers would be a team that you'd think might look WR, but they could be a good "stopper" for any top tier players who for whatever reason start to fall down the board. If it's Aaron Rodgers, or Cedric Benson (as my final mock draft projects), or Troy Williamson, or whomever, they can snap him up and be alright. Offensive line is a consideration if you're going to go need, but there will be chances to go with that in later rounds. I could see Carolina trading the pick outright for a later pick in this draft and someone's first rounder in 2006, particularly if the aforementioned sliding blue chipper situations happens.

I'd say the 14th pick would be a hard spot for the Panthers if you firmly believed that you need a WR. The top tier will be gone, and Troy Williamson will probably be gone as well. Last year Buffalo proved that WRs are a subjective thing when they took Lee Evans at #13, much earlier than expected, and in that sense in could be seen as a good thing in that Carolina could take the best of the rest at WR and say, okay, we got our man, that makes it a good first round. However that's not a good "value" move, so in reality a better spot for Carolina would be ten picks higher or ten picks lower. At #4 you could get Braylon Edwards possibly or Mike Williams, and at #24 you could possibly get the same player you'd take at #14.

But if you look at #14 as a stopper/best athlete available spot, it's a wonderful place to sit and wait to pounce. Carolina has a team that's good but not great at the skill spots. Jake Delhomme: good QB, played in a Super Bowl. But he's not an elite QB and probably never will be. At RB, there's Stephen Davis, who is fighting off the aging process but losing the battle. DeShaun Foster I've always rooted for, maybe because I saw his talent at UCLA and new a long time ago that he was the real deal. But injuries have kept him from ever making "the leap", and as he approaches restricted free agent status at the end of 2005, the Panthers are reaching a crossroads with him as they check the mileage on Davis. And then at WR you have Steve Smith, exceptional until a broken leg ended his season. Muhsin Muhammad became the lead man in a one act play, put up monster numbers, and subsequently parlayed that into a huge free agent contract with the Bears. As for Muhammad in 2005? Let's just say I hope the Bears aren't serious when they're talking about passing on Mike Williams to take a RB. Keary Colbert is a rising star for Carolina, so with Smith and Colbert you have a legit starting duo. But if a guy like Troy Williamson falls to you, how can you pass that up? A Smith/Colbert/Williamson three man set sounds strong to me. Want to cover Williamson in man coverage in a deep slant pattern with the speed he has? Have fun.

So, not to get deep with this, but I think the #14 spot is great for Carolina if they're willing to take the best player available. If not, it's a bad thing.

From: Canter Family
Sent: Friday, April 22, 2005 5:20 PM
To: LouPickney@hotmail.com
Subject: miami now has a 2nd pick

miami has a 2nd pick now they can go with a quarterback and a running back.

Lou: That's exactly right. I think you have to take Ronnie Brown at #2 if he's there. To not do that would be a really bad idea. Then in round two you can choose from some really good QB prospects. It's not clear how far Charlie Frye or Jason Campbell or Andrew Walter will fall, but one of that bunch will be there when Miami picks.

Of course, the Dolphins could just wait for the QB bonanza of next year's draft, but I'm not sure that Coach Saban wants to wait that long.

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