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Brushback Mock NFL Draft 4.0
Pick Team Pos. Player College Class
1 |  | DE | Chris Long | Virginia | Sr. |
| Yup, this is what passes for a number one pick these days. Not that the Dolphins aren’t enthusiastic about the pick, but they tried to convince the league that they videotaped signals last year in an effort to get it taken away from them. |
2 |  | OT | Jake Long | Michigan | Sr. |
| Scott Linehan really loves Glenn Dorsey here, but nobody in the organization really cares what he thinks. |
3 |  | QB | Matt Ryan | Boston College | Sr. |
| The Falcons have a chance to sneak up on some people this year if they can get Matt Ryan and trade him for Peyton Manning and then Peyton Manning can learn how to play defense and coach. |
4 |  | OT | Ryan Clady | Boise State | Sr. |
| Clady will be given the task of protecting JaMarcus Russell's blind side. It’ll be the first time in history an offensive lineman will protect someone fatter than him. |
5 |  | QB | Joe Flacco | Delaware | Sr. |
| Competition makes everyone better, and this kid should really light a fire under Brodie Croyle. Then he can suck with a fire lit under him. |
6 |  | WR | Limas Sweed | Texas | Sr. |
| Most mock drafts have the Jets taking Darren McFadden, but you really have to mix things up if you want people to read your mock drafts. |
7 |  | LB | Vernon Gholston | Ohio State | Jr. |
| This guy rocketed up the draft board when he ran the 40 in 5 seconds, but dropped back down when it turned out that the stopwatch was broken. Still, 5 seconds is pretty good, broken stopwatch or not. |
8 |  | RB | Darren McFadden | Arkansas | Jr. |
| The Ravens really need a quarterback, but this kid is too good to pass up. They can always grab a quarterback next year, when they'll be picking in the top ten again. |
9 |  | S | Kenny Phillips | Miami | Sr. |
| It might be time for the Bengals to end the charade of trying to improve their defense. This pick should do the trick. |
10 |  | OT | Chris Williams | Vanderbilt | Sr. |
| Williams isn't going to contribute much on the field, but if they keep him around five or six years he’ll be able to bring a veteran presence to the locker room. |
11 |  | DT | Sedrick Ellis | USC | Sr. |
| This kid got a 2 on the Wonderlic test, but he’s got a great motor, so they should just steer him out to the field and tell him to start hitting people. |
12 |  | P | Mike Dragosavich | North Dakota State | Sr. |
| The Broncos need a lot of help on defense, and will select this punter because good punting can sometimes aid the defense. |
13 |  | QB | Brian Brohm | Louisville | Sr. |
| Everybody loves Jake Delhomme, but there’s no denying he’s on the downside of his career. Brohm is also on the downside of his career, so they should draft his replacement in the second round. |
14 |  | WR | DeSean Jackson | Cal | Jr. |
| Lovie Smith will be on the hot seat this year if his team doesn’t win the Super Bowl. It’s understandable. He’s wasting the prime of Rex Grossman’s career. |
15 |  | RB | Jonathan Stewart | Oregon | Sr. |
| Stewart is a quick, heady running back that was extremely productive in college. Unfortunately he is said to be nursing a leg injury that will prevent him from every playing football again, so this is a risky choice for the Lions. |
16 |  | T | Jeff Otah | Pittsburgh | Sr. |
| The Cardinals ideally would like to trade down here and keep the 16th pick, but league bylaws state that you can’t just do anything you want. |
17 |  | DE | Quentin Groves | Auburn | Sr. |
| The Falcons need a lot of help at the quarterback position, so much so that I’m mentioning it here in the Vikings' blurb. |
18 |  | CB | Justin King | Penn State | Sr. |
| I’m not sure what the Texans need, but a quality cornerback is a worthwhile investment for any team. King isn’t a quality cornerback, though, so chalk this up as another bad move by the Texans. |
19 |  | CB | Leodis McKelvin | Troy | Sr. |
| The Eagles could go the best-player-available route here, or they could trade down to the second round and do it there, saving themselves a ton of money in the process. Why more teams don't do this, I don't know. |
20 |  | DE | Derrick Harvey | Florida | Sr. |
| If Jon Gruden can’t get his team to the Super Bowl this year, he could be looking at 5 or 6 more years before the front office starts making some changes. Hopefully he doesn’t crumble under the pressure. |
21 |  | RB | Ahmad Bradshaw | Marshall | Sr. |
| The Redskins will follow the Giants blueprint and draft Ahmad Bradshaw. He’s not available, but you can’t blame them for trying. This is a copycat league. |
22 |  | LB | Dan Connor | Penn State | Sr. |
| This is an unusual pick because white players usually go at the very top of the first round or way down in the third and fourth rounds. It proves that Jerry Jones isn't afraid to think outside the box. |
23 |  | CB | Aqib Talib | Kansas | Sr. |
| This guy has “future special teamer” written all over him. No, really. I think it’s the name of a rap group. |
24 |  | DE | Lawrence Jackson | USC | Sr. |
| The Titans will settle for the best player available here, but it will eat away at them that they could have had Chris Long if he wasn't already taken at number one. |
25 |  | TE | Fred Davis | USC | Sr. |
| Davis has lousy hands and isn’t much of a blocker, but he really understands the nuances of the tight end position, much more than, say, an offensive lineman would. |
26 |  | DT | Kentwan Balmer | UNC | Sr. |
| The best case scenario for this kid would be to make the team as a special teams player. The worst case would be to get burned alive and have a bunch of hippies smoke his ashes. |
27 |  |
| The only thing that prevented the Chargers from getting to the Super Bowl last year was Phillip Rivers’ ACL. His ACL is fine now, so they don’t really need to draft anyone here. |
28 | | WR | James Hardy | Indiana | Sr. |
| This kid has disciplinary problems, but a locker room featuring guys like Wade Phillips, Tony Romo, and Terrell Owens should keep him in line. |
29 |  | LB | Keith Rivers | USC | Sr. |
| Vernon Davis is living proof that you should never draft a really good player. With that in mind, look for the Niners to draft Keith Rivers. |
30 |  | DE | Phillip Merling | Clemson | Sr. |
| The Packers have some serious issues in the secondary, where Charles Woodson and Al Harris are aging rapidly, so expect them to draft a pass rusher to take some pressure off them. |
31 | | DE | Glenn Dorsey | LSU | Sr. |
| The Patriots will pull off a draft coup by selecting Glenn Dorsey with a pick they forfeited last year. |
32 |  | WR | Mario Manningham | Michigan | Sr. |
| If the Giants want to repeat in 2008, they’re going to have to go through the rest of the NFC East first. That’s how the playoff system works, as is my understanding. |
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