Mike Mayock’s Top Picks
January 27th, 2011
You can talk Mel Kiper, Jr. all day long if you wish. You can babble about Todd McShay if the mood so strikes.
You can have them.
Though Joe truly enjoys listening to Kiper on sports radio, in Joe’s mind, there is no one that comes as close to the late, great Joel Buchsbaum as does NFL Network’s Mike Mayock.
Joe was listening to Mayock yesterday afternoon with Tim Ryan and Pat Kirwan as the trio could be heard live from the Senior Bowl practices in Mobile, Ala., on “Movin’ the Chains,” heard exclusively on Sirius NFL Radio.
That 15-minute segment was worth Joe’s subscription for the month of January. It was simply outstanding and enlightening.
In short, Joe learned that Texas A&M linebacker Von Miller is simply blowing up everyone and everything, Florida State offensive lineman Rodney Hudson can play either guard or center at a high level and that Boise State wide receiver Titus Young is the second coming of DeSean Jackson both on and off the field, which is both good and bad, among many other tidbits.
Mayock, per TBO.com, has broken out his top players at each position and interestingly, Mayock has Iowa’s Adrian Clayborn rated higher at defensive end than Purdue’s Ryan Kerrigan and has Georgia linebacker Justin Houston rated as the No. 3 linebacker.
Houston is a player Joe has tried to monitor as Joe believes he may be a target for Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik at No. 20.
Browse through Mayock’s rankings and give Joe your feedback. As Ryan is wont to say on his Sirius NFL Radio show, “Talk about it.”
January 27th, 2011 at 11:14 am
that’s because clayborn has better hands and is a better technician than kerrigan but don’t try to tell some of the guys on this site that. kerrigan had better stats which always translates to a better nfl career, right?
January 27th, 2011 at 11:30 am
Hey Got Bucs … Better hands is great for shedding blocks but Clayborn cant run the arc .. He is too slow
Lets look at some numbers .. Clayborn had one good year with 11.5 sacks .. Well he played 3 other years as well and totalled 7.5 sacks in those seasons TOTAL. That is 2.5 Sacks per yEAR … 2.5!!!!!
Stats arent everything but that is alarming .. Kyle Moore had 7 career college sacks .. Supposedly he did the hard work to let the LBs at USC blitz .. How many career Sacks does Moore have in the NFL ?? 0
If you are someone to watch hand movement check out JJ Watt .. I didnt know much about him as I thought he was mainly a 3-4 DE .. I watched some youtube vids .. Mannn .. He is a BEAST He has some speed and Power for a Big Boy!!!!
January 27th, 2011 at 12:06 pm
Is Blackmon not comin out?
January 27th, 2011 at 12:06 pm
jvato, first of all, clayborn will be faster than watt, mark my words. 2nd, running the arc is only good if you have an inside move to counter with which requires good hands. stylez white runs the arc but he cant counter move.
January 27th, 2011 at 12:07 pm
I hope whoever we get does the job. We cant afford another bad DE taken in the 1st rd. If the DE we want is gone, go with the best available LB or OL.
January 27th, 2011 at 12:08 pm
I usually prefer Mayocks draft insight on players…He’s in tune a lot.
January 27th, 2011 at 12:08 pm
Doesn’t it feel great not to even look at his rankings for QB, WR, or RB? Never thought this would happen.
January 27th, 2011 at 12:08 pm
blackmon is going back to school and he wouldnt be an option anyway.
January 27th, 2011 at 12:13 pm
Mayock has Robert Quinn listed as tied for 5th best DE in this draft.
January 27th, 2011 at 12:17 pm
I never said he was an option, i just wondered why his name wasnt on the list
January 27th, 2011 at 12:20 pm
Gary said: “Doesn’t it feel great not to even look at his rankings for QB, WR, or RB? Never thought this would happen.”
TOTALLY agree! Great feeling, unexpected as a longtime Buc fan.
January 27th, 2011 at 12:37 pm
bucfanjeff:
Nothing less than outstanding!
January 27th, 2011 at 12:40 pm
Robert Quinn tied for 5th?Would love to see him fall to 20th.I think Kiper has him as his top DE.
January 27th, 2011 at 12:50 pm
rankings are going to change 10 times between now and the draft. all anybody can really do is watch the game film and judge on a players skills. just please dont base perceptions purely off of stats because they often dont tell the story.
January 27th, 2011 at 1:14 pm
@gotbbucs: Now this I agree with…
January 27th, 2011 at 1:19 pm
While I don’t pay much attention to him nowadays, I think we all owe Mel Kiper,Jr a little debt for making the NFL draft the pagan ritual it has become! I admit it, there is a very good draft site, that runs all year long. I check it out even in the middle of the season. All of mention the Draft thru out the year. It’s like “Nation football worship day”. Mayock is a great source of Draft information. He really does the leg work. Also has good relationships with a lot of scouts, so he has a good idea how the players are breaking down in NFL standards. Any of the DEs he has listed is a great player, and would really improve our pass rush. Plus a couple others not listed. This is the right draft to need DEs!!
Gary- Amen brother, Amen. So good not to be looking at QB or WR! Thank you Mark and Raheem!!!
January 27th, 2011 at 3:06 pm
Capt.Tim:
Not Kiper, Joel Buchsbaum.
January 27th, 2011 at 3:52 pm
Joe- Joel Buchsbaum indeed! What an amazing story of a haunted man, whose passion for Football eclipsed even his own life. Thank you for sharing that, and introducing me to the most unsung Heroes of The NFL. Really touching story!
January 27th, 2011 at 5:18 pm
Guys like Von Miller are exactly why the Bucs should continue tipping more heavily towards the 3-4\3-3-5 in the mix of fronts they play. Rahminik knows that 3-4 rush linebackers like Miller are where its at these days when you want to draft a player you KNOW will give you a good pass rush. Most of the 3-4 rush linebackers are also big enough to play defensive end when the Bucs are in base 4-3 or can get big enough by adding a few pounds. I know Von Miller will likely be gone when the Bucs pick but at #20 there will still be a first round caliber guy of that type left. Someone like Kerrigan and Quinn also fit the mold. They have the body type to be able to play 4-3 DE AND stand up OLB in the 3-4 AND “redskin backer” in the 3-3-5 while Clayborn does not. The Bucs need to stay away from drafting a 280lb. plus 4-3 DE. The 255-265ish DE/OLB’s will give them much more versatility than a 280 lb. 4-3 end who will have to come off the field altogether when the Bucs go 3 man front and the DT’s shift out to 5 Tech.
Von Miller, Kerrigan, Robert Quinn, Akeem Ayers, Justin Houston-at least one of those guys should be available when the Bucs pick at #20.
January 27th, 2011 at 7:02 pm
Mayock is a great analyst and really puts the time in, but he’s had some interesting takes the past couple of years regarding the D-Line.
Last year he had McCoy as his top prospect over Suh and in 09 he had Robert Ayers as a top 3 prospect and his top D-lineman. In 3 combined season Ayers/McCoy have combined for 4.5 sacks while Suh had 10 in his rookie year alone.
January 27th, 2011 at 7:56 pm
Man, there are some great young Lbs in this draft. Really hope we manage to draft Bruce Campbell. Great high energy guy.wanna get some agressive,fast players to re energize our Defense!
January 27th, 2011 at 9:10 pm
I like Marcel Dareus, Bama for a 3-4 that Rah may play more of. He is very big and strong. I like Quinn at NC and Bruce Carter OLB too. Carter is 4.39 punt blocker that is strong but needs improvement. I don’t think he would start. Hard to say what’s left at 20. I like Mark Ingram who may be there and DJ Williams too. We could use both guys. I know we need DE but I’m looking at a best available deal. Then you have Prince CB from Nebraska. Possible bookend for Aqib.
I don’t know, I always get it wrong at draft time. So I have absolutely no freakin clue. But I like Dareus and like Bama’s defense.
January 27th, 2011 at 9:17 pm
tom, ayers should have been drafted as a 4-3 de, not a 3-4 olb. as a traditional de i think he could still be good. i bet fox will get alot out of him if he switches to a 4-3.