Monday, April 21, 2008

TSN Final Mock Draft

The TSN final mock draft bucked the trend of analysts who've predicted that Denver will take whichever tackle prospect falls in their lap at #12. Echoing recent sentiment from this blogger, they predict Denver will grab RB Rashard Mendenhall with the 12th overall pick. The player Denver takes next month will probably be some intersection of need, goodness of fit, and overall talent. Taking all of these into consideration, these are the players, in order of probability, that I see Denver drafting at #12:

Rashard Mendenhall
Ryan Clady
Jonathan Stewart
Keith Rivers
Derrick Harvey
Chris Williams

Mendenhall is the surest combination of need, goodness of fit, and overall talent available by a long shot. Clady also fits all three, but in an incredibly deep draft class combined with Clady's strange personality and worrisome Wonderlic score lead me to believe that Denver would rather address this need in round 2 and beyond. Realistically, Clady and Rivers are likely long gone by the time Denver picks at #12. Assuming this is the case, I think Shanahan's ultimate decision will be between grabbing Mendenhall at #12 or trading down a couple of picks to take whichever back drops. Given the compensation, the latter strategy may ultimately be the most prudent course.

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