Brandon Graham & Mock Drafts
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/don_banks/04/07/mock.draf…
Both SI and ESPN have Brandon Graham going to the Atlanta Falcons at 19.
I think Atlanta is a good place for him because they play a 4-3 and Graham is a great DE. The only knocks on him are his height (if he's 2 in taller he's a Top 5 pick) and his sack total (tied for 18th overall). But he also led the nation in tackles for loss. Brandon Graham is going to be a beast at DE. GO BLUE!
I've heard he's going to the:
Broncos
Dolphins
Niners
Falcons
Pats
It would be sweet to see him join Michigan south (aka the Dolphins).
That title may belong to the Cardinals or Eagles now.
Those would be more Southwest and East.
Both are south of Ann Arbor. Not due South, but they have a smaller latitude.
Brandon Graham on the Dolphins would be a-maize-ing.
There's a fairly good chance he could go to the Dolphins. The Dolphins staff coached one of the teams in the Senior Bowl that he was in and Parcels loves the kid. He likes Michigan players for some reason, and he had an extensive interview with Graham at the combine. Plus Graham had an amazing showing at the combine with both his forty and his bench press with Parcels there watching him.
Graham is a true Michigan Man. Also, the owner of Miami may have a small influence on Parcells...
They're never as funny as you expect.
They're funnier if you read them after the draft.
Some guy on WTKA said he'd go in the second or third round... sounded credible to me haha.
If nobody is smart enough to take him in the first round, I'd be more than satisfied with seeing the Lions pick him up early in the second.
Rooting interest aside though, I'd love to see him go to the Dolphins. I have this dream in my head about the Dolphins eventually becoming a nearly all-UM crew, which would finally give me enough justification for abandoning the Lions forever.
Edit: I screwed up. Indent this post and pretend it is always below the previous base-level one.
I have heard, from a friend that follows the NFL draft closely, that BG won't pass Miami with the 12th pick.
from the experts, ive heard that if he's there the patriots want him in the first round to play OLB in their 3-4
from the experts, I've heard that if he's not there for the patriots, he's coming back to Michigan for another year.
/dream
Just because Belichick knows how to utilize talent effectively regardless of a statistical limitation (e.g. height, arm length, etc) when the other intangibles are present.
Terry Foster suggested he might come back to Michigan for another season.
It would be so awesome to see him on the Dolphins with Chad and Jake.
and by successful, I mean fans and people actually caring about it... I understand the product wouldnt be amazing..
But what about a pro league would be where the teams had to made up of guys that went to a specific college..
So basically the guys not good enough for the NFL, but there's plenty...
You could have Michigan vs. Ohio State with all the players we loved and hated who just weren't good enough...
You'd just have to come up with clever names.
on Madden every year against a buddy and kill him every time. Brady does most of the heavy lifting.
I follow the draft quite closely (I pretty much live either here or at draftcountdown.com), so I thought I'd throw some responses to a bunch of posts in one here.
airvipermb (OP)- If taken by sacks per game, his sack total would have put him 13th in the nation. Just throwing that out there. Over at DC, he's being mocked to the Titans at 16. Just so you know, it's basically the most historically accurate mock draft site out there.
TheLastProphet- Outside of the 49'ers, who probably have bigger needs, all those teams are possibilities. But the top 10 talk has been heating up as well recently, with the Chiefs, Seahawks, Browns, Raiders, and Jaguars all very interested. Outside of that, the Ravens are apparently in love with him and would love for BG to fall a bit so they could scoop him up.
spacemanspiff231-The Dolphins staff coached the South team, with the Lions coaching Graham on the North. Practices at the Senior Bowl are far more important than the game, with Scouts usually leaving on Thursday and not even staying for the game. If the Lions were picking lower, I have no doubt they'd take him, as he dominated practice all week, and was basically unblockable. I think the Dolphins are a possibility, but BG actually doesn't fit what Parcells usually looks for in an outside LB, ie. he likes them 6'3" or taller. If BG, Derrick Morgan out of Georgia Tech and Jason Pierre-Paul out of South Florida are all on the board, I wouldn't be surprised to see Parcells take one of the more "prototype" guys over BG. Of course, he'd regret it later when BG is crushing planets with his bare hands.
Yesman2221-I'd say the same thing actually applies to the Patriots as the Dolphins. Belicheck is notorious for only wanting OLB's that are 6'4" or taller. They've also drafted guys like Shawn Crable recently. I think people are actually going to be shocked when the Patriots yet again don't take the OLB they desperately need.
Overall, BG is a definate first round pick at this point. His pro day today (as well as Warren and Minor, though not in the first round. Warren if he can get back into the 2nd/3rd range, Minor if he can get drafted) will help determine just how high he goes. Top 10 is a possibility, but top 20 is almost a foregone conclusion at this point.
My expert opinion is that there are too many "experts" out there to trust. There are two guys who get an unbelievable amount of predictions right every year, though: Pat Kirwan & Gill Brandt. The thing is, many NFL teams say they are interested in a guy so that the real person they are targeting might fall to them. It's all a chess match until draft day. Ooops, draft night. I'm still pissed they moved it to Thursday night. No more Saturday draft parties for me...
Brandt and Kirwan are incredibly accurate when predicting the top 100 players. I believe Gil got 98 of 100 players right last year, and Pat got 97.
However, their mock drafts are not incredibly accurate at all. Brandt's are quite bad actually, with Pat's being about as good as anyone else out there, but nothing special.
i hope whatever team drafts him doesn't also take tebow. i want to see him wreck tebow at least one more time.
I would LOVE Graham to Atlanta.