2009 NFL Mock Draft

It’s almost that time where the 32 NFL teams get together and build for the future. The NFL Draft is on Saturday and I’ve decided to make my own mock draft. The reason I’m doing it somewhat late is I wanted to be as accurate as I can in the sense of if there was a trade (like there was on Thursday when the Falcons got Tony Gonzalez for a 2010 draft pick), I could say that the Falcons will focus on any position other than tight end. Anyway, here is my 2009 NFL Mock Draft:

1. Detroit Lions – Matthew Stafford, QB, Georgia. It looks as if the Lions are working out a deal to get Stafford signed before the Draft. He is going to be a good pro and he is going to be the face of the Lions for years to come.

2. St. Lois Rams – Jason Smith, OT, Baylor. Smith could be considered the best player overall in the draft. He should do what Orlando Pace did for the Rams for the next 10-15 years.

3. Kansas City Chiefs – Brian Orakpo, DE, Texas. He has the size and athleticism to start right way for Kansas City who could use the help. He could play linebacker and play along with former Longhorn Derrick Johnson.

4. Seattle Seahawks – Eugene Monroe, OT, Virginia. I think Jim Mora would like to address the defense as they could use some help on the defensive line, but Walter Jones is not getting any younger and Monroe would be a good pick for them,

5. Cleveland Browns – Aaron Curry, LB, Wake Forest. I think that Curry is going to be an outstanding pro and should have no problems fitting into Eric Mangini’s 3-4 scheme. Some experts say that he is the safest pick in the draft.

6. Cincinnati Bengals – Everette Brown, DE, Florida State. One of the problems that the Bengals had over the years is they never had a pass rush. That will change if they select Brown with their first round pick.

7. Oakland Raiders – Michael Crabtree, WR, Texas Tech. Crabtree had a great college career and has all the tools to be a Pro Bowl wide receiver. This is a typical pick for Oakland as Al Davis likes the fast players.

8. Jacksonville Jaguars – Mark Sanchez, QB, USC. This is not a glaring need, but the Jags need to address the quarterback spot to take over the helm when David Garrard retires. You know, he could be a better quarterback than Stafford base on intangibles.

9. Green Bay Packers – B.J. Raji, DT, Boston College. Raji is by far the best defensive tackle in the daft and this year’s class is deeper than what it was last year. Green Bay could definitely use help on the defensive line so this should be a no-brainer.

10. San Francisco 49ers – Andre Smith, OT, Alabama. The 49ers could use another quarterback but I think they will go with the best available player in Smith. He has had some issues in the past, but when he is on his game, very few are better than Smith.

11. Buffalo Bills – Michael Oher, OT, Ole Miss. This should be a good pick for the Bills because Oher can help protect Trent Edwards which will mean more opportunities for Terrell Owens. Oher was one of the reasons that Ole Miss had a great season in 2008.

12. Denver Broncos – Rey Maualuga, LB, USC. Denver will try to move on with Jay Cutler gone and they will address the defense in this year’s draft. Maualuga should be plugged in right away as he can tackle well react to plays better than any other linebacker in the draft.

13. Washington Redskins – Robert Ayers, DE, Tennessee. I’ll be honest, I don’t know that the Redskins are going to do on draft day. They could bolster their defensive line and I think Ayers will be a good fit to go along with Albert Haynesworth.

14. New Orleans Saints – Malcolm Jenkins, CB, Ohio State. The Saints has made a lot of moves in the offseason, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Adding Jenkins would really help a struggling Secondary.

15. Houston Texans – Vontae Davis, CB, Illinois. Houston needs help on defense but not a cornerback. Davis is a great athlete and has good size for a corner so I think the Texans could not pass on him if he is available.

16. San Diego Chargers – Knowshon Moreno, RB, Georgia. LaDainian Tomlinson is still the guy in San Diego, but he is not the player that he once was. Moreno is a guy that doesn’t have top-notched speed, but can do everything else well and is the best running back in the draft.

17. New York Jets – Josh Freeman, QB, Kansas State. With Bret Favre gone, the Jets need a quarterback in the worst way. Freeman would be the best available quarterback in the draft ia strong arm and great size.

18. Denver Broncos – Tyson Jackson, DT, LSU. This will be a pick where Denver will once again address the defense and Jackson might be the perfect pick for them. With Denver playing the 3-4 scheme on defense, Jackson can play end or tackle.

19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Peria Jerry, DT, Ole Miss. Tampa’s defense is not getting any younger and the only members from the Super Bowl team are Ronde Barber and Jermaine Phillips. Jerry is a little older (24) but he is very strong and very athletic and that fits right in the
Tampa Bay scheme.

20. Detroit Lions – Clay Matthews, LB, USC. I would like for the Falcons to get Matthews but I don’t think he will go past 20. The Lions will need all the help they can get so Matthews is considered the most versatile linebacker in the draft.

21. Philadelphia Eagles - Chris “Beanie” Wells, RB, Ohio State. Brian Westbrook is one of the best running backs in the game today, but he is now 30. Adding Wells will help the Eagles in the run game as he is faster than Moreno and can run between the tackles.

22. Minnesota Vikings – Percy Harvin, WR, Florida. Based on the recent events, Harvin could move out of the first round and be an early second round pick. If he is still around, the Vikings have to take Harvin to give Sage Rosenfels more weapons.

23. New England Patriots – James Laurinaitis, LB, Ohio State. New England is a team that doesn’t have a lot of needs but linebacker is an area they will address. Laurinaitis has good speed and great size so he can be a very productive starter.

24. Atlanta Falcons – Brian Cushing, LB, USC. There are reports that the Falcons will pick Cushing if he is available. Cushing would be the third linebacker out of USC picked in the first round and he will compete for one of the two outside linebacker positions.

25. Miami Dolphins – Darrius Heyward-Bey, WR, Maryland. Miami had a surprise season last year and they are looking for a deep-threat to help Chad Pennington. Heyward-Bey has to physical tools to be that deep threat but needs to improve route-running skills.

26. Baltimore Ravens – Hakeem Nicks, WR, North Carolina. There is no doubt that the Raves have found their quarterback. Now they need a star receiver and Nicks could be that guy. He has good hands and can run route extremely well.

27. Indianapolis Colts – Evander Hood, DT, Missouri. The No.1 need for the Colts is defensive tackle as they had a hard time stopping the run. Ziggy Hood would be a nice addition because he can split gaps and has the ability to get into the backfield.

28. Buffalo Bills – Brandon Pettigrew, TE, Oklahoma State. Trent Edwards has his deep-threat in T.O. but where is his security blanket? Pettigrew can be that guy as he can do anything any NFL tight end can do.

29. New York Giants – Kenny Britt, WR, Rutgers. With Plaxico Burress gone, the Giants need a No. 1 wide receiver. Britt got more lover earlier in the year, but he is a guy that has tremendous size and blazing speed. He could very well turn out to be the best receiver in the draft.

30. Tennessee Titans – Darius Butler, CB, Connecticut. The Titans could use a defensive tackle or a receiver but is Butler is still on the board they should run to the podium. Butler has that confidence that the best NFL cornerbacks have and is very physical with opposing receivers.

31. Arizona Cardinals – Larry English, LB/DE, Northern Illinois. The Cardinals shocked everyone by reaching the Super Bowl, but they can use some help defensively if they want to go back to the Super Bowl in 2009. English can play both end and linebacker and the Cardinals
need help with both positions.

32. Pittsburgh Steelers – Eben Britton, OT, Arizona. The world champions could use help on the offensive line if anywhere. Britton will not have to play right away and can work on his blocking while waiting his turn. If he improves, he can play left or right tackle.

Gwinett Braves fall in home opener but win over a new legion of fans

This is a piece I wrote for SCORE Atlanta in which I went to the Gwinnett Braves inagural home opener on Friday. I should be covering more Gwinnett Braves game so be sure to check out scoreatl.com often.

The Braves organization is a franchise rich in history. From Boston, to Milwaukee and now here in Atlanta, the Braves are the longest running franchise in the Major Leagues. The history is the same in the Minor League organization, as the Richmond Braves, the Atlanta Braves’ AAA squad, had played in Virginia for over 40 years. But on Friday, history was made again as the Gwinnett Braves took the field for the first time at the brand-new Gwinnett Stadium. A sellout crowd of 10,247 fans was there to witness the event.

The Braves played against their division rival the Norfolk Tides and the Braves end up losing the game 7-4. But in this case, winning or losing was not as important as being a part of history and playing in front of the Gwinnett community.

“I thought it was electric,” Braves Manager Dave Brundage said. “It was fun I think from a standpoint just finally getting to the day. A lot of anticipation and a lot of energy. Obviously, from a fan standpoint they waited for this day a long time.

The fans were not disappointed, as they were a treated to pregame celebration which included Braves alumni such as Brian Jordan, Javy Lopez and Phil Niekro. There was also fireworks and two skydivers landed on the field to deliver the game ball.

What probably would have been the icing on the cake would have been future ace Tommy Hanson taking the mound to christen Gwinnett Stadium. But Charlie Morton got the nod and he was solid giving up three runs on five innings. And Like Brundage, Morton was impressed with the energy of the fans and the facilities.

“It’s exciting,” Morton said. “I wish it would gone a little better but it was exciting.”

It was clear that the fans in attendance didn’t know most of the players because they are used to seeing the boys at Turner Field. But they supported the team like they were the Atlanta Braves and they know that these are the future stars of the organization. One of the players that fans should keep an eye on is J.C. Holt, who went 2-for-3 in the loss on Friday and has spent the past couple of years playing in Richmond. And like the rest of the team, Holt is glad for the change.

“It was awesome,” Holt said about playing in front of a sold-out crowd at the brand new Gwinnett Stadium. “Anytime you move into a new stadium, there’s always a little bit of pressure. It’s almost impossible to win whenever you open up a stadium. The Yankees got smoked, the Mets got smoked and we got beat tonight. It’s always good to get it out of the way and now we can concentrate on playing ball.”

They may have lost the game and their record now stand at 4-5, but they did win over the fans and it looks like they will be playing in front of more packed houses as the season rolls on.

Jones can be reached at bjones@scoreatl.com

G-Day Scirmmage and Falcons Schedule Thoughts

I went to the G-Day game in Athens on Saturday and let’s just say that it wasn’t the most exciting game I’ve seen. But that’s just it. It’s was a scrimmage. Not a game, a scrimmage. All week I’ve been hearing fans and media types saying that the G-Day game was a failure because there were not a lot of points scored as the lone touchdown of the game was scored on the final play. Also, according to most people who watched the game, nobody stood out on offense other than A.J. Green who caught the first pass of the game which was a flea-flicker.

Look, there is no question that the Bulldogs have some work to do. But even if the final score was 30-28 rather than 13-3, they would have work to do anyway because it’s April and the season starts on September 5 when they travel to Stillwater, Ok to take on Oklahoma State. There are players that are injured that didn’t take part in the spring scrimmages and there are new signees who are getting ready for their high school prom. I don’t know how this team is going to do this year. They could finish the season 8-4 with a trip to the Music City Bowl, or they could go 10-2 with a trip to the Capital One Bowl. You know, they could very well win the SEC and go to the Sugar Bowl or the National Championship if they can somehow beat Florida. But one thing is for certain, Mark Richt will have this team ready in September and the 2009 season will be more exciting than 2008 because the expectations won’t be as high which means less pressure for the Dawgs.

Moving on to the other team that dawns the red and black, the Falcons 2009 schedule is up along with the other 31 NFL teams and I like the way it’s set up. You can go to atlantafalcons.com to see the schedule but I do want to say this. I’m not going to make a prediction how many games the Falcons are going to win, but I will say that I’m glad that the Falcons have two nationally televised games so the country can see how good Matt Ryan is and why he was named Rookie of the Year in 2008. I thought they were going to have one more nationally televised game, but if they are able to win some games this season, NBC will probably pick up one of the games one flex scheduling starts. Man, all this football talk gets me ready for the season. I’m glad baseball has started, don’t get me wrong, but I’m counting down the days when opening weekend for college and pro football kickoff.

Etowah tennis hoping for tournament glory in '09

Last week I had a chance to Billie Morgan who is the head coach for the Etowah girls tennis team and she talks about what they need to do in order to make it to the state finals. I also take a look at the boys tennis team as they look to finaly take home the crown after comming so close last year. You can check this story in the current issue of SCORE Atlanta or scoreatl.com.

Tennis season is winding down as the Region Tournaments are going on this week. The Etowah boys and girls tennis teams are the defending Region 5-AAAAA champions and they look to do that on Wednesday when the finals take place at Marietta High School, the same place where they won the region championship last year. If they are able to do that, it would mean back-to-back titles for the girls and four consecutive titles for the boys. But both teams have a bigger goal that they set for themselves before the season, and that is winning the state title. If both Eagles teams can continue to play like they have all season, that goal should be well within reach.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST
Both teams’ paths to a dominating regular season were very different. The girls record at press time was 13-2, with both of their losses coming against Marist in February. That record is quite an accomplishment considering the team lost five seniors from last season.
“The freshmen and the one sophomore that I picked up are really, really good players,” girls head coach Billie Morgan said. Most of my wins came from the underclassmen that I had, not so much the seniors that I had. So I knew when I picked up these really good players, I had a really good team.”
The two freshmen, Nicole LaDuca and Alyssa Siebold, have been keys to their success this year. And they are also going to be factors when the state tournament begins and the girls that are back from last year want to go further than last year when they lost to South Forsyth in the first round.
“The girls I have returning, their goal is to get deep into the state playoffs,” Morgan said. “It still haunts them. They still talk about it, they know what happened, they know what they did [last season].”

BOYS UNDEFEATED
Going into the region tournament, the boys team was undefeated and was ranked No. 1 in the state in the GACA Coaches Poll, having cruised past every opponent this year. Last year they won the region title in convincing fashion and made it all the way to the finals of the state tournament, losing to Northview. This year they look hungry to win that title, winning the Wheeler Wildcat Tournament at the beginning of the season. Not only are the Eagles boys undefeated in matches on the season, they have only lost two games.
So which teams stand in their way? For the girls, a dominant Walton program would be a tough opponent in the postseason. For the boys, defending champion Northview is a team that is familiar with this Eagles team. No matter who they face, however, the Eagles will be the teams to watch in the Class 5A state tournament.

Jones can be reached at bjones@scoreatl.com.

WWE 2009 Draft Recap

I'm a wresting fan and I got a chance to watch the WWE 2009 Draft which was here in Atlanta. I thought I would do a recap and you can also find this on the Sports by Fletch blog. Don't forget to hear me every Sunday from 10-3 on 790 the Zone.

The WWE was in Atlanta on Monday and held their annual Draft where all the superstars from Raw, Samckdown and ECW come together on the Raw show and random superstars were selected to go another brand. For example, on Monday one of the matches that went down was World Heavyweight Champion Jon Cena (from the Raw brand) faced off against ECW Champion Jack Swager. Cena won the contest and as a result of the win, the Raw brand won the pick in the draft. That was the format for the entire show and here are the final results:

RAW Draftees: MVP, The Big Show, Matt Hardy, Triple H, The Miz, Maryse
Smackdown Draftees: Melina, CM Punk, Kane, Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio
ECW Draftee: Vladmir Kozlov

It’s obvious that Raw is the clear winner because Triple H is the current WWE Champion so know you have the World Heavyweight Champion and the WWE Champion on one show. Also MVP made a name for himself over at Smackdown and should do the same over at Raw. Smackdown did pretty well as they got Jericho who should stir up some shenanigans like he did over at Raw. And the fact that Melina (who I think is the hottest diva on the WWE roster) is now a new member of Smackdown really helps because she is the WWE Women’s Champion. ECW only got one draft pick but Kolzlov was the right choice for them as he will bring a new meaning to Extreme Championship Wrestling.

So there you have it. I would say this year should be interesting for the WWE when it comes to new angles and new rivalries due to the draft. I expect to see Cena and Triple H do battle as well as Kane and Mysterio continue their war. But there is one more twist – The Supplemental Draft will take place on Wednesday so expect to see more superstars going to different brands and cause more turmoil in the WWE. Oh Vince McMahon what will you think of next?

MLB NL Preview

It's time for the NL preview. Here's my predictions on standings, rookie of the year , manager of the year, MVP, NL Champion and World Series winner:

NL EAST

1. Phillies

2. Braves

3. Mets

4. Marlins

5. Nationals

NL CENTRAL

1. Cubs

2. Cardinals

3. Brewers

4. Reds

5 . Astros

6. Pirates

NL WEST

1. Dodgers

2. Diamondbacks

3. Giants

4. Rockies

5. Padres

NL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR- Jordan Schaffer-Braves

NL MANAGER OF THE YEAR- Joe Torre-Dodgers

NL MVP-HANLEY RAMIREZ-Marlins

NL WILD CARD- Cardinals

NL CHAMPION-CUBS

WORLD SERIES CHAMPION- Cubs over Angles in 6

I want to pick the Dodgers for the pennant winner to see a LA World Series, but is their rotation and bullpen deep enough to take them to the promise land? I think that Hanley Ramirez could become the best players in all of baseball one day if he isn't already. The Phillies could make another run at the title, but they are not going to run away with the division.

In the next blog, I'm going to talk about the braves and what they need to do to get back in the playoffs.

MLB AL Preview

It’s time for baseball season to begin (finally). After a month of spring training, the regular season will kick off on Sunday when the Atlanta Braves will face the world champion Philadelphia Phillies. I will talk about the Braves and the Phillies in another blog but I want to preview the American League in this space and I will predict the winners of each division, the wild card team, the AL MVP, the Rookie of the Year, Manager of the Year and the AL Champion. So here we go:

AL EAST
1. Red Sox
2. Yankees
3. Rays
4. Orioles
5. Blue Jays

AL CENTRAL
1. Twins
2. Indians
3. Royals
4. White Sox
5. Tigers

AL WEST
1. Angles
2. A’s
3. Rangers
4. Mariners
AL WILDCARD
Yankees


ROKKIE OF THE YEAR
Matt Wieters- Baltimore


MANAGER OF THE YEAR
Terry Francona- Boston


MVP
Vladmir Guerrero- Los Angles


AL CHAMPION
Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim

I like the Angels lineup but the loss to K-Rod may hurt them down the stretch. Also, Guerroro maybe a long shot at the MVP award, but if the Angles win the pennant it's going to be because of him. I’m curious to see how Wieters does because they are comparing him to Joe Maurer but more powerful. The Yankees have the line up to compete and ever win the AL title but it all depends on when Alex Rodriguez returns to the lineup. So this should be a really interesting season in the American league with come compelling stories.