This Week In Mock Drafts
Okay, so, it’s another Monday and that’s means another installment of the world wide web’s best 2012 NFL mock draft feature written by a New York football Giants fan living in Vancouver, British Columbia… ‘This Week In Mock Drafts.’
Nobody has made any complaints whatsoever about this feature so it’s safe to say that every single person who has read it loves it and wants more of it! I can’t say no to such a high public demand.
Let’s get on with it, shall we?
This week’s edition of ‘This Week In Mock Drafts’ takes a look at the latest 2012 NFL mock draft over at WalterFootball.com. Their site description reads as follows:
"“Detailed NFL Mock Drafts, Player Prospect Rankings, and One of the Largest Mock Draft Databases on the Web.”"
You gotta love that, right? They definitely take their mock drafts serious, even ones for 2012, as they already have a few mock drafts up. The one I’ll be looking at comes from Walt and was updated on June 1st, 2011. If they continue updating their mocks then you might be seeing more of WalterFootball.com featured in ‘This Week In Mock Drafts’ here at GMEN HQ.
So, first off, Walt has made a little bit of history with this mock draft, as he is the first person to predict that the Giants will be making the playoffs next season. Picking at 22nd overall means a playoff spot for the GMEN. Just for that Walt gets a little props from me. Who does he have the Giants selecting with the 22nd overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft?
That would be Notre Dame’s Hawaiian-born, devout Mormon, linebacker Manti Te’o. Te’o is a remarkably gifted 6’2, 255-pounder who has experience playing both inside and outside linebacker. The Giants can sure use all the help they can get at all three of their linebacker spots.
There are many scouts out there who believe Te’o is one of the ten best linebackers in all of college football and that talent would be a welcome addition to a New York linebacking corps that could use an infuse of talent.
The current starting depth chart of the Giants from last season had Michael Boley and Keith Bulluck on the outside and Jonathan Goff on the inside. Together they combined for 197 total tackles and 2 measly sacks. When your three starting linebackers can only combine to get 2 sacks then you know you need some help in that area. Boley’s starting position should be safe, Bulluck will probably not return to the Giants and Goff might have to earn his spot starting at middle linebacker next season during training camp. Te’o could potentially offer Goff some competition or come in and start on the outside. Again, this all speculation, since the season hasn’t even started yet.
This is the second linebacker to be mocked to the Giants since I’ve been covering 2012 NFL mock drafts. The first was all the way back in my first column for GMEN HQ on May 30th. In that mock, Chad Reuter of NFLDraftScout.com had the GMEN taking ILB Vontaze Burfict out of Arizona at 19 overall.
Te’o is a member of the LDS Church, and being a devout Mormon means going on a two year Mormon mission. He’s already postponed it during his college career at Notre Dame and selecting him could be risky if he doesn’t let teams know his mission plans before drafting him. No team wants to spend a first round pick on a player that won’t suit up for them for at least two years. It’ll be interesting to see if Te’o can continue his impressive play at Notre Dame and what his plans for his non-football playing future will be.
I’ve already mentioned that this isn’t Walt’s first 2012 NFL mock draft. Before mocking Te’o to the Giants he had previously selected Ohio State center Mike Brewster for the Giants in his previous draft.
Other interesting notes about the June 1st updated 2012 NFL mock draft by Walt from WalterFootball.com:
-Yet again, the Washington Redskins are predicted by another prognosticator to finish with the worst record in the whenever-it’s-played 2012 NFL season. The only good thing about news like that if you’re a Redskins fan is that you might be getting the next John Elway in Stanford’s Andrew Luck, who many believe, just like WalterFootball.com does, will be the first player taken in the 2012 NFL Draft. If John Beck actually does become the Redskins starting quarterback then this prediction isn’t so far off the mark.
-While WalterFootball.com has the Giants making the playoffs in 2012, he has them winning the second wildcard spot, and being the third out of three teams in the NFC East to make the playoffs. Ahead of them, he has the Eagles picking at 25 (taking Virginia CB Chase Minnifield) and the Cowboys picking at 26 (selecting South Carolina DE/OLB Devin Taylor). That means the Cowboys will win the division and the Eagles take the first wildcard spot. There sure has been a lot of praise for the Cowboys this off-season. Looking forward to seeing how they end up performing.
So, this concludes another installment of the ridiculously-too-early-in-the-year ‘This Week In Mock Drafts.’ See you again next week!