2014 NFL Mock Draft - from England

Oct 27, 2013; London, United Kingdom; General view of fans in the tailgate zone before the NFL International Series game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Colchester Gladiators NFL Mock Draft 2014

Each year, the hype surrounding the draft seems to grow and it is now a massive event in the NFL calendar in itself. I coach football in England for the Colchester Gladiators after playing for them since 1984, and last year a group of us sat round and completed two rounds of a mock draft for our own entertainment.

We had some beers and pizza and had a jolly good time, and we enjoyed it so much that we thought we would do it again. This year we divided teams up by division along with a bonus team and I had the NFC North plus the Cowboys. But then I traded the Lions in return for the Eagles and ended up with half of the NFC East as my brother had been awarded our Redskins.

So at around 7pm in the Victoria Inn pub, we took our seats for this now annual event. First up of course were the Houston Texans and they immediately found a trade partner in the Atlanta Falcons. The thinking was that ok, they could take Jadeveon Clowney but they are in desperate need of a franchise QB.

So they could drop down to pick six and have a great chance of picking one of the three marquee names on the board as well as some extra picks, or so we thought… The Falcons were after a pass rusher and there are none better in the draft than top ranked Clowney. So the Falcons led the way with the pick of JC.

Below is the full first round draft with brief comments on my picks.

Round 1

1. Atlanta Falcons (from Houston) – Jadeveon Clowney, DE

2. St. Louis Rams – Kalil Mack, OLB

3. Jacksonville Jaguars – Jonny Manziel, QB

4. Cleveland Browns – Sammy Watkins, WR

5. Oakland Raiders – Mike Evans, WR

6. Houston Texans (from Atlanta) – Greg Robinson, OT

7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Teddy Bridgewater, QB

8. Minnesota Vikings – Blake Bortles, QB – Initially torn between trying again for a franchise QB, but with the Bucs surprisingly going for the lesser rated Teddy, the Vikes could take the highest rated passer on the board.

9. Buffalo Bills – Jake Matthews, OT

10. Detroit Lions – Anthony Barr, OLB

11. Tennessee Titans – Hasean Clinton-Dix, FS

12. New York Giants – Taylor Lewan, OT

13. St. Louis Rams – Darquise Dennard, CB

14. Chicago Bears – Aaron Donald, DT – Desperate to shore up the defence after some keys losses such as Henry Melton and Julius Peppers, picking Donald makes good sense.

15. Pittsburgh Steelers – Justin Gilbert, CB

16. Dallas Cowboys – Calvin Pryor, FS – Two main areas of need, D line and secondary. Top target Donald had gone, so Pryor picked to bring some physicality to the back line.

17. Baltimore Ravens – Zack Martin, OG

18. New York Jets – Odell Beckham, WR

19. Miami Dolphins – Kyle Fuller, CB

20. Arizona Cardinals – Brandin Cooks WR

21. Green Bay Packers – CJ Mosley, ILB – The Pack need help on defence and Mosley represents good value at #21 to shore up the middle.

22. Philadelphia Eagles – Tim Jernigan, DT – Eagles need D line help and Jernigan will help solidify an average position. (However I have been vilified by Phil Moreton, an Eagles fan who wanted a pass rusher or secondary help).

23. Kansas City Chiefs – Eric Ebron, TE

24. Cincinnati Bengals – Kony Ealy, DE

25. San Diego Chargers – Rashede Hageman, DT

26. Cleveland Browns – Derek Carr, QB

27. New Orleans Saints – Dee Ford, DE

28. Carolina Panthers – Marquise Lee, WR

29. New England Patriots – Louis Nix, DT

30. San Francisco 49ers – Kelvin Benjamin, WR

31. Denver Broncos – Jason Verret, CB

32. Seattle Seahawks – Ryan Shazier, OLB
Let me know your thoughts. Second round to follow…

NFL Mock Draft

Click here for – Round 2 – NFL Mock Draft – from England