A Very Orange Mock Draft

The NFL draft is just a few days away and that means one thing - the mock draft "off-season" is nearly upon us. So take in as much coverage as you can football fans because after this weekend it will be 9 long months before we get inundated with these exercises in prediction futility.

The good news for draft fans is that the draft is dominating sports news right now. In fact, 52.7 minutes of every SportsCenter telecast is dedicated to either mock drafts, Mek Kiper, Todd McShay or some combination of the above. Personally I believe it's just a conspiracy to not cover other important sports -- like camel racing.

However, I love the NFL and I actually enjoy the draft -- its great to flip on ESPN on Saturday, settle in on the couch and then take a nap. When you wake up, the scroll at the bottom of the screen catches you up on everything you missed inabout 2 minutes. It makes for a great day of nothingness.

So now it's time to do my part. Since one more ill-informed mock draft isn't going to do anyone any good, my small brain came up with a new twist on the idea - a mock draft featuring all Syracuse players. Since Greg Robinson rolled into town and destroyed a once proud program, this wouldn't work so well with current players, so here's how we are going to do this:

• The mock draft below follows this year's actual draft order.



• Teams would have to draft Syracuse players, of any era.



• Players would be evaluated as if they were coming out of college -- so for the purposes of this exercise, we get to disregard the player's professional careers.



• There is no doubt I will miss some people and this might suck - that's what the comment section is for.



• This will be skewed towards players of the last two decades, that's more in my wheelhouse.



• Don't expect to see a lot of offensive lineman - SU has never been left tackle U.

With that - the Detroit Lions are on the clock.

1) Detroit Lions - Donovan McNabb, QB. If Matt Millen hadn't been fired, the Lions would have been a mortal lock to take Marvin Harrison, but alas, Millen has headed back to broadcasting and the Lions need a QB, so they take the best one to ever come out of Syracuse. Many misguided Eagle fans would actually be happy if Don was sent to Detroit - I hate these people.

2) St. Louis Rams - Ernie Davis, RB. The Rams would love a left tackle, but alas, no one would take Adam Terry with the second pick in the draft. Instead the Rams have to "settle" for Davis, a Heisman winner who averaged 7 yards a carry his senior year.

3) Kansas City Chiefs - Jim Brown, RB. The Chiefs are another team that needs help along the offensive line, but they can't pass up Brown's immeasurable talent. JB and Larry Johnson immediately start comparing notes on how to treat women.

4) Seattle Seahawks - Marvin Harrison, WR. With Matt Hasselbeck returning from injury, Harrison and TJ Houshmandzadeh form a potent wide out combo.....that Seneca Wallace will invariably end up throwing to.

5) Cleveland Browns - Dwight Freeney, DL. The Browns cannot stop anyone and Freeney's 17 sacks his senior year will help. Plus Dwight makes the orange uniforms look good.

6) Cincinnati Bengals - Tommy Kane, WR. The Bengals think Kane's impeccable character will be a good influence on the team, especially young receiver Chris Henry. Plus they need to replace Housh. Yes, I went there.

7) Oakland Raiders - Jim Ridlon, DB. The Raiders have a ton of needs, but the secondary seems to be improving, so what's Al Davis do? He drafts a DB from his alma mater. Why - probably because he likes Ridlon's art.

8) Jacksonville Jaguars - Rob Moore, WR. The Jags signed Torry Holt and decide to pair him with Moore, a large, talented target. Somehow they still are still under the misguided belief David Garrard can get them the ball.

9) Green Bay Packers - Ted Gregory, DL. The Packers are desperately looking for someone play nose tackle in their 3-4 scheme, and Gregory fits the bill. In related news, every MRI machine in Wisconsin has been off-line since last year.

10) San Francisco 49ers - Tim Green, DL. The run on undersized Syracuse defensive lineman has begun. Niner scouts are also impressed with Green's scholarly ways, hoping he can reason with Mike Singletary when the coach flies off the handle.

11) Buffalo Bills - Joe Ehrmann, DL. The Bills are looking for defense and Ehrmann, the 10th pick in the 1973 draft is the man. Plus they need a positive influence in the locker room to balance out TO's toxicity.

12) Denver Broncos - Floyd Little, RB. This pick makes too much sense - Floyd Little looks good as a Bronco. Plus, since Travis Henry decided to trade in baby making and playing in the NFL for cocaine trafficking (and let's be honest, we'd all do the same) they've got no one to run the ball.

13) Washington Redskins - Jim Ringo, OL. The Redskins are looking for a tackle, but settle for Ringo, a Hall of Fame center.

14) New Orleans Saints - Donovin Darius, DB. The Saints can't stop anyone and their pass defense is especially horrid. Darius is the person that starts to change all that.

15) Houston Texans - Art Monk, WR. In their quest to go 8-8 for the hundredth consecutive year, the Texans take the steady and predictable Monk, so they can continue their steady and predictable mediocrity.

16) San Diego Chargers - Larry Csonka, FB. To keep LaDainlian Tomlinson healthy and clear the way for Darren Sproles, the Chargers take Csonka. Norv Turner likes his fullbacks. Sadly for Charger fans, he also likes underachieving.

17) New York Jets - Don McPherson, QB. In an effort to solve their QB problems, the Jets reach for the undersized hometown QB from Long Island. Jets fans know how this will work out.

18) Denver Broncos - Keith Bulluck, LB. The Broncos can't stop anyone either. Lucky for them, Bullock excels at this.

19) Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Dan Conley, LB. In an effort to inject youth into an aging defense, the Bucs take Conley, failing to realize he has the heart of a 23 year old and the knees of an 80 year old.

20) Detroit Lions - Kevin Johnson, WR. The Lions can't help themselves, picking receivers is what they do, so they grab another target for McNabb.

21) Philadelphia Eagles - Joe Morris, RB. Westbrook is getting up there in age and the Eagles have proven they aren't afraid to use a small running back. And yes, I know this will piss off Giant fans - but hey, it's my blog - and as I much as I dislike the Giants, little Joe was the man.

22) Minnesota Vikings -Qadry Ismail, WR. The Vikings offense is Adrian Peterson and not much else. Ismail at least adds some speed, and another wide receiver Tarvaris Jackson can miss.

23) New England Patriots - John Mackey, TE. Belichick is too smart to let a player as good as Mackey slide any further than this spot.

24) Atlanta Falcons - Daryl Johnston, FB. The Moose goes to Atlanta to block for Michael Turner and pick up the blitz for Matt Ryan. Besides, Matt Ryan has some Aikman like qualities, so this fits. Sadly, Falcons coach Mike Smith has not worked the quick kick into any game plans as of yet.

25) Miami Dolphins - Scott Schwedes, WR. Eager for more offense, the Dolphins draft the one guy Chad Pennington can actually overthrow.

26) Baltimore Ravens - Rob Burnett, DL. The Ravens can never have too much defense and Burnett is player they can plug into their system.

27) Indianapolis Colts - Kevin Abrams, DB. With all the top wide outs gone, the Colts go with a defensive back.

28) Buffalo Bills - Chris Gedney, TE. Gedney will give Trent Edwards another target, even if that target does come up 3 yards short once in a while. Coming up short is something the Bills can relate to.

29) NY Giants - Kevin Mitchell, LB. Mitchell adds youth and depth to the giant line backing corps.

30) Tennessee Titans -Adam Terry, OL. An offensive lineman from the last two decades had to be drafted somewhere, this seems to fit.

31) Arizona Cardinals - Rob Konrad, FB. The Cardinals struggle to run the ball - what they don't know is that Konrad struggles to stay healthy.

32) Pittsburgh Steelers - Craig Wolfley OL. The Steelers need help on the interior line, and I needed help finishing this damn list....and I'm out of jokes here.

So there you have it, your first, and maybe last, all Syracuse mock-draft.