Too soon? I think not.

Walterfootball.com already has a mock draft up. It was updated today. The Patriots have two first-round picks because one was obtained from the Raiders:

1. Rams -- A.J. Green, WR, Georgia
2. Browns -- Marcell Dareus, DE/DT, Alabama
3. Chiefs -- Jake Locker, QB, Washington
4. Bills -- Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford
5. Seahawks -- Ryan Mallett, QB, Arkansas
6. Jaguars -- Patrick Peterson, CB, LSU
7. Bucs -- Robert Quinn, DE, North Carolina
8. Broncos -- Cameron Heyward, DE/DT, Ohio State
9. Lions -- Gabe Carimi, OT, Wisconsin
10. Cardinals -- Joseph Barksdale, OT, LSU
11. Bears -- Julio Jones, WR, Alabama
12. Patriots -- Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama
13. Redskins -- Michael Floyd, WR, Notre Dame
14. Giants -- Ryan Williams, RB, Virginia Tech
15. Eagles -- Ras-I Dowling, CB, Virginia
16. Steelers -- Allen Bailey, DE/DT, Miami
17. Bengals -- Marvin Austin, DT, North Carolina
18. Titans -- Aaron Williams, CB, Texas
19. Patriots -- Adrian Clayborn, DE/DT, Iowa
20. Falcons -- Greg Romeus, DE, Pittsburgh
21. 49ers -- Jonathan Baldwin, WR, Pittsburgh
22. Panthers -- Jared Crick, DT, Nebraska
23. Texans -- DeAndre McDaniel, S, Clemson
24. Dolphins -- Rahim Moore, FS, UCLA
25. Packers -- Prince Amukamara, CB, Nebraska
26. Cowboys -- Deunta Williams, FS, North Carolina
27. Chargers -- Brandon Harris, CB, Miami
28. Ravens -- Curtis Brown, CB, Texas
29. Vikings -- Travis Lewis, OLB, Oklahoma
30. Jets -- Von Miller, DE/OLB, Texas A&M
31. Saints -- Sam Acho, DE, Texas
32. Colts -- Anthony Castonzo, OT, Boston College

If he progresses like I think he will, I expect Andrew Luck to be the best NFL QB prospect since Elway. Yeah, Peyton is the GOAT, but from a non-results-oriented POV, he was not the GOAT prospect when he came out. Luck can be something truly special, even if he comes out next year...but I hope he stays in college for three years because it would really help him. That, and a Luck+Barkley 2012 QB class would be incredible.

Can you tell me what about Luck makes him so good? I haven't watched him play at all. TIA.

Clayborn will be the first DE taken

These types of predictions are usually difficult to nail a week before the draft, let alone a year in advance.

This time last year weren't people thinking Jevan Snead was a first round pick?

A ton will change. Nothing wrong with speculating early though.

I really don't see why people love Locker so much. I've seen him play a lot and don't see why everyone is hyping this kid up so much. Because he beat USC? If he would declared for the draft this year I doubt he gets drafted in the first 5 rounds.

Has Jevan Snead been pitied and tut-tutted enough yet? 'Cause I just want to throw myself into that ring.

If Locker had declared this year, he likely would have been the #1 pick. He's a huge, super athletic, strong armed QB.

This mock draft is no good because it doesn't have the Packers picking 32nd.

I didn't see the Jets draft a QB this year, I must be wrong tho 'cause their picking #30 in the mock

For those wondering what a draft board actually looks like. Some dudes did some ninja computer stuff on the footage of the Cowboys draft room where they got a really quick peak at their board. They pieced it together. It's pretty crazy how few people they have on there.

http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2010/...ys-draft-board

Very cool, good post. Interesting to see that the Cowboys had a first-round grade on Navarro Bowman, who went 91st. Also that they had a 4th round grade on Perry Riley, who went to the Redskins in the 4th round.

I am disappointed that the Cowboys are one of the teams that had Russell Okung rated higher than Trent Williams (tho only slightly higher).

Lot of interesting things there. It looks like the Jags weren't the only team with a first round grade on Alualu, although that pick was still a reach relative to the 'Boys' board. Also surprising that they only had Golden Tate as a 3rd round pick.

*

List of Notable Missing Players

* Tebow, Tim [QB] (1,25)
* Cook, Chris [CB] (2,34)
* Benn, Arrelious [WR] (2,39)
* Dunlap, Carlos [OLB] (2,54)
* Cody, Terrence [NT] (2,57)
* Spikes, Brandon [ILB] (2,62)
* Angerer, Pat [ILB] (2,63)
* Brown, Charles [OT] (2,64)
* Walton, JD [C] (3,80)
* Griffen, Everson [OLB] (4,100)
* Campbell, Bruce [OT] (4,106)
* Thomas, Cam [DL] (5,146)

Blah 9ers feared Boys jumping up for Anthony Davis......looks like they were wrong.

lol @ AJ Green being #1 overall

IMO, I think Jonathan Baldwin is the best receiver out of the upcoming draft class, assuming he declares. If he runs in the 4.4 range, he has to be picked in the top half of the first round.

The Cowboys' draft board summarized:

They had Russell Okung rated slightly higher than Trent Williams, tho that may be inconsequential since the Redskins and Cowboys run different schemes........Dallas had a first-round grade on Penn State LB Navarro Bowman, who went 91st........The Cowboys had a fourth-round grade on Perry Riley, whom the Redskins picked early in the fourth round.....Dez Bryant was the 12th highest rated player on their board....They had Gerald McCoy rated higher than Ndamukong Suh......Rolando McClain was 7th (the Raiders took him with the 8th pick).....Dallas had a first-round grade on Sean Lee, LB from Penn State, whom they drafted with the 55th pick......Dallas had a second-round grade on Brandon Graham, DE, Michigan, whom the Eagles traded up to the 13th pick to draft.....Dallas had a third-round grade on Patrick Robinson, CB, FSU, who was selected at the end of the first round by the Saints.....The Cowboys had a second-round grade on Ryan Matthews, RB, Fresno State, whom the Chargers moved up to #12 to select......The Cowboys had a third-round grade on Rodger Saffold, who was picked with the first pick of the second round by the Rams.....they had a 7th-round grade on Mike Kafka, who went in the 4th round to the Eagles

The Bowman bit is LOL all the rest are within the realm of difference of opinion. Most of them I agree with.

Everything. 6'4/235 is ideal size (I've started to believe that size/bulk is an extremely underrated attribute for QB prospects), he's got a great arm, he's mobile, he's extremely smart, and he's in an excellent system. Stanford runs a great pro-style offense, and Harbaugh (a former pro-style product) is a really good coach who can prepare Luck for the NFL. That's all attribute/non-stats stuff, though. If you look at what he did last year as a freshman, it gets even better.

Luck threw for 215 YPG at a pretty incredible 8.94 YPA, he only threw four picks in 12 games, and he had a 56.3% completion percentage. The overall numbers aren't amazing, but he posted them as a freshman in a tough conference (flame away, but the Pac-10 is good). Most guys don't even play their freshman year, and the ones that do rarely even come close to posting those kinds of numbers. He's got it all, he just needs some experience and some coaching.

What reason do you have to believe this beyond 'guys I recently thought would pan out were h00ge and made it, guys who didn't weren't.'

Disagree. I think it is perfectly rated.

Does it matter? Yes. Is it important enough to be a deal-breaker? No, unless you're Al Davis.

A lot of the bulkier QBs to come out recently have been successful, and I wonder if the increase in overall size around the league has something to do with it. I'm not saying it's a necessity, but if you were going to choose between 6'4/215 and 6'4/235, I think the added size is your best bet, even if it decreases mobility (which I think is generally overrated in QBs). You want your QB to be able to get sacked 25+ times a year without getting killed.

To give an example, if you sort by YPG averages from 2009, 19 of the top 25 weigh at least 225 pounds. Of those 19, I'd consider ~12 of them to be "bulky," and the guys who have recently come into the league (Henne, Stafford, Flacco, Freeman, etc.) seem to be raising that percentage. Now, it could just be that a lot of the bulkier QB prospects are more traditional pocket passers (players who have a higher success rate than mobile/spread players), but at worst, I think you'd have to agree that it's certainly not BETTER to be thin than bulky as a QB prospect.

I never said it was a deal-breaker, I just said I think it's important and generally overlooked. Height is a widely accepted trait, but you rarely hear people talk about actual size/bulk being important; it's usually just referenced along with height.

There's a difference between "bulky" and "fat as ****."

Yeah LOL @ AJ Green 1...he's going to be a first rounder, but no way that high. Interested to see what kind of numbers Julio puts up this year now that he's fully healthy and Saban claim they're going to let McElroy air it out alot more to take advantage of their beast wideouts.