Top 10 Picks of Rounds 2 and 3

Top 10 picks rds 2- 3

We didn’t do round 1 because when you’re in the top 30 picks every pick should have some aspect,  some something that makes it a top pick.  It doesn’t always happen but it should.  These picks went much later but all could have been in the top 32. 

1. Kendrick Ellis – NYJ- heck, there is a chance Ellis won’t even make the team but when a 3-4 team gets the opportunity to draft a guy who is 6’5” 345lbs and plays with a mean streak they should take it.  The Jets are the perfect fit. Like Haloti Ngata,  Ellis moves more like an end than a nose tackle,  he’s quick in pursuit and uses his long arms pretty well.  Meanwhile lunchpail guy Mike DeVito can’t help but remind people of Kelly Gregg and Sione Pouha and giving the line a guy like Ellis can’t hurt.
2. Martez Wilson- NO- Wilson is an incredible athlete.  He brings size and speed to a saints linebacking corps that has really been a collection of “football players”.  Word so far is he’ll play the strong side over 12 year veteran Danny Clark.  He’ll have a chip on his shoulder  and a guy with his size and speed is not someone you want to face with a chip on his shoulder. 
3. Ryan Mallett- NE- Ok, Ok, Ok,  he did drugs.  Maybe you’d like to know what drugs they were but isn’t the baseball world cheering the heroic comeback of Josh Hamilton  ? It wasn’t steroids that kept Hamilton out of baseball for a spell.  The kid has an amazing arm.  And I saw the Gruden piece,  he as much as any other QB seemed to get the football aspect.  Cam Newton didn’t seem to know which positions were on the field in a given set let alone which play to call.  Also Mallett knew his limitations,  some of the leadership guys like Christian Ponder and Andy Dalton seemed to think they had a little more arm than they do- they are still good Qbs.  But Mallett,  with that big arm,  he could be great – and now he’s with Bellichik and Brady…which means in a few years he’ll have shown enough in a late season game to bring the Patriots another bevy of picks.  I’d rather see a guy to a few drugs safely than get pulled over for a DUI. 
4. Justin Houston – KC- had issues in the middle of the defense.  Now Vrable and or Studebaker can move inside.  And Tamba Hali has a book-end OLB and Houston is a Hali clone.  The team could still use an upgrade at NT but the two LSU guys at end muck things up enough to allow Houston some real access to the QB. 
5. Greg Little – Cle- the prototype west coast offense WR in this draft,  little is bigger and stronger and more of a run after the catch guy than any other WR in this draft. He won’t run the routes of a Jones or Green or go over the top like a Baldwin but he;s a real football  player , and really can Colt McCoy make those other throws ?
6. Stefan Wisniewski – Oak- They took a C or a G to play the interior of the line!  Wisniewski moves his feet well. He’s familiar with the team.  He has enough upper body strength to get the job done and he has a big old brain.  He’s a guy that will play forever.
7. Ben Ijalana- Ind- Ijalana is learning to be a football player.  He has 36 inch arms,  and weighs in at 317lbs.  So while he’s a little bit of a developmental player (why does that get said like it’s a bad thing – good teams develop players bad teams throw them to the wolves- everyone should hope to be a developmental player)  he’s very similar in physical attributes to number 9 pick Tyron Smith except  he’s got more weight in his seat and won’t be pushed around.  Plus the best part about Ijalana’s game is he has an attitude.   Ijalana’s name probably came up some in the first round when Gabe Carimi ,  Derek Sherrod,  and even Athony Castonzo went – he has the potential to be as good as any lineman in this draft.
8. Rahim Moore – Den-  When you get the best player at his position in a draft it’s a good pick. When it fills a team  need it’s a better pick.  When that player gets to learn from a great  player it’s and even better pick. And when that player  understands the opportunity he has it’s a great pick. 
9. Brooks Reed-  Hou- Brooks Reed thinks he’s Clay Matthews Jr.  He’s a little bigger. A little slower but he’s all hustle and heart.  Houston needed another OLB in the new 3-4 and Reed as a former DE is the perfect compliment to Cushing  who is a more standard LB. 
10. Bruce Carter – DAL-  Carter may have to sit a year.  But even with that he was the best weakside LB in the draft. He’s big enough to function in Dallas 3-4 but not really a great fit for his skill set,  still when you get a top 15 talent in the middle of the 2^nd round it’s a great pick.