2011 NFL draft prospects - Where will they land?

Cam Newton's Auburn Tigers won the BCS National Championship Monday night over Oregon, but does anyone outside of Auburn, Alabama actually like this guy? Sure he's a smug little prick, but he's pretty good. The question now is whether or not he's good enough to be successful in the NFL. With the deadline to declare for the 2011 NFL draft on Saturday, a decision will be coming in the next few days. My sense is that he will come out. Following a season in which he had, 2,854 passing yards with 30 touchdowns along with 1,400+ yards on the ground and another 20 rushing touchdowns, I think he realizes his stock is fairly high right now.

He is being projected to go in the first round, not in the top ten, but soon after. I think it's safe to say that Cam's father is pushing him to go get paid as well. How good he'll be is anyone's guess at this point. He has great size and skills. At 6-6, 250 pounds, he is the perfect size for a quarterback, and he does have a really strong arm. He could be the next Daunte Culpepper (in his Viking days), or he could be the next JaMarcus Russell. Only time and NFL games will tell the story. A lot of teams are in the market for a signal caller... The Titans just ousted Vince Young and Kerry Collins is nearing mummification status. The Vikings may or not be content to let Tavaris Jackson be the guy, the Cardinals are also in dire need along with the Panthers. Other teams who may give him a look include the Jaguars, Raiders, Bills, 49ers and Dolphins.

I've been thinking a lot about where Newton and some other exciting prospects may be good fits in the league. The draft, which happens at the end of April, is looking like a pretty good one. There are some real talented guys that are gonna be coming into the league. Here are my projected landing spots for some of the draft's hottest players.

Andrew Luck, QB - Stanford: Is he coming out? He'd be stupid not too. Right now, he says he's staying, but that could still change by Saturday, it's unlikely but it would be the smart thing to do in my opinion. If he does, he'll likely be the #1 overall pick by the Carolina Panthers. The Jimmy Clausen experiment seemed to be a bust last season and Luck, with the help of Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh, has been unbelievable. If he doesn't come out, he could be playing without his mentor, Harbaugh is being courted currently by Michigan, his alma mater. He is also being offered a job by the San Francisco 49ers, who recently canned his ex-teammate, Mike Singletary. Luck could also be possibly leaving millions on the table if he decides to stay at Stanford and underwhelms next season or gets hurt.

If Luck decides to stay, the Panthers would have to find a plan B. They could take A.J. Green, the consensus #1 wide receiver in the draft. He's fast and big and run good routes, and the Panthers clearly need a boost at the position, but that seems a bit high to take a wideout. Not sure if there has ever been a receiver picked at #1 before, but it seems unlikely here. More than likely, the Panthers would either trade down and go after another quarterback in the middle of the round, perhaps Blaine Gabbert out of Missouri, or they could go after one of the big defensive players in the draft, Da'Quan Bowers and Nick Fairley.

Da'Quan Bowers, DE - Clemson: This guy is a beast. He can get to the quarterback in a hurry. At 6-4, 280 he's got incredible size, he is also very quick and has great footwork and good ball-hawking instincts. The Denver Broncos have the #2 pick in the draft and ranked dead last in the league with a measly 23 sacks. I think this is going to be a no-brainer for them, although they could go after Nick Fairley from Auburn. Fairley though, is more of a run stopper while Bowers is the pure pass rusher. Pretty certain the Broncos will swoop up Bowers at the #2 pick. Watch him come bursting in to the mix in on this play:

Tell me the Broncos couldn't use that type of explosiveness coming off the edge. He'll be good from the get go I think.

Nick Fairley, DT - Auburn: If you watched the BCS championship game, you had to have noticed this guy. His presence in the middle of the defensive line was the difference in the game. He absolutely stuffed Heisman candidate LaMichael James all game, and he was nasty about it. Any chance he got he made sure he fell on top of the ballcarrier and even gave LaMike some extra curricular face shoving into the grass at one point:

This guy is a scary motherfucker. He's the type of dude you want on your team, not staring you in the face waiting to lay his 6-4, 298 pound frame out on top of you. A lot of people seem to think that the Buffalo Bills will take a hard look at Ryan Mallett with their pick at #3, and I'm sure they will. I think in the end, however, that they will look to shore up their defensive front, which ranked dead last year against the run. Nick Fairley will be hard to pass on for the Bills, and I think they will give Ryan Fitzpatrick another shot to lock down the quarterback job in 2011. Fitzpatrick actually showed some flashes last year, and being a Harvard graduate, he can always out think you.

Ryan Mallett, QB - Arkansas: The Matt Leinart/ Derek Anderson experiment last season went haywire. Arizona Cardinals fans were hoping Kurt Warner would come back to the team by the end of the first game of the year. They have a pretty nice, young group of guys over there in Arizona, it was only a few years ago that they were gearing up for their cinderella super bowl run. But they need a QB. If Mallett is there, I think it'll be an easy choice for GM Rod Graves and head coach Ken Whisenhunt. There are some questions surrounding Mallet's decision making after he threw an interception against Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl that put the nail in Arkansas' chances of winning. Some also criticize his arm stegth, saying he can't get the ball downfield. I still think though that Arizona will see enough in Mallett to justify drafting him with their #5 pick.

A.J. Green, WR - Georgia: He's got it all: tremendous ups, blazing speed, and 6-4, 200+ pound size. A.J. Green is going to be a top ten pick, he's the best wide receiver in the draft and looks like he has NFL-ready talent. There's a chance the Bengals snatch him at the #4 pick, but I have a feeling they're going to go defensive instead. That leaves the door wide open for the Browns. The Browns were actually decent this year. Colt McCoy looked like he was up to the challenge of the fierce AFC North, and Peyton Hillis surprised everyone as he was on of the best runners in the league. They could use someone to throw to though. Enter A.J. Green. The kid would likely be the opening day #1 for them. I can only imagine how much he would open up the field for Hillis in the run game. With a legitimate threat out wide, defenses would have to respect Green, giving Hillis more space to run up the middle. Green is one of my favorite players in the draft, take a look at some of his highlights from this past season.

Sick right? Yeah, I'm thinking he sneaks down to Cleveland at the #6 pick and goes no further.

Prince Amukamara, CB - Nebraska: The nickname Amukamara Island may not be as catchy as Revis Island, but this kid has the stuff. The best cornerback available in the draft, Amukamara also boasts the coolest name. The Lions need conerback help bad, they got abused by the pass all season. Amukamara should be available at #13 when the Lions select, and if he is, the Lions' front office will be doing victory laps around the conference room. Check out some highlights from the Huskers '09 game against Texas...

Cam Newton, QB - Auburn: Where's he going to land? While most scouts agree he is a first round talent, I've heard many also say they wouldn't touch him in the first round. I guess he's more of a question mark than the other QBs on the board, and it remains to be seen if his power running style can translate to the bigtime. Someone is going to take a flier on him though, for sure. It will probably be after the top QBs go, Luck (if he enters), Mallett and Gabbert. If Luck doesn't enter the draft, which it looks like he won't, that could propel Newton's value up. I'm thinking he will go in the middle of the first round. #15 seems a bit early, I know, but I think that the Miami Dolphins may have some interest. He seems like a good fit with their wildcat offense and they got rid of Pat White last year, a guy they drafted in the second round. Add to that the inconsistent play of Chad Henne and we have the makings of a glove-like fit. What other city could embrace Newton's bloated personality? Yep, I'm thinking Newton to the Dolphins at #15.

douchebag!^^^