2013 NFL Mock Draft (Part 2)

Click here for picks 1-16

17- Pittsburgh Steelers - Corderelle Patterson - WR - Tennessee -

The story for the offseason thus far for the Steelers is that they have lost several key players and haven't been able to replace them as Keenan Lewis, James Harrison, Willie Colon, and Mike Wallace are all gone. The Steelers did have the top defense last year, but they still could use some replacements on that defense for Keenan Lewis and James Harrison. Also, despite how good their defense was, they were actually only middle of the pack in terms of pass rushing, so don't be surprised if they snatch a good rushing linebacker or defensive end. Personally, though, I think they need to go offense with this pick. They badly need a runningback as their running game was a huge mess last season, but it is way too early for Eddie Lacy at this point, so they will have to wait. It is, however, a perfect time to grab a wide receiver that can help replace Mike Wallace. Tavon Austin is the consensus top receiver in this draft, but afterwards there is no clear number two. The Steelers could decide to go with DeAndre Hopkins here, but my gut is that they will take Corderelle Patterson.

18- Dallas Cowboys - Sheldon Richardson - DT - Missouri -

The Cowboys really need help on defense and they have several options in the draft to choose from, depending on what falls for them. If a Xavier Rhodes, Jarvis Jones, or Kenny Vaccaro falls to them, they would be happy with either. In this specific mock, I have Sheldon Richardson is the player that I have falling a bit, so the Cowboys will snatch him away if he's there. Even if he's not there, they would still consider Sylvester Williams with this pick. They could also use a guard, but I highly doubt Chance Warmack or Johnathan Cooper will fall this far.

19- New York Giants - Bjoern Werner - DE - Florida State -

The former Super Bowl champs fell short of the playoffs this past year mainly because their defense failed to show up. Eli Manning is a good quarterback and the Giants' offense is great around him, but they can't do much if the other side of the ball isn't doing their part, so expect the Giants to attempt to remedy this. There is really a few different options the Giants could go for at this point in the draft, but if there is a solid defensive end available, that is probably their biggest need. Osi didn't do a very good job this past season and he is thus gone, so the Giants will need someone to lineup across Jason Pierre-Paul. Bjoern Werner was once considered a top five or top ten prospect as he had a monster year last year for Florida State, so this could end up being a steal in the draft yet again for the G-men.

20- Chicago Beats - DJ Fluker - T - Alabama - 

The story for the Bears seems to be the same story every year. They have a great defense, but lack a good offense and don't have much of an offensive line. Now they did part ways will all time great Brian Urlacher this offseason and so one might think they could replace him with an Alec Ogletree or a Manti Te'o, but I don't think they will go that direction. What they really need to do is do something with that offensive line and there should be someone available to help them there. It's possible DJ Fluker is gone at this point and in which case they might go for Menelik Watson, but in this mock he is available, so that is what I am betting on here.


21- Cincinnati Bengals - Menelik Watson - T - Florida State - 

The Bengals' secondary did play really well last season, but they are getting really old and could use some new fresh blood and especially they could use some help at safety as Nate Clements had to be used at safety last season when he is a corner. Clements has gone unsigned anyways and may not be back. If Kenny Vaccaro lasted this long, he would be their dream pick, but that's not going to happen. And while they could take either Eric Reid or Matt Elam with this pick, I think they will address something that is a lot more pressing and that is their offensive line. Andre Smith was really good last year, but remains unsigned and regardless if they bring him back or not, they could use help, so Menelik Watson makes sense. They do need a runningback, but they won't take Eddie Lacy. He is essentially the same type of runner as Benjarvis Green-Ellis and they need a fast speedy runner to compliment him, so they will wait till round two or three to resolve that.

22- St. Louis Rams - DeAndre Hopkins - WR - Clemson - 

Like I mentioned earlier, if the Rams don't use the 16th pick on a receiver, that is where they are going here and they will pick whoever is still available out of Corderelle Patterson and DeAndre Hopkins. Most are saying that Patterson is the better receiver which is why I have him gone at this point, but the Rams will be ecstatic with DeAndre Hopkins as he is a monster receiver in terms of production as he put of huge numbers at Clemson and he is also a freakishly good athlete, so he could be the number one receiver that the Rams are looking for. If the Rams already took a receiver with the 16th pick, they will look hard at Eddie Lacy as they need to find a successor to Steven Jackson because Darrell Richardson and Isaiah Pead may not be the answer, but in the end I think they will wait till the second round to take a runningback and instead go for a defensive player like Matt Elam or Alec Ogletree.

23- Minnesota Vikings - Desmond Trufant - CB - Washington - 

The Vikings had a real bad receiver issue last year, both in having receivers to throw the ball to and in defending opposing receivers. Naturally when you have that issue, the most logical thing to do is to get rid of the only players on the team that can do either. Yes that was sarcastic and no I don't know what the Vikings are thinking. Both Antoine Winfield and Percy Harvin are gone to the Seahawks, which means the Vikings have even bigger problems now. They started to resolve the receiver issue by signing Greg Jennings and so with this first out of two picks they have I think they will begin to solve the cornerback issue as Desmond Trufant is a great value at this point because he can easily be off the board much sooner than this.

24- Indianapolis Colts - Tank Carradine - DE - Florida State -

Andrew Luck and a surprisingly good receiving corps led the inspired Colts team through a fairly easy schedule, fighting for their head coach who was battling serious health concerns. Easily one of the best stories of this past season as they pleasantly surprised everyone watching. Now in the second year of the Andrew Luck era they will be brought back down to earth and on a more difficult schedule they will be unpleasantly surprised if they don't start building a better team around Andrew Luck and company. The Colts can use help with offensive line, runningback, defensive line, linebacker, and defensive back. With this pick, I think the smartest thing for them to do is take a defensive lineman because that might be their biggest concern and there are tons of solid options for them. Tank Carradine has been soaring up draft boards recently and will be a great fit for the Colts.

25- Minnesota Vikings - Manti Te'o - ILB - Notre Dame - 

I mentioned just barely about the Vikings needing helping on both ends of the receiving spectrum and if they take a corner at 23, they could take a receiver at 25, but I don't think they will. I waited until here to make mention that they also have a big need at inside linebacker and Manti Te'o makes too much sense for the Vikings to pass up. Now for some reason I still hear a bunch of people whining about the online dating scandal at the end of the year and how no team will want to draft him because of that. Honestly I wish that everyone still going on about that would just shut up. I'm not the only one who thinks that. Manti Te'o does as well. So can we drop it? He is still is a very good linebacker and if we are going to throw out concerns, I think those concerns need to be focused on him disappearing in the championship game along with the rest of his team and his sub-par performance at the combine. But that is why he will be taken in the late first round instead of in the early first round. He is a great value for the Vikings at 25. If he slips into the second round, someone will be getting a huge steal.

26- Green Bay Packers - Justin Hunter - WR - Tennessee - 

The Packers haven't really been very active this offseason. Instead of signing some free agents, they have focused their effort on getting a deal done for Aaron Rodgers. In the meantime they have let Greg Jennings walk and have cut ties with Charles Woodson and you would think they would try to replace one of those two. I see them spending their pick one of the top receivers in order to replace Greg Jennings. Yes it is true that they have Jordy Nelson, James Jones, and Randall Cobb, but none of those guys are a true number one and so adding Justin Hunter to that mix would help out a lot. The Packers also didn't have much of an offensive line last year as they allowed the second most sacks and so they could spend this pick on a lineman if one of them falls to them, but at this point, they are better off waiting. They could also take a look at Eddie Lacy because they don't have much of a run game either, but I also think they wait on that one as well.

27- Houston Texans - Robert Woods - WR - USC - 

The Texans don't have a ton of needs this offseason. They do need to make a few adjustments in their linebacking corps and at this point in this mock, Alec Ogletree is available and might be really tempting for them, but a bigger concern at this point is the receivers. They are set with Andre Johnson at number one and Owen Daniels at tight end doing the bulk of the work catching the football, but they seriously need a number two receiver as a threat running along with those two. Kevin Walter wasn't that great and isn't even around anymore anyways. Also, Andre Johnson, while he still has several good years left in him, reminding us last season that he isn't going to last forever and so they also need a receiver that they can eventually groom into a top receiver and so they can really benefit in taking the best receiver available because there are several receivers in this draft that will make great late first round picks and the current best one available in this draft is USC's Robert Woods.

28- Denver Broncos - Datone Jones - DE - UCLA - 

Peyton Manning did a great job of resurrecting this team and turning them into one of the best teams in the AFC and that dominance will only continue this next season as they have been very active in free agency. However, they also remember this offseason as the offseason when the faxgate, as some are calling it, happened. Elvis Dumervil wanted to come back, but was tragically cut because they were late in getting his paperwork in. So the Ravens snatched him away before the Broncos could hardly figure something out. His huge production in getting to the quarterback will be missed in Denver, so they need to do their best to try and replace him and Detone Jones might do the trick as he was pretty productive in college at UCLA.

29- New England Patriots - Sylvester Williams - DT - North Carolina - 

Losing Wes Welker was a big hit for the Patriots and on top of that, them cutting Brandon Lloyd made it so getting receiver help is a top priority. They did sign Danny Amendola, but it is apparent that they are still looking for some help based on their attempted signing of Emmanuel Sanders, whom the Steelers matched the offer sheet. If Justin Hunter or Robert Woods is available at this point that will be their pick, but this mock has neither of them available, so they will have to look elsewhere. Their secondary was a mess last season and they could use an upgrade at corner so they could take Jamar Taylor or Johnthan Banks. They could also take one of the two safeties available in Matt Elam or Eric Reid. But they also do have a need at defensive tackle and at this point it would be hard for them to pass up Sylvester Williams if he is still available because he could very well be gone much earlier in the draft.

30- Atlanta Falcons - Tyler Eifert - TE - Notre Dame -

Tony Gonzalez was really close to retiring last season, but decided to come back, which will be good for the Falcons because he somehow managed to get over 90 catches with over 900 yards last season in his late thirties, which is incredible. However, he won't last forever and so if Tyler Eifert is still available at 30, it will be really hard for them to pass him up. The Falcons could use Gonzales and Eifert in a dangerous tight end duo this year like the Patriots have done when Gronkowski and Hernandez are both healthy and when Gonzales does finally retire, Eifert can take over as the number one tight end. If Eifert is gone, however, which is very likely as he has recently been projected as high as 6 (which is way too high in my opinion), then the Falcons need to go defense with this pick. Their high powered offense propelled them to the number one seed in the regular season on the league's easiest schedule, but their defense almost cost them more than one game and on a harder schedule next season they will be doomed if they don't fix their defense.

31- San Francisco 49ers - Matt Elam - S - Florida -

Rumor is that the 49ers want to move up in the draft and with a ton of picks and not a ton of needs, they definitely have the ammunition to do so. Rumor is that they are eyeing Kenny Vaccaro from Texas to help them with their safety problems. Trades in the NFL draft always happen but I hate predicting them because they are really too unpredictable, so I will make the Niners pick as if they don't move up, which if they don't they will have to settle with the second or third best safety. In this case Matt Elam is still available, even though he may be gone almost ten picks sooner. The Niners are in desperate need of a safety because they lost pro-bowl safety Dashon Goldson to the Buccaneers via free agency.

32- Baltimore Ravens - Alec Ogletree - ILB - Georgia - 

You wouldn't think a super bowl champion team would have so much work to do in the offseason, but the Ravens definitely do as it seems they lost half their team to either retirement or free agency. They have done good in building up a new team in free agency, although they have been somewhat limited financially because they rewarded Joe Flacco with a huge contract, so they need to score big time in this draft. I think finding a receiver will be a need as they essentially donated Anquan Boldin to the 49ers. However, they also have a huge need at inside linebacker because Ray Lewis retired and Dannell Ellerbe was lost via free agency. Newly signed Rolando McClain has already gotten himself into trouble, so that signing may have been useless. Moral of the story is if Alec Ogletree falls into their laps they may have a hard time passing him up. He should go a lot earlier than 32, but there is a chance he falls because some teams will be worried about his character issues. If he does get taken earlier, they may take a chance with Keenan Allen or if Justin Hunter or Robert Woods falls they make take advantage of that.