Team Needs Mock Draft (Part 1)

It’s a little early to be predicting the first round of the NFL Draft, yet people love to speculate what teams will do (Mel Kiper 9.0 by March). Every year Gridiron Experts refuses to post a Mock Draft too early, so instead we’re posting a 3 part team needs mock draft, giving an educated guess to what teams might be thinking.

Not every position that is lacking on an NFL squad has to be filled with a first round pick. There are still a ton of free agents that are about to hit the open market, and second year players who can step in now that they have a year under them; the first few weeks of March should completely change the draft, so here is a look at the NFL Draft based on how teams are sitting at the moment.

1) St. Louis Rams Team Needs: DT | QB | OT | CB | WR

The Rams really can’t screw this up. There are so many needs on this team that no matter whom they are able to grab in free agency, a blue chip player will be added to this team in the first round. Everyone is preaching about Ndamukong Suh, but the Rams have so much already invested on the defensive line that trading down a couple spots could really pay off with adding more talent quickly. A trade that could drop the Rams down just 5-6 spots is worth its weight in gold.

Mike Vick would be a great fit for this club since the Rams play in a dome, but the Eagles “no trade until the pre-season” smoke screen means the price is not cheap. Right now we’d say unload DE L. Little to the Eagles for Vick, and try to steal a couple of Philly’s late round picks, then grab Suh at pick one. Like we said, the end result is hard to mess up with the top pick in the draft, but teams do it all the time. The good news is there is so much offensive and defensive talent on the board this year that we’d be amazed if the Rams couldn’t improve on their 2 win season.

2) Detroit Lions Team Needs: DE | LB | CB …Anything On Defense

The Lions added a couple good defensive pieces last year with SS Louis Delmas and DT Sammie Lee Hill, but they need more. It’s unlikely that any of these bottom feeder teams are going to lure away an elite unrestricted free agent, so the Detroit Lions best bet is to simply take the best defensive player available. Another top key to this offseason for the Lions would be re-signing Larry Foote, who didn’t play as bad as his surrounding cast last year (70 tackles and 2 sacks). Re-signing Foote and maybe CB Williams James are the Lions top priorities in the next couple weeks.

3) Tampa Bay Buccaneers Team Needs: DT | DE |LB | OL

The Buccaneers had the NFL’s worst rushing defense last year, allowing an average of 158.2 yards per game on the ground. Fans can say what they want about needing offense, but they’re in a division with Carolina’s J. Stewart and D. Williams, Falcons Michael Turner  and the Saints offensive attack. Pressure on the QB and stopping the run are big needs this offseason. DT Gerald McCoy from Oklahoma would be a great fit for the Bucs, but if Tampa can somehow add depth through free agency they would benefit from adding some kind of a pass rusher or one of the