Patriots Land Upshaw & Reiff in Fansided Mock Draft

All of us NFL Editor’s wanted to see what would happen if we got to be the GM, so we got together and had our own Fansided Mock Draft. Below are the results of our genius, courtesy of

.

1 Indianapolis Colts – Andrew Luck QB Stanford
2 Washington Redskins – Robert Griffin III QB Baylor
3 Minnesota Vikings – Matt Kalil OT USC
4 Cleveland Browns – Trent Richardson RB Alabama
5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Morris Claiborne CB LSU
6 St. Louis Rams Justin – Blackmon WR Oklahoma State
7 Jacksonville Jaguars – Quinton Coples DE North Carolina
8 Miami Dolphins – Ryan Tannehill QB Texas A&M
9 Carolina Panthers – Fletcher Cox DT Mississippi State
10 Buffalo Bills – Luke Kuechly MLB Boston College
11 Kansas City Chiefs – David DeCastro OG Stanford
12 Seattle Seahawks – Melvin Ingram OLB/DE South Carolina
13 Arizona Cardinals – Michael Floyd WR Notre Dame
14 Dallas Cowboys – Dontari Poe DT Memphis
15 Philadelphia Eagles – Michael Brockers DT LSU
16 New York Jets – Andre Branch DE Clemson
17 Cincinnati Bengals – Mark Barron S Alabama
18 San Diego Chargers – Dont’a Hightower ILB Alabama
19 Chicago Bears – Stephon Gilmore CB South Carolina
20 Tennessee Titans – Nick Perry DE USC
21 Cincinnati Bengals – Dre Kirkpatrick CB Alabama
22 Cleveland Browns – Kendall Wright WR Baylor
23 Detroit Lions – Peter Konz C Wisconsin
24 Pittsburgh Steelers – Cordy Glenn OG Georgia
25 Denver Broncos – Devon Still DT Penn State
26 Houston Texans – Whitney Mercilus DE Illinois
27 New England Patriots – Courtney Upshaw OLB Alabama
28 Green Bay Packers – Shea McClellin OLB Boise State
29 Baltimore Ravens – Jonathan Martin OT Stanford
30 San Francisco 49ers – Kevin Zeitler OG Wisconsin
31 New England Patriots – Riley Reiff OT Iowa
32 New York Giants – Coby Fleener TE Stanford

Without a DOUBT, the New England Patriots were the BIGGEST winners in the first round. Regardless of who ranks them, both Courtney Upshaw at 27 and ESPECIALLY Riley Reiff at 31, would be significant signings.

With the retirement of

, New England is looking to increase their depth at OT. Lets face it, the strength of this team really falls on the shoulders of the men protecting

. This would be the exact scenario fans should hope for, where a player from the middle of the first round falls toward the end where they could be drafted at maximum value.

I gave considerable thought to Janoris Jenkins as well. In the end, I felt pass rush and pass protection have to win out. (And I was REALLY hoping to see him fall into the second round where we could snatch him up at #48)

I’m not discounting that the Patriots decide to use draft picks as a bartering tool with the Rams to have a shot at Steven Jackson, but they’re not going to break the bank (or weaken the team) to do it.
Be sure to tune into to ESPN tonight at 8PM EST and see what the NFL’s Model Franchise decides to do!