Lou Pickney's 2024 NFL Mock Draft

National Football League
Draft King Mailbag

Reader feedback is always welcomed here at DraftKing.com. Send your thoughts to me at LouPickney@gmail.com.

From: Bob Traeger
To: LouPickney@gmail.com
Date: Apr 5, 2006 5:36 PM
Subject: Mock Draft

I heard LenDale White has been was a huge disappointment at the USC pro day and is slipping fast. Surprised to see you still had him at #17 to the Vikings. I think he might fall all the way to #32 and the Steelers end up with a replacement for the Bus. I agree my beloved Giants will go LB in the first round, but I hope they see the light and take Carpenter. I fell in love with this kid when The Ohio State University played Texas. I think he has all the tools, I was not so impressed with Ryans, he looks solid, I just love the way Carpenter plays, and his pedigree is also outstanding.

Lou: I've been waiting to see White break out and show something, or hear a buzz on him, since he was so hyped coming out of the Rose Bowl... But his lackluster performance at the combine, followed up by that disasterous pro day at USC, has put a major dent into his pro chances. At this rate, he'll end up being turned into a fullback.

Unless he gets it together incredibly fast and has a private workout, which seems less and less like a possibility now, it seems like White will fall out of the first round outright, let along past Minnesota at #17. At this point it appears more likely that the Vikings would take DeAngelo Williams or area favorite Laurence Maroney if they go RB at #17.

Bobby Carpenter is a great player, no doubt. It just so happens that this draft is loaded at OLB, and guys are separated by only the slightest of margins (i.e. Carpenter having trouble shedding blocks, or not being a jaw-rattling tackler.) You can make the case that Carpenter is a better prospect that DeMeco Ryans, as Ryans also has difficulty getting away from blockers, but Carpenter is considered by many to be a good coverage LB, whereas that's not the case for Ryans. With Ryans you get many intangables, leadership and high football intelligence, that make him attractive in ways that don't jump off the paper at you if you go simply by the numbers. I think it's a win-win either way for the Giants, and they will just have to determine which guy would be the better fit in their system (if they are set on OLB and it comes down to Carpenter vs. Ryans for the spot.) There are some guys out there who are down on Ryans, but I think he's every bit worthy of a first round pick. But with so many great OLBs in this draft, he might slip to round two based of what teams need and the multitude of guys at his position.

(Note: After you sent this e-mail, I redid the draft and now have Carpenter off the board before the Giants pick, with a chain reaction of LenDale White falling, DeAngelo Williams moving up to the Vikings' spot, and the Patriots taking Carpenter at #21.)

From: Brian J Wallin
To: LouPickney@gmail.com
Date: Apr 6, 2006 12:50 PM
Subject: Packers ??'s from Brian Wallin

I love your sight, and although I agree that Mario Williams would be an awesome speciman and great player, I do disagree that Kampan would move over to DT. I believe that if they were to get Williams, that KGB would become more of a 2nd and 3rd down pass rush player again, and that Kampman would only move to DT on passing downs. On 1st downs I think their line would be Kampman, Pickett, Jenkins, Williams. As much as I would like this scenario I would much rather see AJ Hawk in the Green and Gold next year.

I also see the Marc Boerigter signing as very key, with Driver, Ferguson, Rod Gardner, and Boerigter plus some of the young recievers they have, ( I know you don;t look at trades) but do you see a scenario in which Denver would be willing to give up one of their first round picks for Javon Walker?? That second first round pick could be huge for the Pack.

Lou: Maybe they move Kampman, maybe they don't in that situation. With New Orleans signing Akin Ayodele, right now I have Mario Williams in the #2 slot. Granted, the Saints are primed to trade that pick from all indications, but for now I see A.J. Hawk falling to Green Bay. And that's that with that.

I don't project trades on the mock draft page itself, but I am willing to consider them here in the mailbag. I wish I could remember where I read this so I could give proper credit to the author, but a writer for a major sports publication noted that there was a major change in the NFL that began when the Tennessee Titans traded WR Justin McCareins to the New York Jets for the 41st pick in the 2004 draft in March 2004. I think it actually began right before that, when San Francisco traded Terrell Owens to the Philadelphia Eagles for the 54th pick in that same 2004 draft, but any way you slice it, that timeframe is when a new era began in the NFL: the era of WR trading.

Anymore, veteran WRs are seen in a plug-and-play type capacity, with plenty of success stories to back it up. It used to seem that veteran WRs who changed teams saw a major decline, i.e. Peerless Price's fall from elite to sub-standard when he went from Buffalo to Atlanta. But as the NFL constantly evolves, teams are finding that this is not necessarily the case, and with WR egos making their welcomes sometimes last shorter than their NFL ability, you end up with WRs switching teams more and more, especially via trade. This is a long way to build up to the answer, but yes I could see Denver potentially trading the #22 pick for Walker (but not the #15 pick that they had to trade up to get.) With this draft being so WR barren, and with Walker balking at his contract with Green Bay for a second straight season, it seems plausable, though I know some Broncos fans who wouldn't be too excited about giving up a first round pick for a WR coming off of a torn ACL.in his right knee, but Walker is only 27, so he could potentially give the Broncos an immediate offensive weapon at a time when the Broncos look poised to make another legit run at the Super Bowl.

From: Matt Brennan
To: LouPickney@gmail.com
Date: Apr 6, 2006 10:05 PM
Subject: 49ers 1st round pick

What makes you think that the niners would draft a TE in the 1st round of the draft. They need a LB or a DB considering all the defensive players they lost during the current offseason. I think they will draft AJ hawk if hes still available or take Michael huff. What is your reason for even thinkong they would pick a tight end?

Lou: Vernon Davis is a great prospect, higher touted than any WRs in this draft, and he represents a chance for the 49ers to make a major upgrade to their offense. To be sure, DE, LB or DB would all be reasonable positions to go for, and Michael Huff is likely going to be the player that San Francisco would ponder over the most at that spot besides Davis. But Davis, at nearly 6'4", 240 lbs., runs an amazing 4.38 40 time, and he is really something special at the TE position. You want to help Alex Smith develop as a QB? Bring Davis on board. And I think, ultimately, that will be the deciding factor that will make the 49ers go with him.

Draft King NFL Mock Draft

NFL Draft Prospect Profiles

Draft King is owned and operated by Lou Pickney. © 2003-2024, all rights reserved.
Unless otherwise noted, the views expressed here are those of Lou Pickney alone and do not necessarily reflect those of any media company.