Boston College in the 2011 NFL Draft: Final Mock Update (& Predictions)
By Joe Micik
The day is nearly upon us. Tomorrow night at Radio City Music Hall, on the corner of West 50th and 6th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, the 2011 NFL Draft will begin. The fact that there is no more lockout (for now, anyway) will probably be the big story, but for Boston College Eagles fans, our night will center on when our main man, OT Anthony Castonzo, will come off the board.
All indications are that he will be drafted on Thursday night’s one and only round of this ridiculous new three-day format. As for the other guys, we know that Mark Herzlich is looking at late Friday or early Saturday to get his phone call, and as for the others, well, who knows.
One last scan of the most prominent mock drafts online reveals the following projections:
Anthony Castonzo, OT
WalterFootball.com: Round 1, Pick 19 – New York Giants
Chad Reuter, CBS Sports: Round 1, Pick 19 – New York Giants
Rob Rang, CBS Sports: Round 1, Pick 9 – Dallas Cowboys
MyNFLDraft.com: Round 1, Pick 17 – New England Patriots
DraftTek: Round 1, Pick 27 – Atlanta Falcons
DraftSite: Round 1, Pick 19 – New York Giants
Draft Countdown: Round 1, Pick 13 — Detroit Lions
NFL Draft Dog: Round 1, Pick 22 – Indianapolis Colts
SportingNews: Round 1, Pick 9 – Dallas Cowboys
Mark Herzlich, OLB
WalterFootball.com: Round 7, Pick 30 (233) – Green Bay Packers
DraftTek: Round 3, Pick 25 (89) – San Diego Chargers
Draftsite: Round 4, Pick 34 (131) – Green Bay Packers
SportingNews: Round 3, Pick 28 (92) – New England Patriots
Thomas Claiborne, OG
SportingNews: Round 7, Pick 25 (228) – St. Louis Rams
Alex Albright, DE
Opposing Views: Round 7, Pick 3 (206) – Buffalo Bills
Rich Lapham, OT
Not drafted
Deleon Gause, CB
Not drafted
When it comes to predictions, I won’t get too specific, mainly because I don’t want to pin myself down and end up invariably looking like an idiot later. This, however, is how I think it will go:
Anthony Castonzo ends up either with the Patriots or Giants. I sincerely hope he doesn’t end up on the Cowboys, because I would very much not want to have to root against him in the future. My gut feeling is that Belichick will take him and that the Giants will take Mike Pouncey from Florida if he is on the board.
Once again, we have a wide range in the mocks for where Herzlich will go, but right now I am thinking 4th round, perhaps 5th. As for what team will take him, your guess is as good as mine, though I would think that the Patriots and Packers are in the running.
The two next-most likely to be drafted are Claiborne and Albright. If either one goes, it will be in the 7th round. I am currently not expecting this to happen, however.
Sadly, I also predict that neither Lapham nor Gause will be drafted.
Tune in tomorrow night and we’ll start to see who’s right.
—————————————–
Draft update: You can get more Herzlich coverage at the NFL Draft this weekend courtesy of Gatorade. They will be launching an NFL Draft stream on their Facebook page, which, as I have been told, “will be providing exclusive access to the NFL Draft this week as well as following our Everything to Prove rookies, including Mark Herzlich, on the final leg of their journey to the pros. We’ll be providing real-time updates from New York including bonus videos, news, and live updates from athletes and experts.”
Be sure to stop by the site as they shadow Herzlich at the draft.