Anirudh's 2013 NFL Mock Draft

The 2013 NFL Draft will begin April 25th in New York City. Today Anirudh is releasing his mock draft. Alex will be releasing his next week. 

There are still things that could change, obviously as trades and free agents will still be made, but this is my best guess as of now.

1. Kansas City Chiefs – Luke Jockel – OT – Texas A&M – The Chiefs need to shore up their offensive line, and Jockel could be the blindside protector for newly acquired Alex Smith for the rest of Smith’s career (or whatever young QB takes over for Smith)
2. Jacksonville Jaguars – Dion Jordan – DE – Oregon – Jacksonville finished dead last in the league with only 20 sacks last year. Jordan will give them a huge boost to their pass rush.
3. Oakland Raiders – Sharrif Floyd – DT – Florida – The Raiders need a lot of help, the defensive line could definitely use an influx of talent from arguably the best player in the draft.
4. Philadelphia Eagles – Eric Fisher – OT – Central Michigan – The Eagles need a building block on the offensive line. Fisher will give them a pillar to build around a 2^nd day quarterback.
5. Detroit Lions – Dee Milliner – CB – Alabama – Detroit has long had trouble in the defensive secondary. Milliner is by far the best secondary player in this draft.
6. Cleveland Browns – Ezekiel Ansah – DE – BYU – Cleveland is another team that could use talent pretty much anywhere. Ansah is an athletic freak who could greatly help the Browns defense. Though offense seems to always be a need with the Browns, there’s nobody really worth taking this early.
7. Arizona Cardinals – Lane Johnson – OT – Oklahoma – Arizona made a splash trading for Raiders QB Carson Palmer, Johnson will give them a top tier tackle to help protect Palmer. Lots of offensive lineman are in play here, but Johnson would fill the greatest need.
8. Buffalo Bills – Geno Smith – QB – West Virginia – You rarely wait this long for the first quarterback, and even Smith isn’t good enough to be drafted this high, but the Bills are desperate enough they would reach for him.
9. New York Jets – Star Lotulelei – DT – Utah – The Jets defensive line just lost their best defensive tackle and had little talent there to start with. Lotulelei was widely considered the best player in the draft 6 weeks ago, a minor heart condition (that has since checked out) caused him to drop, the Jets get a steal at 9.
10. Tennessee Titans – Chance Warmack – G – Alabama – The Titans need lots of help on the offensive line to help open holes for Chris Johnson. This gives them one of the two best guards in the draft.
11. San Diego Chargers – Jonathan Cooper – G – North Carolina – Similar to the Titans, the Chargers need lots of help for their QB Phillip Rivers. Cooper is arguably better than Warmack and gives the Chargers a very versatile player along the offensive line.
12. Miami Dolphins – Xavier Rhodes – CB – FSU- The Dolphins need a lot of secondary help. They traded their best corner away last offseason, and never replaced him. It doesn’t help that their other corners are not good either.
13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Desmond Trufant – CB – Washington – The Bucs need corner back help. They are widely rumored to be close to acquiring Darrel Revis, but could use another quality corner anyways.
14. Carolina Panthers – Sheldon Richardson – DT – Missouri – The Panthers are desperate for defensive line help. They need a hole plugger to prevent opposing runners from setting career highs.
15. New Orleans Saints – Jarvis Jones – DE – Georgia – The Saints were tied for 25^th in the league with only 30 sacks last season. Jones has top 10 potential, but there was some concerns with injuries which have pushed Jones down.
16. St Louis Rams – Tavon Austin – WR – West Virginia – Austin will be an immediate replacement for the recently departed Danny Amendola and will give Sam Bradford a new target.
17. Pittsburgh Steelers – Barkevious Mingo – DE – LSU – The Steelers need youth on the defensive side of the ball, pretty much everywhere. Mingo is an athletic pass rusher, who will help fill the gap left when James Harrison was cut.
18. Dallas Cowboys – Kenny Vaccaro – S – Texas – The Cowboys need help in the defensive secondary. Vaccaro is the best safety in this draft and will give the Cowboys a ball hawk in the defensive backfield.
19. New York Giants – Bjoern Warner – DE – FSU – The Giants love drafting athletic pass rushers early. Warner will help fill the void left by the departure of Osi Umenyiora.
20. Chicago Bears – DJ Fluker – G – Alabama – Fluker’s versatility will be a huge selling point and the Bears will be thrilled for him to drop to them. Offensive line has long been a problem for the Bears, and they finally decided to spend money this offseason, Fluker will be a continuation of that.
21. Cincinnati Bengals – Arthur Brown – LB – Kansas State – The Bengals would love a hard hitting linebacker. Brown will be able to come and immediately start and contribute.
22. St Louis Rams – Sylvester Williams – DT – North Carolina – Williams will give the Rams one of the best young defensive lines in the league. Pairing him with Chris Long, Michael Brockers and former college teammate Robert Quinn will give them 4 first rounders on the defensive line.
23. Minnesota Vikings – Cordarrelle Patterson – WR – Tennessee – The Vikings need as much help on the offense as they can get. Young QB Christian Ponder would do well with Patterson and his ability to stretch the field. Adrian Peterson would also be helped by having opposing defenses have to focus on another talent.
24. Indianapolis Colts – Datone Jones – DE – UCLA – The Colts rocketed to prominence this offseason on the backs of a high powered offense. Andrew Luck was able to overcome a weak defense, and Jones gives them a versatile talent on the defensive line.
25. Minnesota Vikings – Kawann Short – DT – Purdue – The Vikings need to get younger on the defensive line. Short is a massive hole stuffer who will help the rest of the Vikings.
26. Green Bay Packers – Tyler Eifert – TE – Notre Dame – Eifert will give Aaron Rogers another target in the middle of the field. Jermichael Finley is atrocious and needs to be replaced at TE.
27. Houston Texans – DeAndre Hopkins – WR – Clemson – A major target across from Andre Johnson is desperately needed. The Texans are just a few pieces away from being contenders and Hopkins will help.
28. Denver Broncos – Tank Carradine – DE – FSU – The Broncos lost Elvis Dumerville due to antiquated technology, so they’re going to replace him with a Tank.
29. New England Patriots – Keenan Allen – WR – California – The Patriots have gone years without a true athletic wide out, Allen will give Tom Brady a young receiver to play with.
30. Atlanta Falcons – Alec Ogletree – LB – Georgia – Ogletree will give the Falcons a desperately needed linebacker, frankly the Falcons desperately need any defensive help.
31. San Francisco 49ers - Jonathan Cyprien – S – Florida International – Atlanta needs as much help in the defensive secondary as they can find. Cyprien has impressed a lot of people with his offseason workouts.
32. Baltimore Ravens – Marqus Hunt – DE – SMU – Hunt will give the Ravens some talent and youth along the defensive line in the wake of many injuries, retirements and free agent defection.