Where the Hawks Will Land

I am going to try to do a little pre-draft forecasting here and predict where I think this year’s eligible Hawkeye draftees will end up and what teams are likely looking hard at them. I think that a minimum of 6 Hawks will be drafted. Bryan Bulaga, Amari Spievey, A.J. Edds, Tony Moeaki, Kyle Calloway, and Pat Angerer are pretty sure to be drafted. I think it is possible for a team to draft Dace Richardson but that it is more likely for him to go the free agent route. Lastly I think that Rafael Eubanks will land in a camp after the draft. I think it is possible for Andy Keumpal, Dan Doering and Trey Stross to get try-outs and land Free- agent contracts.

With the adjustment to the schedule of the draft, turning it into two night and third day event, I believe that the value of certain picks will have changed and that there could be a lot of trading of picks. I think that the league would prefer less trading during the first night to shorten the night, but they did shorten the time each pick would take by 5 minutes. I think that the value of the late picks may be higher than ever as teams realize that there will be a huge break to re-evaluate their boards and if they think they have a steal they may be more willing to trade up to grab a player late in the first round, I think this also applies to the end of the third round and the beginning of the second. However with the New Day Two teams will have time make the trades off camera.

Teams who could be the center of trading picks- New England, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Kansas City, and Tampa Bay. Teams looking to trade down or get more picks- Miami (down), Jacksonville (down), Carolina, Chicago, and Washington. Washington and Buffalo may be looking to unload players who no longer fit their defensive scheme along with a stray back-up QB.

Bulaga- First Round; fits any scheme, can plug and play either tackle, Worst Case Pittsburgh @ 18, Teams: Kansas City 5, Seattle 6 and 14, Buffalo 9, San Francisco 13 and 17

Spud’s Spin: Buffalo @ 9

Spievey- First – Second; The least amount of corners taken in the first three rounds of the last 5 drafts is 10. Usually that number is chosen by the end of the second. Spievey is the most physical corner in this class, I haven’t watched tape of all of the corners but I have watched a lot. He can play any scheme. He is the most physical in this class. He is an immediate Nickel. He can start for a lot of teams. Worst Case Houston @51, Teams: Minnesota 30, Indianapolis 31, Tampa Bay 35 and 42,San Diego 40, Jacksonville, Tennessee, and Atlanta if they acquire a second round pick

Spud’s Spin: Minnesota @ 30

A.J. Edds- Second to Third; He can probably fit into a 3-4 but he can plug into a 4-3 immediately at either outside spot. Was just a cut below Greenway in my estimation as an athlete. Would be a perfect Sam for a Cover 2 team. Worst Case St. Louis @ 99, Teams: Indianapolis 63 and 94, New Orleans 64 and 95, Philadelphia 70 and 87, Jacksonville 74, New York Giants 76, Carolina 78, Atlanta 83 and 98, Minnesota 93, St. Louis 99

Spud’s Spin: Indianapolis @ 63

Tony Moeaki- Second to Third; His only real knock is health, very versatile, can play any scheme, can line up as the inline TE or as the H, could be viewed as a luxury pick by a successful team. Worst Case San Diego @ 91, Teams: New York Giants 46 and 76, Kansas City 50 and 68, New England 53*, Baltimore 57, Cleveland 71 and 85 and 92, Miami 73, Chicago 75, Carolina 78, Atlanta 83, Cincinnati 84, Green Bay 86, San Diego 91 *I think if New England drafts him they will trade down to do it. They don’t currently possess a late second round pick but they have 3 in the middle of the second round

Spud’s Spin: Kansas City @ 68

Kyle Calloway- Third to Fourth; I think he can play either guard slot or right tackle, big and strong enough to play in multiple schemes (not just zone), Worst Case Miami @ 145, Teams: any really but here are the teams with this positional need picking in these rounds- Miami, Cleveland, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Houston, Indianapolis, Denver, Chicago, Green Bay, St. Louis, San Francisco

Spud’s Spin: Houston @ 81

Pat Angerer- Fourth to Sixth; MLBs tend to fall on draft day. I think Angerer could play either Mike or Will in any 4-3 scheme but his size will be held against him. It doesn’t matter how well he actually played too many teams have Height/ Weight standards that they won’t adjust. It could benefit him as he could fall to a good team/ scheme fit. The most MLBs taken over the last 5 drafts (first three rounds) was 6 in 2007. Last year 2 were selected. Worst Case Tampa Bay @ 172, Teams: Houston, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, Tampa Bay, St. Louis, Seattle

Spud’s Spin: Atlanta @ 149

Dace Richardson- 7th to UFA, Dace’s best case is landing with a team with multiple 7th round picks** who hasn’t addressed the interior O-line. He has been eliminated from most draft lists I trust which doesn’t really mean anything, but some of those guys actually talk to scouts and agents. He may be better off signing with a team of his own choosing and not being picked.

** the teams: New England 5; Tampa Bay 4; Detroit 3; Indianapolis 3; Miami 3

Rafael Eubanks- 7th to UFA, I think it is even less likely that Rafael will be drafted. However I am almost certain he will have a chance to make a team. His best chance of making a roster might be with San Diego or Kansas City.

Trey Stross- UFA I would love to be wrong and hear his name get called. I really think he has a chance to get a few phone calls and do the try out thing similar to Andy Brodell last season. I really thought Stross improved greatly over the last two seasons. I think his best chance to make a roster would be with the teams: Baltimore, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Washington, and Chicago.

Dan Doering and Andy Keumpal- again I think they could have a chance to go the tryout route. Their best bet would be to try teams like St. Louis, Detroit, Green Bay, and Kansas City. It never hurts to try teams with Ferentz connections so Baltimore, San Diego, and New England shouldn’t be ruled out either.

Good luck to all of them.