Kiper: Hot Air And Big Hair!

Every year.  Every single year NFL fans look forward to the draft.  And every single year we’re subjected to Mel Kiper, Jr., his ego, his ideas, his draft big board and, of course, his hair.

Do we watch because of the hair to see if it will magically begin to move?  Will it prove to be a man-made life form?  We must because I’ve heard some ridiculous things out of Kiper.  Here are a couple of his gems from over the years.

“Trev Alberts will be a Hall of Famer.”

“Ki-jana Carter could be the next Bo Jackson.”

Either way, we know we’ll watch because we love football.  We love our teams.  We love the draft.  And, for some reason, America seems to like (love?) Mel Kiper, Jr.

So, we’re jumping on the bandwagon.  Here is Kiper’s four-round mock draft.  I’ve taken the liberty to highlight the Panthers’ picks.  Read at your own peril.

Projected First Round
1 Miami Dolphins -Jake Long, OT Michigan
2 St. Louis Rams Chris Long, DE Virginia
3 Atlanta Falcons Glenn Dorsey, DT LSU
4 Oakland Raiders *Darren McFadden, RB Arkansas
5 Kansas City Chiefs *Branden Albert, OT/G Virginia
6 New York Jets *Vernon Gholston, DE Ohio St.
7 New England Patriots (from SF) Keith Rivers, LB USC
8 Baltimore Ravens Matt Ryan, QB Boston College
9 Cincinnati Bengals Sedrick Ellis, DT USC
10 New Orleans Saints *Aqib Talib, CB Kansas
11 Buffalo Bills Leodis McKelvin, CB Troy
12 Denver Broncos Jeff Otah, OT Pittsburgh
13 Carolina Panthers *Ryan Clady, OT Boise St.
14 Chicago Bears Chris Williams, OT Vanderbilt
15 Detroit Lions *Rashard Mendenhall, RB Illinois
16 Arizona Cardinals Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, CB Troy
17 Minnesota Vikings *Derrick Harvey, DE Florida
18 Houston Texans *Jonathan Stewart, RB Oregon
19 Philadelphia Eagles *Devin Thomas, WR  Michigan St.
20 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Mike Jenkins, CB South Florida
21 Washington Redskins *Phillip Merling, DE Clemson
22 Dallas Cowboys (from CLE) *Felix Jones, RB Arkansas
23 Pittsburgh Steelers *Malcolm Kelly, WR Oklahoma
24 Tennessee Titans *James Hardy, WR Indiana
25 Seattle Seahawks Dustin Keller, TE Purdue
26 Jacksonville Jaguars Kentwan Balmer, DT North Carolina
27 San Diego Chargers Gosder Cherilus, OT Boston College
28 Dallas Cowboys *DeSean Jackson, WR California
29 San Francisco 49ers (from IND) *Jerod Mayo, LB Tennessee
30 Green Bay Packers *Brandon Flowers, CB Virginia Tech
New England Patriots Forfeited pick
31 New York Giants Tyrell Johnson, S Arkansas St.
Projected Second Round
32 Miami Dolphins Lawrence Jackson, DE USC
33 St. Louis Rams Dan Connor, LB Penn St.
34 Atlanta Falcons (from OAK) Joe Flacco, QB Delaware
35 Kansas City Chiefs Chad Henne, QB Michigan
36 New York Jets Limas Sweed, WR Texas
37 Atlanta Falcons *Justin King, CB Penn St.
38 Baltimore Ravens Charles Godfrey, CB Iowa
39 San Francisco 49ers Marcus Harrison, DT Arkansas
40 New Orleans Saints Fred Davis, TE USC
41 Buffalo Bills Jordy Nelson, WR Kansas St.
42 Denver Broncos *Kenny Phillips, S Miami
43 Carolina Panthers Chris Johnson, RB East Carolina
44 Chicago Bears Brian Brohm, QB Louisville
45 Detroit Lions *Calais Campbell, DE Miami
46 Cincinnati Bengals *Mario Manningham, WR Michigan
47 Minnesota Vikings John Carlson, TE Notre Dame
48 Atlanta Falcons (from HOU) Duane Brown, OT Virginia Tech
49 Philadelphia Eagles Tracy Porter, CB Indiana
50 Arizona Cardinals *Ray Rice, RB Rutgers
51 Washington Redskins *Chilo Rachal, G USC
52 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Early Doucet, WR LSU
53 Pittsburgh Steelers Trevor Laws, DL Notre Dame
54 Tennessee Titans *Jamaal Charles, RB Texas
55 Seattle Seahawks Dre Moore, DT Maryland
56 Green Bay Packers (from CLE) Martellus Bennett, TE Texas A&M
57 Miami Dolphins (from SD) *Orlando Scandrick, CB Boise St.
58 Jacksonville Jaguars Sam Baker, OT USC
59 Indianapolis Colts Quentin Groves, DE Auburn
60 Green Bay Packers Jeremy Zuttah, OL Rutgers
61 Dallas Cowboys Antoine Cason, CB Arizona
62 New England Patriots Patrick Lee, CB Auburn
63 New York Giants Jordon Dizon, LB Colorado
Projected Third Round
64 Miami Dolphins Brad Cottam, TE Tennessee
65 St. Louis Rams Andre Caldwell, WR Florida
66 Kansas City Chiefs Antwaun Molden, CB Eastern Kentucky
67 Carolina Panthers (from NYJ) Jason Jones, DL Eastern Michigan
68 Atlanta Falcons DaJuan Morgan, S NC St.
69 New England Patriots (from OAK) Oniel Cousins, OL UTEP
70 Chicago Bears (from SF) Kevin Smith, RB Central Florida
71 Jacksonville Jaguars (from BAL) Josh Barrett, S Arizona St.
72 Buffalo Bills Kellen Davis, TE Michigan St.
73 Minnesota Vikings (from DEN) Reggie Smith, DB Oklahoma
74 Carolina Panthers Pat Sims, DT Auburn
75 San Francisco 49ers (from CHI) LaVelle Hawkins, WR California
76 Detroit Lions Curtis Lofton, LB Oklahoma
77 Cincinnati Bengals Tavares Gordon, LB Miami
78 New Orleans Saints Mike Pollak, C Arizona St.
79 Houston Texans Trae Williams, CB South Florida
80 Philadelphia Eagles Carl Nicks, OT Nebraska
81 Arizona Cardinals Donnie Avery, WR Houston
82 Minnesota Vikings Eddie Royal, WR Virginia Tech
83 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Jacob Hester, FB LSU
84 Washington Redskins Tyvon Branch, CB Connecticut
85 Tennessee Titans Darrell Robertson, DE Georgia Tech
86 Seattle Seahawks Earl Bennett, WR Vanderbilt
87 Detroit Lions (from CLE) Terrell Thomas, CB USC
88 Pittsburgh Steelers Anthony Collins, OT Kansas
89 Jacksonville Jaguars Cliff Avril, DE Purdue
90 Chicago Bears (from SD) Jerome Simpson, WR Coastal Carolina
91 Green Bay Packers Jeremy Thompson, DE Wake Forest
92 Dallas Cowboys Craig Steltz, S LSU
93 Indianapolis Colts Gary Barnidge, TE Louisville
94 New England Patriots Craig Stevens, TE California
95 New York Giants Dexter Jackson, WR Appalachian St.
96 Washington Redskins (comp. pick) Josh Morgan, WR Virginia Tech
97 Cincinnati Bengals (comp. pick) Chris Ellis, DE Virginia Tech
98 Atlanta Falcons (comp. pick) Jonathan Goff, LB Vanderbilt
99 Baltimore Ravens (comp. pick) Adrian Arrington, WR Michigan
Projected Fourth Round
100 Miami Dolphins Bruce Davis, LB UCLA
101 St. Louis Rams Cody Wallace, C Texas A&M
102 New York Jets Chevis Jackson, CB LSU
103 Atlanta Falcons Martin Rucker, TE Missouri
104 Oakland Raiders Brandon Keith, OT Northern Iowa
105 Kansas City Chiefs Roy Schuening, G Oregon St.
106 Baltimore Ravens Beau Bell, LB UNLV
107 San Francisco 49ers Mike McGlynn, OT Pittsburgh
108 Denver Broncos Will Franklin, WR Missouri
109 Carolina Panthers Jermichael Finley, TE Texas
110 Chicago Bears Stanford Keglar, LB Purdue
111 Detroit Lions John Greco, OT Toledo
112 Cincinnati Bengals Shawn Murphy, G Utah St.
113 New York Jets (from NO) Philip Wheeler, LB Georgia Tech
114 Buffalo Bills Xavier Adibi, LB Virginia Tech
115 Philadelphia Eagles Frank Okam, DT Texas
116 Arizona Cardinals Shawn Crable, LB Michigan
117 Minnesota Vikings Franklin Dunbar, OT Middle Tennessee
118 Houston Texans Corey Lynch, S Appalachian St.
119 Denver Broncos (from WSH) Andre Fluellen, DT Florida St.
120 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Erin Henderson, LB Maryland
121 Seattle Seahawks Geno Hayes, LB Florida St.
122 Cleveland Browns Jack Williams, CB Kent St.
123 Pittsburgh Steelers Bryan Smith, LB McNeese St.
124 Tennessee Titans Wesley Woodyard, LB Kentucky
125 Jacksonville Jaguars Harry Douglas, WR Louisville
126 Dallas Cowboys Andre’ Woodson, QB Kentucky
127 Indianapolis Colts Matt Forte, RB Tulane
128 Green Bay Packers John David Booty, QB USC
129 New England Patriots Keenan Burton, WR Kentucky
130 New York Giants Letroy Guion, DT Florida St.
131 Philadelphia Eagles (comp. pick) Haruki Nakamura, S Cincinnati
132 Buffalo Bills (comp. pick) Curtis Johnson, DE Clark
133 Baltimore Ravens (comp. pick) Steve Slaton, RB West Virginia
134 Tennessee Titans (comp. pick) Jacob Tamme, TE Kentucky
135 Green Bay Packers (comp. pick) Arman Shields, WR Richmond