2011 National Football League mock draft - Part 2
This is the second part of a series of articles discussing the top ten draft picks in April’s 2011 NFL Draft. We finish up here with Patrick Peterson from Louisiana State University, having discussed him and Da’Quan Bowers from Clemson University
in the first part.
He joined Louisiana State as a true freshman, meaning that he actually started in games as a freshman instead of redshirting for a season, and played in 13 games during his first season. One of the most adorned players to ever join Louisiana State, Peterson
finished the season with 46 tackles, three pass break-ups, a forced fumble, one quarter-back hurry and one interception in the final four games of the season he started, including the Chick-fil-A Bowl, which Louisiana State won.
In his second year, he emerged as one of the top defenders in the Southeastern Conference. He finished the season with 52 tackles, eight interceptions returned for 37 yards, a touch-down and a blocked field goal returned for a touch-down. In his senior year,
he had 33 tackles, 17 interceptions returned for 306 yards, 25 punt returns for 418 yards and 25 kick returns for 688 yards and two touch-downs.
Peterson has football in his blood, being related to Pittsburgh Steelers’ corner-back Bryant McFadden, Oakland Raiders’ corner-back Walter McFadden, Philadelphia Eagles’ wide-receiver Sinorice Moss and Washington Redskins’ wide-receiver Santana Moss, all
of whom are his maternal cousins.
Now we have our first quarter-back of the Draft. Cam Newton from Auburn University comes as the third overall pick on my list. Even though many will rant and make faces about a quarter-back not being picked first, this is a very risky position to draft early
on. If Bowers or Peterson do not play well at their position, there are other positions on the defensive line that they can play at. However, if a quarter-back is unable to play well at his position, he might as well warm up a seat on the bench because a quarter-back
can only be a quarter-back.
So getting back to Newton, he will likely be picked by the Buffalo Bills for their third overall pick. Head coach Chan Gailey will chose this Heisman Trophy winner. He is a big player and, even though he still has a lot to learn, he has a tremendous amount
of athletic ability and arm strength. He can throw the ball down-field, run the football and command his offence. He is a questionable choice for any team, but is also a guy that will be picked within the first five picks of the first round.
Newton has had a great season at Auburn. Even though the players above were candidates for the Heisman Trophy, Newton is the one who won it. In his junior season, he became the third player in National Collegiate Athletic Association history to accumulate
20 passing touch-downs as well as 20 rushing touch-downs. In 2010, he was named as the number one quarter-back in the country and was the only five star quarter-back in the list.
To see who else comes up on the top ten draft picks, take a look at the next article!
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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