2011 National Football League mock draft - Part 4
This is the fourth part of a series of articles discussing the top ten draft picks in April’s 2011 NFL Draft. We finish up here with Von Miller from Texas A&M University, having discussed him, Cam Newton from Auburn University and A.J. Green from
the University of Georgia in the third part.
This is exactly the type of play-making line-backer the Cardinals need to make their team better overall. In Miller’s freshman season, he recorded 22 tackles, two sacks, four tackles for a loss of yards and a forced fumble, despite playing in only a few
games. In his sophomore season, he participated in all 12 games and was made outside line-backer in the 4-3 defensive scheme. He had 44 tackles, a team-leading 3.5 sacks, 7.5 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and two recovered fumbles.
In his junior season, he had the most sacks in the entire nation with 17 and also ranked fourth in the country in tackles for a loss with 21. If he entered the 2010 NFL Draft, he could have easily been taken by the second round, but decided to stay at Texas
A&M for his senior season. This was a wise choice because he is now expected to be taken in the first round of the draft by many.
Since this series of articles is long enough already, let’s quickly go through the last five players who will be taken in the first ten picks of the NFL Draft.
The number six pick goes to the Cleveland Browns in the form of defensive tackle Nick Fairley from Auburn University. Even though it is an upset to see Fairley drafted so late, Browns head coach Mike Holmgren knows that he needs to build up the defence of
his team even though he is an offensive guy. He recorded 63 tackles and seven sacks in seven games at Copiah-Lincoln Community College before transferring to Auburn. Fairley started in two games during the 2009 season and recorded 28 tackles. In his second
year at Auburn, he won the Lombardi award. He played with Newton during his stint at Auburn and recorded five tackles, three of which were for a loss, a forced fumble and a sack, resulting in him being named the Defensive Player of the Game.
Jim Harbaugh of the San Francisco 49ers will likely be taking quarter-back Blaine Gabbert from the University of Missouri for their seventh overall pick and try to fit him into their West Coast offensive style. Gabbert started as a third string quarter-back
in his freshman year and completed only five of his 13 passing attempts for 43 yards, as he also ran six times for 22 yards.
Gabbert played much better in the 2009 season. He completed 58.9 percent of his passes, going 162 for 445 for 3,593 yards and 24 touch-downs, earning a quarter-back rating of 140.45. He also rushed 103 times for 204 yards and three touch-downs. Gabbert was,
however, sacked nine times. This is still pretty impressive. In his final season at Auburn, Gabbert completed 63.4 percent of his passes, going 301 of 475 for 3,186 yards and 16 touch-downs.
To see who else comes up on the top ten draft picks, take a look at the next article!
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