With Super Bowl XLV behind us and the possibility of an NFL lockout looming, the one thing every NFL fan base has to look forward to today is the 2011 NFL Draft. I've written the first post-Super Bowl 2011 NFL Mock Draft for SBNation.com this morning, in case anyone is interested in taking a peek.
Nick Fairley and Patrick Peterson were off the board with the first two picks in this projection, so with the third overall pick, I had the Buffalo Bills taking Alabama defensive lineman Marcell Dareus.
That pick may fly in the face of the "elite players" theme of the day, particularly with high-upside players such as A.J. Green and, dare I say it, Cam Newton still on the board. Here's the thing: Buddy Nix would've passed on C.J. Spiller last year had a good lineman been available to him; in Dareus, he gets a great prospect and simultaneously works to fix his team's biggest weakness, its run defense.
By the way, Nolan Nawrocki has also released a post-Super Bowl mock draft for Pro Football Weekly, and in it, he has the Bills taking Peterson - with Fairley still on the board, mind you.