For all of you that have been scouring the Internet for the last few months, looking for any morsel of NFL Draft information you can get your paws on just to get a fix until the Draft actually comes, the wait is almost over. It's finally NFL Draft week, and the festivities get underway on Thursday. In preparation, SB Nation just released the latest edition of their 2011 NFL Mock Draft, and they have the Falcons taking Florida guard Mike Pouncey in the first round. Here is their rationale.
(Iowa defensive end Adrian) Clayborn would be a serious consideration here, but Pouncey is a plug-and-play starter that could be the team's future at the center position, as well. He's a safer pick.
Pouncey is likely one of the safest picks in all of the first round. We pretty much have a preview of what he might look like in his brother, a pro-bowler for the Steelers last year. To be fair, Mike isn't quite as good as Maurkice, but he should be an above average starter in the interior line from the get-go. If he is on the board when the Falcons pick, he would be a good selection, even if he doesn't fill one of their biggest needs.
Meanwhile, Peter King of Sports Illustrated thinks the Falcons might go with a local edge-rusher in Justin Houston in the first round. Just goes to show that nobody really knows what's going to happen until the pick is announced (or traded) on Thursday, so stay tuned.
The first round of the 2011 NFL Draft starts at 8 p.m. (ET) on Thursday, April 28, and SB Nation has everything you need to prepare: NFL mock drafts, draft projections, scouting reports, the full NFL draft schedule and more. Check it out at SB Nation's NFL Draft page and our NFL Draft blog, Mocking the Draft.