So much about who the Falcons get at #8 in the NFL Draft will depend on the seven teams ahead of the Birds. We look at what the mocks see from #1-8.
Here is a sampling of the opinions from various mock drafts, which do not represent the actual views of the Falcons' personnel staff (click the links provided for each site's mock draft) If the draft expert had a different player selected by the Falcons in the last installment (April 6), it is noted after the current pick:
John Murphy, Yahoo! Sports: 1. Oakland - LSU QB JaMarcus Russell; 2. Detroit - Wisconsin T Joe Thomas; 3. Cleveland - Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn; 4. Tampa Bay - Georgia Tech WR Calvin Johnson; 5. Arizona - Clemson DE Gaines Adams; 6. Washington - Arkansas DE Jammal Anderson; 7. Minnesota - Oklahoma RB Adrian Peterson; 8. FALCONS - LSU S LaRon Landry (no change).
Rob Rang, The Sports Xchange: 1. Oakland - LSU QB JaMarcus Russell; 2. Detroit - Clemson DE Gaines Adams; 3. Cleveland - Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn; 4. Tampa Bay - Georgia Tech WR Calvin Johnson; 5. Arizona - Wisconsin T Joe Thomas; 6. Washington - Louisville DT Amobi Okoye; 7. Minnesota - LSU S LaRon Landry; 8. FALCONS - Michigan DT Alan Branch (was Penn State T Levi Brown on April 6 and Landry on March 26).
Mel Kiper, Jr., ESPN: 1. Oakland - LSU QB JaMarcus Russell; 2. Detroit - Clemson DE Gaines Adams; 3. Cleveland - Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn; 4. Tampa Bay - Georgia Tech WR Calvin Johnson; 5. Arizona - Wisconsin T Joe Thomas; 6. Washington - LSU S LaRon Landry; 7. Minnesota - Oklahoma RB Adrian Peterson; 8. FALCONS - Michigan CB Leon Hall (was Anderson on April 6).
Todd McShay, Scouts, Inc. (ESPN Insider): 1. Oakland - LSU QB JaMarcus Russell; 2. Detroit - Clemson DE Gaines Adams; 3. Cleveland - Oklahoma RB Adrian Peterson; 4. Tampa Bay - Georgia Tech WR Calvin Johnson; 5. Arizona - Wisconsin T Joe Thomas; 6. Washington - Louisville DT Amobi Okoye; 7. Minnesota - Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn; 8. FALCONS - LSU S LaRonLandry (was Okoye on April 6 and Landry on March 26).
Pat Kirwan, NFL.com: 1. Oakland - LSU QB JaMarcus Russell; 2. Detroit - Wisconsin T Joe Thomas; 3. Cleveland - Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn; 4. Tampa Bay - Georgia Tech WR Calvin Johnson; 5. Arizona - Clemson DE Gaines Adams; 6. Washington - Louisville DT Amobi Okoye; 7. Minnesota - LSU S LaRon Landry; 8. FALCONS - Penn State T Levi Brown (was Landry on April 6 and Okoye on March 26).
Vic Carucci, NFL.com: 1. Oakland - LSU QB JaMarcus Russell; 2. Detroit - Wisconsin T Joe Thomas; 3. Cleveland - Oklahoma RB Adrian Peterson; 4. Tampa Bay - Georgia Tech WR Calvin Johnson; 5. Arizona - Clemson DE Gaines Adams; 6. Washington - Michigan DE Alan Branch; 7. Minnesota - Michigan CB Leon Hall; 8. FALCONS - LSU S LaRon Landry (no change).
Jamie Dukes, NFL Network: 1. Oakland - LSU QB JaMarcus Russell; 2. Detroit - Wisconsin T Joe Thomas; 3. Cleveland - Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn; 4. Tampa Bay - Georgia Tech WR Calvin Johnson; 5. Arizona - Clemson DE Gaines Adams; 6. Washington - Michigan DE Alan Branch; 7. Minnesota - Michigan CB Leon Hall; 8. FALCONS - Penn State T Levi Brown (no change).
Vinnie Iyer, Sporting News: 1. Oakland - LSU QB JaMarcus Russell; 2. Detroit - Clemson DE Gaines Adams; 3. Cleveland - Oklahoma RB Adrian Peterson; 4. Tampa Bay - Georgia Tech WR Calvin Johnson; 5. Arizona - Wisconsin T Joe Thomas; 6. Washington - Arkansas DE Jammal Anderson; 7. Minnesota - Michigan CB Leon Hall; 8. FALCONS - LSU S LaRon Landry (no change).
Pete Prisco, CBSSportsline.com: 1. Oakland - LSU QB JaMarcus Russell; 2. Detroit - Wisconsin T Joe Thomas; 3. Cleveland - Oklahoma RB Adrian Peterson; 4. Tampa Bay - Georgia Tech WR Calvin Johnson; 5. Arizona - Michigan DE Alan Branch; 6. Washington - Clemson DE Gaines Adams; 7. Minnesota - Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn; 8. FALCONS - Arkansas DE Jammal Anderson (no change).
Clark Judge, CBSSportsline.com: 1. Oakland - LSU QB JaMarcus Russell; 2. Detroit - Georgia Tech WR Calvin Johnson; 3. Cleveland - Oklahoma RB Adrian Peterson; 4. Tampa Bay - Wisconsin T Joe Thomas; 5. Arizona - Clemson DE Gaines Adams; 6. Washington - Michigan DE Alan Branch; 7. Minnesota - Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn; 8. FALCONS - Arkansas DE Jammal Anderson (no change).
Don Banks, CNNSI.com: 1. Oakland - LSU QB JaMarcus Russell; 2. Detroit - Wisconsin T Joe Thomas; 3. Cleveland - Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn; 4. Tampa Bay - Georgia Tech WR Calvin Johnson; 5. Arizona - Clemson DE Gaines Adams; 6. Washington - Louisville DT Amobi Okoye; 7. Minnesota - LSU S LaRon Landry; 8. FALCONS - Penn State T Levi Brown (was Anderson on April 6).
Scott Wright, NFLDraftCountdown.com: 1. Oakland - LSU QB JaMarcus Russell; 2. Detroit - Clemson DE Gaines Adams; 3. Cleveland - LSU QB JaMarcus Russell; 4. Tampa Bay - Louisville DT Amobi Okoye; 5. Arizona - Wisconsin T Joe Thomas; 6. Washington - Nebraska DE Adam Carriker; 7. Minnesota - Oklahoma RB Adrian Peterson; 8. FALCONS - LSU S LaRon Landry (was Anderson on April 6).
Derek Harper, NFLDraftScout.com: 1. Oakland - LSU QB JaMarcus Russell; 2. Detroit - Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn; 3. Cleveland - Georgia Tech WR Calvin Johnson; 4. Tampa Bay - Clemson DE Gaines Adams; 5. Arizona - Wisconsin T Joe Thomas; 6. Washington - Louisville DE Amobi Okoye; 7. Minnesota - Michigan CB Leon Hall; 8. FALCONS - LSU S LaRon Landry (was Peterson on April 6).
ProFootballTalk.com: . Oakland - Georgia Tech WR Calvin Johnson; 2. Arizona (projects a trade with Detroit)- Wisconsin T Joe Thomas; 3. Cleveland - Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn; 4. Tampa Bay - LSU QB JaMarcus Russell; 5. Detroit (projects a trade with Arizona) - Arkansas DE Jammal Anderson; 6. Washington - Clemson DE Gaines Adams; 7. Minnesota - Oklahoma RB Adrian Peterson; 8. FALCONS - LSU S LaRon Landry (no change; was Peterson on March 26).
