FWIW Mike Mayock is currently ranking Perry, Chandler Jones, & Curry in that order as DEs and he has the OLBs ranked in the order as follows: Ingram, McClellin, Mercilus, & Branch.

It looks like Fleener is getting some late love on the nets and now a second projection of us taking OT Martin from Stanford.

Also read from Gosselin in Dallas that this draft has "six blue-chippers and 22 who should get a first-round grade", meaning that when it comes our time to pick we are looking at high-end second-round talent. He sees a large group from 23-50s who could all be late 1st, early 2nds in no particular order. Judging from how widely the rankings are for DTs and WRs in this draft, there really seems to be less consensus than normal.

Of course, now that you have 32 teams spreading disinformation and 1001 "draft experts" all trying to be the smartest guy in the room, you're going to get a lot of confusion. I'm always amazed how often the draft winds up looking largely like it should have with a few boons and busts factored in.

One guy whose name will be interesting to see/not see in this draft is LB Vontaze Burfict. There's no question he has second-day talent but he has a UDFA brain and as poorly disciplined as anyone can remember. Does a bad-ass team like the Ravens or Raiders take a chance on him anyway and see if they can straighten him out or will he fall totally out of the draft?

I'm betting we won't be seeing his name. Supposedly some teams had taken him off their boards even before his horrible combine and pro day performances. According to reports he just didn't play well -- he missed tackles, was often out of position, couldn't get off blocks, and drew a ton of stupid penalties. I could see the Ravens gambling on a talented guy with character issues (like CB Jimmy Smith last year), especially at ILB where they Ray Lewis to mentor him, but it sounds like even if Burfict had his head screwed on straight he'd still be a marginal prospect. And is the Raiders' new regime going to follow the old Al Davis failed gameplan? That will be interesting to see.

Mayock just did his 1st round mock on nfl network. He has us taking Fleener,

And I can only hope he's right. He said with the play action we run, and AJ always double teamed, expect Fleener to make a big impact on our offense.

I only hope he lasts to 26.

I saw his Draft show last night and a lot of his picks were out of "left-field", but who's to say he's not got it right ? We'll find out soon.
I don't think Kubiak will draft this TE or any TE with a first round pick, just like I won't believe they would draft an interior OLineman in the first-round until I see it happen. It's not their history as their current roster has 4th rounders at TE and no body taken higher than the late rounds in the interior OLine except for Caldwell in the third a couple years ago.
Assuming one of the rush-LBs they covet is not on the Board at 26, it seems the chances of an OT in the first keep getting better if there's any truth at all to the rumors coming out of Reliant that they will wait until the second round to get a WR.

McClain sees their draft board as such:

OLB Whitney Mercilus, Illinois
OT Jonathan Martin, Stanford
OL Cordy Glenn, Georgia
another OL like Zeitler or Konz

If they go OLB in the first, they'll got OL in the second and WR in the third.
If they go OL in the first, they'll go OLB in the second and WR in the third.

In later rounds they will take a second OL, TE, ILB and possibly PK.

Keep in mind two things. 1) McClain has sources inside the Texans so he does have some good understanding of their thoughts. 2) Most teams use that newspaper source to spread pre-draft misinformation (sometimes with the reporter's knowledge, sometimes without) so other teams won't know who they are after.

Keep in mind also that we didn't see Duane Brown or J.J. Watt coming and I don't think Kareem Jackson's name was that hot on draft boards either. Seems to me more people were talking about us drafting Clay Matthews instead of Brian Cushing too although it turns out both choices would have been good ones. So be prepared for a name we haven't talked much about.

Assuming Hill is gone when our turn to pick, I would be happy to see Fleener's name called.

I'm hoping for that special teams monster, Trades Down, from the University of Extra Picks.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHAH AHAHAHA.

That fat redneck knows next to nothing about what is actually happening with the Texans. Whenever something happens he is invariably scooped by one of the TV guys, usually Berman. You're right about feeding him misinformation. The team does that all the time because he's too stupid to know when they're doing it. There have been numerous instances where he adamantly stated something that soon thereafter turned out to be utterly false.

Seems he hit this one on the head.

If you think that means he has some inside line on what's going on within the franchise then go right ahead and do so.

Every team says "this is the guy we wanted all along" but I think that is really true here. Most mocks had Mercilus going before our pick and McClain quoted Phillips that the Texans were trying to trade up to get him and were glad they didn't have to. When guys like Irvin and Weeden were taken before us, it became clear to me that some better players would slide down.

Now maybe they'll use that pick they were willing to use to trade up in the first to trade up in the second to get the OL they want, although if they stay put they could probably still get Massie or Sanders. I'd be happier if they could get Glenn or Martin.

WR in the third and maybe again in the fourth.

Day before yesterday, McClain was unequivacally stating the Texans would drfaft an OL with their first pick. The team simply uses him to spread their misinformation before the Draft.

I have to agree with you about the two HOFs. I was a little disappointed with the football one. But they are in the middle of a major expansion, hopefully it will include more films clips of the members. Also some interactive exhibits would be nice.

The baseball HOF, was huge. They did an excellent job of telling stories. Plus they are a much older sport with a HOF that was open near to the time that the NFL started.

As for the weather, I had to bug out of Cooperstown early due to a snow storm that was chasing me across NY state. It was simply freezing when I was at Niagara Falls.

Glad to be home

I checked out Niagara Falls on my trip up there too. Gorgeous May day with lots of flowers in bloom. I bought a sweatshirt that said "Canada Eh!" Took a friend's camcorder and got to zoom in on the Falls and record while others were pumping quarters into these standing binoculars.

I made the Baseball HOF a few years back. For some reason, it felt kinda like a "circus" musuem..... All the old art and nostalgia..... Joe DiMaggio's locker... I remember it was weird looking at an old rotten plum of a baseball from the 1870's....