Cutler would become the Lions franchise quarterback by starting from day one. If I’m Detroit I automatically fly to Denver and talk to the Broncos about possible deals involving 25 year old Cutler. The key to the trade will be on the Broncos side.

Do the Broncos have enough salary cap space to make this deal? That’s the key. Any time a trade is in the works for the overall #1 pick in the NFL Draft money is the main issue. Detroit does have to do something though, and so does Denver.

Another possible landing spot for Cutler would include Cleveland where the Browns could offer up either Derek Anderson or Brady Quinn.

Each day (or tw0 depending on votes & holidays/special events) the mock draft will continue. I will give the fans about 10 choices of which player their favorite team should pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. Please not only vote but also please post why you voted for the player you did at the bottom in our comments section.

Even if it isn’t your team on the clock please feel free to vote anyways. We want the voice of the fan to ring loud here at NFLMocks and there’s no better way to do it than through a mock draft run by fans. Every vote counts and every opinion is important. Remember the more votes we get, the more our mock draft resembles a full majority of NFL fans out there.

The mock draft will start on Tuesday with the Detroit Lions on the clock with the #1 pick. Get ready Lions fans because your up first and you’ve got a big choice to make!

Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.

Matthew Stafford, the strong armed QB from Georgia, appears to be the frontrunner (if there is one). If his statement on the Dan Patrick show didn’t win over Lions fans then nothing will. This article has the whole story but here’s the quote:

“I think in the end that’s a heck of an honor, and that’s something I’d definitely love to be able to associate that with my name and maybe turn that franchise around,” he said.

“I’d love to be a part of something like that. I’m a competitive guy and love a challenge, and that would definitely be a fun situation for me.”

To sum up his comments Stafford said that he’d love the challenge of turning around a franchise that just went 0-16. Most people would see that as a bad thing, you know, going to a franchise that just went winless. Not Stafford. It’s just a chance to see what he’s really got. I love it personally. I broke down Stafford’s NFL readiness a few days ago.

Remember Kevin Ferguson here on Fansided covers the Lions year around on his SideLion Report site.  I will have more on the Lions as well as the other 31 NFL teams soon, along with a new NFL Mock Draft.

Stay tuned.

“Hey, We’re Only 20 Some Guys Away From a Superbowl!” – Kevin Ferguson, Lead Blogger for Side Lion Report.

I was asked e to write a few paragraphs to address the Lions  needs in regards to the NFL Draft. I then laughed because its much, much easier to address what my team doesn’t need. A wide receiver. We have Calvin Johnson and he is a stud, a clear cut superstar, but that’s about it.

At runningback we have Kevin Smith. At moments, he looked brilliant. But when you’re 0-16, teams don’t respect you so should I pull out all the stats on “who was on defense” when he broke free an bought us some chunk yardage? Thats the deal with bad teams; Your vision is distorted because you can’t see the bigger picture. You can’t tell what’s going on when other teams do not view you as legitimate competition. Coaching wise or Defense and Offense were handled terribly, worst in the league and as the books will tell you, worst in history.

So the needs of the Detroit Lions boils down to the entire defensive core and the entire offensive core aside from Johnson and Smith. I will say keep Dan Orlovsky as I feel we can use a passer that doesn’t turn the ball over. He won’t win you the game, but he won’t lose it for you either and at this point it’s as good as we can do. We have to address the offensive line as it is terrible and our Center Raiola is undersized, we don’t have a tight end worth mentioning and there are going to be no returns at wide receiver aside from Calvin. Defensively, we can’t shore up our nose tackles easily as Marinelli had like 10 guys on roster and its proven to be a cap disaster. Our DE’s are terrible, we have no line backers and our cornerbacks suck while our safeties are non existent. They can all be replaced and the stats support this. Had they given up like 10 more points they would have managed to be the worst defense in the history of the sport of football. So they are the second worst defense in the history of the sport; We can live without all of them.

EVERY SINGLE POSITION ON THIS 0-16 LIONS TEAM IS UP FOR GRABS.

I have been cheering for a Detroit win all season, but now it’s becoming harder and harder to do so.

Let’s check the rest of the Lions schedule and see what will happen the next few weeks:

@ Indianapolis (9-4)
Vs. New Orleans (7-6)
@ Green Bay (5-8)

The Colts are red hot. it’s not like that the Lions will get a victory there against Peyton Manning and the wildcard chasing Colts.

Drew Brees and the Saints will likely still be chasing a wildcard spot in week 16, and the Saints are a completely different team at home. Expect the Saints to take this one as well.

And finally there’s Green Bay. No matter what happens neither the Packers or Lions are going to the playoffs. This is the one chance the Lions have to escape being the answer to history questions for decades to come in the future. I still think the Packers find a way to hold off the hungry Lions meaning……..

…..the Lions will go 0-16!

What a great accomplishment! This should go down on equal terms with what the Patriots did last season. Well it should go down on opposite terms anyways.

Congratulations Detroit and in all seriousness I really hope the Lions win one of their last three.

I know this is actually the second year (maybe the third, I can’t remember) that Madden hasn’t done a Thanksgiving game, but this is the one holiday of the year that I actually liked listening to him call games. Anyways, onto the point of this article.

Every year SI usually names it’s top turkeys of the year, although I have not seen this year’s version of the list. In the NFL it’s not hard to choose 5 turkeys, or basically 5 failures of laughingstocks of the year so far. Here’s my top 5:

1. Detroit Lions: You can’t get any lower than the Lions are right now. If they lose their next five games then they are the second team ever to complete the “defeated” season. I would say, well there are a few guys that have played well…..but there aren’t. I’m sorry Detroit fans but it’s pitiful that the Lions are this bad.

2. NFL Protecting Quarterbacks: I’m sick of it. I love my favorite quarterback as much as the next fan but I am tired of the NFL coming up with new ways to protect them. Justin Tuck’s hit on Brooks Bollinger a few weeks ago is what finally made me decide something has to change. Roger Goodell has been a decent NFL commissioner but he’s went overboard in this regard.

3. Al Davis: He’s run his football team into the dirt. The Raiders are just terrible and he keeps firing coaches, thinking that is going to fix all the problems in one swoop. It’s not Al. It’s time for you to quit trying in Oakland.

4. Donovan McNabb: I respect McNabb and I believe he is underrated. Still, shouldn’t he know the overtime rules? And as a guy that took his team to a Super Bowl a few years back he shouldn’t be turning the ball over 7 times in 2 weeks. He will still be the starter against Arizona on Thursday night, although he may not have many starts in Philadelphia left.

5. Chad Johnson: His name change has confused us all, but that’s besides the point. Johnson has done absolutely nothing on the field and was just suspsended for the Bengals last game.

Have a happy thanksgiving everyone!

Remember this isn’t based off of the current NFL standings for the top of the draft, it’s power rankings of the NFL’s worst teams. Teams will not be ranked by record.

The Lions just keep proving they want to go 0-16 don’t they? And on Thanksgiving we get treated to a possible meeting between the 11-0 Titans and the 0-11 Lions.

Man I can’t wait to eat turkey and watch that game…….NOT. Please let Detroit get some talent before then.

A few more thoughts before we get on to the rankings:

1) St. Louis, please field a NFL team the next time you want to step on the field.
2) Kansas City is improving faster than any team below. The Chiefs are competitive week in and week out.
3) Oakland’s offense is still missing in action.

On to the rankings:

#		Team	Record	Comments
1		Detroit Lions	0-9	I guess nobody could expect Daunte Culpepper to come in off the street and save the Lions season. It was a nice thought though. Lions fans start thinking about who you want to take #1 overall.
2		St. Louis Rams	2-7	Wait, how are they above Cincy and KC (or below depending on how you look at it) even though they have a better record? Maybe because they gave up 40 points in the first half and lost by 44 to the Jets, who aren’t exactly a powerhouse. Wow.
3		Kansas City Chiefs	1-8	For the second straight week the Chiefs blew a game that they really deserved to win. The good news is that Tyler Thigpen is developing nicely, at least for a 1-8 team.
4		Cincinnati Bengals	1-8	The Bengals actually won their last game, and their off this week so they at least keep their winning ways alive for another week. They are really too talented offensively to be scoring like they are, and it’s the main reason they are 1-8.
5		Oakland Raiders	2-7	Once again they weren’t really in the game this week. Ever since beating the Jets they have fallen to Atlanta in a blowout and the Pantehrs. Their offense has been absolutely terrible and now here comes red hot Miami.

On the Cusp: Seattle Seahawks (2-7), San Francisco 49ers (2-6; they play on MNF),

So now it’s your turn Detroit. Tell us who you want your Lions to pick with their top 5 pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. I’ve read that a lot of people aren’t happy with my choice of Ray Mauluaga to the Lions, so tell me who Detroit should take.

Should it be Oher or Andre Smith if they are available? Another receiver like Michael Crabtree (let’s hope they don’t go receiver again)? And for some reason the Lions just brought in Dante Culpepper to QB instead of letting Drew Stanton and Dan Orlovsky get experience, so maybe a QB pick.

You tell me. Post comments below and I will post the best responses right here so that everyone can read them.

NOTE: For those wondering this is different than our NFL Fan Mock Draft. We will bring that back soon, but for now I want to give fans the entire player universe to pick from and not just a few positions.

I also broke another rule of mine when I put the defending Super Bowl champions at #7. Usually I put the defending world champs #1 in my initial power rankings but after reviewing the NFL’s crazy offseason I decided that Michael Strahan’s retirement, as well as everyone else getting better will probably be too much for New York to repeat.

And since I just said that, they probably will repeat.

Anyways, I’ve now composed my second edition of power rankings. Check it out:

WANT TO ASK DANIEL A QUESTION? SEND IT INTO HIS ALL FOOTBALL MAILBAG

#	+/-		Team	Comment
1	–		Indianapolis Colts	Peyton Manning is the NFL’s best player, and I know this because I’ve even ranked him such. I just feel like Marvin Harrison will be back, and paired with Reggie Wayne they will return as one of the NFL’s top receiving duos. My early pick to win the Super Bowl.
2	–		New England Patriots	Alright trivia time. Is it worse to have a player who threw a record breaking 50 touchdowns as the NFL’s second best QB or having a team that went 18-1 and lost in the Super Bowl as the second best team in the league?
3	–		Dallas Cowboys	Terry Glenn’s contract situation is starting to cause a very uncomfortable stir in Big D. Just remember Cowboys fans, Dallas went 13-3 without Glenn in the regular season last year.
4	–		San Diego Chargers	In case anyone noticed the Chargers were the only NFL team with three players in my top 20 rankings.
5	+2		New York Giants	Michael Strahan’s retirement hurts the defensive line somewhat but as the veteran said in his final speech, it’s time for the other guys to show what they can do.
6	–		Jacksonville Jaguars	The Jaguars are just absolutely loaded with talent. It will be fun to see if Fred Taylor can have another great season at his age. I believe watching Maurice Jones Drew run the ball has refueled some of his fire.
7	-2		Pittsburgh Steelers	This is a team that has won the Super Bowl and knows how to handle adversity. Remember last season when Cleveland proved to be some unexpected competition in the AFC North? Pittsburgh won the division anyways.
8	+4		Green Bay Packers	The Packers could be anywhere from 8-14 on this list in my opinion but how much will Brett Favre’s retirement really hurt them? I have no idea but does anyone really know?
9	–		Philadelphia Eagles	Philadelphia has been very consistent for the last five years or so. Last season was a disappointment but they have too much talent to miss the playoffs again. Expect the Eagles to be as strong as ever in 2008.
10	+3		Cleveland Browns	The Browns have cracked my top ten. Wow. If you had told me this after the draft last year I would’ve told you it would be a few years. Let’s see if they can keep it up and become a consistent top NFL franchise.
11	-1		Seattle Seahawks	Does anyone else feel that by losing Shaun Alexander to free agency the Seahawks actually improved? It means they will rely less on Alexander, and Julius Jones should be at least a little of an upgrade.
12	+2		Tennessee Titans	I love their defense, but Vince Young has really got to start developing into more of a passer. He still relies on his legs entirely too much in a league where one hit can put you out for a year in the snap of your fingers.
13	-5		New Orleans Saints	I admit that New Orleans was probably ranked too high in my initial power rankings, but I love their offense and I see a big bounce back year coming for the Saints this year.
14	-3		Washington Redskins	All four NFC East teams are ranked in my top 14. Jason Campbell continues to develop and Clinton Portis is among the NFL’s best 10 running backs. The defense has a lot of talent. This team is going to help make the NFC East as competitve as ever.
15	+4		Minnesota Vikings	Adrian Peterson has already become one of the best running backs in the league. The offense needs to continue to grow under Tavaris Jackson.
16	–		Arizona Cardinals	Arizona is in the top half of my power rankings, and that means I probably just lost a lot of readers. Every year a team comes from nowhere to win a NFL dvision. The Cardinals are slowly building something in Arizona and I am picking them to win the NFC West.
17	+1		Houston Texans	Want to know how tough the AFC South is? Their four teams are all ranked in the top 17. Houston is very tough, and I expect them to challenge for a playoff spot again.
18	-3		Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Before Tampa Bay can really compete for a playoff spot they have to figure out who their QB is. That along with Carnell Williams returning healthy from his ACL injury would make the Buccaneers an instant NFC contender.
19	-2		Denver Broncos	Everyone in the AFC West, including Denver, is trying to find a way to catch up to San Diego in the divsion. Jay Cutler has a lot of work to do to prove he can be successful in this league.
20	–		Cincinnati Bengals	Carson Pamer is ranked #8 in Pete Prisco’s Top 50 list (Sportsline.com). He’s a great QB but #8? I love Palmer but I don’t think he’s quite that good. If Cincy can find any defense then they will be playing for a chance to win the AFC North late in the season.
21	–		Chicago Bears	It’s a make or break year for the Bears.  The Rex Grossman/Kyle Orton experiement will either finally fail completely causing Chicago to draft a QB in 2009, or the Bears will work themselves back into the mix in the NFC.
22	+1		Buffalo Bills	I really think Buffalo is an up and coming team in the AFC but the conference is loaded with talent already, meaning there isn’t much room for a young team like the Bills. In a few years we might be talking about how great a duo Trent Edwards and Marshawn Lynch are. Both looked great in year one (for rookies) to me.
23	+1		Carolina Panthers	Carolina is better than people think they are. Remember this same offense, led by Jake Delhomme and Steve Smith, played for the Super Bowl just a few years back. There’s no reason to believe they can’t find that magic again. It’s unlikely but not impossible.
24	-2		Detroit Lions	Jon Kitna will wear out his welcome in the Motor City quickly if he continues to come up short of his 10 win guarantee.
25	+5		Kansas City Chiefs	I think I had Kansas City a little too low in my initial rankings. I’m no Brodie Croyle fan, but Larry Johnson is still one a premiere running back. KC should contend for a playoff spot.
26	-1		St. Louis Rams	Last year was just embarrasing for a team I thought could be very successful in 2007. Instead I watched them start poorly and struggle the entire year. I don’t expect that to happen again, and neither do Rams fans.
27	–		Baltimore Ravens	I’ve read reports that Troy Smith is looking nice in Baltimore right now, and will probably start on opening day. If he plays well then the Ravens might be in a position like Cleveland is now with Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn. Joe Flacco or Troy Smith? I’m sure this is a problem the Ravens hope develops.
28	-2		San Francisco 49ers	This is probably Alex Smith’s last chance to impress anyone on the West Coast. He is very inconsistent and is really hurting the reputation of future NFL players like Tim Tebow, since both ran Urban Meyer’s college system.
29	–		New York Jets	The Jets had a very disappointing year after making the playoffs in 2006. Eric Mangini impressed during his first season but another bad year might mean a very hot season in the Big Apple.
30	-2		Oakland Raiders	I like the direction that Oakland is going. If both JaMarcus Russell and Darren McFadden develop into stars then the Raiders will be back in hurry. It’s just a big IF.
31	–		Miami Dolphins	Early reports make it look like Josh McCown will probably be starting for Miami on opening day. If the Jason Taylor situation works out then the Dolphins D-line will be as strong as ever.
32	–		Atlanta Falcons	Matt Ryan is going to need lots of time to develop in Atlanta but before they can truly be competitve they need to surround their young QB with many weapons.

1) All we need is your vote below! Just vote and check back the next day for the next team. The plan is to change the team drafting every day about noon (CT)!

2) Tell your friends! We want lots of votes so that this is a true fan mock draft.

3) AND…..I had to make a few changes to your draft order. First you can’t have two NFC teams 31 and 32 (you guys selected the Saints and Cowboys), so I took the highest AFC team (Colts) and put them #31. I also realized that your 12 playoff teams were 9 NFC teams and 3 AFC teams, so I had to correct this also. I removed the bottom three NFC teams in the final 12 spots and replaced them with the top 3 AFC teams not in the final 12 spots (which are suppose to be represented by playoff teams).

4) Remember the Panthers have already traded their pick to the Philadelphia Eagles.

5) If you have any questions, PLEASE feel free to email me at dantheman4250@aol.com

#		Pick	Pos	School
1		Michael Crabtree	WR	Texas Tech
2		Michael Oher	OT	Ole Miss
3		James Laurinatis	LB	Ohio St
4		Matthew Stafford	QB	Georgia
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