NFL Draft Rumors: Brandon Weeden, Alfonzo Dennard, Vikings, Titans, Rueben Randle, Cowboys

Brandon Weeden

Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes that Oklahoma State QB Brandon Weeden “gets the vibe the Browns like him” and would “relish” the opportunity to compete with Colt McCoy.

“I know Colt had a good year last year, and he’s a good football player,” Weeden said. “But I’m a competitor, and I want to play as soon as possible. I’d be excited about the opportunity to come in and compete with him and see how things pan out.”

Cabot adds that the Browns have shown “plenty of interest” in Weeden throughout the process and even GM Tom Heckert spoke highly of him.

There’s guarantee that he ends up with the Browns, but you’d have to think that they’re the favorites to take him. The only question is whether it will be in the first or second-round.

We have them taking him the second-round of our recently updated 2012 NFL Mock Draft.

Alfonzo Dennard

Nebraska CB Alfonzo Dennard has been arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer, according to the Omaha World-Herald.

Dennard was reportedly fighting with man outside of a bar when he and allegedly “pushed and then punched one officer in the face.“

This is obviously a terrible decision on his part with even worse timing, considering that the NFL draft is just a few days away. Dennard has seen his draft stock drop from a possible first-round pick, to something in the range of a second or third-round pick. This news may end up pushing him back into day three.

We had him going to the Bills in the third-round (2012 NFL Mock Draft), but that will most likely change next week when we post our final mock of the season.

Minnesota Vikings

ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets that he’s “28.3 percent sure” that the Vikings will take USC LT Matt Kalil at #3 overall.

Schefter has repeated said that he believes they’ll take LSU CB Morris Claiborne, should they end up keeping the #3 overall pick.
The Vikings recently mentioned that they’ve narrowed their focus to three players: Kalil, Claiborne and Justin Blackmon. While taking a solid cornerback makes a lot of sense, so too does grabbing a very talented offensive lineman. You’re not going to find an offensive tackle close to Kalil in the later rounds, but there are plenty of decent options at cornerback that should be available to them in the middle rounds.

With that being said, we have the Vikings grabbing Kalil at #3 and then addressing the CB position in the third-round of recently updated 2012 NFL Mock Draft by selecting Casey Hayword out of Vanderbilt.

Tennessee Titans

ESPN’s Adam Schefter mentioned that the Tennessee Titans “would be happy” to get a “good” cornerback in the upcoming draft.

The recent rise of Stephon Gilmore has leaves Alabama’s Dre Kirkpatrick as the most likely target for them in round-one, assuming they go that route early. There are a few teams drafting before them that could end up showing interest in Kirkpatrick like the Bears, Chargers and Bengals, but the Titans should at least have a shot at him if they’re interested.

We actually have them taking Kirkpatrick in the first-round of our recently updated 2012 NFL Mock Draft.

Rueben Randle

Adam Caplan of The Sideline View mentions that an NFL personnel source told him that LSU WR Rueben Randle could end up being taken “a lot earlier than we think.”

Caplan has him going to the Texans in the first-round of his recent mock draft. Randle seems like a great compliment to Andre Johnson and figures to go no later than the earlier part of round-two.

We have him getting drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars at #38 overall in our recently updated 2012 NFL Mock Draft.

Mark Barron

ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets that he “could see” the Cowboys drafting Alabama S Mark Barron at #14 overall.

This appears to be a very popular idea, as not only could the Cowboys use some additional help at the backend of their secondary, but Barron has managed to solidify himself as one of the best players in this year’s draft and clearly the best available safety.

There was some talk that they were high on Memphis NT Dontari Poe in previous weeks, but several evaluators have mentioned that they’re not sure that he’s worth a first-round pick. With that being said, Barron seems like the safe pick for Dallas.

We actually have them taking Barron in the first-round of our recently updated 2012 NFL Mock Draft.