2011 NFL Mock Draft

#1 Panthers-QB Blaine Gabbert
Adam Schefter is never wrong… Ever. Last year he said in February that Sam Bradford would be the #1 pick, and this year he says don’t be surprised if the Panthers take the quarterback they prefer out of Newton and Gabbert. Well, I think they prefer Gabbert. I personally wouldn’t draft either one of them, but between them Gabbert doesn’t have the immaturity and intelligence concerns that Newton has. They’re both big with strong arms but wildly inaccurate and come from the spread in college. Character/intelligence is really the only things that are different between these two guys so why wouldn’t Carolina go with the guy that is better in those departments?

#2 Broncos-DE Da’Quan Bowers, Clemson
This pick has to happen. If it doesn’t I bet you the Broncos pick Robert Quinn just to take a defensive end. John Elway is running this team now and he will be thinking like a quarterback. What drives quarterbacks insane more than anything else? An incredible pass rusher that is disrupting their timing the entire game. Add in the fact that John Fox loves athletic defensive ends (he drafted Julius Peppers in his first year in Carolina and traded away a future first round pick for Everette Brown) and that Dq’Quan Bowers is a physical freak of nature and this is nearly a lock. Oh also the Broncos were dead last in the NFL in sacks last year with 23, they need pass rushing help.

More after the jump