FanPost

The Predicto-matic says...



The draft is supposed to be happening right now ! Instead, I have the free time to take all of the information I've learned during this offseason and jam it into the Predictomatic machine, which is not much more complicated than the old 8-ball that you shook up to get answers.

This is what the Predicto-Matic had to say !

3 Predictions a For The upcoming Draft:

Prediction number 1: There will be a record number of trades in this years draft.

This is a deep draft that has everything in it. It is conceivable that all 32 teams can find starters in the first 3 rounds of this draft if they evaluate the smorgasbord of talent properly. All 32 teams have multiple needs and are likely going to want to fill those needs without "reaching" for a player. To do so, teams will have many opportunities to move around by finding a trade partner with opposite needs and opposite goals. This allows a team to align their draft position with that of the teams big board and needs.

The good teams, teams close to contending, will be looking for year 1 impact players while the teams on the outside looking in will be looking to stockpile prospects with potential and prospects to build depth on they're rosters, which usually fall in the later rounds. I think this is the perfect draft for a record number of trades to occur due to the perfect storm of prospect talent, positional variety and disparity between the bottom feeders and challengers.

Prediction number 2: There is going to be a QB needy team that tries to get cute and loses out on a franchise QB.

There are a number of QB's in this draft with franchise potential and a number of teams in this draft who need a franchise QB. Match made in heaven, right ? Not so fast. There are a lot of good to potentially great players also that the QB needy teams will have to pass on in order to guarantee they get they're guy at QB. Well, I fully expect one or more of these teams to get a little too cute and a little too greedy and try to wait until later in the 1st round or in the 2nd round to nab they're franchise QB. This is going to backfire on at least one of the, because while there are quite a few teams later in the first round that already have a franchise QB, there aren't many who have a young franchise QB; New England, The Cardinals, Denver, and Pittsburgh Just to name a few. I doubt these teams are specifically targeting a QB, but your fooling yourself if you think they don't know the value of a franchise QB. These teams can and will fill they're other needs in rounds two and three if they are able to find great value in a first round QB. So don't get too greedy Houston, Jacksonville, Cleveland, Oakland, Minnesota, etc. You might just find yourself missing out on your future.

Prediction number 3: The Cardinals will draft a quarterback.

I thought I'd make this one Cardinals specific. Carson Palmers contract is ending and there is no guarantee that he can have a 2014 campaign that is playoff worthy. Drew Stanton hasn't thrown a pass under live fire, in almost 5 years. Ryan Lindley is what Ryan Lindley is. Is the GM and the Cardinals organization really going to risk they're future on these three guys ? No. They are going to take the bull by the horns as we've seen early on with this organization and they're going to fire one of they're six bullets at a QB that fits well within they're three year plans. A QB with a salary that will allow them to pay both Larry and Patrick in 2015 while still being able to field a complete team. This means they will be taking a QB within the first four rounds. It's only 15 days until we know who !

So, am I off my rocker ? Do you dispel these predictions as fodder or do you see this happening in the upcoming 2014 draft ? How about predictions of your own ?

<em>This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Revenge of the Birds' (ROTB) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of ROTB's editors.</em>