As the 2011 NFL Draft inches closer, time to keep a closer eye on some of the mock drafts. While I love mock drafts simply for the speculation, I don't really take them all that seriously. But when draft day moves closer, they usually get more accurate. Mel Kiper and Todd McShay have some Panthers in their projections of the top three rounds.
But while there are some Panthers in those projections, the Big East as a whole isn't expected to produce many top picks according to Kiper and McShay, ESPN's resident draft gurus.
For starters, neither have a single Big East player as a first-round pick, let alone Pitt having five.
Kiper has Jabaal Sheard going in the early second round and tabs him as the first Big East player selected. He also says Jon Baldwin will be a third-round pick.
McShay is slightly higher on Baldwin and has him going late in the second round. He also puts Sheard and Dion Lewis in the third.
Far cries from all fo the first-round talk that was happening in the preseason. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like more and more players are willing to leave early even if the risk of not being selected in the top two rounds is there. Lewis one such player. He had some decent workouts, but he's mentioned as mostly a 3rd - middle-round draft pick.
Oh well.