Russ Lande 2012 NFL Mock Draft: Doug Martin in the First Round
Russ Lande is a former scout who doesn’t pull any punches and writes what he honestly believes, now what he believes is often very controversial and raises some huge eyebrows. If you’ve followed Lande you’ll know that he has had some success pegging some guys as much better than they’ll be drafted, but he’s also been very off on the value of players as well. (One year for instance he had Athyba Rubin projected as a 1st round pick and while he’s played well for the Browns he was not selected near the first round at all).
Lande came out with his most recent mock and there are a few surprises, especially in the twenties. Let’s look at a few of the surprise names and then you can check out the rest of the mock draft here.
The first huge surprise pick is Doug Martin to the Cincinnati Bengals at 21st overall. Martin is a solid all around player who can return kicks, catch the football out of the backfield, and run between the tackles. But early twenties? Seems too high for me, especially because he doesn’t offer game-breaking ability.
The next non-standard pick is Sean Spence to the Lions at number 23 overall. Now, Spence has a chance to skyrocket because he’s an uncommon athlete, but that seems really high, especially for a team that gets value. Lande offers very high praise.
The last really uncommon pick is WR Juron Criner in the late first round. Criner is talented, but didn’t have the year people expected of him so has been pushed a bit to the backburner.
Here’s what Lande had to say about Criner
26. Houston Texans: Juron Criner, WR, Arizona.With Andre Johnson out much of the season with hamstring problems, the Texans’ passing attack really struggled. So they grab the vastly underrated Criner—who has good size (6-3, 215), deceptive quickness and rare hands—to play opposite Johnson.
I think Lande could be onto something with Criner, but Criner has to have a great combine. It’s not always the most common picks, but it’s an interesting read, check it out.