NFL Draft Thoughts with One Week To Go

-I am not buying the Panthers taking Cam Newton with the top pick. Maybe I'm naive, but if they wanted him, they would have let it be known. The pick is there for the taking ... if someone else actually wants it, that is.

-Von Miller has sky-rocketed up draft boards. In my first mock, I had him going 17th to New England. Now, he might not slip past the Cardinals at number five. Be careful of these helium prospects. The lineage of these guys failing is much longer than them succeeding (Tyson Jackson, Mike Mamula, Vernon Gholston come to mind immediately). Time will tell.

-Christian Ponder. Really? I don't see it. And, certainly not in the top 20.

-A few years ago, San Francisco got lucky when the top prospect (M-chael Crabtree) fell into their laps with the 10th pick. Will it be deja vu with Patrick Peterson this year?

-I don't think Da'Quan Bowers is falling out of the top 10. The only reason teams tell the media they have "failed" him on their physical was to have him slip. I'm guessing Tampa Bay failed him four times so they can get him at 20.

-I hope Cal DE Cameron Jordan and USC TE Jordan Cameron get picked by the same team.

-I'm leaning towards putting four quarterbacks in my mock draft (Newton, Gabbert, Locker, Mallett) with two more in my top 40 (Dalton, Kaepernick). Ponder would get popped in the top 50.

-Teams looking to trade up into the end of round one should call the Jets. With free agents all over the roster, they could use some extra picks this year.