Bob LeGere's projected first-round NFL draft
Barring trades, here's how our NFL writer projects the first-round of Saturday's NFL draft could unfold:
Pick Team Player Skinny 1 Detroit Lions QB Matthew Stafford* Rebuilding starts with a franchise QB 2 St. Louis Rams OT Jason Smith Centerpiece of o-line replaces Orlando Pace 3 Kansas City Chiefs LB Aaron Curry Defense needs help, so take the safest pick 4 Seattle Seahawks OT Eugene Monroe Time to get successor for Walter Jones (35) 5 Cleveland Browns WR Michael Crabtree** Could lose WRs Stallworth and Edwards 6 Cincinnati Bengals OT Andre Smith* Need help everywhere; could go with a WR 7 Oakland Raiders WR Jeremy Maclin** Al Davis gets speed; offense gets a weapon 8 Jacksonville Jaguars DT B.J. Raji Also need OT and WR but both a reach here 9 Green Bay Packers LB Brian Orakpo A great fit at OLB in their new 3-4 scheme 10 San Francisco 49ers DE Aaron Maybin** The wait is over for a premier pass rusher 11 Buffalo Bills OT Michael Oher Replacement for traded Jason Peters 12 Denver Broncos DE Tyson Jackson 3-4 scheme needs big DE's; he's the best 13 Washington Redskins LB Brian Cushing With Maybin Orakpo gone, he's the best fit 14 New Orleans Saints CB Malcolm Jenkins They're thrilled if he falls this far down 15 Houston Texans CB Vontae Davis* Great talent, questionable character 16 San Diego Chargers LB Rey Maualuga He's the inside hammer their defense needs 17 New York Jets QB Mark Sanchez* Need a QB now; more ready than Freeman 18 Denver Broncos LB Clay Matthews They need an edge pass rusher in their 3-4 19 Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Josh Freeman* Wait pays off for their QB of the future 20 Detroit Lions DT Peria Jerry They need to get younger on d-line 21 Philadelphia Eagles RB Knowshon Moreno** Brian Westbrook can't go on forever 22 Minnesota Vikings WR Darrius Heyward-Bey* Keeps defense from crowding RB Peterson 23 New England Patriots LB James Laurinaitis Another young LB to go with Jerod Mayo 24 Atlanta Falcons TE Brandon Pettigrew Most complete player at a position of need 25 Miami Dolphins OL Robert Ayers Pass-rush help to complement Joey Porter 26 Baltimore Ravens WR Kenny Britt* They can't do it with defense alone 27 Indianapolis Colts RB Beanie Wells* Perfect complement to Joseph Addai 28 Buffalo Bills DE Everette Brown* Defense is desperate for pass-rush help 29 New York Giants OT Eben Britton* Team strength needs infusion of youth at OT 30 Tennessee Titans WR Percy Harvin* Compared to Pacman, he's a Boy Scout 31 Arizona Cardinals RB Donald Brown* Need young replacement for unhappy James 32 Pittsburgh Steelers C-OG Alex Mack They need better pass protection in a hurry
* Junior ** Third-year sophomore
NFL draft at a glance
When: First two rounds of selections begin at 3 p.m. Saturday. Rounds 3-7 begin at 9 a.m. Sunday.
Where: Radio City Music Hall in New York.
Time limit: Teams will be allotted 10 minutes for first-round picks and 7 minutes for second-round selections. On Sunday, teams are allowed 5 minutes for each pick.
Long wait: The Bears' first scheduled selection (49th overall) should come between 8-9 p.m. if it follows last year's timetable.
TV: NFL Network will have blanket coverage. ESPN will cover most of Saturday's action, with the final two hours moving to ESPN2. ESPN will cover all of Sunday's selections.
Bears picks
bull; Round 2: 17th pick (49th overall)
bull; Round 3a: Sent to Denver for Jay Cutler, 20th pick (84th overall)
bull; Round 3b: 35th pick (99th overall, compensatory selection)
bull; Round 4: 19th pick (119th overall)
bull; Round 5a: from Denver via Seattle, 4th pick (140th overall)
bull; Round 5b: 18th pick (154th overall)
bull; Round 6: 17th pick (190th overall)
bull; Round 7a: to Tampa Bay 20th pick (229th overall)
bull; Round 7: 37th pick (246th overall, compensatory pick)
bull; Round 7: 42nd pick (251st overall, compensatory pick)