Mike Mayock's Updated Top 5 2011 NFL Draft Rankings

Mike Mayock of NFL Network updated his Top 5 at each position for the 2011 NFL Draft. This is only important to me because Mayock is the one draft analyst I take at his word. If you watch the Senior Bowl and follow him, you know he does his homework on each player and actually breaks down film. He'll often given a surface evaluation, then note he needs to do more work on the player before he finalizes his opinion on them... and then does. He's not a status quo draftnik, either.

Click the jump to see his updated rankings and my take on them.

Quarterbacks

1. Blaine Gabbert, Missouri
2. Jake Locker, Washington
3. Cam Newton, Auburn
4. Ryan Mallett, Arkansas
5. Andy Dalton, TCU

My Take:Not a lot of disagreement from me. I'd probably drop Ryan Mallett out of my rankings (article on him later) and put Colin Kaepernick at 4 and Christian Ponder at 5, with Andy Dalton at 6.

Running Backs

1. Mark Ingram, Alabama
2. Mikel Leshoure, Illinois
3. Daniel Thomas, Kansas State
4. Ryan Williams, Virginia Tech
5. Jacquizz Rodgers, Oregon State

My Take:I would place Leshoure at the number 1 spot, as I'm not as enamored with Mark Ingram as most. I'd also find a spot for Oklahoma State running back Kendall Hunter, probably in place of Daniel Thomas or Ryan Williams.

Wide Receivers

1. A.J. Green, Georgia
2. Julio Jones, Alabama
3. Titus Young, Boise State
4. Jonathan Baldwin, Pittsburgh
5. Torrey Smith, Maryland

My Take:I'm not as huge a fan of Young as Mayock, so I'd probably have Leonard Hankerson in his place in the list.

Tight Ends

1. Kyle Rudolph, Notre Dame
2. Lance Kendricks, Wisconsin
3. Luke Stocker, Tennessee
4. D.J. Williams, Arkansas
5. Virgil Green, Nevada

My Take:I don't really have a feeling one way or another on the tight end class. To be honest, I kind of ignored it because of the Jaguars tight end situation. I would however, put Luke Stocker as my number 1 tight end. Stocker looks like a Jason Witten clone to me.

Interior Offensive Line

1. Mike Pouncey, Florida 
2. Danny Watkins, Baylor 
3. Clint Boling, Georgia 
4. John Moffitt, Wisconsin 
5. Rodney Hudson, Florida State

My Take:I'm not as big a fan of Mike Pouncey as most, as I wouldn't have him as my number 1 interior lineman. His name/bloodline will rank him higher than he should and he's not as good/versatile as his brother as I think he's a guard only. My list would go: 1. Watkins, 2. Hudson, 3. Moffitt, 4. Pouncey, and 5. Boling.

Offensive Tackles

1. Anthony Castonzo, Boston College
2. Nate Solder, Colorado
3. Tyron Smith, USC
4. Gabe Carimi, Wisconsin
5. (tie) Ben Ijalana, Villanova; Derek Sherrod, Mississippi State

My Take:Nate Solder kind of took a nose dive at the Senior Bowl, he looked good and bad. Mayock's tie at 5th place on my list wouldn't happen, because I see both Ijalana and Sherrod as interior lineman in the NFL. I'd probably put Orlando Franklin at the 5 spot.

Defensive Ends

1. Da'Quan Bowers, Clemson
2. J.J. Watt, Wisconsin
3. Adrian Clayborn, Iowa
4. Cameron Jordan, California
5. Robert Quinn, North Carolina

My Take: On this list, I would flip Watt and Jordan. While both are likely destined to wind up on 3-4 teams, Jordan is a much more explosive and versatile player than Watt. Other than that, I can't really disagree with it much.

Defensive Tackle

1. Marcell Dareus, Alabama
2. Nick Fairley, Auburn
3. Corey Liuget, Illinois
4. Stephen Paea, Oregon State
5. Jurrell Casey, USC

My Take:Nice to see someone else doesn't see Fairly as the clear cut number 1 defensive tackle, as I don't. He really only had 1 good season at Auburn and he's got a reputation for being kind of lazy. Paea is a good player, but he'll fall in the draft after injuring his leg.

Outside Linebacker

1. Von Miller, Texas A&M
2. Akeem Ayers, UCLA
3. Justin Houston, Georgia
4. Bruce Carter, North Carolina
5. Chris Carter, Fresno State

Comments: I wouldn't change anything on this list, I like it the way it is and it's nice to see Chris Carter get some attention. C. Carter is likely a 3-4 outside linebacker like Houston, but both are good edge rushers.

Inside Linebackers

1. Martez Wilson, Illinois
2. Colin McCarthy, Miami (FL)
3. Quan Sturdivant, North Carolina
4. Casey Matthews, Oregon
5. Kelvin Sheppard, LSU

My Take: The first thing that jumped out to me was Colin McCarthy and no Greg Jones or Nate Irving. I'm not a fan of McCarthy at all despite his strong showing in the Senior Bowl. Why didn't he show up like that at Miami? I'd move Sturdivant to 5, drop out Sheppard and McCarthy and put Irving at 2, Greg Jones at 3.

Cornerbacks

1. Patrick Peterson, LSU
2. Prince Amukamara, Nebraska
3. Aaron Williams, Texas
4. Jimmy Smith, Colorado
5. Brandon Harris, Miami (FL)

My Take: I would flip Harris and Williams on this list, though I don't think there is a ton of difference between Williams, Smith, and Harris. Jimmy Smith however has a chance to really climb with an expected good combine showing. His size matched with his potential speed is going to perk a lot of teams interest.

Safeties

1. Rahim Moore, UCLA
2. Ahmad Black, Florida
3. Marcus Gilchrist, Clemson
4. Quinton Carter, Oklahoma
5. Deunta Williams, North Carolina

My Take: It's nice to see Ahmad Black get some love and not get killed because of his size. His size is a concern, but he showed in the Senior Bowl he's not afraid to lay a hit and has the killer speed to run sideline-to-sideline in coverage. I'm not as high on Gilchrist, but his versatility does make him very attractive in the secondary.