SB Nation Pittsburgh - 2011 NFL Draft: Nick Fairley To Announce Status Fridayhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48827/pitt-fv.png2011-01-13T17:25:44-05:00http://pittsburgh.sbnation.com/rss/stream/16950112011-01-13T17:25:44-05:002011-01-13T17:25:44-05:002011 NFL Draft Prospects: Auburn's Nick Fairley To Make Announcement Friday
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<p>Auburn defensive tackle Nick Fairley will <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=6018884">make an announcement</a> regarding his eligibility for the draft on Friday. Here’s the big sentence:</p>
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<p>Fairley’s high school football coach says the announcement will come at the player’s alma mater, Williamson High School in Mobile. Underclassmen have until Saturday to declare for the draft.</p>
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<p>It sounds like Fairley is entering the draft. If you were a likely first-round pick, would you go back to your high school just to announce you were staying in college for a year? I’d think you’d only go back if it were a momentous occasion.</p>
<p>Anyway, Fairley will probably be a first-round pick, and will probably go earlier in the round rather than later. <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2011/1/10/1925338/2011-nfl-mock-draft-daquan-bowers-blaine-gabbert">SB Nation’s latest mock</a> has him going to the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.battleredblog.com/">Texans</a> with the 11th pick:</p>
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<p>Wade Phillips is in as the Texans’ new defensive coordinator, and he’ll bring his one-gap 3-4 defense with him. Fairley has the length to play 3-4 end, and the quickness to penetrate effectively in Phillips’ scheme.</p>
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<p>It wouldn’t be a surprise, though, if he went earlier than that.</p>
https://pittsburgh.sbnation.com/pittsburgh-steelers/2011/1/13/1933628/2011-nfl-draft-prospects-auburn-nick-fairley-announcementCharlie Wilmoth2011-01-12T13:15:26-05:002011-01-12T13:15:26-05:002011 NFL Mock Draft: Derek Sherrod To Steelers?
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<p>I had to chuckle at Rob Rang's <a href="http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/nfldraftscout-RobRang">latest mock draft at CBSSports.com</a>. Not because of its quality, but because of the way he thinks the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.baltimorebeatdown.com/">Ravens</a> and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/">Steelers</a>' picks will go. He has the Steelers taking Mississippi State offensive lineman <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/10687/derek-sherrod">Derek Sherrod</a>, and as far as I can tell, that would be a great value for a late first-round pick. Sherrod nearly always ranks in the first round in mock drafts, and is often in the first half of it. (<a href="http://www.mockingthedraft.com/2010/11/18/1821866/derek-sherrod-nfl-draft-scouting-report">Here's a scouting report.</a>)</p>
<p>One pick before that, though, Rang has the Ravens taking .... wait for it ... <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/10218/mike-pouncey">Mike Pouncey</a>, brother of Steelers 2010 first-rounder Maurkice Pouncey. That sure would make the Steelers-Ravens rivalry even more compelling, wouldn't it? Anyway, Rang also has the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.catscratchreader.com/">Panthers</a> taking LSU cornerback <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/36522/patrick-peterson">Patrick Peterson</a> with the first overall pick.</p>
<p>Things work out a bit differently in Chad Reuter's <a href="http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/nfldraftscout-ChadReuter">most recent mock</a>, over at CBS. He has Sherrod going to the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/">Cowboys</a> at No. 9 overall, the Ravens taking a different offensive lineman (Penn State's Stefen Wisniewski), and the Steelers taking Wisconsin defensive end <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/48829/j-j-watt">J.J. Watt</a>, also a sensible pick. Rang has the Panthers taking Clemson's Da'Quan Bowers and the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.milehighreport.com/">Broncos</a> taking Peterson with the second pick.</p>
https://pittsburgh.sbnation.com/2011/1/12/2327913/2011-nfl-mock-draft-derek-sherrod-to-steelersCharlie Wilmoth