It goes without me saying, or typing, that I am longing for springtime. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems to me that blue skies are bluer when the weather is warmer. I miss that. Green grass, the smell of charcoal grills, and lawnmowers. It just seems perfect.

In recent days, Major League Baseball teams have been kicking off their ticket sales campaigns. I bought two tickets to Opening Day here in Washington and this has really peaked my excitement for baseball. I’m really optimistic that the Nationals can be at least 15 wins better this year than last, which might not seem great when you consider that they won only 59 games, but is a sign that times are a changin’ in the District when it comes to the baseball team. The Nats are very slowly starting to develop an actual team, with players who can do things that are good, and success isn’t too far away. 3-4 seasons.

And now, in a few hours, I have the wondrous “opportunity” to purchase Boston Red Sox tickets for games against the Yankees or Dodgers this season. I’m going for the Dodgers, because Manny and Joe Torre are coming back to Boston for the first time since they were the Yankees manager and the Red Sox left fielder/cancer and I anticipate exciting things from my drunken homeland that June weekend. At the very least, I can expect it to be a lot warmer than it is now.

Yes, you read that right. The second blizzard in 5 days is pounding Washington D.C. right now and I’m sitting at home on a Wednesday, hoping to all that is just that our power does not go out again (for the 4th time in 5 days). I’ve been pining for a mock draft for a few weeks now and while I know that most of the people who read this don’t care for things like this, perhaps you can share it with those who don’t read my blog often, but take delight in forecasting an event 9 weeks before it happens.

Before I get to the picks, understand that this is what I think these teams should do, not what I think they will do. I mean, do you want to forecast what Oakland is going to do with the 8th pick? Is Darius Heyward-Bey available? For the slots that are TBD, based on a coin flip, I will actually flip a coin to determine my order. Finally, I will not shy away from using other mocks to influence my thinking. Those of us who live for this stuff soak up any mock draft and I’ve soaked up a few, so I have an idea going in what my order is going to look like. But bear in mind, I am biased after all. There are some players who I love as NFL prospects more than other people do (Jimmy Clausen) and others that I don’t. I will be measured. While I might like Colt McCoy more than Sam Bradford, I’m also realistic. I hope that makes some sense or that you just skipped my explanation. Here goes:

1. St. Louis Rams
Set at: RB, LT, ILB
Needs: More help than you can imagine. Their roster is a sea of guys you’ve never heard of. There’s no doubt, this is the worst roster in the league. They need a QB for their future, they need depth at WR, a TE, a beefed up O-Line, a solid cornerback, safeties. It’s just a mess. What they need to do here is trade out of the top spot and acquire more picks in the 2nd and 3rd round. But I don’t do trades here.
The Pick: Ndamukong Suh (DT/Nebraska). My thinking is that a defensive tackle is not going to solve the woes of a team this bad. I lean heavily towards Jimmy Clausen here (more on him soon). A quarterback can change the face of your franchise (See: Atlanta Falcons (Matt Ryan)). Can a defensive tackle? I’m fairly confident we’ll find out soon.

2. Detroit Lions
Set At: QB, RB, WR, OLB
Needs: The Lions are a pretty good second worst team (in terms of record). They’re set at the top of the skill positions for a while with Matt Stafford, Kevin Smith (who I like more than most), and Calvin Johnson. Defensively is where head coach Jim Schwartz wants to build the Lions and that’s where the team needs the most work.
The Pick: Eric Berry (S/Tennessee). Almost every mock I’ve seen has Detroit taking a DT (Suh, if St. Louis goes QB, or Gerald McCoy). And trust me, they need work on the D-Line. But Eric Berry is a game changing safety. It’s rare that a safety would be taken so high in the NFL Draft, but there is such a focus on the position today with the rise of Troy Polamalu, Ed Reed, Bob Sanders (when he’s not on IR), etc. A great safety can make mediocre CBs better. Can a great DT have the same impact? I don’t think so. That’s why I love Berry.

3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Set At: QB, RB, CB
Needs: Eric Berry
The Pick: Gerald McCoy (DT/Oklahoma). If Detroit picks Berry like I think they should (I truly doubt they will in actuality) Tampa is left in no-man’s land when it comes to this selection. McCoy is the best player on the board. They would also be smart to draft Russell Okung, but they’d be passing on a guy who is a huge upgrade over Ryan Sims and 59 year old Chris Hovan.

4. Washington Redskins
Set At: Brian Orakpo
Needs: An offensive line
The Pick: Russell Okung (OT/Oklahoma State). A no brainer. Perhaps the biggest no brainer so far. I like to out think myself from time-to-time, but it’s this simple for Washington: You need an anchor on your O-Line. Okung will be an anchor for many years to come and replace Chris Samuels. Quarterback is a thought here I’m sure, but it shouldn’t be a thought for very long.

5. Kansas City Chiefs
Set At: QB, RB, WR
Needs: Offensive line help. Defensive help everywhere.
The Pick: Bruce Campbell (OT/Maryland). They’d love to draft Okung, but Campbell to me is a good replacement. He’s 2 inches taller than Okung and has quick feet. Anthony Davis from Rutgers is another OT solution, but he has some questions about work ethic. Campbell could help keep Matt Cassell on his feet and let him throw the ball like he is capable of. Kansas City will take a turn soon. There’s a solid foundation in place.

6. Seattle Seahawks
Set At: I’ll get back to you on that.
Needs: QB, RB, WR, DL, DS
The Pick: Jimmy Clausen (QB/Notre Dame). Seattle needs to take a quarterback here and could be a good place for Clausen to move to. He’s been in the spotlight since he was 14 years old. In the Pacific Northwest, he’ll be away from that. I like Clausen more than Sam Bradford because of his confidence and because he played in a pro system in college, while Sam Bradford played in the Oklahoma version of the run and shoot. Clausen also has a swagger that I love. He reminds me of Mark Sanchez. Oh, and his coach would be Pete Carroll, a guy who could mesh with Clausen and knows him fairly well. I like this fit. A lot.

7. Cleveland Browns
Set At: OT, KR
Needs: CB, WR, RB, LB
The Pick: Joe Haden (CB/Florida). Name me a Brown corner and you win $100. Haden is the top shut-down corner in this draft and will be ready on Day 1. Any thought to take Sam Bradford needs to be tempered. This team can win on defense. Haden is a great start.

8. Oakland Raiders
Set At: QB (Bruce Gradkowski), RB, WR, TE, CB, DL
Needs: OL, LB, To cut JaMarcus Russell
The Pick: Anthony Davis (OT/Rutgers). The Raiders’ OL in 2009 was the human equivalent of paper-mache. I loved everything I saw from Bruce Gradkowski and think he could be the quarterback of the future for Oakland, as silly as that sounds. He’s just what they need: a gritty, tough customer and a leader. Not a fat slob. He deserves to have a line in front of him that can help what I think is a very good unit get better.

9. Buffalo Bills
Set At: RB, LB, DS
Needs: OT, QB, WR
The Pick: Bryan Bulaga (OT/Iowa). This was the hardest choice so far, because nothing is going to be perfect for Buffalo here. Bulaga is a slight reach, but with Okung, Campbell, and Davis off the board at OT, it comes down to fixing the OL or replacing Trent Edwards. I think Edwards should get one more year to prove he’s an NFL QB. I don’t like him. At all. But Buffalo needs to shore up their OL before they throw a rookie QB to the wolves. Drafting Bradford sets them back more than reaching for Bulaga or another tackle.

10. Jacksonville Jaguars
Set At: RB, WR, QB, OT
Needs: Not Tim Tebow. Also, a defensive lineman who isn’t a bust.
The Pick: Derrick Morgan (DE/Georgia Tech). Quentin Groves. Derrick Harvey. Both early picks. Both DEs. Both epic busts thus far. Should the Jags go back to the well for a third time? Absolutely. Eventually, you have to get it right.

(Now that we’re out of the Top 10, I’m going to stop highlighting needs and set positions)
11. Denver Broncos
The Pick: Sam Bradford (QB/Oklahoma). This has to be a dream scenario for Josh McDaniels. He gets his QB of the future and doesn’t have to trade up to get him. And he does it with the first round pick he got for Jay Cutler. Time will tell if Bradford lives up to his college numbers, but this is an easy pick for Denver.

12. Miami Dolphins
The Pick: Rolando McClain (ILB/Alabama). Outside of Eric Berry, McClain is the surest thing in this draft and shores up a gaping hole defensively for the Dolphins.

13. San Francisco 49ers
The Pick: Trent Williams (OT/Oklahoma). A bit of a reach, but OTs, and I can’t stress this enough, are so important to an offense’s success. If Bradford is on the board, perhaps the 49ers think about replacing Alex Smith at QB. But with Bradford gone, this is a good spot for a pretty solid football team, to fix a problem they’ve had for a few years.

14. Seattle Seahawks
The Pick: CJ Spiller (RB/Clemson). With Trent Williams off the board, the Seahawks have to hope to fix their O-Line later on in the draft. They have issues at the skill positions, so Spiller or Dez Bryant is an option, as is Carlos Dunlap or Everson Griffen on the D-Line. Seattle’s draft isn’t ruined by losing out on a tackle. Spiller provides them with a QB/RB foundation for years to come. That’s something.

15. New York Giants
The Pick: Carlos Dunlap (DE/Florida). Dunlap is a top-10 talent with some questionable character issues. And perhaps the Plaxico Burress saga may make the G-men lean towards Everson Griffen, but Dunlap’s talent should not be turned away from. Remember Michael Strahan? Yea, Dunlap has all that potential and more. Well worth the risk.

16. San Francisco 49ers
The Pick: Earl Thomas (S/Texas). The 49ers could go with a skill position player like Dez Bryant here (can you tell I’m not that high on him?), or they could improve a hole on defense with a young playmaker. San Francisco, having two picks in this range, can do some scary things to improve themselves. If I’m the Cardinals, I’m nervous about the division title next year. Very nervous.

17. Tennessee Titans
The Pick: Dan Williams (DT/Tennessee). The loss of Albert Haynesworth clearly made a difference to this defense last year. The line is very thin, as is their linebacking corp. Williams is a big, run stuffing tackle.

18. Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pick: Brian Price (DT/UCLA). With Casey Hampton an unrestricted free agent, I have the Steelers replacing him with Price. It’s possible that Pittsburgh would prefer the Hampton clone Dan Williams, but they could just feed Price some delicious Primanti Bros. sandwiches.

19. Houston Texans
The Pick: Kyle Wilson (CB/Boise State). Wilson is a draft board shooter-upper. He had a stellar (perhaps the best) Senior Bowl week. Dunta Robinson is a UFA and his loss, if it happens, creates a glaring and gaping hole at CB for the Texans. I love Wilson’s playmaking ability (football cliche!) and poise at CB, which I think is fairly underrated at the position.

20. Atlanta Falcons
The Pick: Mike Iupati (OG/Idaho). Iupati is a run-blocker extraodinaire, which is a necessity for Atlanta up front. Michael Turner’s numbers fell off last year in part because of the line’s inability to block for him. Iupati is a problem solver. He might get destroyed in pass blocking, but it’s something that some coaching can help with.

21. Cincinnati Bengals
The Pick: Jermaine Gresham (TE/Oklahoma). Cincinnati is an interesting team. Their defense is great. They could stand to pick up some depth on the D-Line, certainly. But their offense, which was the strong point a few years ago, is anemic. I have real questions about Carson Palmer, but not enough to consider Colt McCoy or Tim Tebow here. A RB like Jahvid Best could be a great compliment to Cedric Benson, but I have concerns about how Benson behaved when he had to share carries in Chicago with Thomas Jones. They could go with Dez Bryant, but that’s two potential diva WRs and with the Terrell Owens talk, maybe 3. I like Gresham here, as a mile reach, because of his potential and skill set. Great hands. Big, fast. He’s Antonio Gates, really. So long as he’s healthy.

22. New England Patriots
The Pick: Jerry Hughes (3-4 OLB/TCU). Brandon Graham is more liked at this position by most, but not me. I love Hughes’ motor and toughness and that he played on one of the country’s best defenses with a great coach. Hughes is the type of player the Patriots need and like: Versatile, tough, hungry. One of my favorite players in this draft.

23. Green Bay Packers
The Pick: Brandon Graham (3-4 OLB/Michigan). Graham doesn’t have far to fall. Add him to a linebacker corp with Nick Barnett, Clay Matthews, and AJ Hawk and you’re set for quite some time in Green Bay and it provides them with flexibility in terms of whether they want to resign Aaron Kampman.

24. Philadelphia Eagles
The Pick: Sergio Kindle (OLB/Texas). We’re in the OLB portion of the draft. Positionally, this is an easy one. The Eagles were so desperate for a linebacker last year, they signed Jeremiah Trotter. Kindle is super fast off the edge. Philly would be fine with Hughes or Graham here as well. Anyone who can play linebacker will do.

25. Baltimore Ravens
The Pick: Dez Bryant (WR/Oklahoma State). Bryant fills perhaps the biggest need any team has heading into free agency in this portion of the draft. Current WRs on Baltimore’s roster who are signed through next year: Chris Hannon, Eron Riley, Maurice Price, and Marcus Smith. Bryant is a speedster who can also return punts. In real life, he’ll likely be gone well before here.

26. Arizona Cardinals
The Pick: Jared Odrick (DT/Penn State). I don’t have any analysis for this pick because it’s boring.

27. Dallas Cowboys
The Pick: Jason Pierre-Paul (DE/South Florida). Pierre-Paul has a tremendous amount of upside. Time will tell if his stats at South Florida were induced by playing opposite George Selvie or not, but his measurables are off the charts and the Cowboys are thin on D-line (and not a lot of other places, besides their offensive line).

28. San Diego Chargers
The Pick: Jonathan Dwyer (RB/Georgia Tech). He’s like Michael Turner, who used to play for the Chargers and who San Diego would really like to have back.

29. New York Jets
The Pick: Brandon LaFell (WR/LSU). I like LaFell over Damian Williams (USC) here because of LaFell’s size and because of the lack of success of USC wide receivers, beyond Steve Smith, in recent years. LaFell’s size is important also because he’ll be playing along quicker, smaller WR Jerricho Cotchery.

30. Minnesota Vikings
The Pick: Sean Witherspoon (OLB/Missouri). What do you get the team with no holes? More depth. Quarterback is a place to think about, depending on Favre’s career choice. But Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow are not first rounders. I also wouldn’t be shocked to see a wide receiver here either, like Damian Williams. But Witherspoon is a quick linebacker who just makes them better than they already are.

31. Indianapolis Colts
The Pick: Taylor Mays (S/USC). The exact opposite kind of guy you’d expect here, but doesn’t Indy need a hard-hitting guy in their secondary that receivers fear? Mays would be that guy. His pass coverage needs work, but he is a Ronnie Lott type of defender and an upgrade over whomever else is going to replace Bob Sanders when he gets hurt next year.

32. New Orleans Saints
The Pick: Eric Norwood (OLB/South Carolina). New Orleans is not in good shape heading into the draft and free agency. Darren Sharper is a UFA, as is Scott Fujita, and Roman Harper. Pierre Thomas, Jermon Bushrod, Jamaal Brown, and Anthony Hargrove are all RFAs. I’m going with Norwood here assuming they resign Pierre Thomas, which they need to do.

And there you have it. Share this and feel free to comment about how you feel. Also, if you find a glaring mistake, please let me know. Because I am not about to proofread this monster right now.

Yesterday, I ordered a sandwich from the market near my office. When I was a quarter of the way through my sandwich, I realized that there was a hair in it. Most people, when they see a strange hair in their food, freak out. My thought was, “Oh, the guy who works at the grill seems like a nice enough person,” and I continued eating the sandwich happily (I did remove the hair however). And I think to myself a day later, “What is wrong with me?”

I just wanted to share this story. It has little to nothing to do with why I’m typing right now. What does have to do with why I’m typing right now is that I am bored. Just so you know, I write emails to myself at work that sometimes get posted onto my blog when I get home thus I am not blogging at work. So it’s 12:40 and nothing is happening except more snow is on the way. If you read this, you know that D.C. received 24” (roughly) of snow this weekend. And it sucked. A lot. We had no power for most of Saturday and part of Sunday and no internet/cable for all of Saturday and even more of Sunday. And again, it sucked. There are a few things that stress me out (a few means a lot). One of them is feeling trapped.

Ever since my longing for the open road last week, I’ve felt trapped. This winter has been so long. January and now the first week of February has dragged. I’m in the midst of the winter doldrums and I want out. Fast. This time though, 2 hours, 3 hours, 4 hours, well, it just ain’t enough. I want South Florida. I want San Diego . I want Phoenix. I want warmth. I want palm trees. I want sunshine.

What I’m instead getting is another foot of snow tonight. That’s more Metrorail closures. More power outages. More using cell phones as flashlights. More storing food in a cooler on the roof of my building.

There’s really only one relief from both this depressing scene and this depressing post: Pictures. Thank you Google. And if you’re sitting inside, waiting for spring and summer to return to wherever you are, find comfort in these: Fort Lauderdale, Ocean Beach, CA, Oahu.

Or, you know, you could always just run away…

One time, long ago (junior year of college) I wrote a (terrible) screenplay. I’ve been really wanting to write another screenplay for a while now, until I remember just how much work went into writing my first. It would be easy to just sit and write, except that it’s not. You need to have scenes laid out (treatment…mine was about 35 pages long, single spaced), characters shaped (arc), an assortment of other short bits, and then the screenplay itself. 1 page of text is equal to one-minute of film. So you’re looking at about 90 pages of writing there. It’s the kind of thing that is perfect for a college student with a day off from work whose classes end at noon. Not quite the kind of perfection for a 25 year old with a real job, who doesn’t get home until 6:30, then cooks dinner, or cleans, or does laundries, and also really enjoys sports, while also living with their significant other (Hi Amanda!). So, somewhere in my brain sits a hard drive with ideas for screenplays in it. And every so often, I accidentally erase an idea from that hard drive and eventually replace it with a new one. It’s almost cyclical.

I really enjoy sitting at my desk and rocking out briefly. It usually only lasts for a few seconds of the chorus of some wondrous pop-punk song, but it always brings a smile to my face. I tend to not listen to music at my desk because listening to music, for me, lends itself to dance, facial expressions, and occasional lip syncing. I save that for the train. But at my desk, I’m sort of out in the open. My cubicle is not entirely enclosed, so moments where it’s okay to start nodding my head, tapping my feet, and bouncing in my chair are strictly limited to when no one is around, which isn’t all that often. But when it happens, as it did today, I really try to make the most of it.

Speaking of my desk, one of my coworkers said the other day that it looks like a grandmother’s attic. On the shelf above my cube, I have: Two long, green plants, a lamp that isn’t plugged in, an empty shopping bag, three serving trays, and a bottle to water plants with.

I’m not sure when, but I will have a NFL mock draft before April. I’ve really been looking forward to doing that. Also, I’m predicting the Colts to beat the Saints 35-24 in Super Bowl Whatever Number This Is.