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Trent Dilfer, Gary Horton, Mel Kiper Jr. and Matt Williamson got together and came up with an outstanding project that looks a few years down the road. Check out this Insider post in which they have NFL Future Power Rankings for all teams.

The rankings are based on what the panel projects teams will look like in the 2015 season. The panel used the following criteria -- roster, quarterback, draft, front office and coaching staff -- and weighed each in order of importance to come up with the rankings. You can see a more detailed explanation of the methodology here.

From an NFC South perspective, the rankings don’t look all that different from results in recent years or what most people are projecting in 2012.

The panel says the New Orleans Saints, who have won two of the past three division titles, will be the division’s best team in 2015. The panel notes the bounty scandal and its punishments, but the consensus seems to be that the Saints can overcome that because there’s a strong nucleus in place, as well as a good coaching staff and front office. Horton notes the Saints have to build around guys like Jimmy Graham and Mark Ingram in the future. I think it’s true that the Saints have to develop some more young stars in the next few years. But, as long as Drew Brees is the quarterback, the Saints should be a top-10 team.

After the Saints, there’s a bit of a surprise. Although the Saints and Falcons have been the class of the division in recent years, the panel doesn’t see that quite being the case in 2015. The Falcons are No. 13 and the Panthers are No. 12.

Let’s start with why the Panthers are viewed as a team on the rise. Dilfer sums it up well by saying quarterback Cam Newton has an incredibly high ceiling. In 2015, Newton will be just approaching that ceiling. There’s no doubt the future looks bright for Carolina, but the Panthers may have to replace longtime stars Jordan Gross and Steve Smith before too long.

I disagree with the panel slightly on the placement of the Falcons. I think Atlanta will be a top-10 team in 2015 and probably each year between now and then. I agree with the panel that the Falcons have some old players at several positions, but I think general manager Thomas Dimitroff gradually will address those issues. As long as Matt Ryan and Julio Jones stay healthy and linebacker Sean Weatherspoon continues to emerge as a defensive star, I think the Falcons will be an annual playoff contender.

The Buccaneers are No. 19. While that ranking is last in the division, the Bucs have been in the 20s and 30s in a lot of recent rankings. The panel sounds optimistic about the Bucs in discussing the young talent and the new coaching staff. But there are a lot of unknowns. If quarterback Josh Freeman can get his career back on track and coach Greg Schiano can make the transition from college to the NFL, I think the Bucs have a real chance to jump up in the rankings when 2015 actually rolls around.

The second round of the draft is shaping up to be a very quiet one for the NFC South.

At the moment, the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons are the only two teams with picks in the round. The Panthers have No. 40 overall, and the Falcons have No. 55.

But that’s only at the moment. As we saw in Thursday night’s wild first round, trades can shake things up in a hurry. The Buccaneers and Saints could find ways to trade into the second round, and there are no guarantees the Panthers and Falcons stay where they are.

If they do, Carolina has some decent options at No. 40.

Let’s take a look at the Insider list of Mel Kiper Jr.’s 10 best-available players. North Alabama cornerback Janoris Jenkins might be the most exciting name on there, and the Panthers could use some depth at cornerback. But this will only happen if the Panthers are comfortable with what they’ve seen from their homework on the issues Jenkins has off the field. There’s a perception the Panthers suddenly stopped caring about off-field matters in last year’s draft. That’s not the case at all. They were willing to draft Brandon Hogan in the fourth round, but that only happened after they did extensive homework and decided his off-field problems didn’t bring a big risk.

A lot of people thought the Panthers would go with a defensive tackle in the first round. They instead chose Boston College linebacker Luke Kuechly. But I think there’s a chance the Panthers take another big body up front to allow Kuechly and the other linebackers to run free, and help cut down on the rash of linebacker injuries the Panthers have had recently. Michigan State’s Jerel Worthy and Cincinnati’s Derek Wolfe are on Kiper’s list. So is Penn State defensive tackle Devon Still, who many saw as a potential first-round pick.

I’m also looking at Kiper’s list and wondering if a couple of guys could still be around for Atlanta’s pick. Mississippi Bobby Massie and Stanford’s Jonathan Martin didn’t go in the first round. That means they’re not blue-chip prospects at left tackle. But they’re only a notch below that, and the Falcons need to get a left tackle to at least compete with Sam Baker in the short term, and possibly to replace him in the long term. Defensive line also seems to be a possibility for the Falcons.

The NFC South is a little short on third-round picks right now. The Bucs have the fifth pick in the third round. The Falcons have the 21^st pick in the round, and the Saints finally join the draft with the 26^th pick.

ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. analyzes the needs of all four NFC South teams and makes their projected picks for the first three rounds of the draft .

For the sake of variety, let’s skip the first round. You can check that out in Kiper’s post. I promise, there aren’t any major surprises for Carolina and Tampa Bay, the only NFC South teams with first-round picks.

Let’s jump to the second round and let’s start with the Atlanta Falcons. He has the Falcons taking offensive lineman Kelechi Osemele in the second round and defensive end Olivier Vernon in the third. I haven’t studied Osemele and Vernon nearly as closely as Kiper has. But I like the picks because the Falcons clearly need to get better on the offensive line and need to add someone who can rush the passer.

New Orleans doesn’t pick until the third round and Kiper has the Saints picking defensive tackle Akiem Hicks. That’s a name that should be familiar to some Saints fans. Hicks was recruited by LSU, but wound up playing in Canada. Kiper said Hicks can have an impact right away. That would be nice because Brodrick Bunkley and Sedrick Ellis are about all the Saints have in the middle of their defensive line.

Now, let’s shift back to Carolina and Tampa Bay.

The Panthers don’t have a third-round pick and Kiper has them taking defensive end Nick Perry in the second round. There’s no question coach Ron Rivera would like to have as many pass-rushers as possible. But, if the Panthers take Perry here, they still will have a need at defensive tackle. If you haven’t already looked at what Kiper has given the Panthers in the first round, that should provide a big clue.

Speaking of big clues, Kiper has the Buccaneers taking running back Doug Martin in the second round and linebacker Demario Davis in the third round. I’m not sure Martin and Davis will be the exact guys that are available when the Bucs make those picks. But I think Kiper’s following a very logical order of positions to fill Tampa Bay’s needs.

Resident draft experts Mel Kiper and Todd McShay have the latest versions of their mock drafts out.

These are Insider posts and you can see Kiper’s draft here and McShay’s here. The notable thing is that they differ on their picks for the two NFC South teams that have first-round picks (the Falcons and Saints don’t have first-round picks).

Kiper has the Buccaneers taking Alabama running back Trent Richardson at No. 5, while McShay has Tampa Bay taking LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne. I can see either scenario because the Bucs have needs at both positions. I know the growing thought is that you shouldn’t draft a running back in the top 10, unless he is truly special. But the Bucs might view Richardson as special. If not, Claiborne certainly would be a good fit. The only wild card I see in all this is if receiver Justin Blackmon somehow is still on the board. He’d have to be a consideration because the Bucs very much want to build up the supporting cast around Josh Freeman.

At No. 9, Kiper has the Panthers taking Memphis defensive tackle Dontari Poe, while McShay has North Carolina defensive end Quinton Coples as the pick. The Panthers already are in pretty good shape at defensive end, but Coples could be a great value pick here. Defensive tackle is the bigger need and Poe seems to be rising faster after a strong performance at the combine. But I also could see the Panthers using this pick on an offensive tackle.

We already went through a primer on NFC South needs as teams head to the scouting combine. Now, let’s give you some material that might show which college prospects could fill those needs.

All of the following are Insider posts. Here’s Mel Kiper’s latest Big Board. Here are the top five prospects at each position and here is a list of Kiper’s most intriguing players at the combine.

Also, I’ll have a Thursday column on Boston College linebacker Luke Kuechly. I caught up with him at IMG Football Academy last week. All four NFC South teams could be in the market for a linebacker and a lot of people are saying Kuechly is the best linebacker in this draft.

We’re a little more than two months away from the NFL draft, but we’re about to enter a key time.

The scouting combine starts later this week and that’s when you’ll see the stock of various prospects rise or fall. As it stands right now, there seems to be a fairly clear consensus on the top 10 players, but that could change after players work out at the combine.

The NFC South has only two teams with first-round picks because Atlanta and New Orleans traded away their choices last year. But Tampa Bay and Carolina each are in the top 10 and should be able to come out of the draft with players that can make instant impacts.

Let’s take a look at the latest Insider mock draft by Mel Kiper.

He has the Bucs taking Alabama running back Trent Richardson at No. 5. I’m not ruling this one out at all because the Bucs clearly have to improve their backfield. LeGarrette Blount is not an every-down back and it doesn’t seem real likely that Earnest Graham, who will be a free agent, will return. But conventional wisdom says you can get a good running back a little later in the draft.

The Bucs have plenty of needs and running back is high on that list. But cornerback could be even higher. That’s why I wouldn’t be surprised if the Bucs pass on Richardson and take LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne. Cornerback could end up being the biggest need of all. We don’t know yet if veteran Ronde Barber wants to continue playing. Even if he does, we don’t know if the Bucs want him back. Aqib Talib is the other starting cornerback, but he’s got a trial on an assault charge coming up. Talib could end up with a prison sentence. He also could be subject to discipline from the league. It’s also possible new coach Greg Schiano might send a message to his team about off-field issues by parting ways with Talib.

We’ll know Friday if the Carolina Panthers will pick No. 8 or 9. A coin flip with the Miami Dolphins at the combine will determine that.

Either way, it’s not that difficult to project what Carolina might do. Kiper has the Panthers taking LSU defensive tackle Michael Brockers and I think that’s entirely possible. Even with Ron Edwards expected back from injury and the presence of second-year players Terrell McClain and Sione Fua, the Panthers need to make sure they finally fix the middle of their defensive line. I could also see them going with a cornerback if Claiborne falls a bit. I also wouldn’t be all that surprised if the Panthers went with an offensive tackle, such as Iowa’s Riley Reiff or Stanford’s Jonathan Martin. Left tackle Jordan Gross is getting older and right tackle Jeff Otah has had chronic knee problems. It might be a long time before the Panthers pick in the top 10 again. It might be hard to pass on a can’t-miss left tackle. The Panthers could play the new guy at right tackle for a year or two and eventually move him to the left side.

Mel Kiper usually does a great job of helping us look ahead to the draft. But, in this Insider post, he takes a look back.

Kiper has his rankings of the top 20 rookies in the 2011 season, and the NFC South plays a prominent role. In a development that shouldn’t surprise anyone, Kiper ranked Carolina quarterback Cam Newton as the best rookie of 2011.

That had to be an easy call. Newton was the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, and he lived up to the hype. Heck, he went beyond the hype. He broke all sorts of records and was good immediately, even though he had no offseason dbecause of the lockout.

Kiper also has Atlanta wide receiver Julio Jones at No. 9. The Falcons took a lot of heat for trading up to get Jones. He turned in a solid first year, and easily would have gone over 1,000 receiving yards if he had stayed healthy all season.

The Falcons still are going to get some criticism for making the trade, especially since it left them without a first-round pick this year. But I think time will show this was a good move by the Falcons.

A couple hours ago, I heard veteran Atlanta tight end Tony Gonzalez talking about Jones on Sirius NFL Radio. Gonzalez called Jones “the most complete receiver’’ he’s ever been around. Gonzalez said that’s because of the combination of size and speed Jones possesses. He admitted Jones isn’t a finished product, but said Jones just needs a little more game experience before he really starts to shine.

The final NFC South player in Kiper’s top 20 is Tampa Bay defensive end Adrian Clayborn at No. 16. I think Clayborn kind of got overshadowed by his team’s collapse. But the rookie had a pretty nice season. He played the run well and produced 7.5 sacks. Kiper says that Clayborn could end up being a Pro Bowler. I don’t think that’s a stretch. If Tampa Bay can keep defensive tackles Gerald McCoy and Brian Price healthy, Clayborn has a real shot to produce double-digit sacks on a regular basis.

Here’s what I think is a fascinating Insider post by Mel Kiper. He revisits the 2006 NFL draft and does it over again from scratch.

Obviously, Kiper’s got the benefit of hindsight. But it’s kind of fun to look back now and see how things could have been different for the NFC South teams.

Remember, the Saints had the No. 2 overall pick that year and the Houston Texans had the No. 1 choice. There was a lot of debate on if the Texans would take Mario Williams or Reggie Bush.

In the end, Houston went with Williams and the Saints took Bush. Williams and Bush each had their moments, but neither has quite lived up to his draft status. Bush was traded to the Miami Dolphins in 2011.

As Kiper does the 2006 draft all over, he no longer has the Saints drafting Bush. He has them taking center Nick Mangold. Imagine that? Mangold is widely considered the best center in the league. The Saints could have the best center in the league surrounded by Jahri Evans and Carl Nicks, who are considered the best guards in the league.

But it wouldn’t have worked out that way in Kiper’s scenario. Remember, the Saints had one of the all-time great drafts in 2006. They added Evans, receiver Marques Colston and safety Roman Harper in later rounds.

In Kiper’s new draft, Evans, Colston and Harper don’t make it out of the first round and they land with other teams.

The Carolina Panthers had the No. 27 pick that year and they used it on running back DeAngelo Williams. In Kiper’s new draft, Williams would have been off the board long before Carolina drafted. Instead, Kiper has the Panthers selecting Antoine Bethea, who has turned into a very solid cornerback.

In 2006, the Buccaneers drafted guard Davin Joseph at No. 23. He’s turned out to be a solid player and is at the Pro Bowl right now. But, in Kiper’s new draft, Joseph is scooped up several spots before the Bucs can take him. Instead, Kiper gives Tampa Bay Kamerion Wimbley. Hey, at least with Wimbley, the Bucs would have had a pass rush in recent years.

The Atlanta Falcons didn’t have a first-round pick in 2006. They traded it to the New York Jets for defensive end John Abraham, who has had a very productive run in Atlanta. But the Jets turned that pick into tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson. Had the Falcons landed Ferguson in 2006, they never would have drafted Sam Baker in 2008.

Check out this Insider post in which ESPN’s Mel Kiper has his first mock draft for 2012.

Kiper has the Tampa Bay Buccaneers taking Alabama running back Trent Richardson with the No. 5 overall pick. Kiper also cautions that fans shouldn’t assume the Bucs won’t take a running back here because they already have LeGarrette Blount. If anything, the 2011 season showed that Blount probably never will be an every-down back. He simply isn’t a pass-catcher and never could pick up the pass protections well enough for the previous coaching staff to leave him on the field as a pass-blocker. I’m not sure the Bucs are going to be willing to lock up Blount with any sort of long-term deal. Blount still could have a role because he is a good power runner. But drafting Richardson makes plenty of sense because he’s an all-around running back. Also, drafting an offensive skill-position player usually generates a lot of excitement. I’m not saying the Bucs would simply draft a player to generate excitement, but this is a franchise that could use anything that might generate a little positive interest.

Kiper also has another Alabama player going to the only other NFC South team with a first-round pick this year. That’s cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick. That move would make plenty of sense because the Panthers are looking to upgrade a defense that wasn’t very good in 2011. Put Kirkpatrick opposite Chris Gamble and Carolina instantly would have a better secondary than it did last season.

At the moment, Atlanta and New Orleans don’t have first-round picks in 2012. The Falcons gave up their pick last year in the trade to get Julio Jones. The Saints did the same thing to acquire Mark Ingram. It’s still possible, but not likely, the Saints and Falcons could trade for first-round picks.

Take a look at this Insider post by Mel Kiper in which he revisits the 2011 draft and gives updated grades for each team.

After the draft, Kiper gave the Carolina Panthers a C. Now, he’s giving them an A-. That sounds pretty accurate because No. 1 overall pick Cam Newton certainly proved he’s a franchise quarterback.

I think Kiper is pretty generous with his grades for the Falcons and Saints. He gave the Falcons a B. Wide receiver Julio Jones did some very good things as a rookie. But the Falcons gave up a lot to trade up to draft him. They don’t have a first-round pick for 2012. I think it’s a little too early to label the Jones trade a success or failure. I think we’ll have a better answer in two or three years.

Kiper gave the Saints a C+. Based simply on this year’s production from defensive end Cameron Jordan and running back Mark Ingram, I’d say that’s fair. But this is kind of like Atlanta. The Saints gave up their 2012 first-round pick to get Ingram. Let’s see how his career plays out over the next couple of years before making any calls on this one.

Kiper gave the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a B. That’s respectable and I think it’s pretty accurate. The Bucs didn’t have many bright spots in 2011, but rookie defensive end Adrian Clayborn and middle linebacker Mason Foster showed some promise.

Time to check out the biggest headlines from around the division. You'll notice we're going heavy on the Falcons and Saints. There's a reason for that. They're still playing.

During the regular season, the Falcons kept a strict limit on John Abraham’s plays and used a rotation at defensive end. But there will be no limits in the postseason. I like this move a lot. There’s no question Abraham needed to be limited in the regular season because there is no way the veteran would have endured a full season if he had played all the time. But it makes sense to turn him loose now that every game could be the last of the season. Besides, Abraham should be highly motivated to show he has something left in the tank. His contract is up as soon as the season ends.

Audio from the Saints’ sideline showed that quarterback Drew Brees was concerned about helping teammates Jimmy Graham and Darren Sproles reach records, but didn’t want any more attention for himself. That’s simply what you would expect from Brees. It isn’t this way with everyone in the league, but what you see is what you get with Brees.

The Saints did a good job of keeping Detroit receiver Calvin Johnson in check when they met in the regular season. They’ll likely use a similar scheme against him in the playoff game.

Giants coach Tom Coughlin, who’s not known as the loosest coach in the NFL, seemed relaxed Thursday. Consider that a sign he feels like his team is looking good as it prepares for the Falcons.

Safety Louis Delmas is expected to return for the Lions after missing extensive time with a knee injury. He was one of several defenders that were out the last time the Lions played the Saints, so New Orleans will be looking at a different defense.

In this Insider post, Mel Kiper ranks Tampa Bay as the fourth-best available coaching job based on the existing roster. He has only Jacksonville ranked beneath the Bucs. Can’t say I disagree.

Martin Fennelly writes that it looks like Mike Sherman is the front-runner for the Tampa Bay job, but he’s not going to excited the fan base. Probably true, but the two or three guys that actually would excite the fan base aren’t returning to coaching or aren’t coming to Tampa Bay. Sherman’s better than what the Bucs had -- and so are the rest of the guys they’re interviewing. He’d at least bring some stability to an organization that hasn’t had any. It might take some time to win over the fan base, but at least he’d control the locker room from the start.

In this Insider post, Mel Kiper has his summer audits on the four NFC South teams.

In each case, he takes a look back at the draft, a look at remaining questions (that’s a little more significant this year because we’ve yet to have free agency) and what’s ahead, where he projects a 2012 draft pick for each team.

I’m not allowed to give everything away, but we’ll give you a glimpse at one thing Mel had to say about each team. He’s got the Falcons drafting Missouri defensive end Brad Madison next year. That could happen, but I’m almost certain the Falcons will make a major move at defensive end as soon as free agency opens.

Kiper praises Carolina’s drafting of Brandon Hogan in the fourth round. The Panthers have taken some heat for that one because Hogan has had some off-field problems. But Kiper says he’ll add a much-needed physical presence at cornerback.

Kiper has the Saints drafting Purdue defensive tackle Kawaan Short in 2012. Sounds like he thinks Shaun Rogers might only be a one-year bridge.

Although he admits there is risk due to a knee injury, Kiper heaps praise on the Bucs for taking defensive end Da’Quan Bowers in the second round.

The NFL draft has been over for almost a month, so you know what that means?

In this Insider post, Mel Kiper unveils his first big board for the class of 2012. It’s topped by Andrew Luck. We all know he’s the Stanford quarterback the Carolina Panthers would have taken No. 1 overall if he had come out this year.

I know that begs the question about if the Panthers would have the first pick in 2012, if there is no 2011 season. Well, that seems like a logical enough assumption. But nobody in any official capacity will say that definitively, probably because they can’t bear the thought of no football being played this season. But that’s enough labor stuff.

I’m looking at Kiper’s board and seeing some themes. Looks like 2012 will be a great year for defensive ends out of North Carolina. It also looks like an excellent year for cornerbacks and a pretty good one for wide receiver.

In this Insider post, Mel Kiper takes a look at guys who were early draft picks in 2010 that he expects to take big leaps in 2011.

The one guy from the NFC South he has on the list is Tampa Bay defensive tackle Gerald McCoy. Kiper says his main reason for big expectations from McCoy is the fact the Bucs have added help at defensive end by drafting Adrian Clayborn and Da'Quan Bowers. He’s right about that, and their presence on the outside certainly will help McCoy on the inside.

But I would have put McCoy on a list of rising players even if the Bucs didn’t beef up at defensive end. I thought McCoy was really starting to come on strong last year before suffering a season-ending injury. The Tampa Bay coaches said the same thing.

McCoy was just starting to get used to the NFL game when he got hurt. He also wasn’t able to get used to playing with Brian Price, who the Bucs drafted in the second round last year. Price got hurt before McCoy. Put them back together in a rotation with Roy Miller and there’s some talent on the inside of the line.

Now, there’s talent on the outside. Throw in the fact McCoy is supposedly working this offseason to add more upper-body strength and that’s why I think he could be poised for a breakthrough season.

In this Insider post , Mel Kiper grades the draft classes for the NFC South teams and the entire league.

I won’t reveal the grades here, since we’re not supposed to give away everything in Insider posts. However, I will tell you Kiper gave the Buccaneers the highest grade in the division. Tough to argue with that one, since Tampa Bay did a very nice job of filling needs. The Bucs also got what might turn out to be great value when they took defensive end Da'Quan Bowers, who tumbled into the second round.

The Saints were next in the division in Kiper’s grading system.

He likes that they got defensive end Cameron Jordan and running back Mark Ingram in the first round and thinks linebacker Martez Wilson should have been drafted long before the Saints took him in the third round.

Kiper gave the Falcons mixed-reviews. He says their draft was all about wide receiver Julio Jones and he’s right because the Falcons gave up a lot to move up to No. 6 to get him. Kiper also says that means the Falcons expect Jones to be very good right away. He’s probably right and that might not be fair to Jones. As a general rule, rookie receivers take a little time to develop. Atlanta’s draft can’t really be graded fairly for a couple of years. But Kiper gets paid to do his grades very quickly.

Although they had the No. 1 overall pick, Kiper gave the Panthers the lowest grade in the division. Like a lot of people, Kiper is torn on quarterback Cam Newton. He acknowledged the tremendous upside, but said the Panthers might be wise to let Newton sit for a season. That might be true, but I think the plan is to play him pretty quickly.