Draft buzz: T-minus-3

* Winning. The big news of the night was the players winning their legal action against the owners, with an injunction being granted to lift the lockout. The owners immediately filed for a stay of the order, but (apparently) since the judge who lifted the lockout didn’t also grant the stay, NFL stands for National Football Limbo right now. Does the league calendar re-start? Can players be traded at the draft this weekend as well as picks? Is free agency now underway? Fans, as usual, are left with a lot more questions than answers, at least as I write this morning.

Echoing that sentiment, Charley Casserly said on NFL Network Monday night that there’ll be “chaos” if the league doesn’t get an immediate stay. On ESPN, Chris Mortensen raised the possibility that free agency could open the day of the draft. Talk about insane. I’m confident that the Rams would be ready for that scenario, but RamView sure as hell isn’t.

Mortensen also humorously tweeted that today might be a good day for Sam Bradford to sneak over to Josh McDaniels' office and grab a playbook.

* QB drama picks up. Three days before the draft, nobody’s really tipped their hand. Prevailing opinion says the Panthers are still taking Cam Newton. One guy who doesn’t buy that is Denver HC John Fox, who should know the Panthers organization, having just ended a nine-year run there. He thinks Carolina is leaning toward taking Marcel Dareus. Steve Wyche indicated on NFL Network that Newton’s the only QB the Panthers are considering, with Dareus and Patrick Peterson also in the picture. The book on Newton hasn’t changed much on NFL Net; it’s said he’s done and said all the right things, and is in phenomenal shape; the doubts are about his attitude and work ethic.

What does that do to Blaine Gabbert? Contacted six miles below ground in the NFL Network DraftCave, Mike Mayock says he shouldn’t fall past the top five, with Tennessee at 8 the worst-case scenario. Buffalo and Cincinnati seem set to address other needs in the first round and try to pick up a QB in the 2nd.

Gabbert may not even outlast Ryan Mallett by that much, as talk intensifies that the Redskins are planning to take Mallett at #10. NFL Network’s millionth scouting report of Mallett this month now says he’s not as immobile as the other 999,999 scouting reports make him out to be. Mayock praised Mallett’s football IQ and ability and suspects he will be drafted somewhere in the 20s.

Somehow, Jake Locker is still considered a first rounder among all this mess. #1 I-Heart-Jake-Locker fan Mayock says he’ll go in the top 16. Somebody will take him because they feel they won’t be able to get him later. Great worker with a big arm, but a 1-2 year project who’s going to have to be very protected at first.

That’s FOUR QBs in the first round; now here come two more, as Path to the Draft mounted speculation that one or more teams are bound to get antsy that they don’t have their QB yet, setting the stage for a trade up into the tail end of the round to go after Christian Ponder and/or Andy Dalton. The Steelers, Packers and Patriots could be well-positioned for a feeding frenzy at picks 31-33.

* Team rumors. 2. Denver – Broncos appear set to take the top defensive player available. Talk is that they’re leaning toward Von Miller.

4. Cincinnati – It's impossible to believe anything coming from the Bengals' camp right now. On one hand, it's said they're taking a QB in the 2nd round; on the other, HC Marvin Lewis claims quarterback is still very much in play at #4. Jamie Dukes says that Cincinnati or Buffalo should take Gabbert if he falls, and that the Bengals will take Newton if he falls to their pick.

9. Dallas – Tackle is the Cowboys’ primary interest. They want either Tyron Smith, Anthony Costanzo or even Nate Solder, and all of those are players they could pick up after a trade down. News like that seems to keep the Rams’ chances of trading up to #9 in play, should Julio Jones last that long.

13. Detroit – Dukes describes cornerback as the Lions’ overwhelming lead and that they should do all they can to get a top candidate.

17/28/33. New England – Path to the Draft spent FAR too much time yakking about the Patriots. There are 31 other teams, you know. Belichick’s priorities would appear to be offensive line – 1, defensive line – 2, but they have all kinds of options with their multiple high picks, including acquiring picks for next year; they currently have only five picks in 2012. Casserly thinks they should trade up high and add an impact receiver or pass rusher. Barring that, look at Cameron Jordan, J.J. Watt or Cameron Heyward at 17, Allen Watkins and other o-line depth at 28. Yes, that’s a reversal of the priorities just listed. Dukes lobbied for Mark Ingram as a running game upgrade at 17 and said there’s plenty of tough, mean offensive interior linemen in rounds 2-4.

31. Pittsburgh – There’s little talk of the Steelers using their first pick on a DE, but that could actually be the position they address. They have scouted a lot of DEs closely.

* Player rumors. Robert Quinn’s draft stock may be suffering a late hit for a couple of reasons: long-term concern about his benign brain tumor, and on the field, he doesn’t appear to have value to 3-4 teams as an OLB.

Casserly said he won’t be surprised now if Da’Quan Bowers falls completely out of the first round due to the condition of his knee.

Casserly also made a case for practically every team in the top 10 to take Julio Jones. The Rams have no chance of getting Jones at #14.

One last speculation from Casserly: Mikel Leshoure to the Patriots or Packers in the first round.

Mike Lombardi speculated that Kyle Rudolph will be the first TE selected; that’s no surprise, but Lombardi believes Rudolph will go off the board before the third WR is chosen.

* Mock horror. In the ESPN.com bloggers’ mock draft, Mike Sando had the Rams take J.J. Watt, possibly the worst projection I’ve heard so far for the Rams. Corey Liuget, Cameron Jordan and Da’Quan Bowers were all still on the board, along with Mike Pouncey. (RamView’s hero Marvin Austin wasn’t even drafted in the first round.) In any event, Watt is one of the worst possible fits for the Ram defense, and I’m stumped why someone who follows the team as closely as Sando would recommend that pick.

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