The Stanford Cardinal had quite the season in 2011 and the program will undoubtably have their most successful draft day to show from it. With as many as four Cardinal projected to go in the first round, Stanford should be very proud of the players to come through their program in recent years. SB Nation recently released their first post-season mock draft and has three players going in the first round.
1. Indianapolis Colts, Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford
Unless you've been living in a Tebow-induced state of semi-rapture, you know the ugly dance going on between the Colts and Peyton Manning. He's leaving town next month, iffy neck and all. Lost in ridiculous cable shouting matches is the fact that the Colts have a new regime. New regimes mean new quarterbacks, especially when the incumbent quarterback is in his mid thirties, coming off major neck surgery and due a gazillion dollars. At the end of the day, the NFL is just a business. Peyton Manning is just another redundancy on the ledger sheet.
13. Arizona Cardinals, Jonathan Martin, OT, Stanford
The Cardinals mortgaged a chuck on their future for Kevin Kolb. They might have gotten fleeced, but sticking him behind a mound of wet paper towels for protection didn't help. Reports indicate that they plan to let Levi Brown walk. Martin would fill that void ... and then some.
32. New York Giants, Coby Fleener, TE, Stanford
It's hard to imagine the Giants offense getting another weapon in the passing game, but adding a sure-handed tight end would add another dimension to their offense.
The notable omission from the first round is offensive lineman David DeCastro, who is projected by most to be mid-to-late first round pick.
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