Steve Palazzolo, Special to ESPN.com 8y

Don't draft that guy! Five prospect-team fits that don't match up

NFL, Denver Broncos, Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, Pittsburgh Steelers, Atlanta Falcons

Every year, due to rumors and/or groupthink, certain prospects and teams get linked together during the process leading up to the NFL draft.

At times, it makes sense, because the player is a perfect scheme fit or because his value matches up perfectly with a team's need. But there are often matches, however, that appear to link a player to a team's need though the fit is less than ideal.

With some help from Pro Football Focus' grading, here are five of the worst fits between players and teams in the first round that we've seen frequently during the lead up to the draft.

QB Connor Cook to the Denver Broncos

Pick: No. 31

Desperation is dangerous motivation for draft strategy, and picking Cook at the end of the first round would be just that for the Broncos. Even with Mark Sanchez penciled in as the starter, Denver can't afford to use a first-round pick on Cook. PFF grades show that he is better suited to go later in the draft, in the third or fourth rounds. The former Michigan State signal-caller is a boom-or-bust player -- he is fearless when throwing the ball down the field and letting his receivers make plays (he led the draft class with an accuracy percentage of 59.4 percent on deep passes), but that same aggressiveness leads to risky throws into coverage. Cook also misses too many easy throws -- his accuracy percentage of 71.4 on 1- to 10-yard throws is third-worst in the draft class -- so the down-to-down consistency is a major concern. While Cook is the type of quarterback who can win games with his aggressive style, his carelessness with the football can also lose games and his inaccuracy is too much of a gamble in the first round, even for a QB-needy team like the Broncos.

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