DB424 Christmas Mock Draft

[diamondbull424]

Round One

Tyler Biadasz, C, Wisconsin, 6’3” 316 lbs

Pro Comparison: Frank Ragnow, IOL

I think this is Yanda’s swan song if we win the Super Bowl. If Yanda leaves there will be an obvious competition for the RG spot and I think Biadasz could compete for the center spot as well as the RG spot along with Skura, Powers, and Mekari. Biadasz is probably the best center prospect to come out of the draft since Nick Mangold many years ago. There were rumors at the time that the Ravens would’ve drafted Mangold if the Browns hadn’t foolishly passed up on Haloti Ngata. That was in the top 10. At the bottom of the 1st half with many teams likely passing on center for OT, we might have a shot at Biadasz falling into place and if we do, you don’t pass up a generational center talent regardless of how good the IOL depth looks. Biadasz would replace Yanda with another immediate Pro Bowl/All Pro caliber talent within the middle of our OL.

Round Two

Jacob Phillips, ILB, LSU, 6’4” 233 lbs

Pro Comparison: Rashaan Evans, ILB

Phillips reminds me of Evans a lot. A downhill type of linebacker that’s overall a very very solid ILB option that has pro bowl ability but doesn’t have the elite athletic traits that would likely ever thrust him into that All Pro conversation. His weaknesses are in pass coverage, but he’s only a young 21 so with pro coaching I would anticipate that area of his game improving. But he’s got the instincts, smarts, and solid athleticism combination to be a very safe LB selection. He’s a plug and play guy from day one.

Round Three

Neville Gallimore, DL, Oklahoma, 6’2” 301 lbs

Pro Comparison: Geno Atkins, DT

Most would not expect Oklahoma to be a place where you go looking for defensive impact and that’s partly why I think Gallimore May fall this far in the draft. He’s somewhat the opposite of Phillips above. While Phillips is a high impact player at a young age with only above average athleticism, Gallimore is kind of freaky for his size/athleticism combination. He’s got a very dangerous swim move and a very good spin move as well. His shorter height also gives him some leverage so as to be effective against the run. What makes him the opposite of Phillips is that he really didn’t seemingly get going and breakout until his redshirt Junior season. He’s from Canada 🇨🇦  however and that transition/talent jump could be a potential factor in that. I would expect Gallimore to be an instant impact as a rotational DL option in obvious passing situations that can develop into an impact DL. His ceiling athletically could put him in a Grady Jarrett/Geno Atkins type of mold.

Round Three: Comp (Zardarius Smith)

DeVonta Smith, WR, Alabama, 6’2” 175 lbs

Pro Comparison: Calvin Ridley, WR

Listening to a Harbaugh quote on Mark Andrews takes me back to my initial 2017 feeling on Andrews as a guy that reminded me of Gronk who was big and just found ways to get open... then I overthought it and figured it had to be scheme getting him open as other guys look faster or quicker, etc. I felt the same way about Calvin Ridley in that class as well.

Why is that relevant to DeVonta Smith? Because I also have started to wonder if it’s the immense talent at Alabama, is it the scheme, what is it? But on a weekly basis Smith seems to stir fry the corners he faces yet consistently seems to be considered the third best pro prospect at Alabama. It seems clear at this point that in such a deep WR class where other guys will test potentially out of this world or have the better size profile or have the grander personalities that a guy like Smith will be somewhat undervalued... similar to Mark Andrews. He may be going in the third round of my mock draft but make no mistake, I am VERY high on Smith. I think he’s a first round talent that just doesn’t have the crazy measurables. But he wins with route nuance, quickness, precision, and length. He can win within his route but also seems to be the go to option when the play breaks down, for the backyard plays. I compare his movement style to Tyler Boyd, while he has a similar build, hands, and route precision as former Bama standout Calvin Ridley. 

Round Four: Patriots trade for Eluemunor

Clyde Edwards-Helair, RB, LSU, 5’8” 199 lbs

Pro Comparison: Ray Rice, RB

With the plethora of backs in this class some of my favorite RBs will fall such as Zack Moss and CEH. Edwards-Helair brings a separate element to the team. He’s a great receiving back out of the backfield, great hands, has similar juice to Justice Hill. There’s a way to make the 4-back backfield work, but in a one cut ZBS Hill would make for a more ideal fit than he does in our system. CEH would ensure that we see no drop off in athletic ability, while upgrading the RB vision and pass catching ability. 

Round Four:

Khaleke Hudson, LB/S, Michigan, 6’0” 220 lbs

Pro Comparison: Mychal Kendricks, ILB

In every draft there comes a point where you start to notice trends in team building and I believe the idea behind this mock draft and one we might see with the Ravens in 2020 is the idea of “versatility” you’ve got corners that can play safety, LBs that can play safety, DTs that can play some end, etc. We’ve seen this trend with our offense and defense as of late and Khaleke Hudson seems like the perfect addition to this concept. He could fall in the draft because he’s undersized for a LB and isn’t necessarily the ideal safety frame either. He’s your classic tweener, but he’s the perfect modern day fit for a versatile defensive front. With Phillips and Hudson the defense would see a big injection in youth and athleticism in the middle. Hudson would be someone that could immediately come into the role of someone like Anthony Levine and be a core special teams player as well as an impact dime LBer. It helps that their would be some familiarity as he’s been coached by John’s brother Jim for some years.

Round Four: Comp (John Brown)

Quincy Roche, OLB, Temple, 6’3” 235 lbs

Player Comparison: Tim Williams, OLB

While former Raven, Williams didn’t work out with the squad that seemed to be less about his actual ability and more about some combination of his durability and his inability to focus on his rap album during the season. Harbaugh loves how this team simultaneously has the ability to have fun as well as love the game of football.

How is that relevant here? Well first off shout out to dreamkid for the initial mention of this kid and bring him to the forefront. But it’s absolutely relevant as we all know what those single digit numbers mean at Temple. There is an obvious love for football with those players as we found with former Temple all star, Tavon Young. Roche has a skillset that this team needs and while he’s very light and can use the extra time in an NFL conditioning program to bulk up, that’s likely what will allow him to fall this far in the draft in the first place. So when you combine the explosive potential that Williams has for the game with the obvious passion potential for the game that a single digit Temple player provides the resulting ceiling for Roche could look something like Yannick Ngakoue, in short, an obvious impact specimen and someone with legit Pro Bowl/All Pro potential.

Round Five: Comp (Terrell Suggs)

Essang Bassey, DB, Wake Forest, 5’10” 190 lbs

There’s some versatility to what Bassey provides. He’s got fluidity and toughness that he brings to the DB position. He could probably play some safety, he operates the boundary. He’s fast and could probably make an impact on coverage units. He’s got the athleticism to make an impact on the team and that’s basically all you can ask for at this point in the draft. Really like what I see from him.

Round Seven: Jets trade for Alex Lewis

Jordan Elliot, IDL, Missouri, 6’4” 315 lbs

I would expect the team to lose out on a good portion of their current DL talent with Pierce being a FA that could earn a big payday and Domata Peko likely retiring and riding off into the sunset. Enter Jordan Elliot, he’s got a little bit of penetrating ability, a few moves, while also being pretty stout against the run.

Edited December 25, 2019 by diamondbull424

[berlin calling]

a possible elite C to go with 2 bookend tackles? yes please. Perfect way to ensure Yandas departure doesn't rip a hole into the line.

[Danand]

If we put any value into the current projections, I think this would be a lucky haul of prospects. That said, I like the guys you picked and where you picket them. IOL early is what I want, a sound inside linebacker to follow I can agree on, and Gallimore is a gamewrecker so keep the DL stout when Pierce most likely leave.

Then we add a receiver who have had a better showing than Ruggs and Jeudy every time I have seen Alabama play and a pass rusher that would fit with our rotatio.

CEH is the guy I would think would be the best bet to become a Raven of the guys you picked. That guy fit exactly what we need at runningback. No matter that we have a good rotation so far, CEH would be the obvious choice that could do it all in our scheme.

[diamondbull424]

1 hour ago, Danand said:

If we put any value into the current projections, I think this would be a lucky haul of prospects. That said, I like the guys you picked and where you picket them. IOL early is what I want, a sound inside linebacker to follow I can agree on, and Gallimore is a gamewrecker so keep the DL stout when Pierce most likely leave.

Then we add a receiver who have had a better showing than Ruggs and Jeudy every time I have seen Alabama play and a pass rusher that would fit with our rotatio.

CEH is the guy I would think would be the best bet to become a Raven of the guys you picked. That guy fit exactly what we need at runningback. No matter that we have a good rotation so far, CEH would be the obvious choice that could do it all in our scheme.

True. But to be fair there isn’t much of a consensus at this point between current projections. As I’ve looked over at least 5 extensive boards. None have Roche listed on them at this point FTMP. Smith is either a 2nd round pick on boards or some have him falling to the late 4th round. Phillips is considered generally to be either a mid 3rd rounder to an early 4th round pick. Gallimore is probably the most ambitious as he was generally considered a late 2nd to late 3rd round, though I saw one website that had him going late 1st... though they were the only ones. Either way that’s an ambitious selection for sure.

Though we should start getting a good picture of how this consensus will start to shake out once the Senior Bowl takes place. It should really allow us to get a good gauge as to where these guys are looking to go.

[Danand]

9 hours ago, diamondbull424 said:

True. But to be fair there isn’t much of a consensus at this point between current projections. As I’ve looked over at least 5 extensive boards. None have Roche listed on them at this point FTMP. Smith is either a 2nd round pick on boards or some have him falling to the late 4th round. Phillips is considered generally to be either a mid 3rd rounder to an early 4th round pick. Gallimore is probably the most ambitious as he was generally considered a late 2nd to late 3rd round, though I saw one website that had him going late 1st... though they were the only ones. Either way that’s an ambitious selection for sure.

Though we should start getting a good picture of how this consensus will start to shake out once the Senior Bowl takes place. It should really allow us to get a good gauge as to where these guys are looking to go.

I thought I had put a "but projections this time of year doesn't matter much" sentence in there. I see a lot of comments in mock drafts trashing the positions where players are picked/not picked, although everyone has very little clue to where players will go in april.

[diamondbull424]

11 hours ago, Danand said:

I thought I had put a "but projections this time of year doesn't matter much" sentence in there. I see a lot of comments in mock drafts trashing the positions where players are picked/not picked, although everyone has very little clue to where players will go in april.

Exactly at this point in the process for 2018 Mark Andrews was considered a late 1st round TE and Orlando Brown a top 10 pick... good thing neither of that happened in the real draft. Though I think Hayden Hurst was supposed to be a 4th round pick... might not have been bad to pick him up at that point and use that first round pick on either DJ Moore or Nick Chubb... while obviously still trading back up for Lamar Jackson to keep business as usual.

[Danand]

Do you have a video of Jacoby Phillips from later this year?

His succes will depend so much from him being able to read and react faster. In that clip he often has the right read, besides the pass at 2.00, but he also takes a lot of time to get those reads right.