Leisher's 2021 Mock Draft #2

[jleisher]

For this mock, I used Nfldraftscout.com for scouting, Spotrac.com for cap information, Fansided.com for salary cap issues and Fanspeak.com for FA's contracts and salary cap hits.

My thinking with this mock is that we have a 3 year window, lets add some veterans to push the team over the NFC Championship hump.

Joe Barry DC  ( I am not a big fan of this selection, but my guy turned if down.)

Maurice Drayton STC

(Per Spotrac.com)  2021 Packers Cap Space is -$21.8m.

(Per Fansided.com, creating cap space.)

Restructures:   D. Bakhiari  LT  (+$8.3m)     A. Rodgers  QB  (+$15m)     B. Turner  RT  (+$3m)     Total cap saved  (+$26.3)     

Cuts:  P. Smith Edge  (=$8m)  C. Kirksey  ILB  (+$5.6m)  R. Wagner  RT  (+$4.3m)  D. Lowry  DE  (+$3.3m)  D. Funchess  WR  (+$1.3m)     Total cap saved  (+$22.9m)

Extended:  D. Adams  WR  (+$9.3m)  Z. Smith  Edge  (+$12.4m)  A. Amos  S  (+$4.7m)  Total cap saved  (+$26.4m)

2021 Cap space after moves:  +$53.8m  ($5m is already been set aside for draft picks)

 

Resign:        L. Taylor  G  1yr $1.5m  100%  Cap hit:  $1.5m

                   J. Veldheer  T  1yr $4m  100%  Cap hit:  $4m

                

                   M. Lewis  TE  1yr  $2.5m  100%  Cap hit:  $2.5m                                                                                            Total cap hit:  $7.0m

 

RFA's:       A.  Lazard  WR

                R. Tonyan  TE                                                                                                                                                       Total cap hit:  $2m?

2021 Cap space:  $46.8m

FA"s:       JJ. Watt  DE  2yrs  $14m  70%  Cap hit:  $11.2m

            

                C. Samuel  WR  4yrs  $9m  50%  Cap hit:  $6.3m

 

              JK. Wright  LB  2yrs  $6m  50%  Cap hit:  $4.8m

             F. Gore  RB  1yr  $2m  100%  Cap hit:  $2m

 

                  X. Rhodes  CB  3yrs  $8m  60%  Cap hit:  $6m

 

                    M. Hilton  SCB  2yrs  $4m  50%  Cap hit:  $2m                                                             Total cap hit:  $32.3

 

Total Cap space after offseason $14.5m

 

2021  NFL Draft:

#30.  

                  

Zaven Collins  LB  Tulsa

Collins offers an exciting blend of size, length, power, football intelligence, and versatility that makes him a dynamic prospect for the NFL.  Plays behind JK. Wright to learn the spot, could take over in 2022. 

 

#62.  

  

Liam  Eichenberg  T  Notre Dame

Gap/power teams will unleash his power at the point of attack effectively and he’ll do well to create creases as guards pull or tight ends insert to lead the ball carrier through his gap.

  He’s more impactful in the run game than he is in pass protection, but he was rather smooth protecting one of college football’s most unpredictable quarterbacks this past season, too.   Could start at LT until Bak is ready, so slide over and start at RT with Turner moving to RG and Patrick moving to C.

 

 

#93.   

   

Chuba Hubbard  RB  Oklahoma St.

 

     Hubbard is a patient and confident runner that runs well behind his pads. Keeping a low center of gravity, he’s a one cut and accelerate runner that’s had lots of success in the wide-open Air Raid offense. With adequate vision and the athleticism to take advantage of small spaces, he’s a threat that could thrive in a zone-based blocking scheme that leverages angles and relies on quick cuts from rushers. With Dillion, Hubbard and Gore in the backfield, the Packers have youth and veteran insurance.

 

#134.  

Alim McNeill  DT  NC State

While there is some rawness that shows up to his game when it comes to technique and processing skills, McNeill is a powerful interior defender that is capable of controlling and resetting the line of scrimmage with his heavy hands and functional strength. 

 

#141.  

Keith Taylor  CB/S  Washington

In the run game, he is a willing tackler who uses his length to secure tackles. He has excellent tackling efficiency in space and receivers rarely get extra yardage while he is in coverage. In the passing game, he does a good job of using his length in press coverage. He will play a bail technique at times and will get caught looking in the backfield as a result. 

 

#174.

Aaron Banks  G  Notre Dame

 

Aaron Banks projects to the NFL as a quality option along an offensive line. Banks, who is a multi-year starter with the Irish, brings plenty of experience to the pro game and is physically built to last on the interior. Banks offers a wide base, plenty of weight distribution below the waist, and some notable results as a power at the point of attack blocker looking to drive opponents off the line of scrimmage. 

 

#177.

Quinn Meinerz  C/G  UW- Whitewater

 

#214

Khyiris Tonga  DT/NT  BYU

He excels as a run defender. When he plays with good pad level, he is extremely difficult to single block. He needs to become more consistent at disengaging quickly, but he does show the ability to get to the football. He is a player that would be described as “stronger than he is explosive” based on his movement skills. He uses a good bull rush to get home and uses his length to knock down passes when he cannot. 

 

#220.

Alaric Jackson  RT/G  Iowa

 

#254.

Janarius Robinson  Edge/DL  Florida St.

Robinson has long arms, heavy hands, and a stocky build that was engineered to play on the edge in the NFL. He is a powerful run defender, smart processor, and has plenty of tools to become a more effective pass rusher. He has some really exciting flashes rushing the passer where his length, flexibility, rush variety, effort, and hand power shine. 

 

UDFA's:

 

  Zach Smith  QB  Tulsa

  Zach Davidson  TE  Central Missouri St.

  Carson Green  T  Texas A7M

 

         Shaun Jolly  CB  Appalachian St.

  Jamar Johnson  S  Indiana

  Drue Chrisman  P  Ohio St.

  Jonathan Adams  WR  Arkansas St.

  Connor Olson  C  Minnesota

 

 

              

              

[CWood21]

Lane Taylor and Jared Veldheer aren't worth anything more than the veteran minimum's at this point in their career.  Paying $4M to Veldheer is just all kinds of odd, especially when that combined with what we're paying Wagner after cutting him is pretty much the same as keeping him.  FA as a whole is probably a bit too optimistic.  That's kicking a TON of cap down the road.

Like Zaven Collins a LOT, but are we going to utilize him enough?  He's the Z of LBs.  Unless you're going to utilize him that way, I think you're going to be hard pressed to pass on an OT, DL, or CB here.

Liam Eichenberg does nothing more for me.  He's a poor man McGlinchey.  And not in a good way.

Indifferent to Chuba.  There's a ton of mileage on those legs there.  Only other thoughts I have is Meinerz has some helium right now.  He's an early Day 3 pick at the latest IMO.  Probably moved into Day 2.

[coachbuns]

Don't know much about your draft prospects to give an opinion.  That being said, I like the idea of signing some vets on a short term contract to fill some holes and try and push the team to a ring.  The cap will be going up with a new tv contract and if they draft "smartly", stock the cupboard with players to take over when the vets picked up are done/gone/cut.  Good outside the box ideas.

[St Vince]

Any mock with Chuba Hubbard in it gets an A.

[Ragnarok]

It all sounds very nice...but I very, very, very highly doubt that Zaven Collins is there in the 1st, Liam is there in the 2nd, or Meinerz is there at #177.  All probably go a fair bit higher than that.

[Joe]

56 minutes ago, Ragnarok said:

It all sounds very nice...but I very, very, very highly doubt that Zaven Collins is there in the 1st, Liam is there in the 2nd, or Meinerz is there at #177.  All probably go a fair bit higher than that.

Agreed. EDGE guys are going higher than expected these days and very few fall down the boards, whereas OL tend to fall a bit. With that said, someone will probably reach on Eichenberg early 2nd around and Meinerz will go early 3rd. I think we can do better at OT and I also suspect that someone with a 2nd round grade could tumble into the 3rd or 4th; Samuel Cosmi and Alex Leatherwood come to mind...

[Ragnarok]

9 minutes ago, Joe said:

Agreed. EDGE guys are going higher than expected these days and very few fall down the boards, whereas OL tend to fall a bit. With that said, someone will probably reach on Eichenberg early 2nd around and Meinerz will go early 3rd. I think we can do better at OT and I also suspect that someone with a 2nd round grade could tumble into the 3rd or 4th; Samuel Cosmi and Alex Leatherwood come to mind...

I would expect Cosmi and Leatherwood to go in the 1st before I'd expect them to last til the 3rd.

[moretti19]

Really REALLY like Curtis Samuel 

[Pugger]

I'm not all that familiar with the draft picks but Frank Gore is a little too long in the tooth for me.

[pgwingman]

25 minutes ago, Pugger said:

I'm not all that familiar with the draft picks but Frank Gore is a little too long in the tooth for me.

How dare you. Frank Gore is a national treasure

[pgwingman]

Great offer on the mock, but I'm curious what your goal was. To me, it looks like it was to move Turner to RT and then fill out the inside of the Oline with draft pick depth and Taylor. It seems like a lot to ask of him, especially with Bakh potentially missing the start of the year. I think I'd rather keep Wagner there as a known quantity to be honest.

I do really appreciate the effort to free up money and go "all in" with free agency though

[ThatJerkDave]

Before even getting to the draft, you have us creating nearly 54 million in cap space, and we don't bring back Linsley? I also don't understand why we would cut Wagner to basically give the money saved to his replacement.  Do you think Veldheer is better than Wagner?  Also, why cut Preston Smith if we are going to make that much free space? We will play more than 2 edge defenders a significant amount of snaps.  Unless we know Zaven is going to be there, and is capable of taking those snaps immediately; or one of: Garvin, Galeai, Delonte Scott, or Randy Ramsey will make a big jump, it seems like kind of a waste.  

I like bringing back Taylor.  If he is recovered, he is a good hand at guard.  However, I think we are really loading up at the guard position.  We drafted Runyan and Stepaniak last season, and signed Zack Johnson and Ben Braden.  That is added to the duo of Jenkins and Patrick, who should have 2 of the 3 interior positions handled.  Then we add 4 more interior linemen this offseason?

I do like Curtis Samuel and KJ Wright.  

I think I would like more darts thrown at defensive backs and fewer IOL and IDL.  Perhaps don't cut Lowry, Watt will be more effective playing fewer snaps.  Lowry is not prohibitively expensive, or bad.  This is putting a lot of pressure on inexperience and JJ Watt to play a lot of snaps.

[Billy86]

A+ if for no other reason than Frank Gore. I felt so, so bad for him missing what might be his last game injured, with only 15yds needed to join Emmitt, Jerry and Walter as the onky guys with 20,000 from scrimmage. 

 

Not that he'd be any more than a rb3 averaging about 1 touch a game and frankly I think he's past it and we could do better in the draft, but damn it I hope someone picks him up and gives him the 5-10 touches he needs to get over the mark. 

[Joe]

13 hours ago, Ragnarok said:

I would expect Cosmi and Leatherwood to go in the 1st before I'd expect them to last til the 3rd.

Don't tell that to TDN who has them ranked as the 51st and 61st overall prospects respectively. Leatherwood struggles with speed rushers while Cosmi has a host of technical flaws, though those can always be corrected be our elite OL coaching staff. TDN claims both have some stiffness in the lower portion of their bodies, which is almost the exact same criticism that has absolutely destroyed Alaric Jackson's draft stock.

 

[gizmo2012]

Not to insult you but your free agent signings contracts are laughable. Not sure even then how the Packers afford to sign them and please let Frank Gore retire in peace.  You do realize that even with Bak restructuring to save over 8 million next year still leaves the Packers 24 million over the cap.