Post FA Frenzy Mock Draft + Depth Chart

[taylor made]

I think the majority of the Free Agency moves have been completed. We're rumored to be interested in CB Donte Jackson and I think that'd be a logical fit considering the addition of so many former Panthers and our abysmal CB situation. 

Remaining FA Moves: 

21 Million Cap Space Remaining: 

Resign Terry McLaurin (4 years, 81.8 Million) (Grabbed #s from Sportrac)

Resign DaRon Payne (4 years, 72 Million) (A Million more than the Vita Vea contract)

Sign CB Donte Jackson (2 Years, 10 million) (This is just a random guess)

Resign Cornelius Lucas + another backup OT

FIRST ROUND

Pick #11, Devin Lloyd MLB Utah

I know everyone probably has PTSD from the Jamin Davis selection last year but I think it would be a mistake to let last year's selection cloud the decision this year. Lloyd is not Jamin Davis. Lloyd is much more of a playmaker being a former WR and he has good ball skills. He was also a consensus All-American. He's also much more of a threat to rush the passer. He was used as an edge player in the USC game for example. He's set himself apart from someone like Nakobe Dean with good size and athletic ability. His forty time is acceeptable but his 10 yard split has been updated to elite and that makes me feel much better about the selection. I think this trait also shows up on tape. Overall, I think this selection might not a splash type of pick, but probably the most level headed one. I think the team will select a MLB in the first or second round so its a matter of take Lloyd here or gamble that Chad Muma will be available in the second round or select Troy Andersen. I love all three of those guys so I think we have options. MLB is our #1 need.

Would have selected if they were there: (Derek Stingley, Jr., Ahmad Gardner)

Others Considered: Tyler Linderbaum (dark-horse pick), Drake London

SECOND ROUND

Pick #47, Trey McBride TE Colorado St. 

The second round pick is the most important one I believe. The team can go in a number of directions here and could really shape the identity of our offense for the next few years. There's a lot of talented players on the board.  I think everyone is excited to get Carson Wentz some new weapons and make this offense an exciting one. We just drafted John Bates last year and while he was a nice surprise, I'm not sure he is really a TE1. McBride will be able to split out and play in the slot to create matchup problems. I'm not sure McBride will be on this team's radar however as they seem to like tall tight ends (Greg Olsen, Logan Thomas, Ricky Jeans, John Bates are all 6'5"-6'6") McBride is 6'3 and a half. With Logan Thomas being banged up all last year and suffering a late ACL year, I think we need to start thinking of a backup plan sooner than later. 

Others considered: WR Christian Watson, NDSU - The North Dakota State connection with Wentz and need for a WR2, Tyler Smith IOL, Tulsa, Kenneth Walker III RB Michigan St.

FOURTH ROUND

Khalil Shakir WR , Boise St. 

Shakir is ranked #93 overall on Nflmockdraftdatabase.com so he could be gone by the fourth round but I want to highlight how much I like Shakir. I think he's just as good of a prospect as Chris Olave. The team has drafted back to back mid round WRs who haven't accumulated to much but there is always a mid round WR who always outperforms their draft spot (Amon St. Brown, Gabriel Davis) He's in that above average but not elite RAS range where he might get overlooked at 6' 196 pounds and 4.43 forty. 

FIFTH ROUND

Cole Strange, OG Chatanooga

Senior Bowl & RAS Standout. We need more depth at OG after losing both our OG starters. Strange looks great to me. 

SIXTH ROUND

There's a glut of late round Running Backs. Pierre Strong, Jr, Tyler Badie, Abram Smith. Even someone like Kyren Williams could fall to the sixth. I think we could pick up another RB to compete with Jarrett Patterson or use as a 4th running back since we are so injury prone at the position. 

DEFENSE

DE: Chase Young/James Smith-Williams

DT: DaRon Payne/Daniel Wise

DT: Jonathan Allen/David Baba

DE: Montez Sweat/Shaka Toney

WLB: Jamin Davis/Khaleke Hudson

MLB: Devin Lloyd/David Mayo

SLB: Cole Holcomb/Jordan Kunaszyk

CB: William Jackson III/Kendall Fuller/Donte Jackson/Benajmin St. Juste/DJ Hayden/Troy Apke

FS: Bobby McCain/Darrick Forest

 

SS: Kamren Curl/Jeremy Reaves

OFFENSE

QB: Carson Wentz/Taylor H.

RB: Antonio Gibson/JD McKissic/Jarett Patterson/6th round rookie

WR: Terry McLaurin/Cam Sims/Curtis Samuel/Dyami Brown/Khalil Shakir/Dax Milne

LT: Charles Leno, Jr. /Some random FA

LG: Andrew Norwell/Cole Strange

Center: Chase Roullier/Tyler Larsen/Keith Ismael

RG: Wes Scweitzer/Saahdiq Charles

RT: Samuel Cosmi / Cornelius Lucas

TE: Logan Thomas/Trey McBride/John Bates

 

Edited March 19, 2022 by taylor made

[offbyone]

@taylor made  I really like the general direction of this offseason plan.  I like the extensions and think we would be fools not to do them and try to eat a little of the cap hit this year.  I have mixed feelings about Lloyd, but the position is certainly a need.  

The move I am uneasy about is the Trey McBride pick.  Like the prospect, I just don't think we can be drafting a TE with our 2nd when we got Logan Thomas, and Bates from last year.  We just have too many needs.  Feels like a luxury pick.

[lavar703]

Donte Jackson re-signed with Carolina 

[taylor made]

1 minute ago, lavar703 said:

Donte Jackson re-signed with Carolina 

Woof, what a contract

[taylor made]

59 minutes ago, offbyone said:

@taylor made 

The move I am uneasy about is the Trey McBride pick.  Like the prospect, I just don't think we can be drafting a TE with our 2nd when we got Logan Thomas, and Bates from last year.  We just have too many needs.  Feels like a luxury pick.

Yeah, I agree it could be considered a luxury for sure. Sometimes you do that with 2nd round picks though. I.e. Eagles drafted TE Dallas Goedert when they had Ertz. It should be interesting which way they go. You'd think they will pick MLB in either the first or second round. That means offense in the other round. WR, TE, RG and even RB are all possibilities. 

[e16bball]

I absolutely hate paying Daron Payne $18M AAV. Not putting that on you, as the team has willingly put itself in a position where it has little to no choice but to do that. Let Settle and Greek walk away for nothing, you’re almost forced to pay Payne what he wants. 

He’s not as good as Vita Vea, not really even close, though he’s been more durable, which I guess is the big advantage he offers there. He’s also not as good as Jon Allen, who would be getting paid exactly the same, and the idea of committing $36M AAV to a good-but-not dominant DT duo is a non-starter for me personally. We talk about how hard it is to win with a QB making 15-20% of the cap — are Payne/Allen providing more value than a good or great QB?

Aside from that, I love the McLaurin extension. Would do that immediately, although I’d love even more to stretch it out to 5 years at a similar AAV if there was any way. By that time, $20M will be very reasonable for a good WR, and I think he’s a guy who will age pretty well.

I pushed Lloyd pretty hard early on. To me, the more I watch him, I see more of a SLB than a MLB, sort of a Cole Holcomb type who’s at his best playing downhill. It’s hard for me to pick out MLBs, though, when I just don’t know who has the mental chops for the spot, so maybe he could pull it off. I suspect Dean can handle it mentally, but I’m very concerned about whether he can do it physically. I don’t love 11 for us, just in general, so I’d love to bail on that pick and grab more later ammo. If we’re stuck there, though, I’d get on board with Lloyd if they were all-in on him as their defensive captain moving forward. 

McBride is an interesting choice. Makes a lot of sense with Wentz loving to throw to the TEs. I’m feeling a little bit inclined to wait on TE for a moment, largely because I’d like to see what we have in a Thomas/Bates duo. But also because two of my favorite prospects in college are Michael Mayer (who I’ve been calling Baby Gronk since watching his first college game) and Brock Bowers. It feels like in a year or two, we could be a team that has a complete enough roster to justify springing for a big-time TE prospect.

Big fan of Cole Strange, but I’d wager he’s more of a 3rd rounder than a 5th. In all candor, I’d never heard of the dude before the Combine, but looking back at the Senior Bowl reports, he showed up well there also. Maybe they could snare him in the 4th?

Edited March 19, 2022 by e16bball

[aceinthehouse]

I won't feel good, until we get a "true" #2 wr on this team.

I know I'm beating a dead horse here. Unless we can strike fear in opposing defenses, it isn't gonna matter what we do in the draft.

Carson will be laying on his back, because he won't have anyone to go to.

You can't just hope that McLaurin will not get injured in any capacity & for Curtis Samuels to fill that #2 role. He's not a #2....he's a traditional #3 slot guy, imo.

You think teams are scared if we role out Brown or Sims for that 2 spot. That's silly...

Teams will know easily how to stop our D.

Shut down Scary Terry

Contain Logan Thomas

Watch for screens to RB

Stop the run & put pressure on Wentz

Win game.

Simple!

You can't depend on some rookie WR to come in here, solidify that #2 role without knowing for sure if he's worth a damn.

How do you make Offense dangerous?

You sign Julio Jones. A future HOFer...

A True #1 in his youth. A formidable #2 even at 33. 

A trio of McLaurin, Jones & Samuels is a true threat vs any defense.

They can't stack the box.

Because Carson will be able to hit sure handed WR's in McLaurin or Jones.

Then you have Samuels lined up in slot for reverses & all kinds of crazy stuff.

It truly opens up your Running game & will make this much easier for our Offensive line.

Not to mention the swing passes to our RB's with the trio running patterns.

SIGN JULIO JONES now!

[taylor made]

4 minutes ago, aceinthehouse said:

I won't feel good, until we get a "true" #2 wr on this team.

SIGN JULIO JONES now!

Now that they didn't sign CB Donte Jackson, I'd be fine with signing Julio. The question is if he wants to come here. 

[e16bball]

Forgot to mention that of the glut of Day 3 RBs that you mentioned, I think Tyler Badie is my favorite at the moment. He was the Mizzou offense, and I really like him catching the ball out of the backfield. He’s not going to be the big banger that lots of folks are looking for, but I think he’s my favorite player overall of those guys.

[offbyone]

35 minutes ago, taylor made said:

Yeah, I agree it could be considered a luxury for sure. Sometimes you do that with 2nd round picks though. I.e. Eagles drafted TE Dallas Goedert when they had Ertz. It should be interesting which way they go. You'd think they will pick MLB in either the first or second round. That means offense in the other round. WR, TE, RG and even RB are all possibilities. 

I just don't know how he can get adequate snaps unless there is an injury.

But my other issue is you are talking about picking 2 pass catchers with our top 3 picks.  I absolutely love Shakir, but I can't take them both.

[taylor made]

15 minutes ago, e16bball said:

I absolutely hate paying Daron Payne $18M AAV. Not putting that on you, as the team has willingly put itself in a position where it has little to no choice but to do that. Let Settle and Greek walk away for nothing, you’re almost forced to pay Payne what he wants. 

He’s not as good as Vita Vea, not really even close, though he’s been more durable, which I guess is the big advantage he offers there. He’s also not as good as Jon Allen, who would be getting paid exactly the same, and the idea of committing $36M AAV to a good-but-not dominant DT duo is a non-starter for me personally. We talk about how hard it is to win with a QB making 15-20% of the cap — are Payne/Allen providing more value than a good or great QB?

What is so attractive about DaRon Payne is that is still 24 years old and will be turning 25 in a two months. That's 2 year younger than Vea. It's gonna be interesting to see if we pay both Montez and Chase as well. That would take us to what... 30-40% of our cap? Lol!

Quote

I don’t love 11 for us, just in general, so I’d love to bail on that pick and grab more later ammo. If we’re stuck there, though, I’d get on board with Lloyd if they were all-in on him as their defensive captain moving forward. 

#11 is kind of a weird spot. I think our pick will become more obvious as the selections are made. I do not think we should trade down though and be at the end of the first half again. One or two spots at most. I don't see Devin Lloyd getting past the Eagles. The value at #11 seems to be at Defensive line.... Travon Walker, Jermaine Johnson, Jordan Davis. If one of those guys or Malik Willis jumps into the top 10 then Derek Stingley or Sauce might fall and I think that is who you pick at #11. 

[aceinthehouse]

I think what we do at #11 is simple & stated by me before FA started & resigning of McCain.

Draft FS Kyle Hamilton or trade down.

I would not take any player other than Hamilton at 11. There's no reason to.

Honestly, besides Hamilton? There's no player we can get at 11, that won't be near or as good as any player we take by trading down.

Trading down does a lot for us.

1) It recoups some, most or more of the picks traded in the Wentz deal.

2)possibly nets us draft picks for 23' on top of the compensatory draft picks we may get.

3)Nets us more draft picks in this draft as well.

4) Possibly gets us back in the 3rd Rd where we currently don't have a pick. Not only do we historically draft well in the 3rd, but there will probably be good value there as well including QB possibly.

5) Increases our odds of striking gold in the latter rds, if our 1st Rd pick is a bust.

To me...it's a no-brainer.

Trade down to the 20's....

Pick up a 3rd this yr for sure. Possibly a 23' day 2 or day 3 pick as well.

I don't want to trade out of the 1st Rd, however. So trade no lower than to #32.

You want that 5th yr on the contract for that player.

[taylor made]

6 minutes ago, offbyone said:

I just don't know how he can get adequate snaps unless there is an injury.

But my other issue is you are talking about picking 2 pass catchers with our top 3 picks.  I absolutely love Shakir, but I can't take them both.

I think McBride can line up as a 3rd WR type. He did it at Colorado St. 

[offbyone]

57 minutes ago, e16bball said:

I absolutely hate paying Daron Payne $18M AAV. Not putting that on you, as the team has willingly put itself in a position where it has little to no choice but to do that. Let Settle and Greek walk away for nothing, you’re almost forced to pay Payne what he wants. 

That is how much Payne is worth.  Von Miller, who is 8 years older now and always hurt, just got 20M/year.  This is the market.

And if you look at the last few years of Sweat, Young, Allen, Payne and Ionadidis; Allen and Payne have been the most consistent.  When Sweat and Young fell off a cliff this year, Payne still played well.

I am also disappointed about losing Settle and Ionniddis but why not keep a real player in Payne who drafted very high.  Heck in 2021, many believed Payne was the best player on the dline. 

 

[aceinthehouse]

Btw...

Let's say Hypothetically, we trade down to 20 with Steelers.

We get their 3rd this yr & 3rd next yr 23'.

#20) You want to draft BAP at this spot, but let's say our board can go for need here?

You pass on WR 😁 because you've wisely signed WR Julio Jones in FA & can go a different position here.

I would go either MLB, CB here. Signing Julio allows you to go Defense here. LB Bostic sucks & so does CB Jackson.

2nd Rd pick) Here we look to see if any of those QB's are on the board here. If they are, this is spot you could take 1.

If not, I look for an OG or WR here. Either position drafted between G/WR is gonna see signicant playing time. Injuries happen....

There should be a good Guard or WR worthy in the 2nd Rd. Gives us good depth, but also possibly landing a steal in this spot. A surprise starter.

3rd Rd) Good spot for a QB as well, or a RB if there's one worthy here.

But also a good spot for CB, or DT. I believe we drafted Settles in the 3rd Rd. We could get some good depth here,with quality talent that could potentially start as well. It would mitigate losing Ionitus  & Settles, by grabbing a big dude here.

Just my 2 cents....