Lunatic's Championship Weekend Mock

[Madmike90]

No issue with cutting Muhammad…

I don’t think we are ever going to agree on Whitehair…I think if the structure pays Johnson $13.5 million over 3 years with the ability to then restructure or cut that seems fair value to me for both sides…

FA I love Jones…think $20 million a year is an overpayment but in FA sometimes you just need to bite that bullet…love Taylor…would hate Ngakoue at that value and on a 4 year contract…for me he is a 1 year player who you bring in for additional pass rush to give yourself more time to draft a talent…Ford would be an underrated signing…Okereke makes a ton of sense…the last 5 guys are all roster fillers but the contracts seem pretty fair…

I think anyone who does mocks has considered the double trade down…a lot will change between now and after free agency with what we do and probably more importantly what happens with a number of QBs like Brady, Jackson & Rodgers but for me right now I struggle to see it working out…to reset the QB market from #1 to #2 we would need to find teams who are utterly convinced that the top prospect is the ONLY top prospect and hope it fell right…so in this scenario Houston would need to think Young was the top guy then Atlanta would need to believe that Stroud is by far the best prospect and also believe that lots of other teams believe the same or they would take a much shorter trade up…that is a lot of ifs & buts…I also really struggle to see Houston giving up 5 picks all in the same draft giving they are also a rebuilding teams…the Atlanta trade is much more realistic IMO…but let’s say we can pull that off…I like Murphy a lot and think he could be a cornerstone of a defence…more refined version of Trevon Walker IMO…Witherspoon is my #2 CB right now and would be a great fit in this defence…big fan of Rice and think he could be a volume WR that we are missing in the offence…I can get behind your thinking with Dexter and in that range think the value and potential yet lack of production adds up…Pappeo I have 2 rounds lower than this although I like his fit in this defence as a development WILL…Benton is majorly underrated at this point…I think he ends up going early second round when all is said and done giving his ability to play NT but still provide a lot of pass rush…will test pretty well too…big fan of Wicks…2021 he looked excellent…was just let down by the change in offence this year…McGuire is another guy who is underrated right now…love his hands and toughness playing in the SEC…Johnson another guy I am a big fan of as a do it all type of back…came to Texas as a QB so that could be interesting as well…Patterson would make decent depth…not a huge fan of Carter right now but he does have some traits to become a backup LT…Johnson I like as a backup safety but I think he is pretty much so just the same type of player as Elijah Hicks so I would probably go in a different direction…Schoonmaker goes way higher than this IMO unless something off the field or medical happens…I have him as a 4^th round pick who could raise…like you said excellent blocker but when he came to Michigan he was a quality receiver in HS…just hasn’t been allowed to show it as much but when he gets to these offseason workouts I think he will raise…DTR I can see the thinking behind but I think there could be better options this late…

Overall good work and a lot of good moves to outweigh the few bad ones.

[Sugashane]

Really like this mock. Jones, Poona and Tonyan are SERIOUSLY underrated signings IMO. Murphy/Dexter is a hell of a combo to build around, Pappoe is crazy athletic, if he can put it together he can be a solid player, if not he is still a LB3 with a ton of upside on his 'good' days. With how Flus used dime in IND I would be REALLY intrigued on how he may use Pappoe.

I'm not as high on Whitehair and Patrick but I totally get keeping them at least through 2023. With the improvements (or just consistent health in Jenkins' regard) the OL should improve, adding Taylor in itself is a huge boost.

[AZBearsFan]

On 1/26/2023 at 9:54 AM, StLunatic88 said:

See, but I dont think he thinks of Patrick as a failure at this point. I know fans do, but judging him on his 2022 is just wrong, he was never able to play the position he was signed to do. That would be like us signing a FS and saying, actually you need to play MLB this year. Im sure the guy would go do it, but to judge them on it would be incorrect. Patrick is a Center, one that knows this system really well, and he was nothing more than a Backup Guard, but had to play there due to multiple factors.

Now, if his ability to play center is still inhibited due to the hand injury, then this offseason looks COMPLETELY different. But at this point we havent heard that, so I think he still believes that he signed his veteran Center last offseason.

To clarify, I don’t think Patrick was a failure in 2022, for the reasons you point out. He never got a chance to play C last year. I do, however, think he’s no more than an adequate stop gap. I can live with that if I have to. (as I could have last offseason when I was fine with the move), but I don’t love it. I personally think our need at C is bigger than our need at RT (though both are big). If we’re only investing big in one FA on the OL then I’d prefer it to be there. But, that’s my preference. It won’t be everyone’s. I can accept with Patrick as a C who has to hold off legitimate competition from a rookie next year. I like him a lot better as the experienced backup behind a more long term solution though.

[StLunatic88]

9 hours ago, AZBearsFan said:

I personally think our need at C is bigger than our need at RT (though both are big). If we’re only investing big in one FA on the OL then I’d prefer it to be there. But, that’s my preference. It won’t be everyone’s.

I actually completely agree with you. 

We can find Tackles and Guards of lesser level than Taylor, and be in pretty good shape.

I just don’t see that answer at Center in free agency. Atleast not a big enough upgrade on Patrick for what the price is going to be. 

If Erik McCoy had made it to free agency, I would have paid any amount for him. If for some reason the Browns wanted to keep Pocic and trade Nick Harris, yea that’s a deal I’d pony up for. But just a slight bump (maybe) isn’t worth it to me.