Packerraymond Mock Off-Season

[Packerraymond]

So instead of a mock draft, thought I'd record the results of a sim draft I just did on the forum and see how you felt it did. Link below to see who was available and yell at me for not taking so and so, without further ado here's the results: 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JJxVHO97mp1Kvsgftc7nLHfD7kFb4z9F/edit#gid=2069894206

Round 1: Nate Wiggins, 6'1 182, CB
School: Clemson

I know, I know, the weight at the Combine. I'm trusting that he slimmed down to run sub 4.3 and went back to normal weight at his pro day. Either way Wiggins is a H/L/S freak who can cover with the best of them. The guy's ability to recover when beat is by far the best in the class and he can break on the ball like a fiend in off-zone. You'd love him to get to 185-190 and hold the weight there, it would help him get off blocks and tackle better, but at the end of the day the positional value and elite coverage traits were too much to pass up at this point in the draft. 

 

Round 2: Braden Fiske 6'4 292, DL
School: FSU

I was waiting for Cooper or Wilson to fall into my lap and complete our LB group and they went in the 30s unexpectedly, nothing materialized for a trade so I simply took BPA at the time of our pick. If Fiske has 33" arms he's a top 20 pick, the only reason you're getting him at 41 is the short arms, with his explosion and strength I really don't think it will matter, I'm betting on him getting into the body of the OL before they can get into him, erasing the length concerns. Fiske will start off as DL4 but the ability to sub Clark, Wyatt, Brooks and Fiske on rush downs is going to give us a very fresh DL throughout games.

 

Round 2: Javon Bullard, 5'11 198, DB
School: Georgia

This one was an easy pick, Bullard can play FS/SS/slot and contribute on ST. Think he's a very valuable chess piece that we should without a doubt be targeting in round 2. 

 

Round 3: Marshawn Kneeland 6'3 267 DE
School: Western Michigan

Came in to this pick wanting a LB or OL, but couldn't pass on Kneeland here, he's going to be top 64 on my final board for sure and to get him at 88 was too good. Long arms, power rusher, exact mold that Gutey loves. He'll go into the rotation that now includes Gary, Smith, LVN, Enagbare, Wooden and Cox. 

 

Round 3: Mason McCormick 6'4 310 OG
School: SDSU

McComick is another guy I will have in my top 64, and is probably my favorite pure OG prospect in the draft, was elated to get him here. Think he steps in right away and beats Rhyan for RG1 and starts week 1. If Kraft doesn't break the rd 3 curse, McCormick is guaranteed to break it.

 

Round 4: Gabriel Murphy 6'2 247 SLB
School: UCLA

LB board just did not work my way in this draft so I decided to go outside the box, Murphy was much lighter and shorter armed than expected at the Combine, so I'm going to try him as a Kyle Van Noy type 4-3 SLB who does some pass rush stuff on 3rd down instead of leaving the field. He becomes a 9.66 RAS as a traditional 4-3 backer. 

 

Round 5: Kitan Oladapo 6'2 216 S
School: Oregon State

Made this pick before he visited so was quite pleased to nail some actual Packer interest. Oladapo has played slot, box and deep for OSU and played them all relatively well, he's a team captain and tested well enough that you're not concerned with his athletic ability. Will battle with AJJ for the 3rd safety spot behind X and Bullard.

 

Round 6: Garret Greenfield 6'6 311, OT
School: SDSU

I felt if one Jackrabbit was good, two was better. I think Greenfield could be a 3rd round pick on draft night, so to get him in the 6th was great value. Excellent developmental prospect for our 3rd OT spot. 

 

Round 6: Curtis Jacobs 6'1 241 LB
School: Penn State

I wanted to get one true college off-ball backer in the fold and Jacobs was the best on the board by far, decent size and athletic ability, will provide depth and ST snaps as a rookie.

 

Round 7: Dylan Laube 5'10 206 RB
School: New Hampshire

We don't really have a receiving back skillset on the roster, so I thought Laube was a good value and a different skillset. Will battle with Wilson for RB3 roster spot.

 

Round 7: Jaylon Carlies 6'3 227 LB/S/ST
School: Missouri

Carlies is one of my favorite late day 3 ST options in the draft. Eplosive, long arms, productive. Was happy to get him here, reminds me a bit of Tariq Carpenter. 

 

Round 7: Dominique Hampton 6'2 215 S
School: Washington

Wanted to attack the S position like we have the WR position over the last two years, load up the room and let the cream rise to the top. Hampton is big, athletic and productive. Another good add to the room

 

 

Post draft: Roster at 83; cut K Jack Podlesny; OLB Deslin Alexander, OLB DeAndre Johnson, TE Joel Wilson. Roster to 79.

UDFA Class: QB Austin Reed, Western Kentucky; WR Ryan Flournoy SE Missouri State; TE McCallan Castles Tennessee; OL Lorenzo Thompson , Rhode Island; OL Griffith McDowell, Chattanooga; DE Cedric Johnson Ole Miss ; LB Bo Richter Air Force ; DB Chigozie Anusiem Colorado State; LS Peter Bowden, Wisconsin  ***Roster at 88***

 

*What I would do in post-draft FA*

OT Mekhi Becton NYJ: Veteran LT/RT swing tackle, Becton has been a mess since his rookie season, but he's taken his conditioning seriously at least, would love Steno and Butkus to get a year with him, if he can't grow tremendously after that, he's probably done. 

LB David Mayo WAS: Miserable coverage backer, but his PFF grades for run defense have always been solid. He comes abord to start in the base with Walker and McDuffie and comes off the field for any non-base or goal line situation. Good vet to eat snaps while the young LBs learn the pro game. 

 

Opening Camp 90-man Depth Chart: 

QB: Jordan Love-Sean Clifford-Alex McGough-Austin Reed
RB: Josh Jacobs-AJ Dillon-Emmanuel Wilson-Dylan Laube-Ellis Merriweather
WR: Christian Watson-Romeo Doubs-Jayden Reed-DonTayvion Wicks-Bo Melton-Malik Heath-Grant DuBose-Samari Toure-Thyrick Pitts-Ryan Flournoy
TE: Luke Musgrave-Tucker Kraft-Ben Sims-Tyler Davis-McCallan Castles
OL: Rasheed Walker-Elgton Jenkins-Josh Myers-Sean Rhyan-Zach Tom-Mekhi Becton-Mason McCormick-Royce Newman-Caleb Jones-Luke Tenuta-Garret Greenfield-Kadeem Telfort-Lorenzo Thompson-Griffith McDowell

DT: Kenny Clark-TJ Slaton-DeVonte Wyatt-Karl Brooks-Braden Fiske-Jonathon Ford
DE: Rashan Gary-Preston Smith-Lukas Van Ness-Kingsley Enagbare-Colby Wooden-Marshawn Kneeland-Brenton Cox-KeShawn Banks-Kenneth Odumegwu
Off-Ball LB: Quay Walker-Isaiah McDuffie-David Mayo-Eric Wilson-Gabriel Murphy-Curtis Jacobs-Jaylon Carlies-Kristian Welch-Arron Mosby
CB: Jaire Alexander-Erik Stokes-Carrington Valentine-KeiSean Nixon-Nate Wiggins-Corey Ballentine-Robert Rochell-Anthony Johnson-Zyon Gilbert
S: Xavier McKinney-Javon Bullard-AJ Johnson Jr-Kitan Oladapo- Benny Sapp III-Dominique Hampton-Zayne Anderson-Tyler Coyle

 

K: Anders Carlson-Greg Joseph
P: Daniel Whelan
LS: Matt Orzech-Peter Bowden 

 

[MaximusGluteus]

What exactly are you seeing when you watch McCormick?  I don't get the hype for him at all.

[sgtcheezwiz]

Sign me up for this. Sooo many nice pieces on the defense and adequate OL depth added. 

[Packerraymond]

4 minutes ago, MaximusGluteus said:

What exactly are you seeing when you watch McCormick?  I don't get the hype for him at all.

First off you have an elite body type, perfect height, arm length and hand size, then there's the loads of playing experience he has and the intricacies of OL play that he's got down, last thing before the tape as the RAS shows, this is a legit, top of the league caliber IOL athlete.

Tape wise:

This is quintessential ZBS all day long right here, by alignment this play would be audibled out of by any vet QB, your OG is not going to be able to reach block and wall off a true 0 tech, but he does it beautifully. 

The man ragdolls Kristian Boyd (330lbs, 38 reps on the bench) in the run game like he's a LB. 

Here's just a bunch of clips of him being a prick.

 

Does he have flaws? Yeah. He's not going to bowl over guys in the NFL, he's way too shoulder happy for my liking when he's pulling, but he wins 100% of the time that way in college so why would they correct that? Same issue with Gary and Van Ness, dudes are freaks, they can win with pure strength in college so why change it? The explosion, agility and just general desire to make defenders eat dirt are all things you can't teach, get this man in front of Steno and Butkus and that OG spot is locked up for a decade. 

[Old Guy]

In your opinion is White Jesus gone when we pick or do you like Wiggins more? Wiggins is so ******* skinny.

I actually love the Fiske pick. Love the idea of athletic developmental offensive linemen as well. 

[Packerraymond]

3 minutes ago, Old Guy said:

In your opinion is White Jesus gone when we pick or do you like Wiggins more? Wiggins is so ******* skinny.

I actually love the Fiske pick. Love the idea of athletic developmental offensive linemen as well. 

DeJean was picked at 22 in this mock, otherwise I would've probably leaned DeJean. Wiggins is an outside cover corner only, shades of Sam Shields. DeJean can play anywhere and is a plus in run support too, but if he's gone I still think Wiggins is a top 20 player in this class, so it's a fine consolation prize. 

[MaximusGluteus]

Those are nice clips, and he had a great Combine, but overall I just don't see a day 2 pick in McCormick.

Edited April 5 by MaximusGluteus

[vegas492]

Man.  I laughed at this one.  Not because of who was taken.

It was because every time I run one of these and Wiggins in there, I take him.

And then?  It ends up that I'm chasing other things that I really need because I used that first round pick on a corner.  In this case, it seems like after that domino fell, the next two rounds were scramble drills and ended up being BPA regardless of positions of need.

Except for Bullard.  And he should be our safety.  Fits everything and....Georgia.

But the rest of the draft is a scramble drill.  Digging McCormick there, though.

[Packerraymond]

12 minutes ago, vegas492 said:

Man.  I laughed at this one.  Not because of who was taken.

It was because every time I run one of these and Wiggins in there, I take him.

And then?  It ends up that I'm chasing other things that I really need because I used that first round pick on a corner.  In this case, it seems like after that domino fell, the next two rounds were scramble drills and ended up being BPA regardless of positions of need.

Except for Bullard.  And he should be our safety.  Fits everything and....Georgia.

But the rest of the draft is a scramble drill.  Digging McCormick there, though.

I really don't think we have much in the way of needs. We could go to war with the starting 11 on offense we have right now, no need for the draft. Defensively, you've got Gary, Slaton, Clark, Smith, LVN, Walker, McDuffie, Jaire, Nixon, McKinney. That's 10 dudes I have a hard time seeing their snaps replaced by anyone we could draft, even round 1. We really could use a S and a SLB. The rest of the draft is just BPA depth to me. 

[ReasonablySober]

2 minutes ago, Packerraymond said:

I really don't think we have much in the way of needs. We could go to war with the starting 11 on offense we have right now, no need for the draft. Defensively, you've got Gary, Slaton, Clark, Smith, LVN, Walker, McDuffie, Jaire, Nixon, McKinney. That's 10 dudes I have a hard time seeing their snaps replaced by anyone we could draft, even round 1. We really could use a S and a SLB. The rest of the draft is just BPA depth to me. 

Man, I've been roasted for saying that now for a while. I'm glad to see I'm not crazy. 

It gets at why I wouldn't hate a move up, or even two. If you're the Packers and you identify a high end talent or two, go up and get them. 

[vegas492]

7 minutes ago, Packerraymond said:

I really don't think we have much in the way of needs. We could go to war with the starting 11 on offense we have right now, no need for the draft. Defensively, you've got Gary, Slaton, Clark, Smith, LVN, Walker, McDuffie, Jaire, Nixon, McKinney. That's 10 dudes I have a hard time seeing their snaps replaced by anyone we could draft, even round 1. We really could use a S and a SLB. The rest of the draft is just BPA depth to me. 

No disagreeing.  Especially with your first round selection.

But this draft is loaded at OT talent.  A few of which can convert to guard easily.  GB got none of even the tier two OT's.

Whenever I go the route you did....I always end up chasing guys and then fail to get what I really want.

I'm not knocking your draft, rather I almost see a quiet kind of desperation in the picks.  And desperation is a poor choice of words....it becomes more like, well, I can't really fill a need with pick here, so I may as well take BPA and then let competition sort everything else out.  

Nothing wrong with that at all.  But it is how I saw this draft fall for you.

[Packerraymond]

6 minutes ago, ReasonablySober said:

Man, I've been roasted for saying that now for a while. I'm glad to see I'm not crazy. 

It gets at why I wouldn't hate a move up, or even two. If you're the Packers and you identify a high end talent or two, go up and get them. 

Maybe...My issue is the depth is so stacked this year, like there isn't much separating Mitchell, Arnold, Dejean, Wiggins. You're talking 9,12,13,17 on my big board. OL after Alt and Fuaga it's #14/16/17/21/24/25 stacked together on my board are OL. I think you just enjoy the depth of this class where it's deep and enjoy the riches of multiple picks. Only way I see a move up necessary is if you want a DL and one of Murphy/Newton comes off the board. The fall is STEEP from there to Fiske. 

[sgtcheezwiz]

2 minutes ago, Packerraymond said:

Maybe...My issue is the depth is so stacked this year, like there isn't much separating Mitchell, Arnold, Dejean, Wiggins. You're talking 9,12,13,17 on my big board. OL after Alt and Fuaga it's #14/16/17/21/24/25 stacked together on my board are OL. I think you just enjoy the depth of this class where it's deep and enjoy the riches of multiple picks. Only way I see a move up necessary is if you want a DL and one of Murphy/Newton comes off the board. The fall is STEEP from there to Fiske. 

In hindsight, after seeing where everybody was picked, would you change any of your selections?

[Packerraymond]

3 minutes ago, sgtcheezwiz said:

In hindsight, after seeing where everybody was picked, would you change any of your selections?

Yes....if I had known TJ Tampa would fall I would have gone Graham Barton at 25 and Tampa at 41.  

[Scoremore]

57 minutes ago, Packerraymond said:

DeJean was picked at 22 in this mock, otherwise I would've probably leaned DeJean. Wiggins is an outside cover corner only, shades of Sam Shields. DeJean can play anywhere and is a plus in run support too, but if he's gone I still think Wiggins is a top 20 player in this class, so it's a fine consolation prize. 

I'd wait until 41 and draft Tampa instead.  Better fit with the new defense.  More physical and can tackle.  1st round assuming DeJean is gone hope to get either Barton or Fautana.