RamPackFan 2018 NFL Mock Draft 1.0

[RamPackFan]

2017 Super Bowl Champions!

 

*Signs Aaron Donald to big time contract

 

Key FA losses:

Trumaine Johnson/Dominique Easley/Lance Dunbar/Cody Davis/John Sullivan

Waived/Cut/traded:

Tavon Austin/Robert Quinn/Kayvon Webster/Rodger Saffold

Re-sign

LaMarcus Joyner/Nickell Robey-Coleman/Sammy Watkins/Connor Barwin

 

 

Round 1

1. Jaire Alexander (5'11"/205)

 

Round 3

 

3. Porter Gustin - LB/USC (6'5"/255)

 

Round 4

4.  Jerry Tillery - DE/Norte Dame (6'6"/305)

 

Round 5

5. Quenton Meeks – CB/Stanford (6'2"/197)

 

Round 6

6a. Austin Corbett - OT/C, Nevada (6'4"/300)

 

6b. Jack Cichy - LB/Wisconsin (6'2"/235)

6c. Alex Cappa - OT/Humboldt State (6'7"/305)

 

Round 7

7. Nick Wilson - RB/Arizona (5'10"/208)

 

[JonStark]

2 hours ago, RamPackFan said:

 

Key FA losses:

Trumaine Johnson/Connor Barwin/Dominique Easley/Lance Dunbar/Cody Davis/John Sullivan

Waived/Cut/traded:
Tavon Austin/Mark Barron/Michael Brockers/Robert Quinn/Kayvon Webster/Rodger Saffold

 

Love the first two sentences, but not much after that. Would be insanely pissed with the bolded, especially if they ALL happened.

Don't know much about the prospects yet so I won't comment on them.

[RamPackFan]

4 minutes ago, JonStark said:

Love the first two sentences, but not much after that. Would be insanely pissed with the bolded, especially if they ALL happened.

Don't know much about the prospects yet so I won't comment on them.

yea, I just don't see us signing a lot of these guys especially if we win the SB. I don't think Webster was all that great to keep him PLUS he tore his achillies so who knows how well he'll do. Quinn has had a decent year but not worth the $ we have been giving him. 

[NVRamsFan]

Way too many people in the waive/cut especially since you didn't sign anybody. You traded or cut our starting LG and didn't replace him. You cut or didn't resign our top 2 CB and are replacing them both with rookies? You didn't draft a NT and you're adding 2 LB and resigning one in Barwin but only Quinn is leaving. Not really sure how this off season helps us at all. Plus you cleared up a lot of cap room while we already have a ton and barely used any of it, in fact you didn't even use the cap space we start with let alone what you cleared out.

[RamPackFan]

2 hours ago, NVRamsFan said:

Way too many people in the waive/cut especially since you didn't sign anybody. You traded or cut our starting LG and didn't replace him. You cut or didn't resign our top 2 CB and are replacing them both with rookies? You didn't draft a NT and you're adding 2 LB and resigning one in Barwin but only Quinn is leaving. Not really sure how this off season helps us at all. Plus you cleared up a lot of cap room while we already have a ton and barely used any of it, in fact you didn't even use the cap space we start with let alone what you cleared out.

I left out key signings until later on not a big deal and wan't my main focus as it's more about the draft.  I just wanted to note key losses bascially.  So, why do I need to draft a NT? Beacause of Easly? Where has he been all year and can we make due without? Many of you have already stated you don't see many or some of the same players listed above. How do you expect to sign Donald on a long term deal this offseason as well as keep Brockers, Barron, Barwin, Sullivan, Quinn, Watkins? Can't keep em' all. Ebukam and LIttleton have both proven to be quality players who can fill those gaps you mentioned.  Trumaine Johnson won't be back and costs way too much....Kayvon Webster isn't all that great and won't be missed if we don't resign. Like it or not, we will draft a rookie CB who will probably be our starter. 

[NVRamsFan]

2 hours ago, RamPackFan said:

I left out key signings until later on not a big deal and wan't my main focus as it's more about the draft.  I just wanted to note key losses bascially.  So, why do I need to draft a NT? Beacause of Easly? Where has he been all year and can we make due without? Many of you have already stated you don't see many or some of the same players listed above. How do you expect to sign Donald on a long term deal this offseason as well as keep Brockers, Barron, Barwin, Sullivan, Quinn, Watkins? Can't keep em' all. Ebukam and LIttleton have both proven to be quality players who can fill those gaps you mentioned.  Trumaine Johnson won't be back and costs way too much....Kayvon Webster isn't all that great and won't be missed if we don't resign. Like it or not, we will draft a rookie CB who will probably be our starter. 

We need a true NT because our lack of one leaves us at times exposed in the middle. Having undersized ILB's is fine but with a space eater in the middle, somebody who isn't easily washed out in blocking it allows those faster ILB to make plays instead of getting eaten up by the Guards after they blow past and neutralize our undersized NT.

 

We currently have $50 million in cap space. Set aside $6 for our draft picks we're down to $44 M. Cut Tavon by 3/16/18 and we save another $8 million taking us up to $52M.

Free agents lets say Watkins is $9M, spotrac puts his market value at a 4 year $36.8M contract. Joyner is likely as expensive, spotrac puts him at a 5 year $50 million. Other free agent safeties close to his age they rate in the same ball park.  NRC is going to get a nice pay raise I'll say 3 years $20M. Retaining those 3 free agents just going of AAV we've spent $26 million of the $52 so we've taken half our cap. Only other free agents we have I could see signing are Sullivan who'll get a couple million a year for however long they sign him. He's obvious unless Kromer and McVay want to run with Blythe and Eldrenkamp as his backup. McVay loves Sully though so I think he's back. Also McVay traded for his boy Carrier. Do we retain him or run with Hemingway coming back from injury? One of the bigger free agents though that nobody ever mentions is Jake McQuaide. Give him a raise off his previous contract we're talking 4 years $6M. So if we sign those guys we're down to roughly $22M. So again I'll state unless you're going to sign some big name free agents cutting Quinn and Saffold is not only unnecessary but dangerous. 

 

As for Donald it's a really easy thing. He's signed next year for a base of $6.8 million. Sign him to a long term deal probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 years $125 million with 70 million guaranteed. We have him at a cheap deal for 2018 so you put $10M of that guaranteed into 2018 and we still have cap space to sign a couple vets on prove it deals. or we now have $12 million in cap space to try to sign TruJo. He's made a good chunk off us lately and if he was better at actually intercepting the ball he'd get a fat payday. As it is I'd put him around $12 million a year. Now we need a bit of cap space for those aforementioned prove it vets. This is where Roger Saffold and Quinn come into the picture. I've also left a bit of money to see if we can resign Cody Davis if not one of those prove it FA is a FS to backup Joyner.

 

Quinn is signed through 2019 but the easiest part of his deal to work on is there's no guaranteed money. We have some guys behind him that show promise in Ebukam (who'm I love and would like to see on the field as a starter in 2018), Longacre, Fox and Price. Aside from Ebukam not sure any of those are starters more like rotational guys. Quinn is due $25 million over the next two years but as I said he has no guaranteed money. Any veteran with an injury history approaching his 30's (he'll be 29 when he hits free agency) wants that guaranteed cash. Extend him 2 or 3 years, move half his cap hit back to 2019 in the form of a guaranteed roster bonus while adding more guaranteed and possibly lowering his AAV and you have extra cap space. No need to cut him especially as he's played really well the last month or so.

 

Saffold especially I wouldn't cut. Guy has been a pro bowl Guard this year and is a large reason for Gurleys success. Watch his highlights and see how often it's #76 mauling linebackers and safeties as #30 runs free. His cap number for 2018 is essentially $7.5 million. Pro bowl caliber guards sign for a lot more than that. The biggest thing you don't know about him though is he has an opt out clause after this season. He's somebody we need to and may have to extend not cut. His play this year is going to get him a nice pay day and it should be as a Ram.

 

Draft is not bad but I'd go about it differently. 

 

1) Joshua Jackson or Isaiah Oliver CB

3) Lorenzo Carter OLB 

4) There are several intriguing OT for development here I like. Cappa you mentioned, Tyrell Corsby or Timon Parris. Mitch Hyatt and DeMarco Jones are two that could fall to the 4th also that I'd jump on. 

5) Greg Gaines NT Washington. He gets over shadowed by his partner on the interior of that line but at 6'2" 322 lbs he's a good space eater and the kind of guy we need. Plus he's a So Cal boy.

6a) Bo Scarbarough might be here if not the kid from SD St Penny would be a good find. I've cut Tavon and Dunbar is a free agent so at least one back will be needed. I'll focus on a 2nd as a UDFA.

6b) CB 

6c) OG

7) ILB one I like here is Booker from Ohio St.

 

That's how I'd do it.

 

[RamPackFan]

1 hour ago, NVRamsFan said:

 

Thanks for your insights here...good analysis on the cap space stuff, where I clearly suck at. Because of everything I've read I didn't see us realistically re-signing most of our starters. I was unaware of how well we looked going into next season. On the draft,  I originally had Joshua Jackson but realistically I don't think he'll be there late 1...I see him as a 15-20 range guy. We'll see how the processes play out though...I do like him much better than Jaire, I'm with you there. I like your other prospects as well. 

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