1st rd mock draft

[Money]

1) CLE - Saquon Barkley RB PENN STATE

I look at it this way. Darnold/Hyde is somewhat limited. It's like ehhhhhh - mediocre. Now even my worst case Taylor/Barkley gives me such a better future. Hell I'll take LaMar Jackson as an ATH with one of my extra picks. If I take Barkley, I create an artificial demand for QB at the 4th pick, because the Browns still would be interested in QB and the Jets will be taking a QB at 3rd overall. Teams might not want to trade up to NYG at 2nd overall because no QB really stands out so they would rather deal with the Browns at 4th overall. By taking Barkley 1st overall, you get the best player in the draft and you also increase your return in trade

2) NEW YORK GIANTS - Quenton Nelson G NOTRE DAME

All-Pro. Giants get stuck with no one wanting to come up to take a QB and they feel given their UFA signings Eli still has a bit left in the tank so they make an effort to give him more time and surround him with better weapons. Eli is servicable at this point in his career. Actually, his whole career if he has time and weapons he can get the job done. He's not one of these QBs that can do it by themselves,

3) NEW YORK JETS - Sam Darnold QB USC

Probably the most overrated player in this draft. I'm looking at a Andy Dalton. Decent mobility. Turnover machine. Makes good throws and then has horrible throws. Maybe he has time to develop in New York, which would be in his best interests.

*** TRADE ****

4) BUFFALO BILLS - Josh Allen QB WYOMING

I'm thinking Josh Allen with the strong arm will be who the Bills would want to take. That should play in Buffalo. Probably my favorite QB this draft, but there's no one that stands out as a slam dunk no brainer. Which is why it's in the Browns best interests to trade down

 

BUF trades 2018 1st, 12th overall, 2018 1st, 22nd overall, 2019 conditional 2nd rd pick (becomes 1st if BUF makes playoffs) to CLE for 2018 1st, 4th overall

 

5) DENVER - Josh Rosen QB UCLA

John Elway irish jigs his way up to submit his pick. You can talk about Case Keenum being your guy all you want, he's no talent. Rosen is the safest QB in this draft but also has the lowest ceiling. He'll be a top 15-20 QB in this league. And if I'm taking a QB 1st round and making that commitment to pay him $25m a year he better give me $25m a year production not like Jay Cutler in Chicago, Tony Romo, Ryan Tannehill, Joe Flacco, Andy Dalton. These teams dropped $100m on QB (the market) and they effectively had no shot bc they spent that much on a QB that wasn't giving them $100m output on the field.

6) INDIANAPOLIS - Bradley Chubb DE NC STATE

Get the same guy you would've got at three. Nice 10+ sack guy a year.

7) TAMPA BAY - Roquan Smith LB GEORGIA

They could go a few directions here. I'm thinking you might want to build the defense the same way as last time with a Derrick Brooks figure in the middle, so that's why I went with Smith here.

8) CHICAGO - Minkah Fitzpatrick CB ALABAMA

Chicago needs secondary. Minkah is your classic secondary player. I'm not sure where you play him but he'll help their secondary. Player with positional flexibility.

** TRADE ***

9) CLEVELAND - Derwin James S FLORIDA STATE

Cleveland is coming up here to snap an elite athletic freak. Derwin James is a fast, hard hitting, playmaking safety. Basically, all you'd want out of a safety. Raw. But the physical tools are there to develop.

 

CLE trades 2018 1st, 22nd overall and 2018 2nd, 35th overall to San Francisco for 2018 1st, 9th overall

 

10) OAKLAND - Tremaine Edmunds LB VA TECH

Nice nog to put in the middle. Minimum All-Pro.

11) MIAMI - Connor Williams OT TEXAS

My thinking is if they're going to restructure Tannehill they're keeping him around for a bit longer because it becomes more expensive to cut him in the future. This is a mistake. But what do I know. Like Eli and the Giants, I can see the Dolphins trying to make the line a bit better to get more production out of the QB position. The need for OL magnified by releasing Mike Pouncey.

12) CLEVELAND - Marcus Davenport DE UTSA

You take good players. When making a defense what you want is an identity. I don't care about Ogbah, I care about All-Pro. When building a defense what are my strengths and how do I make it better? I would add Suh or an elite 3-technique to this defense to only make this pick better. My defensive strategy for this team is to rush four and drop seven given my talent in Cleveland. Myles Garrett and Marcus Davenport gives me two dynamic 15+ sack rushers that scares the **** out of the rest of the league. Once I get my dynamic front four rushing the passer, I then start building up the secondary to give the pass rush more time to get to the QB. This is what defense is all about. What it is not is filling needs and having a vanilla type defense. 

"Starting to come together Pepper, starting to come together" - Major League

 

13) WASHINGTON - Vita Vea DT WASHINGTON

When does Cleveland pick again next?

14) GREEN BAY - Josh Jackson CB IOWA

Denzel Ward I'm not too high on. Plus, I think Josh Jackson is an All-Pro and is a better fit in the Packers zone blitz scheme. Iowa ran zone and he's great at reading and reacting to the QB's eyes.

15) ARIZONA - Baker Mayfield QB OKLAHOMA

Not a fan of this guy. He's a slower Johnny Manziel with a better arm. I don't think that plays at this level. He succeeded in college with a more passing version of Manziel's style in Oklahoma's offense. Manziel was more scramble make a play. Mayfield was more strucutured chaos. I just don't think that will play at this next level.

16) BALTIMORE - Rashaan Evans ILB ALABAMA

Baltimore will probably take an Alabama player. Thought about Ridley here and they probably would take Ridley here but just signing two WRs in free agency I would probably rather go to an ILB.

17) LA CHARGERS - Da'Ron Payne DT ALABAMA

A little run of Bama players here. I think this guy has all the tools to be successful at the next level. Height-weight-speed guy that provides some flexibility along the defensive line.

18) SEATTLE - Jaire Alexander CB LOUISVILLE

Still no Denzel Ward. He's an inflation guy. Simmie Cobbs beat him up and he's a 5th rounder. I like Alexander - he can cover and tackle and make plays in the secondary.

19) DALLAS - DJ Moore WR MARYLAND

DJ Moore reminds me of Golden Tate. He's like a running back when he gets the ball. Once again, teams would go with Ridley in this spot. But what I think would be best for the Cowboys is someone that can make plays after the catch and help Dak in the short to intermediate pass game. Splash plays are nice and Moore and Ridley would both give you that, I just think Moore will give me some more of those extra yards that make all the difference in situational football. 3 & 2 is much different than 3 & 7. Dak didn't do quite as well this year with unfavorable situations like he did in his rookie year. 

20) DETROIT - Derrius Guice RB LSU

Overrated here. But the Lions will gobble up a RB in the first round. Much better value can he had in this draft. Maybe they go for Ronald Jones. But Guice could be a good fit for Detroit

21) CINCINNATI - Malik Jefferson LB TEXAS

He reminds me of Burfict. And he's the faster option. Nice flowing LB that has a nose for the ball. Team can move on from Burfict or just add Jefferson to the mix

22) SAN FRANCISCO - Denzel Ward CB OHIO STATE

San Francisco gets maybe a guy they would've taken at 9th overall but pick up an early 2nd rounder as well. They got a lot of needs and he'll be an upgrade over what they got right now.

23) LA RAMS - Calvin Ridley WR ALABAMA

Lose some speed in Sammy Watkins and pick it right back up with Calvin Ridley. He's taller and slower than I thought. But he's a good player. A #2 WR. Need to replace weapons lost or Goff will have a down year.

24) CAROLINA - Courtland Sutton WR SMU

I really like this player. I'm thinking like a Brandon Marshall type. He's got some wheels and can make plays after the catch. He has #1 WR potential

25) TENNESSEE - Taven Bryan DT Florida

He gives them some flexibility along the defensive line and is a quick, strong, athletic defender that will help create more push along the line for the Titans. No identity here on defense. 

26) ATLANTA - Hayden Hurst TE SOUTH CAROLINA 

24 years old. But I think you don't wanna risk not getting a TE and having a run of TE's in the 2nd round before your next pick. Would prefer an upgrade to the DL here but Bryan just went and Hurst gives Matt Ryan a security blanket and with Julio, Matt Ryan, the RB's, now a TE the Falcons should score more points.

27) NEW ORLEANS - Equanimeous St. Brown WR NOTRE DAME

I think it's just asinine to take a QB here. Probably would've taken Hurst, but he went the pick before. You have to give Brees more weapons before the clock hits zero. This guy has Pro Bowl potential and should be an upgrade to the current WR core. Gives them a red zone threat which they wanted in the return of Jimmy Graham. This guy will be a better pro than in college, especially having 72% completion percentage coming his way.

28) PITTSBURGH - Harold Landry DE BOSTON COLLEGE

There's more than one way to skin a cat. The Steelers number one need isn't ILB or S. The long-term need is a pass rusher. You can transition into a 4-3 until Ryan Shazier returns to the field. TJ Watt is a better strongside LB in a 4-3 covering the TE than he is as a 3-4 OLB. He doesn't get enough push and doesn't have enough speed. I'd prefer him in space and still blitzing a fair amount. Lawrence Timmons on 1 year, $900k would probably start over any rookie. Tyrann Mathieu would've been a nice move at safety, but if you get more pass rush from the front seven you can get away with a worse safety. The Steelers front seven would look like this - Landry, Heyward, Hargrave, Tuitt. Strongside LB Watt, Williams, Dupree. You have Timmons for fluff. Next year Dupree will be a free agent and you need a OLB. Landry is a player. Productive junior year. Not so much this year. His stats will play at the next level. Has good bend and gets the edge, which is what you want out of an edge rusher.

*** TRADE ****

29) CLEVELAND - LaMar Jackson ATH LOUISVILLE

First, I want the 5th year option on him so I'll take him here instead of 33rd. Second, I have that Belichick character lurking a few picks lower and he might think about having Jackson wait a LONG time behind Tom Brady. That will give him the development he needs. Now, I don't think Jackson screams Bill Belichick short precision passing game attack, which is basically a running game. But I don't know what he is thinking. Maybe he wants him for just situational football. This has more to do with LaMar Jackson than it does to do with Bill Belichick. I have a good situation here where Tyrod Taylor is my starting QB and at the very minimum I have LaMar Jackson for 20 plays a game in read option, RB, WR, QB, wildcat packages. He is an IMPACT PLAYER. If he's given time, I think he could develop in a good QB. He should've come back but 

 

CLE trades 2018 2nd, 33rd overall and 2018 2nd, 64th overall to JAX for 2018 1st, 29th overall, 2018 3rd, 128th overall, and 2018 6th, 203rd overall

 

30) MINNESOTA - Donte Jackson CB LSU

Minnesota looking for a CB to pair with Xavier Rhodes. Rhodes is a prototypical CB so I would think I'd want someone with a ton of speed to cover that 2nd WR

31) NEW ENGLAND - Mike Hughes CB UCF

Probably got Hughes rated higher than Jackson but I think in terms of what teams like and what they do it's more likely to have Hughes go here. Belichick is one of the most difficult to read but this would be one of the situations where you look at the board and their needs and he'd take Hughes. Good pick here.

32) PHILADELPHIA - Ronald Jones II RB USC

Lose LeGarrette Blount and give Jay Ajayi a burner to go with him. Ronald Jones didn't time very well but he's fast. There's no doubt about that.