Mock Draft

[ChaRisMa]

Free Agency

Davon House, CB, Age 29. 1 Year, 2 Million. 1 Million Guaranteed.

~ The market did this to us. House was my plan C. Vet leadership and stability on a unit I foresee needing it.

Jordan Mathews, WR, Age 26. 6'3" 205 LBS. 4.45 Forty. 2 Years, 10 Million. 4 Million Guaranteed.

~ I actually pushed him down my Packers Big Board his draft year because I thought he was a Jordy clone. 

 

No Thanks

Jahri Evans, G, Age 35.

~ Good stop-gap, but we can get a younger guy here.

Ahmad Brooks, OLB, Age 34.

~ Not sure yet what we have with him, but we need to get a young guy here as well.

Richard Rodgers, TE, Age 27.

~ Sure handed, but no other starter qualities. Best off somewhere with more opportunity.

Quentin Dial, DL, Age 28.

~ Upgraded.

Brett Goode, LS, Age 33.

~ Injuries catching us with our pants down here. Believe me, I know what getting caught with my pants down is like.

Draft

1. Browns - Sam Darnold, QB USC. I don't see the Browns as in on Barkley, as Carlos Hyde is going to split carries with Duke Johnson there. But they definitely get their QB.

2. Giants - Josh Rosen, QB, UCLA. They won't waste the opportunity to get a new QB. Wouldn't be surprised if they convinced the Jets to swap spots with them though.

3. Jets - Baker Mayfield, QB, Oklahoma. They are so desperate for a QB but given Mayfield or Allen, I think they will go for someone they see as able to handle the big apple.

4. Browns - Bradley Chubb, EDGE, NC ST. Depth with Hyde and Johnson pushes Barkley down another spot as Cleveland suddenly has the best two young EDGE guys in the NFL with Chubb and Garrett.

5. Broncos - Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn St. I'd say the entire Keenum signing was to avoid taking a QB here, so it's between Nelson and Barkley. Elway will go with the sexier pick in Barkley.

6. Colts - Quenton Nelson, OL, Notre Dame. They need to keep Luck upright or this franchise is DOOMED.

7. Buccaneers - Minkah Fitzpatrick, S, Alabama. They have Chris Conte starting at S right now. So...

8. Bears - Tremaine Edmunds, LB, Va Tech. Chicago needs OL and LB help. With no OL being value, they take Edmunds. But I think Chicago is the likely trade spot in the Top Ten, as the Trubisky trade last year has left them shorthanded on picks.

9. 49ers - Derwin James, S, Florida St. San Fran has a gigantic hole at SS, and James is a talent worth a top ten pick.

10. Raiders - Roquan Smith, LB, Georgia. Oakland has a really interesting roster, they can go a lot of ways which really means they need to get that guy with the rarest traits for value. That's Smith at this point.

11. Dolphins - Calvin Ridley, WR, Alabama. I'm not sure there are more than 2 or 3 players currently on the Dolphins that excite me. Ridley will sell tickets better than anyone available and put them in the win column as often as anyone. 

12. Bills - Josh Allen, QB, Wyoming. Buffalo takes the risk/reward with McCarron being the bridge while Allen develops. 

13. Redskins - Vita Vea, NT, Washington. Washington fans would be thrilled to fill their biggest hole with Vea. 

 

1.14 Packers -  Denzel Ward, CB, Ohio St. 5'10" 191 LBS. 4.32 Forty. 

~ I'll be honest. I was trying to get us Jaire Alexander here but I couldn't find a good place to put Ward in front of us other than Denver, and Barkley fell to them and Elway has hinted he'd take Barkley. So I looked at Ward again and frankly, he's just flat out the best athlete at the position and the best cover man because of it. I'm not worried about his size, either, because Kevin King can take on the bigger WR. If Ward isn't here, I'd gladly take Jaire Alexander as well.

15. Cardinals - Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville. With a platoon of veteran QBs led by Sam Bradford at the moment, you know Arizona is in the market for a QB.

16. Ravens - Mike McGlinchey, OL, Notre Dame. Baltimore needs a lot of help on offense. Adding an OL would help them figure out what to do elsewhere.

17. Chargers - Da'Ron Payne, DL, Alabama. Bad run defense adds good run defender. 

18. Seahawks - Darrius Guice, RB, LSU. Russell Wilson is at his best off of Play Action. A team that has invested heavily at RB finds themselves badly needing to upgrade the position. 

19. Cowboys - Taven Bryan, DL, Florida. Dallas is in position for a BPA selection here. Bryan has rare athleticism and with that, a high ceiling. 

20. Lions - Marcus Davenport, DE, Texas-San Antonio. Detroit needs Pass Rush help, and Davenport has a bull rush that is already big league.

21. Bengals - Will Hernandez, G, Texas-El-Paso. Cincy gets a starting Guard to facilitate its underperforming skill position players. 

22. Bills - Leighton Vander Esch, LB, Boise St. Buffalo needs a guy to fill up the stat sheet from the middle of the defense.

23. Rams - Harold Landry, EDGE, Boston College. StL has a damn good team. Landry may put them over the top.

24. Panthers - Josh Jackson, CB, Iowa. Carolina needs perimeter help, big time. Unless you like some of the next wave of WRs, the secondary holds great depth still at this point in the draft.

25. Titans - Rashaan Evans, ILB, Alabama. Nate Palmer is on top of their depth chart right now... so..

26. Falcons - Jaire Alexander, CB, Louisville. Falcons are a strong team but they take another CB with no BIG DL available. 

27. Saints - Maurice Hurst, DL, Michigan. Saints need a DT to put in their 43 between Jordan and Rankins to get them better opportunities. Hurst has a heart condition that may cost him dearly, but we won't know until we see.

28. Steelers - Carlton Davis, CB, Auburn. Pittsburgh needs some depth in the secondary in general but bringing Burnett in should move some of the need to CB.

29. Jaguars - Courtland Sutton, WR, SMU. Jacksonville loses Allen Robinson, replaces him with the BPA because they are stacked all over.

30. Vikings - Isaiah Wynn, G, Georgia. Minnesota is pretty darn stacked at the moment, but they could probably use two Guards. Wynn would be very good value on one of them here.

31. Patriots - Connor Williams, OL, Texas. They don't have a single OL drafted before the third round on the roster now.

32. Eagles - Mike Hughes, CB, UCF. Raw CB prospect for the Champs is a real luxury pick.

2.33. Browns - Isaiah Oliver, CB, Colorado. 

2.34. Giants - DJ Moore, WR, Maryland.

2.35. Browns - Anthony Averett, CB, Alabama. 

2.36. Colts - Ronald Jones, RB, USC.

2.37. Colts - Rasheem Green, DE, USC. 

2.38. Buccaneers - Orlando Brown, OL, Oklahoma.

2.39. Bears - Lorenzo Carter, EDGE, Georgia.

2.40. Broncos - Equanimeous St. Brown, WR, Notre Dame.

2.41. Raiders - Christian Kirk, WR, Texas A&M.

2.42. Dolphins - Ronald Jones, RB, USC.

2.43. Patriots - Justin Reid, S, Stanford.

2.44. Redskins - Ronnie Harrison, S, Alabama.

 

2.45 Arden Key, EDGE, LSU. 6'6" 238 LBS. 4.7 Forty.

~ It's a risk/reward pick. His 2016 season had him lined up to be a top 10 pick. But down numbers and turbulence off the field along with weight issues while recovering from injury derailed his 2017. So I consider him to have a 50% chance of being a steal here, and 50% chance of being a bust. I'll take the bet, because if he hits it will solve a lot of our problems long term.

 

3.74 Chad Thomas, OLB, Miami. 6'6" 275 LBS. 4.92 Forty.

~ Thomas has some bend and good athletic ability. Despite the poor 40 time, he converts speed into power really well. I don't think he's that far off from Marcus Davenport as a prospect.

 

4.101 (from Browns). Godwin Igwebuike, S, Northwestern. 6'0" 205 LBS. 4.44 Forty. 

~ We need to add a safety with talent for depth this year, and a plan B in reserve for either Safety spot, which is shakier than people realize. Igwebuike is a big, fast, smart safety. Immediate ST improvement, which also needs some talent.

4.133 (Compensatory). Rashaan Gaulden, CB, Tennessee. 6'1 185 LBS. 4.61 Forty.

~ Gaulden was one of the better slot corners in the country this year. Plus, he's the guy who did the above.

5.138 (from Browns). Daurice Fountain, WR, Northern Iowa. 6'2" 210 LBS. 4.47 Forty.

~ Athletic project WR from the Madison area. 

5.172 (Compensatory). Allen Lazard, TE, Iowa State. 6'5" 225 LBS. 4.55 Forty.

~ Pretty much everyone is projecting Lazard earlier and as a WR. I don't think he deserves a draftable grade as a WR because he's not a great athlete. But if I can put 25 lbs of muscle on him, he'd be a "gifted" TE. 

5.174 (Compensatory). Braxton Berrios, WR, Miami. 5'9" 186 LBS. 4.5 Forty.

~  Athletic slot guy with explosive route running ability. 

6.186. Jordan Thomas, TE, Mississippi St. 6'6" 280 LBS. 4.76 Forty.

~ Thomas has experience at TE, WR, and even some T. Physically gifted but hasn't figured out how to turn that into production yet.

 

6.207 (Compensatory). Jack Cichy, ILB, Wisconsin. 6'2" 233 LBS. 4.? Forty.

~ Read and react linebacker with a long injury history. Need some depth here.

7.232 Tanner Carew, LS, Oregon. 6'1" 242 LBS. 5.00 Forty.

~ I just want the freaking snap to be good.

7.239 (from Bills). Kurt Benkert, QB, Virginia. 6'4" 215 LBS 4.95 Forty.

~ Physically, he's quite good. He's got an arm and he can move. Mentally, he's a disaster. 

Depth Chart (53)

Rodgers / Kizer

Wiliams / Jones / Montgomery / Ripkowski

Adams / Cobb / Mathews / Allison / Yancey / Fountain / Berrios

Graham / Kendricks / Lazard / Thomas

Bakhtiari / Taylor / Linsley / McCray / Bulaga / Spriggs / McCray / Amichia

Daniels / Clark / Wilkerson / Lowry / Adams

Martinez / Matthews / Perry / Key / Ryan / Thomas / Biegel / Cichy

King / Ward / Williams / Gaulden / House / Hawkins / Pipkins /

Clinton-Dix / Jones / Brice / Igwebuike / Evans

Crosby / Vogel / Carew

Practice Squad

QB - Benkert / RB - UDFA  / WR - UDFA / TE Bryd / OL UDFA / DL UDFA / ILB UDFA / CB Brown 

I'll do one more in a few weeks.

[Packerraymond]

I love this mock minus the two Miami guys. Thomas is nothing like Davenport, he's slow, stiff and unathletic. He's a bust in the 3rd round there. Berrios isn't an NFL player.

Only other nitpick I have is nothing about Lazards game says TE, if you don't like him as a WR, leave him off your board because he's not a TE.

Love Ward, love Key there, Gaulden is an excellent slot prospect, Fountain is going to be a steal, so is the Northwestern safety. No point to Benkert, we don't need a 5th camp arm.

[ChaRisMa]

45 minutes ago, Packerraymond said:

I love this mock minus the two Miami guys. Thomas is nothing like Davenport, he's slow, stiff and unathletic. He's a bust in the 3rd round there. Berrios isn't an NFL player.

Only other nitpick I have is nothing about Lazards game says TE, if you don't like him as a WR, leave him off your board because he's not a TE.

Love Ward, love Key there, Gaulden is an excellent slot prospect, Fountain is going to be a steal, so is the Northwestern safety. No point to Benkert, we don't need a 5th camp arm.

Chad Thomas had some pretty good tape IMO. Vs. Wisconsin was a good game. Clemson was solid.

He's not a bad athlete. He's carrying too much weight as a DE. 275 is too much. He should get down to 255-260. He shows he can change direction and get slim already. He runs a little top heavy is all. He plays his gap well. He shows SOME bend, uses his hands to get sudden pressure. Ran a fair amount of stunts, which didn't make a lot of sense to me. When he wins the first step he generally wins, downside is he doesn't get off well from a three point stance. If he drops a little weight, I think he'll look good coming off the edge.

Why no Berrios? 

I agree nothing about Lazards game says TE. I don't see an NFL WR there either though. It'd be a flier on developing a guy with good hands and size.

I don't see us holding onto Hundley after the draft. We would be wasting reps.

[Packerraymond]

37 minutes ago, ChaRisMa said:

Chad Thomas had some pretty good tape IMO. Vs. Wisconsin was a good game. Clemson was solid.

He's not a bad athlete. He's carrying too much weight as a DE. 275 is too much. He should get down to 255-260. He shows he can change direction and get slim already. He runs a little top heavy is all. He plays his gap well. He shows SOME bend, uses his hands to get sudden pressure. Ran a fair amount of stunts, which didn't make a lot of sense to me. When he wins the first step he generally wins, downside is he doesn't get off well from a three point stance. If he drops a little weight, I think he'll look good coming off the edge.

Why no Berrios? 

I agree nothing about Lazards game says TE. I don't see an NFL WR there either though. It'd be a flier on developing a guy with good hands and size.

I don't see us holding onto Hundley after the draft. We would be wasting reps.

I hate small slots, Randall Cobb is as small as I'll go, if I go that small they better be blindingly fast like Tavon Austin so I can use them as gadget players. He's the same as that Taylor guy from SMU last year. That's fine if they have success in the NFL, I don't want them and more often than not I'll be right, like Wolf and the small corners.

You keep Hundley and you keep Callahan. Remember when we had that kid from North Carolina and rookie Callahan as our backups, and no one knew who the hell our backup WRs were or if they were good because they could get a decent throw in camp/preseason? We have Davis, Yancey, Clark, Kumerow and most likely some more rookies/UDFAs. Kizer, Hundley, Callahan is a great group to throw to them so we can see the cream rise to the top. Dorsey was an idiot to trade Kessler for nothing for this very reason. I don't want arena league QBs in my camp.

[Hands]

TEs have to be selected in this year's draft. Green Bay probably needs to draft two of them. They are like the slot CBs for the offense, you need them to leverage the running game and provide a middle of the field presence. I like Graham, but want to see a blocking TE and deep receiver threat. I see Conklin from Central MI/Thomas from IN as the receiver threats in the 3rd day and Herndon from Miami/Fumagalli-WI as the blocking threats.

I think Green Bay will be signing a FS in FA (speculate Boston) so having a slot CB and outside CB to match up with the Julius Jones on the league will be needed in the draft. It may also mean they don't draft a safety unless it's James or Fitzpatrick in the first round. Jamerson from WI may be the exception if he's still there in the 6th round.

[jleisher]

Quote

 

I like you thought about Lazard at TE, is it possible that Clark might be an option at TE as well?  Gaulden could also move to Safety.  I could live with this draft.  Thanks!

[ChaRisMa]

2 hours ago, Packerraymond said:

I hate small slots, Randall Cobb is as small as I'll go, if I go that small they better be blindingly fast like Tavon Austin so I can use them as gadget players. He's the same as that Taylor guy from SMU last year. That's fine if they have success in the NFL, I don't want them and more often than not I'll be right, like Wolf and the small corners.

You keep Hundley and you keep Callahan. Remember when we had that kid from North Carolina and rookie Callahan as our backups, and no one knew who the hell our backup WRs were or if they were good because they could get a decent throw in camp/preseason? We have Davis, Yancey, Clark, Kumerow and most likely some more rookies/UDFAs. Kizer, Hundley, Callahan is a great group to throw to them so we can see the cream rise to the top. Dorsey was an idiot to trade Kessler for nothing for this very reason. I don't want arena league QBs in my camp.

I completely avoid anyone under 510 until the 5-7 rounds. At that point you are often looking for a guy whos’ strengths compliment your core’s weaknesses. Berrios has burst and hands, plus he can return kicks. If you needed a guy to replace  Cobb and get 8 catches for 65 yards and a pile of first downs, Berrios will probably get the job done—he can play that role. I like Yancey but the rest of the WRs listed there are never gonna be guys that can be a 4th or 5th option that can have a random game a year where they are the difference.

I get what you are saying about the QB situation. That’s a good point. I don’t think Callahan deserves an NFL roster spot. Nor Hundley. But sure, for camp they make a lot of sense. I think it should be Kizer’s turn to try to bring us home a nice draft pick via Pre-season MVP honors. But those other two can close out games and give the Offense a shot at actually running.

[ChaRisMa]

2 hours ago, Hands said:

TEs have to be selected in this year's draft. Green Bay probably needs to draft two of them. They are like the slot CBs for the offense, you need them to leverage the running game and provide a middle of the field presence. I like Graham, but want to see a blocking TE and deep receiver threat. I see Conklin from Central MI/Thomas from IN as the receiver threats in the 3rd day and Herndon from Miami/Fumagalli-WI as the blocking threats.

I think Green Bay will be signing a FS in FA (speculate Boston) so having a slot CB and outside CB to match up with the Julius Jones on the league will be needed in the draft. It may also mean they don't draft a safety unless it's James or Fitzpatrick in the first round. Jamerson from WI may be the exception if he's still there in the 6th round.

I got two guys I want to play as TEs. One is a receiving threat body. One is a massive blocking guy.

you lost me the rest of the way there.

[ChaRisMa]

1 hour ago, jleisher said:

I like you thought about Lazard at TE, is it possible that Clark might be an option at TE as well?  Gaulden could also move to Safety.  I could live with this draft.  Thanks!

Well, regarding Clark--I don't see him as a contributor at WR, so if he can get the lower body strength to be a TE he's better off trying that. But Lazard is far more developed as a receiver and already ten pounds heavier. Lazard certainly has better hands, which is an area I consider most players to be what they will be by the time they are out of college. Most impressive area of the field for Lazard was the red zone as well. 

[chillparsi1]

Just a heads up you have Ronald Jones going twice, both at the top of the 2nd. 

Appreciate the work - not just the picks, explaining them but also telling us how the board might fall. I rely on things like this to keep me informed!

[Brit Pack]

Wow!!! Ward and Key!!! The rest for me would be cherries on the cake

[moretti19]

Love it! Pipe dream that Ward falls but him paired with Kevin King would be great.

[Pilprin]

14 hours ago, ChaRisMa said:

 

Depth Chart (53)

Rodgers / Kizer

Wiliams / Jones / Montgomery / Ripkowski

Adams / Cobb / Mathews / Allison / Yancey / Fountain / Berrios

Graham / Kendricks / Lazard / Thomas

Bakhtiari / Taylor / Linsley / McCray / Bulaga / Spriggs / McCray / Amichia

Daniels / Clark / Wilkerson / Lowry / Adams

Martinez / Matthews / Perry / Key / Ryan / Thomas / Biegel / Cichy

King / Ward / Williams / Gaulden / House / Hawkins / Pipkins /

Clinton-Dix / Jones / Brice / Igwebuike / Evans

Crosby / Vogel / Carew

Practice Squad

QB - Benkert / RB - UDFA  / WR - UDFA / TE Bryd / OL UDFA / DL UDFA / ILB UDFA / CB Brown 

I'll do one more in a few weeks.

 

I don't mind the mock draft / projected 53 except for a few things...

1. Who is your blocking TE? Either one needs to be drafted or one needs to be signed. None on the 53 can block 

2. I see no way that Ward gets to GB. I will be shocked if he gets out of top 10. I would be running around doing the happy dance if he is there at #14. Not a fan of Alexander as a back up plan.

3. I think there needs to be a few OL drafted. Unless we trade some picks, I would think at least 2 will be drafted.

I appreciate your efforts though and like many of the picks...I also like the Lazard pick as a WR. He could grow into a TE, but I think he could play WR too. Thanks for your work....I tried to do a Mock draft and got lost after round 5 and I was only doing Packer selections! So really appreciate the work.

[Pugger]

2 hours ago, moretti19 said:

Love it! Pipe dream that Ward falls but him paired with Kevin King would be great.

I'll be shocked and stoked if Ward falls that far.

[pacman5252]

I’d be happy with the draft. It will be fun to see who drops. I love ward and key. I still feel Key makes it in to round 1 on potential, but I could see coaches not like his persona.