No Godfather offers come in. I’m not even sure what it would have to be, but the price tag in my head as a fan is much higher than anything I’ve heard floated out there by any analyst debating this topic. I’m talking Miami would have to drop all three first round picks this year, both first round picks next year, and multiple second round picks (probably one this year and one next year.. And even then I’d still be queasy about it!! So really, it just becomes a matter of just take your guy.
The Pick: Joe Burrow, QB LSU
2. Washington
The Tagovailoa injury and the presence of a rare edge talent have let Washington off the hook from the pressure of whether they should take another quarterback. I don’t condone taking rating star caliber QB prospects behind other positions, but Young is rated as the top prospect in the class in some circles and is often described as a more athletic version of the Bosa brothers.
The Pick: Chase Young, DE Ohio State
3. Detroit
Okudah is the consensus here, but I’m not convinced. The Lions will draw positional value ire from the masses for picking Simmons this high, but I’m projecting they’ll see his versatility as the missing link to their defense, and I’m not so sure that I disagree with them.
The Pick: Isaiah Simmons, Defense Clemson
4. N.Y. Giants- TRADE – L.A. Chargers
The smoke surrounding Tagovailoa is out of control. Call in all fire departments from neighboring counties! Nobody can see! Nobody can breathe! This thing is out of control. As a steadfast QB value guy, even I’m starting to waiver into thinking that the league might actually let Tagovailoa slide down the draft board. Logic wins in the end. High end quarterback talent is worth the risk. The Chargers are afraid Miami has been playing dead all along and decides to make a move to secure the star they need going into a new stadium in the L.A. market.
The Pick: Tua Tagovailoa, QB Alabama
5. Miami
It turns out Miami was smoke screening for a different quarterback the whole time. His tape isn’t as scary as devious, scheming general managers would have you believe.
The Pick: Jordan Love, QB Utah State
6. L.A. Chargers – Traded to N.Y. Giants – TRADE – Jacksonville
Everyone pokes fun at Dave Gettleman for never trading down. Now he’s going to do it twice in a row just to spite everyone. The Jaguars have hit the reset button on defense and an analytics driven front office will likely value the opportunity to rebuild everything around the top corner. I think Okudah is great, but not quite the sure-fire top three pick that he is being made out to be. His movement skills are special. His ability to mirror receivers in man coverage is great, but not elite.
The Pick: Jeff Okudah, CB Ohio State
7. Carolina – TRADE- Las Vegas
I can’t let these WR’s fall any farther. Let’s make a trade! Can’t you just hear Mike Mayock waxing poetic breaking down a CeeDee Lamb pick in an alternate universe where he still works for the NFL network? Lamb will look good in a Raiders uniform and Gruden has the elite weapon he’s been looking for.
The Pick: CeeDee Lamb, WR Oklahoma
8. Arizona – TRADE – San Francisco
Not to be outdone, the 49ers trade right up on the heels of their former bay area rival. Kyle Shanahan will bludgeon defenses running the ball and Jeudy and Deebo Samuel will carve whatever’s left to pieces. Check mate.
The Pick: Jerry Jeudy, WR Alabama
9. Jacksonville – Traded to N.Y. Giants
Gettleman, you sly dog. The Giants patiently move down and snag the best OT available.
The Pick: Andrew Thomas, OT Georgia
10. Cleveland
Cleveland opts for the monster from Louisville to plug in at LT. It might be a bit of a reach, but at least they are filling their biggest need, and if you are going to fill a hole you might as well fill it with 370 lbs. to make sure it is full.
The Pick: Mekhi Becton, OT Louisville
11. N.Y. Jets
OT’s fall to the Jets and they go receiver anyway to grab some sorely needed deep speed and high end WR potential. Can Ruggs anchor a receiving corps? I don’t think that’s his optimum role, but I’m excited to find out if he can do it.
The Pick: Henry Ruggs, WR Alabama
12. Las Vegas – Traded to Carolina
Carolina moves down and still gets the best defender available from when they were originally on the clock. Brown is a beast. He can flash quickness and penetration skills, but his main weapon is his bull strength that double teams sometimes struggle to contend with. My favorite play of anything I watched this year was a pass play in the Auburn vs. LSU game. Off the snap, Brown fired off the line and drove the guard back so violently that even Burrow couldn’t side step in time, and Brown legitimately got a sack without even touching the quarterback.
The Pick: Derrick Brown, DT Auburn
13. San Francisco (from Indianapolis) – Traded to Arizona
One of the elite receivers would have been a tantalizing addition to an already interesting offense, but the Cardinals do the sensible thing moving back and investing in a quality RT prospect.
The Pick: Jedrick Wills Jr., OT Alabama
14. Tampa Bay
In case you hadn’t heard , the Buccaneers just signed a 42 year old quarterback. Tampa Tom needs some blockers. I still think WIrfs will struggle out of the gate, but he at least gives them options.
The Pick: Tristan Wirfs, OT Iowa
15. Denver – TRADE – Dallas
The Cowboys trade up to snag their replacement for Byron Jones. Henderson isn’t the most physical corner in the world, but some say his man coverage skills might be better than Okudah’s. I think that’s a bit of an overstatement, but Henderson should allow the other pieces of their secondary to fit into more natural roles.
The Pick: C.J. Henderson, CB Florida
16. Atlanta
There has been talk of Atlanta trading up, but in this case they stay put and snag pretty good value. Kinlaw didn’t show as much power as Brown in the 2019 games that I watched but he looked strong enough for sure and had more speed.
The Pick: Javon Kinlaw South Carolina
17. Dallas – Traded to Denver – TRADE – New England
Bill Bellichick is looming in all of this “The sky is falling, the sky is falling, Tua’s gonna fall!!” discussion that has been rampant the last few days. If he starts to slide, how high up would New England go to get him? The outrage from non-Patriots fans if Bellichick pulls it off would be intolerable and that’s coming from someone that would be almost as equally as annoyed. It feels like a situation where everyone overreacts and then four years from now as Tagovailoa, the Trojan horse that brought down the Patriots dynasty, is retiring due to injury we all look back sheepishly at how mad we were. Regardless of the risk, I’d still take Tagovailoa in the top five picks, and that’s what I’m predicting. In this scenario, the Patriots are trading up for Herbert and we will all delight at his failure or be tortured by his success, and it doesn’t feel like there is any potential middle ground.
The Pick: Justin Herbert, QB Oregon
18. Miami (From Pittsburgh)
The dolphins snagged a QB at the top. Being too early to invest in the next wave of OT’s, they turn to defense. I have Yetur Gross-Matos as the next best edge player. Some will laud Chaisson in this slot, but Gross-Matos is just a bigger, stronger player with speed and quickness that are at least equivalent Chaisson.
The Pick: Yetur Gross-Matos, DE Penn State
19. Las Vegas (from Chicago) – Traded to Carolina
The Raiders moved up early to get an elite receiving weapon and Carolina slid their second round pick into the 19th slot with a pick swap. The Panthers continue to solidify the middle of their defense with a middle linebacker that has the size and instincts to excel in run support, the speed to drop into coverage , and near unanimous approval of his character.
The Pick: Kenneth Murray, LB Oklahoma
20. Jacksonville (from L.A. Rams)
The jaguars continue to rebuild the secondary with a safety that is an effective blitzer that thumps ball carriers, but can also play centerfield and cover tight ends.
The Pick: Xavier McKinney, S Alabama
21. Philadelphia
The Eagles need receivers so bad that even non-Eagles fans want them to pick WR’s. I won’t disappoint here. Denzel Mims has athleticism to spare, but he’s not as raw of a receiving talent as you might think. The Eagles get a fine candidate to develop into a WR1.
The Pick: Denzel Mims, WR Baylor
22. Minnesota (from Buffalo)
Linebacker isn’t super high on Minnesota’s needs list, but another athletic playmaker will be a good fit in a defense that is retooling a bit this offseason.
The Pick: Patrick Queen, LB LSU
23. New England – Traded to Denver
Denver moves back twice to pick up some extra assets. Now they fill a big need with a solid corner prospect.
The Pick: Jeff Gladney, CB TCU
24. New Orleans
With the two best LB prospects off the board, the Saints opt to add depth across from Marshon Lattimore. Fulton will struggle against elite receivers, but he should be a solid CB2.
The Pick: Kristian Fulton, CB LSU
25. Minnesota
It’s a run on LSU players as the Vikings seek to build back up their receiving corps. Jefferson might seem a little duplicative to Adam Thielen, but both guys should be effective playing inside and outside. In a way it will make them more versatile, and the relief to Kirk Cousins of replacing Stephon Diggs with a high character player that doesn’t need to be spoon fed touches should be palpable.
The Pick: Justin Jefferson, WR LSU
26. Miami (from Houston)
His dad was selected 23rd overall by the Bills. Antoine Winfield Jr. goes 26th overall to a different AFC east team. At 5’9”, Winfield gets caught in traffic at times coming up to play run defense, but overall he has good instincts and is adept at making plays in coverage.
The Pick: Antoine Winfield Jr., S Minnesota
27. Seattle
Whether they trade down like usual or stick in this slot to grab an edge defender, this feels like a good spot for Chaisson. I wanted to slide him down a little because I think he’s been a little overrated from what I’ve read and listened to, but more than likely he’ll be a first round pick. To me he’s undersized and not strong enough to hold up as a DE, but too big to be 4-3 linebacker. He’d be best as a 3-4 OLB, but I’m not sure who it is that is going to come get him.
The Pick: K’Lavon Chaisson, DE LSU
28. Baltimore
Baltimore might actually be the team keen on Chaisson if he falls this far. Alternatively, there’s been a lot of Patrick Queen talk in recent mock drafts. In this case, neither player fell to them and they will have to settle for a different LSU player. Grant Delpit was considered a top 15 player heading into the year and his stock has since fallen based on the perception that his play slipped a little from 2018 to 2019. I still see him as a high end safety prospect and Earl Thomas isn’t going to play forever. This would be classic Baltimore for a player like this to fall right into their laps.
The Pick: Grant Delpit, S LSU
29. Tennessee
The Titans feel like a team that is going to draft defensive line every year. There’s a cluster of DT’s worth going in this range, but I think Neville Gallimore gives them the best blend of size, strength and penetration.
The Pick: Neville Gallimore, DT Oklahoma
30. Green Bay
Aaron Rodgers might have a few years of prime left. It’s past time the Packers invested highly into offensive weapons. Jalen Reagor is the kind of explosive talent that would look outstanding across from Davante Adams. Reagor is a little shorter, but he gets down field in a hurry and has plenty of leaping ability to jump up and make plays. Maybe he should go a little higher, but seeing what Reagor can do with his talent with someone like Rodgers throwing to him is so intriguing that I refused to consider allowing anyone else to pick Reagor.
The Pick: Jalen Reagor, WR TCU
31. San Francisco
The 49ers managed to trade up five slots for Jeudy and hang on to pick 31. If they stay in this slot, I like them to go after IOL. In this case they have the pick of the litter and they go with Cesar Ruiz. I’ve seen others that are a lot higher on Ruiz and think he’s the clear number 1 center/guard prospect. I think it’s a little more muddled. He’s strong, but not overpowering. He runs past blocks a little more than I would like. His quickness is his biggest strength. I’d move him to guard where he can dig in a little harder and maximize his power and pull more effectively to utilize his speed.
The Pick: Cesar Ruiz, C Michigan
32. Kansas City – TRADE – N.Y. Jets
The Jets opted for WR earlier and now they move back in for O-line depth. Ezra Cleveland is a guy that has drawn a lot of late buzz as the fifth OT. I think he’ll eventually move to guard, but either way, he should help the Jets.
The Pick: Ezra Cleveland, OT Boise State
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