It's mid-week, that means it's time to mock draft!
Here is last week's edition.
Now onto the new one
Four of the top five quarterbacks are gone by 14, which left the door open for a linebacker, offensive tackle & defensive end to be considered. As appealing as the idea was to give Andre Patterson a first round talent to mold, the track record of DL successes later in the draft pushes that until later.
If Anthony Barr was off the payroll then I would have to give LB more consideration, but as things are I couldn't justify making that pick. And thus, Brian O'Neill got his bookend - Christian Darrisaw, Virginia Tech.
The opportunity to patch the protection got even better when 78 came with two interior OL at the top of the board. Deonte Brown may have slightly higher pedigree. But Ohio State's Josh Myers projects with positional flexibility at either guard or center so it would provide some insurance for Garrett Bradbury. That ultimately broke the tie between the two.
Then, in a surprising twist, Brown was still on the board when 90 came up. It would never happen in reality, but as offseason fantasy I had to consider making that level of an investment into the line.
The main word being consider.
After that was done I went in a different direction.
From the other best players available I opted for a guy to join Harrison Smith on the backend. The ceiling for Florida State's Hamsah Nasirildeen could end up being that he replaces the future ring of honor member as he displayed many of the same traits in college as The Hitman has since coming from South Bend. That's worth the dice roll in the third round!
The opportunity to double-down re-presented itself with three safeties atop the board but sandwiched between them was the kind of DL they have added and succeeded with. He'll need some polish but no one is better at doing that than the Purple, so for the second pick in a row I went with a 'Nole, Marvin Wilson.
When 125 came around a different kind of double-up opportunity was sitting there for me and I jumped on it. Defensive end Cameron Sample, Tulane. He played everywhere from the interior to outside as a linebacker in college so with focus on one area he could be the latest to blossom for Zimmer.
Of the five picks between the third and fourth, one needs to be a quarterback. In this run through the draft, the guy that I would like to see as the backup is still on the board at 135. It would be a gamble but with 143 in pocket I rolled the dice that QB2 would still be available. That decision freed me up to add another option to the arsenal of the offense. With the top-two receivers well-set, the Tiger from Alabama, Seth Williams, can come in and compete for snaps with Olabisi Johnson & Chad Beebe.
Then came the guy who could be throwing him the ball in a couple of years - if not sooner depending on health. I think Kellen Mond compares favorably to Dak Prescott. Comparisons only mean so much but going this route would give the team a year to watch his work ethic and get a fully-formed impression of him. If they aren't comfortable with what they've learned by this time next year then they can go back to the well while not having whiffed too badly. On the other hand, if he hits then the future of the organization gets all the brighter!
It was only a matter of time before the inevitable investment into the cornerback position happened. LSU's Kary Vincent Jr. may not have all the physical tools of Gladney & Dantzler but with Louisiana State talent and the opportunity to develop as a backup the fit was too obvious to pass up.
Having already addressed every need, now the time came to reinforce the worst areas. Wide receiver and safety were available in quantity. Safety is the worse of those two, even if they draft one in the high-middle of the draft. This time I went with another sunshine-state player, this time from the Swamp, defensive lineman Tedarrell Slaton from Florida. Then, at the 200th, Slaton got another person to compete against - DE Malcolm Koonce from Buffalo.
The unplanned theme of the mock continued at 222. While a litany of receivers are available, some of whom could at least challenge KJ Osborn as the "returner" I chose to add another body to the competition at cornerback. Once again from the state of Florida and from the namesake university, cornerback Marco Wilson.
Which brought me to the final pick. One of the guys who could compete and maybe even actually return some kicks and punts was still available at 236, wide receiver Cade Johnson, South Dakota State.
Draft-day grades and immediate reactions continue to be a foolish exercise. But to put it simply, from top to bottom this would be a great draft for the Purple!
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