It's mid-week, that means it's time to mock draft!
Here is last week's edition.
Now onto the new one
"Sauce" almost slid to 12 but with Derek Stingley Jr. projected to the Broken Down Planes at pick four and an early run on edges talent at corner remained on the board in the forms of Trent McDuffie (Washington) & Andrew Booth Jr. (Clemson). Booth may have higher upside between the two but the report is that he isn't as ready to go in game 1 as McDuffie may be. Since the team has made all the moves to try and compete this season it stands to reason that they would sacrifice a little upside for earlier impact.
That broke the tie in favor of the Huskie
In an unlikely twist, this simulation didn't have the first quarterback being selected until Malik Willis at 40 by Seattle, with Kenny Pickett going a few picks later to Pittsburgh. If Draft Thursday actually goes that way the League's phone lines would be blowing up with trade talks. Trades aren't an option in the simulator but I wouldn't have gone that route even if I could have. Unfortunately there already seems to be dirt on Kellen Mond's career which would open the door for an alternative young understudy. At 46 I considered Matt Corral but that would be a luxury that this team can't afford this year. That's especially true when a potential starting guard was left on the board, Mond's former teammate Kenyon Green.
When 77 came around linebackers & tight-ends were abundant, which would be a great situation for Minnesota since both positions have holes. With the two starting ILBs set the choice came down to who projects as the best outside LB. I opted for Quay Walker (Georgia) out of the group of a half-dozen because of his size & athleticism.
Now comes the Herndon void.
At 156 running back was far & away the most available but it's one of the few areas of the roster that needs no addition during the draft. So my attention turned back to the DBs. It's best player available for either safety or corner and this case I thought that was Southern Cal's Jack Jones, by way of Arizona State, because he may be able to help in the slot and on the back-end.
The opportunity to double-down on it came at 184 with a pair of higher-rated safeties still on the board. With a 100 tackle season in his last year at Middle Tennessee Reed Blankenship would be a contributor on special teams while learning from Harrison Smith which would be good value at this point in the process.
As with the groups of recent drafts this lot of wide receivers has been lauded for it's depth and the Purple would be wise to try & capitalize on that again. They may not find another Jefferson or Diggs but perhaps a KJ Osborn could be found. Jaden Nailor showed his ability to succeed against some of the best defenders in the country for Michigan State and would be worth a flier by the new regime.
One pick later it was back to the defense, this time focusing on the front through the selection of the aptly named Thomas Booker (Stanford). Offense got one more addition at 250 in the hopes that Miami's Charleston Rambo can chew defense's up some day.
Can't say that this draft class would address every need that remains but even a 15 pick class would have a tough time accomplishing that feat. The objective is to fill the most glaring needs with as many high-upside players as possible then leave it to the coaches to handle their end.
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