…..the final Mock Draft!
Yep, not kidding. This is it. I’m not going to do like four in a matter of six days or something ridiculous like that. I have a job and a life (sort of) outside of this blog. I also know things may change on the day of the draft (or more like opening day of the draft). Nothing I can do about that. Let the experts deal with it. Between ESPN and the NFL Network there has to be about 70 mock drafts ready to go in the half hour before the draft begins. So without further adieu, let’s get to l’ébauche finale:
First Round
| 1 | Chicago | Caleb Williams, QB (USC) |
| 2 | Washington | Jayden Daniels, QB (LSU) |
| 3 | New England | Drake Maye, QB (North Carolina) |
| 4 | Arizona | Marvin Harrison Jr., WR (Ohio State) |
| 5 | LA Chargers | Malik Nabers, WR (LSU) |
| 6 | NY Giants | Dallas Turner, EDGE (Alabama) |
| 7 | Tennessee | Terrion Arnold, CB (Alabama) |
| 8 | Atlanta | J.J. McCarthy, QB (Michigan) |
| 9 | Chicago | Laiatu Latu, EDGE (UCLA) |
| 10 | NY Jets | Joe Alt, OT (Notre Dame) |
| 11 | Minnesota | Bo Nix, QB (Oregon) |
| 12 | Denver | Brock Bowers, TE (Georgia) |
| 13 | Las Vegas | Olu Fashanu, OT (Penn State) |
| 14 | New Orleans | Rome Odunze, WR (Washington) |
| 15 | Indianapolis | Quinyon Mitchell, CB (Toledo) |
| 16 | Seattle | Troy Fautanu, G (Washington) |
| 17 | Jacksonville | Taliese Fuaga, OT (Oregon State) |
| 18 | Cincinnati | J.C. Latham, OT (Alabama) |
| 19 | LA Rams | Kool-Aid McKinstry, CB (Alabama) |
| 20 | Pittsburgh | Byron Murphy II, DT (Texas) |
| 21 | Miami | Jer’Zhan Newton, DT (Illinois) |
| 22 | Philadelphia | Jared Verse, DE (Florida State) |
| 23 | Minnesota | Chop Robinson, EDGE (Penn State) |
| 24 | Dallas | Amarius Mims, OT (Georgia) |
| 25 | Green Bay | Cooper DeJean, S (Iowa) |
| 26 | Tampa Bay | Michael Penix Jr., QB (Washington) |
| 27 | Arizona | Darius Robinson, EDGE (Minnesota) |
| 28 | Buffalo | Brian Thomas Jr., WR (LSU) |
| 29 | Detroit | Jackson Powers-Johnson, G (Oregon) |
| 30 | Baltimore | Graham Barton, G (Duke) |
| 31 | San Francisco | Tyler Guyton, OT (Oklahoma) |
| 32 | Kansas City | Jordan Morgan, OT (Arizona) |
Second Round
| 33 | Carolina | Xavier Legette, WR (South Carolina) |
| 34 | New England | Kingsley Suamataia, OT (BYU) |
| 35 | Arizona | Nate Wiggins, CB (Clemson) |
| 36 | Washington | Zach Frazier, C (West Virginia) |
| 37 | LA Chargers | T.J. Tampa, CB (Iowa State) |
| 38 | Tennessee | Patrick Paul, OT (Houston) |
| 39 | Carolina | Ennis Rakestraw Jr., CB (Missouri) |
| 40 | Washington | Troy Franklin, WR (Oregon) |
| 41 | Green Bay | Chris Braswell, EDGE (Alabama) |
| 42 | Houston | Ruke Orhorhoro, DT (Clemson) |
| 43 | Atlanta | Ladd McConkey, WR (Georgia) |
| 44 | Las Vegas | Christian Haynes, G (UConn) |
| 45 | New Orleans | Marshawn Kneeland, EDGE (Western Michigan) |
| 46 | Indianapolis | Xavier Worthy, WR (Texas) |
| 47 | NY Giants | Cooper Beebe, G (Kansas State) |
| 48 | Jacksonville | Adonai Mitchell, WR (Texas) |
| 49 | Cincinnati | T’Vondre Sweat, DT (Texas) |
| 50 | Philadelphia | Kamari Lassiter, CB (Georgia) |
| 51 | Pittsburgh | Edgerrin Cooper, LB (Texas A&M) |
| 52 | LA Rams | Kamren Kinchens, S (Miami) |
| 53 | Philadelphia | Ricky Pearsall, WR (Florida) |
| 54 | Cleveland | Michael Hall Jr., DT (Ohio State) |
| 55 | Miami | Keon Coleman, WR (Florida State) |
| 56 | Dallas | Trey Benson, RB (Florida State) |
| 57 | Tampa Bay | Ja’Lynn Polk, WR (Washington) |
| 58 | Green Bay | Sedrick Van Pran, C (Georgia) |
| 59 | Houston | Cam Hart, CB (Notre Dame) |
| 60 | Buffalo | Kris Jenkins, DT (Michigan) |
| 61 | Detroit | Javon Bullard, CB (Georgia) |
| 62 | Baltimore | Roman Wilson, WR (Michigan) |
| 63 | San Francisco | Austin Booker, DE (Kansas) |
| 64 | Kansas City | Braden Fiske, DT (Florida State) |
Third Round
| 65 | Carolina | Cedric Gray, LB (North Carolina) |
| 66 | Arizona | Payton Wilson, LB (NC State) |
| 67 | Washington | Bralen Trice, EDGE (Washington) |
| 68 | New England | Jonathan Brooks, RB (Texas) |
| 69 | LA Chargers | Ja’Tavion Sanders, TE (Texas) |
| 70 | NY Giants | Caelan Carson, CB (Wake Forest) |
| 71 | Arizona | Leonard Taylor III, DT (Miami) |
| 72 | NY Jets | Tyler Nubin, S (Minnesota) |
| 73 | Detroit | Adisa Isaac, EDGE (Penn State) |
| 74 | Atlanta | Brandon Dorius, EDGE (Oregon) |
| 75 | Chicago | Christian Mahogany, G (Boston College) |
| 76 | Denver | DeWayne Carter, DT (Duke) |
| 77 | Las Vegas | Mike Sainristil, CB (Michigan) |
| 78 | Washington | Junior Colson, LB (Michigan) |
| 79 | Atlanta | Justin Egoigbe, DT (Alabama) |
| 80 | Cincinnati | Max Melton, CB (Rutgers) |
| 81 | Seattle | Tommy Eichenberg, LB (Ohio State) |
| 82 | Indianapolis | Calen Bullock, S (USC) |
| 83 | LA Rams | Spencer Rattler, QB (South Carolina) |
| 84 | Pittsburgh | Roger Rosengarten, OT (Washington) |
| 85 | Cleveland | Kiran Amedagije, OT (Yale) |
| 86 | Houston | Malachi Corley, WR (WKU) |
| 87 | Dallas | Jermaine Burton, WR (Alabama) |
| 88 | Green Bay | Blake Fisher, OT (Notre Dame) |
| 89 | Tampa Bay | Cole Bishop, S (Utah) |
| 90 | Arizona | Zak Zinter, G (Michigan) |
| 91 | Green Bay | Nehemiah Pritchett, CB (Auburn) |
| 92 | Tampa Bay | Javion Cohen, G (Miami) |
| 93 | Baltimore | Jaylen Wright, RB (Tennessee) |
| 94 | Kansas City | Blake Corum, RB (Michigan) |
| 95 | San Francisco | Elijah Jones, CB (Boston College) |
| 96 | Jacksonville | Kris Abrams-Draine, CB (Missouri) |
| 97 | Cincinnati | Johnny Wilson, WR (Florida State) |
| 98 | Pittsburgh | Jonah Ellliss, LB (Utah) |
| 99 | LA Rams | Jalyx Hunt, EDGE (Houston Christian) |
| 100 | Washington | Jalen McMillan, WR (Washington) |
There are some strong opinions out there about this draft (like every draft) so let’s go through a few of them:
- The Vikings are going to trade up. This is a likely option but I don’t put trades in my mock drafts because I think dreaming up the trade packages would be insane. Saying that, I wouldn’t be surprised if they traded up to #4 or #5 to get J.J. McCarthy.
- The Cardinals are fielding a lot of trade offers. The top three picks are mostly set even though Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels seem to flip-flop in the second and third spots. The Cards are probably fielding a few offers but not as many as some might think. It will take a lot for them to trade down as they know they would get, arguably, the best overall player of the draft at a position they need.
- The Giants might be the toughest to figure out in the Top 10. Absolutely. They have all sorts of needs so there are probably 10-12 players on their board that they could conceivably take. I still like Dallas Turner at that spot but Terrion Arnold, Laiatu Latu, Brock Bowers, Quinyon Marshall and, hell, even Bo Nix could be picked at #6 by the Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-Men (done in extreme Chris Berman voice).
- If Brock Bowers isn’t picked Top 10 he will fall…FAR. I don’t think so. The Broncos, Colts, Bengals and Dolphins might all take a gander at the big man if he is still sitting in the back room after the tenth pick (which I think he will be).
Other than that there are questions that mostly don’t have answers at this point. Like will the Bills make a surprising leap up the draft now that Stefon Diggs has been dealt? Is Michael Penix Jr. poised to have the biggest leap up the draft boards in the past couple months? Will there be actual players involved in any of the trades over the next few days? It’s a crapshoot and not my expertise so I will steer clear of most of those questions (possibly, possibly and probably are my answers).
Reminder that the draft starts tonight at 8:00 and is emanating from Detroit. Moving the draft around has been fun so let’s see what it’s like in the Motor City. As per usual, ESPN and NFL Network will be doing the entire draft…all seven rounds. I have the ESPN draft pick is in ringtone on my phone but I am still debating which network to watch, at least for night one. I have leaned NFL Network in the past but I have done both over the past decade. It’s a game-time decision.
Finally, on the Twitter Machine (fuck you, Elon) I will be live-tweeting at least the first round and am hoping to do ALL SEVEN this year. Can I do it? Who the fuck knows. Around halfway through round five is where things usually go off the rails and I might struggle to keep going at that point. I mean I will but who knows if I will be posting tweets at that point or semi-conscious, staring at the bag of pretzels on my desk and wondering about important questions in life like “Would Nathan Peterman be successful in the CFL?”
Anyway, enjoy the draft, however much you watch of it.