Against my better judgement... #1 (15): Joe Burrow, Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Jared Goff, Jameis Winston, Andrew Luck, Cam Newton, Sam Bradford, Matthew Stafford, JaMarcus Russell, Alex Smith, Eli Manning, Carson Palmer, David Carr, Michael Vick #2 (4): Mitch Trubisky, Carson Wentz, Marcus Mariota, Robert Griffin #3 (5): Sam Darnold, Blake Bortles, Matt Ryan, Vince Young, Joey Harrington #4 (1): Philip Rivers #5 (2): Tua Tagovailoa, Mark Sanchez #6 (2): Justin Herbert, Daniel Jones #7 (2): Josh Allen, Byron Leftwich #8 (2): Ryan Tannehill, Jake Locker #10 (4): Josh Rosen, Patrick Mahomes, Blaine Gabbert, Matt Leinart #11 (2): Jay Cutler, Ben Roethlisberger #12 (2): Deshaun Watson, Christian Ponder #15 (1): Dwayne Haskins #15 (1): E.J. Manuel #17 (1): Josh Freeman #18 (2): Joe Flacco, Chad Pennington #19 (1): Kyle Boller #22 (5): Johnny Manziel, Brandon Weeden, Brady Quinn, J.P. Losman, Rex Grossman #24 (1): Aaron Rodgers #25 (1): Jason Campbell #25 (1): Tim Tebow #26 (2) : Kyle Love, Paxton Lynch #32 (3): Lamar Jackson, Teddy Bridgewater, Patrick Ramsey **Boldface indicates where QB was first taken their year.** Back 20 years, here's your first round quarterbacks, although we probably could have limited it to Top 3 selections, since we're talking about the best prospect in the class. So 60 quarterbacks have been taken in the last 20 drafts and you're suggesting at least 40 of these quarterbacks were better prospects than Justin Fields or Baker Mayfield were. Pretty much tells me everything I needed to know about your perception of the sport, tbh...
Baked Mayfield was nowhere near the top of that list, Fields passes the eye test bust only come OSU. Oklahoma hasn’t really put anything special in the NFL either
Discounting a prospect because of the college is the laziest take in existence. It's almost like you forget the best QB in your franchise's history came from Miami, OH.
This is incredibly hard to believe. They mention that, per insiders, San Francisco "hasn't made up its mind" on which QB to take. You don't mortgage the future and basically seal your GM and head coach's jobs to a chance selection. Again, the hater in me desperately wants the pick to be Mac Jones. I think Justin Fields available at #4 makes Atlanta's decision MUCH harder. 1 - take the uber-talented Kyle Pitts? 2 - take the hometown kid to be the face of the franchise for the next decade? 3 - trade the pick for a ransom to the Patriots, Broncos, Bears, or Washington Football Team?
Just did a Mock, made a few trades... #26 Caleb Farley CB Virginia Tech #49 Kadarius Toney WR Florida (Traded #59 and #110 to Arizona for #49) #59 TRADE Arizona #89 TRADE (Traded #89 and #257 to KC for #94 2022 4th) #91 Marlon Tuipulotu DT USC #94 TRADE (Traded #94 and #257 to KC for #136 and #144 and 2022 5th) #132 Dayo Odeyingbo DE Vanderbilt #136 James Wiggins S Cincinnati (KC Trade) #144 Aaron Banks OG Notre Dame (KC Trade) #169 Derrick Barnes LB Purdue #211 Riley Cole LB South Alabama #257 TRADE to KC 2022 4th round Kansas City 2022 5th round Kansas City Original Picks: First round: 26th overall Second round: 59th overall Third round: 89th overall and 91st overall (from the Saints) Fourth round: 110th overall (from the Eagles) and 132nd overall Fifth round: 169th overall (from the Rams) Sixth round: 211th overall Seventh round: 257th overall (from the Bills) If Toney drops in the second, I hope they would be willing to move up to get him. He could be the deep threat this team needs to complete the offense.
Farley would be a great pick, but I wonder if the injury history scares a team like Cleveland (who's already dealing with cornerbacks who can't stay healthy) enough to avoid drafting him -- even if he were available there. I know he got a clean bill of health recently, but two back surgeries by age 21 would seem to indicate a larger, underlying issue. Denzel Ward has missed 11 out of 48 career games whereas Greedy's at 20 of 32 missed with the prognosis that his best case is around 80-85% of where he was previously at. Obviously, mock drafts are anything but scientific, but I've also had about a 1-2% chance of a first round cornerback being available at #26. Typically, Patrick Surtain, Jacyee Horn, Farley, and Greg Newsome are all off the board. Toney seems like a Tyreek Hill without the off-field stuff -- very electric and elusive. I'm not sure as a route runner he's there, nor does he have the height or wing-span to compete vertically. He seems to be more of a "get him in space and let him do his thing" type of player (Odell). I think if the team wanted a speedy deep-threat, they would have signed Will Fuller in free agency. Love it. Honestly, don't know enough about this one, so I need to do some research All areas to strength the depth of the roster, so while I don't know the prospects, I like the positions. I do wonder if the Browns are going to make eight (sitting with nine today) picks, though. They can obviously carry a higher number before cutdowns, but when I look at the roster as a whole, it really feels like improved depth is needed on offense while improved starters are needed on defense. Guess we find out in six days.
Gross. Logic problem: if 1 & 2 then Falcons are rebuilding. Justin Fields falling past hometown Atlanta in this case would be nuts.
In the complete Rapoport article about Mac Jones, he relays a note that the 2017 board for San Francisco was: Myles Garrett, Solomon Thomas, and Reuben Foster 1-2-3. So it confirms they scout and analyze players significantly worse than your average, armchair GM. So the Mac Jones stuff doesn't surprise me at all after that tid-bit.
Yeah, it will be very interesting how everything plays out on Thursday. If all 4 are gone, hopefully Christian Barmore falls to us. I would love to see one of the 5 at #26, or even Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (which I realize everyone thinks they undervalue the LB position, but he has a special skillset). Someone must drop to #26 imho. If the perfect storm hits and all of these players are gone before we pick. I would not be opposed to trading down and gaining future picks. I just down want to move down more than around #35, so I would say about 10 spots tops. I just love the fact that looking over the roster, we don't have to find an immediate starter in the first round for the first time since the mid-90s. We have capable players at every position. I will add a note that this assumes some players with injuries and/or COVID opt out will come into camp healthy. Gonna be a fun week and fun year! I can respect your opinion on Toney. What I will add is that I don't think they were in the market for Will Fuller who signed a one year $10.6M contract... Between OBJ ($15.7M) and Jarvis (14.75M), I don't think they were looking to do any other than Hollywood's $1.127M cap hit contract. Taking a second round receiver is exactly what I could see them doing this week, unless one of the top 3 falls, which I find extremely unlikely. Obviously, if Terrance Marshall were available, he would be a better option yet, but I would be surprised if he makes it past the first couple of picks in the second round, which would be too rich for us to move up for. IF we moved down from #26, I could see a Marshall as a good possibility to be drafted.
I hope he does! I hate seeing nice prospects get drafted to bad teams.. Unfortunately, that was some prospects going to Cleveland in the past. I would love to see someone like Fields fall. I feel strongly that he is going to make an impact and if he could go somewhere that a good team base is in place, it could be more pronounced. I keep hearing the reports, but unless his Epilepsy is more significant than the doctor reports are eluding to, I am having a very hard time understanding how he could drop below San Fran. If the Denver Broncos could somehow get their hands on Justin Fields, they might be playoff contenders this year. 2022, I would be worried about them like I am the Chiefs and Bills now.
Figured I'd post my final Browns mock here. Pardon the copy and paste from Joe & Truths Mock, but I figured if I just listed the picks, there could be questions, and I didn't feel like retyping another re-cap.. Actually there might be Q's anyway, but I like how this worked out. There is a method to my madness... Recapping the Cleveland Browns draft. My mindset from the start was to go get the best football players. Similar to what Andrew Berry said in his presser the other day, I'm looking at big picture long term success of the team. That said, it started with a flurry.... ROUND 1 (pick 1-27) - Trevon Moehrig, S - TCU - There were about 4 players I had rated slightly under TM that I would have selected, but after they all went off the board in front of me, I changed the plan. I didn't want to settle for a player that I had with a late first/early second round grade when a player I had ranked in the top 15 overall was just sitting there. Those who know me know I was very high on Moehrig and mentioned several times how I'd love to see him in the brown and orange. So I felt real good about pulling the trigger on him at 27.... ROUND 2 (trade up to 2.11) - Carlos "Boogie" Basham Jr., EDGE - Wake - With edge rushers flying off the board like hot cakes, moving up became major priority. Got a solid deal from SF to move up about 16 spots , and was happy to land CBJ. I didn't know a ton about him until I saw where he was picked in the GMO. After digging in, I really felt he was the perfect fit opposite Myles Garrett. ROUND 3 (pick 3.25) Dylan Moses, LB - Alabama - Plug and play LB. Didn't expect to see him here at all, and hits a need area. Versatile, intelligent, can put him in on either side, and he's a great blitzer. He'll have to find a new number to wear in Cleveland though. ROUND 3 (pick 3.25) Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR - USC - After contemplating a trade down, I decided to just stay where I was and select the big WR from Southern Cal....Another guy that I really dug in on after seeing where he got picked in the GMO. One of those guys that has been prepared for the NFL all his life by his father. Going to be a solid addition. ROUND 4 - As ya might imagine, I started getting trade offers for Grant Delpit after selecting Moehrig. I was not excited about it, but the reality is that he became expendable, and at this point (after the Browns released Sheldon Richardson), I did have a need at DT. After rejecting a handful of offers I finally received one I was willing to accept. A future 2nd round pick. But before making the deal, I noticed Minnesota had four 4th round picks coming up. So I figured if Vikings will trade me their first two picks of that round, I'll part with Delpit and address my interior d-line. So that's what happened. (pick 4.14) - Tommy Togiai, DT - Ohio State - I thought excellent value here and he's been on my list for Cleveland throughout draft season, even before we released Richardson. Plus he's a Buckeye. Always a good thing. (pick 4.20) - Osa Odighizuwa, IDL - UCLA - Great third down and obvious passing down DT for the rotation. Why not double down on the position if you feel the value is there? I might regret not taking Tyler Shelvin here, but I didn't want to duplicate last draft. It can be debated if I should have taken the future 2nd, or just held onto Delpit and hope he bounces back from last year's injury, but these drafts only come along once a year and I didn't have any 4th rounders. lol! EDIT (pick 4.27) - Deonte Brown, IOL - Alabama - Pure luxury pick right here that I almost completely forgot about. The only concern I have is that he must stay focused on his conditioning. Brown is a big powerful man, and if he keeps his focus on football, Cleveland gets a steal here. ROUND 6 (pick 6.10) Patrick Johnson, EDGE - Tulane - He played all over the front 7 at Tulane. One of the most productive players in college football over the last 3 years. Might be a better fit in a 3-4 alignment, but he's a football player. We'll find a spot for him. ROUND 6 (pick 6.27) Austin Watkins, WR- UAB - At 6'3"/210, this is one of my favorite big WR's in this draft. Super under-rated. Strong muscular frame. Built to withstand the NFL. Overpowers DB's and makes the contested catches look easy. Great hands, and the speed to get vertical. ROUND 7 (pick 7.29) Jonathon Cooper, DE - Ohio State - With the 3rd to last pick of the draft, this was an easy one. Far and away the BPA on my board at this point.
To be clear, he's stating that Alabama's one-read back-up who had the envious position of throwing to four top-10 NFL draft selections during his 1.5 years as a starter and who has the same number of DUI's as he does National Championships is a better fit than both Trey Lance and Justin Fields.
lol! Nope. I'm half expecting Barmore at #26, or a crafty move up for Jaycee Horn. IDK....Berry is awesome, but he's much less predictable than previous regimes.... ...and that's a good thing. Random NFL cheerleader shot, because I can, and because sadly we don't have any:
Sitting here two days out from the NFL Draft and Andrew Berry still has us all in the dark. The closer we get, the more I'm thinking we end up with this guy...
Nailed it. I think there's a handful of players like probably like at #26 which obviously would include some of the linebackers and corners, but of who projects to be available there versus overall value of the pick, I think Oweh makes the most sense. Analytically, he grades very well, despite a lack of overall production in college. His age and athletic profile are ideal and he could serve as a rotational ("we don't plan to pick someone who we expect to have a major impact Day 1" - AB) rusher who could kick Clowney inside of passing downs. He needs to develop some consistent pass rush moves (coaching) and one of his comps is Danielle Hunter whom Stefanski would have had exposure to in Minnesota (and who's turned into a very good pass rusher). Edge rush is a priority for every team but specifically called out as a premier position in the analytics view. Clowney, Takk, and Gustin are all on one-year deals, so the only long-term contract is Myles Garrett.