Mock Draft 3.0 - Post Free Agency Wave 1

Post Wave 1 of Free Agency: Mock Draft 3.0

Free Agency Wave 1 is done and while there are a few big-name guys still left, a lot of team needs have been filled. This will be my last non-trading mock until the last one I release a few days before the draft. I might get a friend to do one with me in between now and then as well. I have done a lot of research and have solidified some of my own opinions from sources like Draft Network, Bleacher Report, ESPN, NFL.com, and independent twitter scouts and their clips. I have not watched my own film, so take this with a grain of salt. Just doing it for fun.

1.       Cincinnati Bengals – QB Joe Burrow, LSU Team Needs: QB, EDGE, iOL, LB (previous: Burrow)

If the Bengals trade out, they are dumb. If the Dolphins trade up to 1, they are dumb. Let’s all just stand pat yea?

2.       Washington Redskins – EDGE Chase Young, Ohio St Team Needs: WR, CB, OT, TE, CB (previous: Young)

Kyle Allen was just acquired today as a backup to Haskins. Meaning Haskins is the starter. Let’s take away that smokescreen now. The pick is Young.

3.       Detroit Lions – CB Jeffrey Okudah, Ohio St Team Needs: OG, CB, EDGE, DT (previous: Okudah)

They signed Trufant to make Slay available for trade. Philly picked him up, paid him, and now the need for corner is there again. Slam dunk, book it.

4.       New York Giants – OT Mekhi Becton, Louisville Team Needs: LB, OT, EDGE (previous: Becton)

It depends what you think Gettleman wants. Does he want the mountain man? The athlete? The technician? Or Mr. Dependable? Or does he throw everyone off and keep addressing LB and take Simmons? I have a feeling it will leak at who he prefers and I think it’s the mountain man.

5.       Miami Dolphins – QB Tua Tagovaiola, Alabama Team Needs: QB, RB, OT, iOL, DT, EDGE, S (previous: Tua)

The word on the street is Miami tried to fly Tua in at the last minute before facilities were shut down and prospects were no longer allowed to visit. They got Dobbins (wink) and Jordan Love in, instead. The Dolphins have been in love with this kid for too long to pass on him now.

6.       Los Angeles Chargers – QB Justin Herbert, Oregon Team Needs: QB, OT, RB (previous: Herbert)

Brady is in Tampa. They aren’t trading or signing a free agent QB. Welcome the new face of the franchise. He doesn’t have to move too, too far.

7.       Carolina Panthers – LB Isaiah Simmons, Clemson Team Needs: DT, CB, LB, iOL (previous: Brown)

First switched pick from 2.0 to 3.0. The reason for the switch isn’t because of Brown or Simmons. I think the Panthers philosophy is different than I expected. They go out and sign Teddy for 3 years to be their QB instead of obviously tanking. They want to compete and not be an embarrassment. A DT is going to get lost in the mud. Simmons will fly around everywhere and replace the former face of the franchise, Luke Kuechly.

8.       Arizona Cardinals – OT Tristan Wirfs, Iowa Team Needs: DT, EDGE, LB, OT (previous: Wirfs)

With Derrick Brown on the board, they may think long and hard about that. But they will defer to coach, who is offensively minded, in securing a much-needed stop gap at right tackle.

9.       Jacksonville Jaguars – DT Derrick Brown, Auburn Team Needs: DT, LB, CB, WR, OT (previous: Henderson)

Now this is what a good tank looks like. Normally you fire your GM and coach when you’re about to do this because you know they won’t last through to see the end of this. Bold strategy, Cotton. Goodbye over-priced Foles. Hello #TankForTrevor. BPA pick here.

10.   Cleveland Browns – OT Jedrick Wills, Alabama Team Needs: OT, S, LB (previous: Wills)

Browns made a bunch of moves in early free agency. Signing Hooper at TE but more importantly Jack Conklin for their RT spot. Their new coach comes from Minnesota where they… like to run the ball and keep their QB upright. The last hole? Left tackle. Becton or Wills here. Book it.

11.   New York Jets – OT Andrew Thomas, Georgia Team Needs: OT, WR, iOL, EDGE (previous Thomas)

LOL did the Jets know they can sign crappy players for less than $10M a year? New York “reset” their bad OL with a below average bunch of signings to address it. If they feel they did sufficient work, this could be WR1. But they did not do sufficient work so this should still be a tackle. Last good one goes to Gang Green.

12.   Las Vegas Raiders – WR Jerry Jeudy, Alabama Team Needs: WR, CB, DT (previous: Simmons)

The Raiders had a very quiet free-agency period. Not quiet as in didn’t sign people. Quiet as in, they signed a lot of mid-tier guys that aren’t overpaid and should be immediate help. The one position they didn’t really address? You guessed it. I have Lamb>Jeudy now, but I think Jeudy will be more highly coveted by the guys who love winners.

13.   San Francisco 49ers (from Indianapolis Colts) – WR CeeDee Lamb, Oklahoma Team Needs: CB, WR, iOL, DT

TRADE! This happened on the 1^st day of free agency when Deforest Buckener (the guy who I think didn’t get enough credit) was traded to the Colts straight up for pick 13. Great trade for both sides. San Fran is likely to trade back either here or at 31 to get more picks but the value of a #1 WR here is too good to pass up.

14.   Tampa Bay Buccaneers – DT Javon Kinlaw, South Carolina Team Needs: DT, OT, RB (previous: Kinlaw)

TB in TB. Really, really weird but its official. And now that it is official, all the chips are in the center. 2-year Super Bowl window and you got to attack it. I think the Bucs move up to get Wills or Wirfs personally (maybe to JAX at 9) because they have to make sure Brady is protected. But if they stay pat… Barrett is back, secondary looked better at the end of last year (still want to add there later), but Suh is gone. Get Kinlaw there to go alongside the nose tackle of Vita Vea.

15.   Denver Broncos – WR Henry Ruggs III, Alabama Team Needs: WR, OT (previous: Ruggs)

These WRs could go in any order, if there is one here, I think it should be Ruggs and I think Denver would love that. They will worry about Philly/Minny jumping them for him but this is a perfect spot for the speedster.

16.   Atlanta Falcons – CB CJ Henderson, Florida Team Needs: EDGE, CB, DT, RB (previous: Chaisson)

I’m still of the belief that this could be Chaisson… but they added Fowler in FA and let Trufant go. Corner seems the bigger issue and with Brady and Brees in the division… might want to fix that.

17.   Dallas Cowboys – EDGE K’Lavon Chaisson, LSU Team Needs: CB, S, EDGE (previous: McKinney)

Seems like this is the last spot where you feel like you got a home run pick. Chaisson is a great outside bend rusher. Robert Quinn benefited last year from having a running mate in Lawrence on the other side. Chaisson will be in a perfect spot for him to succeed with Quinn in Chicago now.

18.   Miami Dolphins (from Pittsburgh Steelers) – OT Austin Jackson, USC Team Needs: RB, OT, iOL, DT, EDGE, S (previous: Delpit)

It’s a reach. But some “sources” have said he won’t make it out of the top 15. Relatively unknown because he had a quiet year after having a bone marrow transplant for his sister in the last offseason. Flores likes high character guys. He eats characters (and nails) for breakfast. He is naturally a left tackle and I worry that Josh Jones hasn’t gotten significantly better throughout his time in college.

19.   Las Vegas Raiders (from Chicago Bears) – CB Kristian Fulton, LSU Team Needs: DT, CB (previous: Queen)

I’m going to keep harping on winners in Oakland. They want winners. Luckily for them LSU, Alabama and Clemson have quite a few good players in this draft. Corner isn’t a dire need but it could be upgraded after they had some struggles from 2^nd round pick Mullen out of Clemson last year.

20.   Jacksonville Jaguars (from Los Angeles Rams) – S Xavier McKinney, Alabama Team Needs: DT, CB, WR, OT (previous: Murray)

I have no idea what this pick will bring. There are so many needs on this team after letting go of Ramsey, Campbell, Bouye, Ngakoue (likely to be traded because he has said he isn’t playing), and Smith retiring all within the span of a year. There are still some decent pieces here, but the core that was in the AFC Champ game is gone. BPA here and hope for the best.

21.   Philadelphia Eagles – WR Justin Jefferson, LSU Team Needs: WR, CB, S, LB, EDGE (previous: Jeudy)

Malcolm Jenkins is gone which leaves a nice safety sized hole in the swiss-cheese secondary that is the city of brotherly love. Corner, safety and wide receiver are all so deep this year that it makes sense for Philly to make a huge splash up or move back and collect some more picks. But if they stay, the best WR on the board has less question marks than the best CB and safety.

22.   Minnesota Vikings (from Buffalo Bills) – CB Jeff Gladney, TCU Team Needs: CB, WR, DT, iOL, EDGE

TRADE! Diggs is now in Buffalo for a monster deal including their first-round pick but solves Buffalo’s biggest issue of getting a target for Allen. (PS that’s why you hire a GM, Houston.) The Vikings are in a similar boat to Philly. Needs at corner and WR. I think they would’ve taken Jefferson here, but they like Gladney a lot to rebuild the now-empty cornerbacks’ room.

23.   New England Patriots – EDGE Zack Baun, Wisconsin Team Needs: QB, WR, EDGE, TE (previous: Baun)

HOT DIGGITY!!! REJOICE AFC EAST FANS!!! WE DON’T HAVE TO DEAL WITH HIM ANYMORE! Yes, we still have to deal with Bill but Stidham or Hoyer>Tommy all day long. It sounds like they are going forward with that being the QB competition, but it wouldn’t shock me if this pick is Jordan Love. Untapped potential at QB for him. For now? I’m thinking this is a trade-back or BPA. Suddenly all of those band-aids are going to be ripped off without Tom at the helm. They lost Van Noy to Miami. The reason Miami probably won’t take Baun? He is a slightly smaller, bendier Van Noy.

24.   New Orleans Saints – LB Patrick Queen, LSU Team Needs: OG, CB, LB (previous: Shenault)

Signing Sanders in free agency was a genius move. Such a good deal and fills a massive hole as someone else to catch passes in this offense. They don’t have a 2^nd round pick but can probably address interior offensive line later. So, the team goes BPA (in this case position available) and gets their hometown player, while also filling a need.

25.   Minnesota Vikings – WR Denzel Mims, Baylor Team Needs: CB, WR, DT, iOL, EDGE (previous: Fulton)

With the 22^nd pick, the Vikings can try for BPA at their first pick or to make sure they get their guy in front of NE and NO. They could go edge here for someone like Gross-Matos or Epenesa, but Mims will fill in perfectly for Diggs as a great pass catcher, but also a blocker and humble player. Something that Diggs didn’t provide.

26.   Miami Dolphins (from Houston Texans) – S Grant Delpit, LSU Team Needs: RB, OT, iOL, DT, EDGE, CB, S (previous: Swift)

If they like 2 or 3 of these RBs (I think they prefer Dobbins), they can wait until the 2^nd round to take one at a value and pick up a player with more positional value. Enter a “sure-fire” top 10 pick prior to September. This season, something was just off. Questions surrounding injury, poor vision to attack the ball-carrier surround him. But this player is a true-deep safety and when he is healthy was one of the best players in the country. Move McCain back to his better position of slot and this secondary is a no-fly zone.

27.   Seattle Seahawks – EDGE Yetur-Gross Matos, Penn St Team Needs: WR, EDGE, DT, CB, S, OT, iOL (previous: Davidson)

No word from Clowney is probably good news for Seattle who couldn’t compete for his services if the bidding got out of control. If they can resign him, they still may address the thin line but there are a lot of needs for a team that is consistently a contender. A trade-back is likely.

28.   Baltimore Ravens – LB Kenneth Murray, Oklahoma Team Needs: LB, iOL (previous: Gross-Matos)

Has anyone had a better offseason? They tagged Judon, traded for Campbell, got a 2^nd round pick for their 3^rd TE, and didn’t lose anyone in free agency that was critical. However, they could look to fix a hole that was there from the 2019 offseason. They have some good pieces here but the rich get richer with my top non-unicorn LB.

29.   Tennessee Titans – OT Lucas Niang, TCU Team Needs: OT, CB, EDGE, OG (previous: Taylor)

They will likely address RB in this draft so they don’t pay Henry next year. But Niang is your plug-and-play right tackle replacement for Conklin, assuming he is healthy. He was a bully in 2018 for the Horned Frogs but suffered some setbacks in 2019 that caused his play to taper off.

30.   Green Bay Packers – WR Laviska Shenault, Colorado Team Needs: WR, TE, LB (previous: Jackson)

A lot of people having him falling out of round 1 because of his combine where he hurt himself and didn’t look right. However, the tape screams offensive weapon. Kamara as a wide receiver is his potential. Would love to see him hook up with ARod and of this teams’ obvious needs, he is the best player.

31.   San Francisco 49ers – CB Trevon Diggs, Alabama Team Needs: CB, WR, DT, iOL (previous: Diggs)

They will likely draft a CB at some point whether here, or via trade down. I still love this player-team fit because of the sure hands of Diggs. He didn’t seem to be up to par with playing Press at Bama so a zone team who can keep his eyes in the backfield may be better suited for his talents.

32.   Kansas City Chiefs – CB AJ Terrell, Clemson Team Needs: CB, LB, iOL (previous: Gladney)

Getting this pick right is a shot in the dark. But corner is their biggest need. Value on the big board would say the interior offensive lineman are available and while the corner position is deep, people seem to be picking them left and right. Let’s make sure the Chiefs don’t miss one.