By Greg Fuchs
As an NFL football fan, I am in what I consider to be one of the most exciting and fun filled times of the NFL year, as it is mock draft season. I think I looked at my first mock draft back in December, but with the draft now being just a month away (it starts on April 29th), mock draft frenzy can really kick in. NFL free agency, for the most part is over, so we have a better idea as to what positions teams need to fill in the draft.
And in case you needed any evidence of the excitement that mock draft season can bring, just go back to last Friday when the Dolphins, 49ers and Eagles consummated 2 trades involving the #3, #6 and #12 picks in the draft. The trades and the repercussions on the draft took over the sports news cycle for 48 hours.
Before I get to my mock draft for the 1st 10 spots in the draft, let me state 2 assumptions. One, the possibility of Deshaun Watson being traded is off the board until his legal issues have been addressed. Two, Russell Wilson won’t be traded. I just don’t get why the Seahawks would trade him. He’s an icon in Seattle, is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, there are significant salary cap implications for Seattle if they were to trade him plus they would need to get a quality QB or a draft pick to select a QB in return. Hence, Wilson remains a Seahawk.
OK, onto the mock draft, the Top 10 version.
1 – Jacksonville: This is the only given in the draft, as the Jags take Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence.
2 – New York Jets: The question for months has been do the Jets stick with Sam Darnold at QB or draft a quarterback? My interpretation of the most recent smoke signals has the Jets drafting BYU QB Zach Wilson. Darnold eventually gets traded to the Bears.
3 – San Francisco: Last Friday they traded up from #12 with the Dolphins and they didn’t give up 2 future 1st round picks and a 3rd round pick to take an offensive lineman. They are taking a quarterback and it will be Trey Lance from North Dakota State.
4 – Atlanta: This is where the draft gets very interesting. The Falcons’ phone has to be ringing off the hook from the QB hungry teams like Carolina (they have the 8th pick), Denver (#9), New England (#15), Washington (#19) and Chicago (#20). After seeing what Miami received from the 49ers for the 3rd pick, they are in a great spot to leverage the potential offers from these 5 teams. That is unless Atlanta decides to keep the pick and draft QB Matt Ryan’s eventual replacement. Personally, I would draft a QB if I were Atlanta, but I think they will trade the pick to get additional draft capital to help surround Ryan & Julio Jones with more talent. Therefore, they trade the pick to Carolina, who selects Ohio St. QB Justin Fields.
5 – Cincinnati: The Bengals biggest need is to beef up the O-line to help protect QB Joe Burrow, so Oregon’s Penei Sewell is an obvious choice … or not. You can get good offensive linemen later in the draft, but what you can’t get later in the draft is a generational TE like Kyle Pitts. Welcome to Cincinnati Kyle! Is it possible one of the QB hungry teams tries to trade up with the Bengals? It’s possible, but I think those teams will wait.
6 – Miami: Cincinnati makes the Dolphins decision easier, as they could very well take Pitts if he’s still on the board. But since he isn’t in this mock draft, they will select one of the 3 elite WRs in this draft. The question is which one, as all 3 of them are excellent. They can’t make a bad choice, but they still need to make a decision. I would go with Jalen Waddle, as he brings the speed & running ability after the catch that is reminiscent of Tyreek Hill.
7 – Detroit: The Lions need help every where and still on the board is the best offensive lineman in the draft (Sewell), 2 of the elite WRs (Ja’Marr Chase & Devonta Smith) and arguably the best defensive player (LB Micah Parsons). My prediction is that the Broncos are the 1st QB needy team to blink, and they trade up to take Alabama’s Mac Jones. Could Jones still be on the board when they pick at #9? It’s possible. It’s also possible that the Patriots, Washington or the Bears try to make a trade with Detroit and the Broncos don’t want to take that risk. Detroit picks up some additional draft picks and only have to move down 2 spots.
8 – Atlanta: The Falcons now have the option of picking from the 4 players Detroit could have selected. You can’t go wrong with any of them. They already are solid at the WR position, so let’s flip a coin and go with the highest rated player still on the board, Oregon’s Penei Sewell. You can never go wrong with building an elite O-line.
9 – Detroit: Once again, you can’t go wrong with either of the WRs or Parsons, but since they lost WRs Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones in free agency, they give recently acquired QB Jared Goff a new best friend in LSU wideout Ja’Marr Chase.
10 – Dallas: The Cowboys need defense and select Alabama CB Patrick Surtain II.
That’s my Top 10, but wait a minute, Smith and Parsons are still on the board, so where do they go?
11 – New York Giants: They need to protect QB Daniel Jones, so Northwestern offensive lineman Rashawn Slater is their choice.
12 – Philadelphia: The Eagles traded down from #6 with the Dolphins and are ecstatic that WR Devonta Smith is still on board.
13 – Los Angeles Chargers: They will be disappointed that Smith was selected a spot before them, but there are still many elite players on the board. They could go O-line, but I think they go with the best linebacker in the draft, Penn St. LB Micah Parsons.
So, there you go. It’s an offensive heavy top 13 with 5 QBs, 3 WRs, 2 offensive linemen, 1 TE and 2 defensive players being selected. I reserve the right to change my mind a few times between now and April 29th, but that is half the fun of mock draft frenzy.
