Time for Mock Draft 3.A.0-5

The A stands for April. Or Awesome. Or Asshole. Whatever.

Mock draft time! And it’s three glorious rounds of (probably) incorrect picks. Lovin’ it! Let’s go!

First Round

1	Chicago	Caleb Williams, QB (USC)
2	Washington	Drake Maye, QB (North Carolina)
3	New England	Jayden Daniels, QB (LSU)
4	Arizona	Marvin Harrison Jr., WR (Ohio State)
5	LA Chargers	Quinyon Mitchell, CB (Toledo)
6	NY Giants	Dallas Turner, EDGE (Alabama)
7	Tennessee	Olu Fashanu, OT (Penn State)
8	Atlanta	Malik Nabers, WR (LSU)
9	Chicago	Rome Odunze, WR (Washington)
10	NY Jets	Joe Alt, OT (Notre Dame)
11	Minnesota	Laiatu Latu, DE (UCLA)
12	Denver	Terrion Arnold, CB (Alabama)
13	Las Vegas	Nate Wiggins, CB (Clemson)
14	New Orleans	Jared Verse, DE (Florida State)
15	Indianapolis	Brian Thomas Jr., WR (LSU)
16	Seattle	J.J. McCarthy, QB (LSU)
17	Jacksonville	Jackson Powers-Johnson, OG (Oregon)
18	Cincinnati	Brock Bowers, TE (Georgia)
19	LA Rams	Bo Nix, QB (Oregon)
20	Pittsburgh	Troy Fautanu, OG (Washington)
21	Miami	Cooper DeJean, S (Iowa)
22	Philadelphia	Adonai Mitchell, WR (Texas)
23	Minnesota	Chop Robinson, EDGE (Penn State)
24	Dallas	Taliese Fuaga, OT (Oregon State)
25	Green Bay	J.C. Latham, OT (Alabama)
26	Tampa Bay	Xavier Worthy, WR (Texas)
27	Arizona	Kool-Aid McKinstry, CB (Alabama)
28	Buffalo	Jer’Zhan Newton, DT (Illinois)
29	Detroit	Byron Murphy II, DT (Texas)
30	Baltimore	Kamari Lassiter, CB (Georgia)
31	San Francisco	Amarius Mims, OT (Georgia)
32	Kansas City	Tyler Guyton, OT (Oklahoma)

Second Round

33	Carolina	Zach Frazier, C (West Virginia)
34	New England	Jordan Morgan, OT (Arizona)
35	Arizona	Darius Robinson, EDGE (Minnesota)
36	Washington	Xavier Legette, WR (South Carolina)
37	LA Chargers	Michael Hall Jr., DT (Ohio State)
38	Tennessee	T.J. Tampa, CB (Iowa State)
39	Carolina	Keon Coleman, WR (Florida State)
40	Washington	Graham Barton, OG (Duke)
41	Green Bay	Tyler Nubin, S (Minnesota)
42	Houston	Chris Braswell, EDGE (Alabama)
43	Atlanta	Michael Penix Jr., QB (Washington)
44	Las Vegas	Kingsley Suamataia, OT (BYU)
45	New Orleans	Ladd McConkey, WR (Georgia)
46	Indianapolis	Kamren Kinchens, S (Miami)
47	NY Giants	Ennis Rakestraw Jr., CB (Missouri)
48	Jacksonville	Patrick Paul, OT (Houston)
49	Cincinnati	Troy Franklin, WR (Oregon)
50	Philadelphia	Edgerrin Cooper, LB (Texas A&M)
51	Pittsburgh	T’Vondre Sweat, DT (Texas)
52	LA Rams	Bralen Trice, EDGE (Washington)
53	Philadelphia	Marshawn Kneeland, EDGE (Western Michigan)
54	Cleveland	Ruke Orhorhoro, DT (Clemson)
55	Miami	Ja’Lynn Polk, WR (Washington)
56	Dallas	Trey Benson, RB (Florida State)
57	Tampa Bay	Adisa Isaac, EDGE (Penn State)
58	Green Bay	Cooper Beebe, OG (Kansas State)
59	Houston	Malachi Corley, WR (WKU)
60	Buffalo	Max Melton, CB (Rutgers)
61	Detroit	Christian Haynes, OG (UConn)
62	Baltimore	Roman Wilson, WR (Michigan)
63	San Francisco	Brandon Dorius, EDGE (Oregon)
64	Kansas City	Jalen McMillan, WR (Washington)

Third Round

65	Carolina	Cedric Gray, LB (North Carolina)
66	Arizona	Sedrick Van Pran, C (Georgia)
67	Washington	Payton Wilson, LB (NC State)
68	New England	Ricky Pearsall, WR (Florida)
69	LA Chargers	Ben Sinnott, TE (Kansas State)
70	NY Giants	Kris Jenkins, DT (Michigan)
71	Arizona	Leonard Taylor III, DT (Miami)
72	NY Jets	Devontez Walker, WR (North Carolina)
73	Detroit	Caelan Carson, CB (Wake Forest)
74	Atlanta	Cam Hart, CB (Notre Dame)
75	Chicago	Ja’Tavion Sanders, TE (Texas)
76	Denver	Javon Bullard, CB (Georgia)
77	Las Vegas	Jonathon Brooks, RB (Texas)
78	Washington	Austin Booker, DE (Kansas)
79	Atlanta	Braden Fiske, DT (Florida State)
80	Cincinnati	Kiran Amedagije, OT (Yale)
81	Seattle	Christian Mahogany, OG (Boston College)
82	Indianapolis	Mike Sainristil, CB (Michigan)
83	LA Rams	D.J. James, CB (Auburn)
84	Pittsburgh	Roger Rosengarten, OT (Washington)
85	Cleveland	Junior Colson, LB (Michigan)
86	Houston	Kris Abrams-Draine, CB (Missouri)
87	Dallas	Renardo Green, CB (Florida State)
88	Green Bay	Khyree Jackson, CB (Oregon)
89	Tampa Bay	Beau Brade, S (Maryland)
90	Arizona	Andru Phillips, CB (Kentucky)
91	Green Bay	Jalyx Hunt, EDGE (Houston Christian)
92	Tampa Bay	Dominick Puni, OG (Kansas)
93	Baltimore	McKinnley Jackson, DT (Texas A&M)
94	Kansas City	Braelon Allen, RB (Wisconsin)
95	San Francisco	Kalen King, CB (Penn State)
96	Jacksonville	Johnny Wilson, WR (Florida State)
97	Cincinnati	Josh Newton, CB (TCU)
98	Pittsburgh	Jeremiah Trotter Jr., LB (Clemson)
99	LA Rams	Calen Bullock, S (USC)
100	Washington	James Williams, S (Miami)

The top few picks seem set in stone. Maybe on in that specific order but those top four will, most likely, be the top four come draft night. As for some of the other picks, man there were some huge drops. Like Kris Jenkins. Only a few weeks ago, a fair amount of mocks had him in the first round. I don’t think he’s even being considered as a first rounder anymore. Almost the same with Byron Murphy II. I had him going fifth to the Chargers which may have been a bit high in retrospect. But for him to drop to almost completely out of the first round is an alarming drop. Sometimes it’s fairly easy to find out what has happened to lower a potential draftee’s stock and sometimes…well, sometimes who the hell knows. It just happens.

Potential Draft Day Trades

OK so these would include trades coming up toward the draft as well, not just the ones on draft opening night. And no, I can’t see the Bears or the Commanders trading their picks so let’s start with the #3 pick.

New England (#3) – Chances of the Patriots trading this pick are slim but considering the haul that some teams have received for a top 3 pick in NFL history, the right package might come along to entice them to trade down. I have a feeling it would take at least two first-rounders, two second-rounders, and at least one other pick.

NY Giants (#6) – Probably the highest pick with true potential to be dealt is the Giants at #6. The Giants desperately need help on both lines but there are a few options available meaning they could trade down a few spots and still get one of the guys they covet. A first-round pick swap would have to happen and the team trading with the G-Men couldn’t be far below the #16 spot for this to work. Other picks would come the Giants way as well.

Tennessee (#7) – This becomes a possibility if the Patriots trade down. The reason is, one of Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels would be available and there are a few teams that would love to trade up to get one of the two. That includes the Falcons, Vikings, Broncos and Raiders. Knowing that, the Titans could get a larger pick haul than the Giants even though the pick would be later.

NY Jets (#10) – The Jets are hoping that Aaron Rodgers will be healthy this year. And to help with that, they want an offensive lineman desperately. The hope is that one of Olu Fashanu or Joe Alt fall to them. If neither of them are available, I would fully expect the Jets to shop the pick and they could drop a fair way if they wanted to.

The Vikings feel like the most likely pick to move up since, for some reason, many are saying they really want J.J. McCarthy. I think it would be crazy to trade up because I think McCarthy, at least at this point, would be available to the Vikings at #11. Maybe I’m wrong with that. They would most likely just trade picks but they have one bargaining chip that some teams might not be able to ignore: Justin Jefferson. If the Vikings can’t extend Double J, then they might include him in a trade to see what they could get. Arizona would be a trading partner if (and only if) this was a possibility.

In non-draft news, the UFL has commenced their season. Not exactly a ton of fans for a couple of these games but some wacky shit happened. Jake Bates hit a 64-yard field goal to help his Michigan Stags beat St. Louis. Funny enough, it was on the same uprights that Justin Tucker kicked his NFL-record 67-yarder to beat the Lions a couple years ago. Then you had San Antonio punter Brad Wing throwing a 40-yard touchdown pass on 4th and 11 to the team’s centre Alex Mollette. So at least it’s entertaining, you have to give it that. And it’s football. A tiny appetizer before the CFL, then college football, then NFL season starts. So embrace it. Or don’t. I don’t care. I realize March Madness was on this past weekend so I can see why people might not watch.

OK I will do one more mock draft closer to actual draft day (which starts April 25th). And even then, most of my picks will be wrong. At least I can take solace in the fact that I will have close to the same record as the so-called experts have.

The college schedule is coming into form. It’s kind of tough with the changes coming up this season so for good parts of the schedule I have nothing to compare it to. So we shall see how that goes when I start doing my most important game posts. Anyway, I hope you all had a great Easter long weekend and have a great first week of April.

Sure, let’s do a bit of a draft recap

I will get to this man a bit later since he went through quite the night.

As usual, the draft was a fun time…well, the first night was fun then it got steadily less fun until the final rounds when other than NFL Network’s Stump The Truck, almost nothing was really all that fun. But I watched most of it. What can I say, I am way into football. Probably too much but soon enough I will be on my own a lot more so football may be the only thing that keeps me company. God, that’s sad. Let’s move on.

First of all, I will take a look at my mock draft and compare it to the actual draft results and…yep, I got basically nothing right. I couldn’t even get the first two picks right. I had C.J. Stroud going first followed by Bryce Young. I think Carolina made the right pick out of the two but I was sure they had their sights set on Stroud. Funny enough, though, I got two picks exactly right: Zay Flowers to the Ravens at #22 and Wanya Morris to the Chiefs at #92. That really doesn’t make any sense but it’s the truth. Other than that, everything else wrong and some were REALLY wrong.

Reaches

It’s always too soon to look at this but there seem to be picks that were universally thought of as reaches: as in a team picked a player way earlier than they probably would have gone. I know some teams absolutely want a specific player and worry about not getting them that much that they either take them too soon or trade up to get them when they didn’t need to. Still doesn’t mean it wasn’t a stretch for that player. Let’s look at a few that felt obvious.

Darnell Wright (#10 overall to Chicago) – I, along with most others, had Wright pegged as a late-1st round/early-2nd round pick at best. The fact that the Bears also passed on Peter Skoronski, from Northwestern (supposedly Chicago’s Big Ten school) is the real headscratcher here.

Jahmyr Gibbs (#12 to Detroit) – Speaking of headscratchers, it’s like Detroit brought back Matt Millen and his new focus wasn’t wide receivers but running backs. Detroit did not need help at running back but took Gibbs at this point anyway. I had figured he’d end up on the Bills which didn’t thrill me but Gibbs is better than what they have at this point. Anyway, Detroit ended up trading D’Andre Swift to the Eagles because of this pick. I don’t get it.

Deonte Banks (#24 to NY Giants) – Did the Giants need a cornerback? Absolutely. Was Joey Porter Jr. still on the board? Absolutely. Was Kelee Ringo still on the board? Absolutely. Was Cam Smith still on the board? Absolutely. I could go on and on but Banks wasn’t a first rounder and I’d be shocked if he plays like one.

Derick Hall (#37 to Seattle) – The Seahawks didn’t exactly need a defensive end but they decided to pick one anyway. OK, that’s fine. To pick Hall when there were a few other guys on the board who were rated way higher made no sense. Hall was barely a second rounder in most mock drafts.

Steals

On the other hand, we have our draft steals. Every draft has their steals and yes I know Tom Brady was a “steal.” Actually, no, at the time, no one thought he was a steal of a pick. No one. At all. If you say you did, you’re a dirty fucking liar. Again, this is way too early so by the time the next draft occurred, yes, Brady was considered a massive steal. Hell, he would have been a steal as a late second rounder.

Christian Gonzalez (#17 to New England) – The biggest steal of the draft in my opinion. I had him going third overall and many mock drafts had him in the top seven picks. Did the Pats need any help in the secondary? No, but how do you pass on a guy that has dropped approximately 10 spots or so in the first round when you don’t have a huge need? Once again, Bill Belichick is playing 4-D Parcheesi while everyone else is playing Snakes and Ladders.

Dalton Kincaid (#25 to Buffalo) – I was not happy when Bijan Robinson was off the board super early. Man did he go from not even a first rounder like a month ago to Top 10 pick. Anyway, the Bills did the next best thing (that they needed) by getting the best tight end in the draft in Kincaid. Josh Allen could make the guy…well, not a star but a very dependable receiver.

Joey Porter Jr. (#32 to Pittsburgh) – How did the last into the second round? There were easily six different teams that should have taken him and passed. Yeah I’m looking at you New York Football Giants (or GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-Men in honour of Chris Berman). He may make a couple of teams pay for passing on him this coming season.

Jalin Hyatt (#73 to NY Giants) – So the Giants make one of the worst picks of the early part of the draft and then somehow snag Hyatt in the third round. Hey, whatever works. I could have also put Hyatt’s Tennessee Volunteer teammate Cedric Tillman here as he went one spot later to the Browns.

Alright let’s get down to the Will Levis situation. ESPN did this man (and his family) dirty. Well, most of them. I think the girlfriend loved the attention. Still though, to spend four-plus hours in that room and not get your name called has to suck. And ESPN loved it. You know they did. Most people had him going in the #7-#13 range. I had him going to Washington at #16. Then someone on Reddit (I think) tweeted that the Panthers were considering him for the top pick. All of a sudden, people became a lot more interested in him. It also meant that every draft pick that wasn’t him would make him look worse. And yes I know there are others that suffer the same plight but he is, by far, the most hyped of anyone who has had that happen. Also, why didn’t Tennessee move up into the first round to get him? Now they lose a potential option year if he ends up being good. Poor management by the Titans there.

Best Draft

Again, this is way too early but you can kind of tell when a team probably had a good draft (unless one of their top picks is a flop). Here is my list of the top three teams from draft day.

Philadelphia – It feels almost unanimous among experts (which I am not one of) that the Eagles had the best draft. Not only did they continue their Georgia Bulldog-riffic defense picking Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith, but they also drafted Bama’s Tyler Steen who could potentially anchor the offensive line soon enough and somehow had Kelee Ringo (another Bulldog) fall into their lap in the fourth round. Finally, Detroit’s stupidity made it so the Eagles got D’Andre Swift in a trade with the Lions. An all-around great few days for possibly the NFC favourites.

Indianapolis – No, this isn’t all about the Anthony Richardson pick although that is what much of the Colts’ draft will hinge on. They had a great draft otherwise, though, with a huge value pick in the fourth round, nabbing Adetomiwa Adeboware. Really, it’s Richardson and Adeboware for the Colts. If they both hit then this will end up being the number one draft crop in hindsight. Otherwise….yikes. Huge risk-reward for a team that feels the time is right to make huge moves.

Pittsburgh – The Eagles’ cross-state rival also had quite the good, if not underrated, draft, looking like the smartest team coming out of the draft. They filled pretty much all their needs in the first three rounds and then got some great value late. Porter is a steal and teams may regret not picking him.

Worst Draft

Very rarely does a team get selected having the worst draft and then it ends up that everyone was wrong in hindsight. So yeah, this is not a good group to be in.

Jacksonville – Third worst on our list is the Jags with a bit of a perplexing draft. Things were looking great for a team that looked like it may run away with the AFC South over the next few years. That may not be the case anymore, and this draft didn’t help matters any. Unfortunately, the Cam Robinson situation forced them to pick O-line early but Anton Harrison may not have been the guy. Tank Bigsby was a pretty bad pick and could have been got two rounds later. And for a team that needed a tight end as another weapon for Trevor Lawrence, getting Brenton Strange isn’t it with other guys on the board. Just weird all around.

Minnesota – Look, they did pretty well with the Jordan Addison pick. Beyond that? Woof. Every other pick was a reach and they really didn’t do anything to help Kirk Cousins beyond getting Addison to hopefully pair with Justin Jefferson. Cousins is in the last year of his contract and this felt like the year the Vikings really had to try and go for it or start building for the future and they did neither.

San Francisco – Just like Philly, it’s a pretty unanimous vote on the other end of the draft grades. The ass end, if you will. The 49ers did a deplorable job this time around. Lucky for them, as long as Brock Purdy and/or Trey Lance are ready to go, this team is ready to battle for the NFC title at the very least. But holy shit, you’d think you would draft one guy that would help the team this coming season. Especially on the offensive line, where they needed help and drafted nobody. But hey, they drafted a kicker. Before the 100th pick. For fuck’s sakes what a joke.

Finally, a quick look at the two networks showing the draft. Most people seemed to be watching ESPN, as per usual. The NFL Network picked up the rest of the viewers. Problem was, the amount of complaints I heard about ESPN were staggering. Yet, these same people obviously outright refused to just, oh I don’t know, turn to the other network with draft coverage. I get that hearing the old NFL Primetime music is great (it really is) but if the coverage sucks then change the channel. My opinion, as you may know, is that the NFL Network has always had better coverage since they started showing the draft. I mean, that’s their whole thing: the NFL. ESPN suffers from trying to put in as many horrific stories about the draftees and too many people involved in the production. At least a quarter of the people involved could have been axed because they sucked at their job on this night.

I think that’s the first draft recap I have done in a long time. I don’t feel like looking. I’m not really a recap kind of guy but I figured what the hell. We are now 107 days away from the college football season and the posts will start coming along more frequently once again. We are getting close to true football season, folks! Not that I’m minding the XFL since it has been pretty good. The USFL, on the other hand, ugh. Have a great rest of the week everyone.

The Draft…It is Here!

To be honest, this draft kind of snuck up on me, like I am sure it has for many out there.  Considering everything that has happened with this Coronavirus pandemic, this event, which is normally pretty big in scale, has become a slight afterthought.  I’m not saying I’m not interested in it since I am.  I’m also interested in the next episode of The Last Dance to come out as well, when our softball team can finally take the field for real, and what will happen to my finances in these uncertain times.  So yeah, it feels slightly different this time around for many reasons.  Let’s just get started with the final mock draft, done for the first time on the day of the first round.

FIRST ROUND

1		Joe Burrow, QB (LSU)
2		Chase Young, EDGE (Ohio State)
3		Jeff Okudah, CB (Ohio State)
4		Tristan Wirfs, T (Iowa)
5		Tua Tagovailoa, QB (Alabama)
6		Mekhi Becton, T (Louisville)
7		Justin Herbert, QB (Oregon)
8		Jedrick Wills Jr., T (Alabama)
9		Isaiah Simmons, OLB (Clemson)
10		Andrew Thomas, T (Georgia)
11		CeeDee Lamb, WR (Oklahoma)
12		Jerry Jeudy, WR (Alabama)
13		Kristian Fulton, CB (LSU)
14		Derrick Brown, DT (Auburn)
15		Javon Kinlaw, DT (South Carolina)
16		C.J. Henderson, CB (Florida)
17		A.J. Epenesa, EDGE (Iowa)
18		Yetur Gross-Matos, EDGE (Penn State)
19		Patrick Queen, LB (LSU)
20		Xavier McKinney, S (Alabama)
21		Kenneth Murray, LB (Oklahoma)
22		A.J. Terrell, CB (Clemson)
23		K’Lavon Chaisson, OLB (LSU)
24		Justin Jefferson, WR (LSU)
25		Austin Jackson, T (USC)
26		Ezra Cleveland, T (Boise State)
27		Matt Hennessy, C (Temple)
28		Zack Baun, OLB (Wisconsin)
29		Josh Jones, T (Houston)
30		Adam Trautman, TE (Dayton)
31		Tyler Biadasz, C (Wisconsin)
32		Jeff Gladney, CB (TCU)

SECOND ROUND

33		Tee Higgins, WR (Clemson)
34		Brandon Aiyuk, WR (Arizona State)
35		Robert Hunt, G (Louisiana)
36		Antoine Winfield Jr., S (Minnesota)
37		Jordan Love, QB (Utah State)
38		Jordyn Brooks, LB (Texas Tech)
39		Cesar Ruiz, C (Michigan)
40		Shane Lemieux, G (Oregon)
41		Grant Delpit, S (LSU)
42		Cameron Dantzler, CB (Mississippi State)
43		Jeremy Chinn, S (Southern Illinois)
44		Ross Blacklock, DT (TCU)
45		Lucas Niang, T (TCU)
46		Jalen Reagor, WR (TCU)
47		Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB (LSU)
48		Josh Uche, EDGE (Michigan)
49		Cole Kmet, TE (Notre Dame)
50		Noah Igbinoghene, CB (Auburn)
51		Trevon Diggs, CB (Alabama)
52		Terrell Lewis, EDGE (Alabama)
53		Henry Ruggs III, WR (Alabama)
54		Jaylon Johnson, CB (Utah)
55		Raekwon Davis, EDGE (Alabama)
56		Solomon Kindley, G (Georgia)
57		J.K. Dobbins, RB (Ohio State)
58		Jason Strowbridge, DT (North Carolina)
59		Davon Hamilton, T (Ohio State)
60		Logan Stenberg, G (Kentucky)
61		Kenny Willekes, EDGE (Michigan State)
62		Chase Claypool, TE (Notre Dame)
63		Cam Akers, RB (Florida State)
64		Bradley Anae, EDGE (Utah)

A bit more analysis this time around

• I am thinking that Miami’s sudden interest in Justin Herbert is all a ruse to keep teams from trading up to get Tua Tagovailoa.  Now watch me be completely wrong.
• Miami also has to be considered a bit of a wild card in the draft considering the amount of picks they have in the first two rounds.  Five picks so there’s a lot that could be done here.  I mean other than almost every position, who knows what the Dolphins need?  I am still sticking with no trade of at least that first pick.  Besides, I don’t predict trades because that is a fool’s game.
• I am putting this point here to keep you interested and because I just thought of it.  This draft is taking place in Roger Goodell’s basement.  Let that sink in.  I bet his basement is fucking awesome.  It will make me look at my own unfinished basement in sadness.  The Twitter comments on his living quarters will be in the millions I’m sure.
• I have moved Tristan Wirfs into the Top 10.  At least in terms of O-linemen, this guy seems to have the most hype.  So I wonder how the Giants will fuck up this pick.
• I’m not saying that the hype for Justin Herbert isn’t warranted.  After the 2018 season, many thought he could have come out and been in a Top 5 pick.  He actually regressed a bit this past season and isn’t the surefire big-time guy that he once was.  I think the Chargers pass on him so he drops in the Panthers’ lap although I have a feeling there will be a lot of pick movement in the first round this year.
• No the Patriots will not move up to draft a quarterback.  I get that Touchdown Tawmy is gone but they are giving Jarrett Stidham his shot to run the offense.  It’s only fair.  Not that fairness means anything in the NFL but you don’t know what you have until you give that guy a shot (Jimmy G anyone?).
• Back to the draft location, it’s too bad that the Vegas draft was cancelled.  Especially with the whole boat thing to take the players to the stage.  Oh, the chances of that boat capsizing with a player on it…too tasty to think about.

Alright analysis over.  The only thing left is for this thing to start.

As for the rest of this blog, I know I have had no posts in a while.  I mean what else is there to talk about?  You can watch the news and realize everything is upside down right now.  Fingers crossed that things get back to normal (whatever the hell that ends up being) soon enough although it looks like the rest of this month and all of next month (at least) will feel the same as it has for the past few weeks.  I have got the college football schedules almost done as I have had plenty of time to work on them and will be ranking the games and soon enough I will be ranking the games so that you, the college football zealot, will know what to watch for and what to avoid…unless you are nuts like me and will watch anything put in front of them.  As of right now we are 128 days away from the start of the 2020 college football season.  Whether that ends up being the case is an entirely different story.  All we can do is watch and wait.

Alright, enjoy the draft and stay safe.  I will be a little more strict than politicians are: Don’t fucking go out unless you have to.

Welp…might as well do a mock draft

I have got a lot of time on my hands these days.  And this Coronavirus is making it that much easier to do sweet fuck all since doing that at home is great protection against the virus.  It honestly is amazing how quickly things escalated.  At first I thought “Hey maybe they are overexaggerating.”  Then it very quickly became “Nope, they aren’t.  At all.”  Thanks to Rudy Gobert (I kid, but really, what a fucking moron) we will now have no sports at least through the end of March.  These are very odd times in our world.  Unprecedented stuff really.  No one has ever gone through something like this.  Even 9/11 didn’t cause this.  So since there is time to kill I figured why not go ahead and do a mock draft.  And no I wasn’t drunk.  So let’s get started before I change my mind.

FIRST ROUND

1		Joe Burrow, QB (LSU)
2		Chase Young, EDGE (Ohio State)
3		Jeff Okudah, CB (Ohio State)
4		Mekhi Becton, T (Louisville)
5		Tua Tagovailoa, QB (Alabama)
6		Justin Herbert, QB (Oregon)
7		Isaiah Simmons, OLB (Clemson)
8		Jedrick Wills Jr., T (Alabama)
9		Derrick Brown, DT (Auburn)
10		Andrew Thomas, T (Georgia)
11		CeeDee Lamb, WR (Oklahoma)
12		Jerry Jeudy, WR (Alabama)
13		Jordan Love, QB (Utah State)
14		Tristan Wirfs, T (Iowa)
15		Javon Kinlaw, DT (South Carolina)
16		A.J. Epenesa, EDGE (Iowa)
17		Kristian Fulton, CB (LSU)
18		Austin Jackson, T (USC)
19		A.J. Terrell, CB (Clemson)
20		K’Lavon Chaisson, OLB (LSU)
21		Justin Jefferson, WR (LSU)
22		Tee Higgins, WR (Clemson)
23		Brandon Aiyuk, WR (Arizona State)
24		Patrick Queen, LB (LSU)
25		Josh Jones, T (Houston)
26		Yetur Gross-Matos, EDGE (Penn State)
27		Xavier McKinney, S (Alabama)
28		Zack Baun, OLB (Wisconsin)
29		Tyler Biadasz, C (Wisconsin)
30		C.J. Henderson, CB (Florida)
31		Grant Delpit, S (LSU)
32		D’Andre Swift, RB (Georgia)

Random Info

• Still only one round.  I am not putting THAT much effort in just yet for this.  I am assuming that soon enough the analysis will go into overdrive with nothing else to discuss so I will leave any potential deeper analysis for later.
• Joe Burrow STILL seems to be the consensus number one pick going to the Bengals and that gap between him and Chase Young seems to be widening.  With the Redskins, probably, not needing a new quarterback (despite new coach Ron Rivera’s possibly not being enthralled with Dwayne Haskins), this means Burrow would have to drop to #5 to get picked.  That’s not happening.
• This should all work out great for the Redskins.  Cincinnati picking Burrow means the defensive gem of the draft, Chase Young, would fall into their laps.  With a young offense (plus Adrian Peterson) and Young anchoring the defense, the Skins might shoot up the standings quicker than many think.
• I don’t put trades in at all.  It doesn’t make sense to.  I’ve said this for years and I will continue to state that.  I’d have a better shot at hooking up with Abigail Ratchford than getting a single trade absolutely correct.  Saying that, I would be shocked if the Dolphins kept all three picks.  I could see them moving up just to make sure they got Tagovailoa, who is the quarterback they seem to be coveting.
• Austin Jackson has rocketed up my draft list.  Same with a trio of wide receivers: Justin Jefferson, Tee Higgins and Brandon Aiyuk.  I have never seen this many wide receivers potentially going in a first round ever.  It makes sense though with the way passing games are.  If you have the quarterback, you better have the receivers.
• There are very few locks other than the top two at this point.  Saying that, the Chargers desperately need a quarterback now that Philip Rivers and his twenty-two kids have moved on.
• Also, there is one thing that has nothing to do with picks that could affect this draft: Tom Brady.  He still hasn’t signed and there are still a few teams in the mix.  Where he lands may dictate changes in team needs, especially if he doesn’t re-sign with the Patriots.

Just the second mock draft I did this off-season.  See?  I told you I wouldn’t be doing as many.  I guess it keeps some sort of football mode going now that there isn’t even the XFL to watch.

I honestly haven’t worked at all on the college football schedule yet.  Nothing.  At some point I will get to it but for right now it does seem pointless to really dive deep into it.  I know once we get into April I will start ramping things up as the draft will be near and we might be actually thinking of football a bit at that point.  Keep safe.  Don’t go crazy but just take the proper precautions.  Gotta hope that in like a couple of months we can look back at this and say “Yeah maybe we overreacted a bit but the virus is under control and things haven’t gone seriously sideways.”  Have a great rest of March!