Sometimes good players fall, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes good players fall in one part of the draft, but then don’t in others. It’s all what goes into making this interesting.
Here’s our 19th analyzed mock draft results:
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Round 1
Ed Oliver and Brian Burns were there, but I went with the imposing 6’5 260 Clelin Ferrell. He may not have quite the pass rush specialization of those other guys, but he’s still a great rusher and is a full-time player with no real weakness. Smart with his hands, great moves and counters, he would be a stalwart on this defense. He hasn’t fallen to 12 very often, which I think is because he’s so steady and polished. However, teams may get enamored with flash and potential – especially after the combine – and grab riskier prospects, allowing him to fall.
At 30, I got Deionte Thompson. At 6’1, he has the size and speed to be a great safety. He’s fluid enough to cover, but didn’t do it a lot in college. He’s shown the ability to lower the boom, but needs to work on mental side oft he game to speed up his reaction times. Sometimes he can be overly aggressive and miss some tackles, but he has great instincts for a Free Safety.
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Round 2
With the other big name Tight Ends gone, I went with Irv Smith. He runs good routes but isn’t very fast. He has good hands, but doesn’t make a lot of contested catches or take jump balls. He was a productive receiver with over 700 yards and 7 TDs while averaging over 16 yards a catch last year, but the real reason I took him was for his blocking. He’s a brutal punisher in the run block department and I think that would be a huge boost for what Matt LaFleur will do next year. I never would have taken this pick in a McCarthy offense, but things are clearly changing.
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Round 3
The Offensive Linemen were flying off the board in the draft, muck like Mock 17. A lot of the guys that I can snatch up in the 5th are long gone, so I grabbed Bobby Evans. He’s a good puller with a lot of mobility. Strong and smart enough to handle all the moves and counters that rushers will throw at him, he needs to clean up his hand work to take his game up a notch. He probably doesn’t have the athleticism to handle Left Tackle like he did in college, but he’s versatile enough for Guard or Right Tackle.
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Round 4
At the top of the 4th, I took Germaine Pratt. He’s a safety turned linebacker who looked like the fastest player at the Senior Bowl. He matches up well in coverage with Tight Ends and Running Backs, but can support the run, too even though he’s still learning the position.
There were bigger needs that I wanted to double up on, but the talent just wasn’t there to justify it, so I went with a Defensive Lineman and took Khalen Saunders. He may have been the most impressive player at the Senior Bowl and dominated practice all week long. There’s not a lot or 320 pounders with this type of athleticism:
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Round 5
This was a really tough draft and not many guys fell, so I just went with the top of my board and took Myles Gaskin. The team will need multiple running backs (another reason to not sign Le’Veon Bell) and Gaskin fits in a complementary role as a scatback with good balance and vision. He can ready zone holes and be productive even is he doesn’t have top-flight breakaway speed.
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Rounds 6-7
I didn’t pick these, but I’ll be starting my drafts at full length soon!
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Analysis
I really like getting Ferrell. I forget how much I like him because he comes up so rarely at 12. Thompson is a big help on the back end. I would have liked to double up at Edge or Safety, but things didn’t work out that way. Free agency would be helpful to bolster those positions.
On offense, Smith and Evans should start right away and get the blocking up to par for LaFleur’s offense. Gaskin is a complement I’m pretty happy with in the 5th round to run behind them.
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Of Note
- This was the third draft in a row that Jaylon Ferguson went before 12 – this time he went at 4!
- Two OTs – Jonah Williams and Andre Dillard – went top 10, which I haint seen yet
- Josh Jacobs went 10 – RBs usually havent gone before 20 if one even make the 1st round
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Check out our PFTW 2019 Mock Draft Archive to see how other scenarios played out!
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