One Last Thing
My favorite holiday of the year is the NFL Draft. There’s nothing like locking myself away for a day while I complete my only full mock draft right before the actual thing. Nonetheless, I can’t contain my excitement so I made a mini mock draft, even though things will absolutely change from now until April.
I based the picks on what I think each team would do right now and the order I used is what the order would be if the season were to end today:
1. Dolphins – Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Alabama: The way Josh Rosen played on Sunday, I wonder if Miami opts for another year of Rosen. Until then, Tua is the likely candidate.
2. Bengals – Chase Young, EDGE, Ohio State: Arguably the best player in the draft, give me some time to see if Zac Taylor and the front office like Andy Dalton enough.
3. Redskins – Andrew Thomas, OT, Georgia: They might not be in the best quarterback situation at the moment, so why not help the cause with potentially the draft’s best tackle.
4. Broncos – Jerry Jeudy, WR, Alabama: Again, not a great group of quarterbacks, and again, the best receiver since Julio Jones should help the Broncos’ lackluster offense.
5. Jets – Tristan Wirfs, OT, Iowa: The Jets should have one goal: Help Sam Darnold. The young quarterback needs all the protection he can get. (Fun fact: ESPN reported that 86 percent of Iowa’s starters over the last 17 years were drafted or earned NFL contracts.)
6. Cardinals – AJ Epenesa, EDGE, Iowa: Epenesa’s selection is attributed to this draft class’ apparent depth, and Arizona needs all the talent they can get.
7. Dolphins (from Steelers) – Jeffrey Okudah, CB, Ohio State: You know what I just said about needing all the talent they can get? That applies to Miami in far too many ways.
8. Falcons – Grant Delpit, S, LSU: At this stage in the season, all of these picks are based on value and not positional need, in case you haven’t figured that out. I talked about Delpit to start the season.
9. Jaguars – Henry Ruggs III, WR, Alabama: Ruggs could be a bigger Tyreek Hill. With the way Gardner Minshew has been playing, a Minshew-Ruggs combo could be lethal.
10. Colts – Isaiah Simmons, LB, Clemson: The Colts probably won’t have a top-10 pick when the season ends, but a player like Simmons would be huge for their rising young defense.