Growing up at school, we can all agree nothing quite matched the feeling when you were welcomed at the cool-kid table during chow time in the cafeteria. Working and collaborating with outstanding football minds throughout the week down at the Senior Bowl is always at the top of the list when looking back on the yearly event in Mobile, Ala.
After sharing notes, grinding film and sharing hot-take observations before, during and after Senior Bowl practice, I found it necessary to continue the momentum of sharing our ever-changing draft opinions with some of the highest-regarded people in the industry.
So, I gathered up my personal favorites for a City Slicker-type trip through the ever-entertaining Mock Draft Mountains, exploring three rounds of possibilities of what could be.
Follow along as we rotate picks and give you a fresh look at which players are rising — in combination with teams’ biggest needs — getting outside of the groupthink box we are lulled into before the combine.
Check out Round 1 here and Round 2 here.
(Below is the list of participants in order of rotation.)
- Kyle Crabbs, Director of Scouting, @NDTScouting
- Mark Schofield, Director at Inside the Pylon, @MarkSchofield
- Jon Ledyard, Host of “Locked on NFL Draft” Podcast, @LedyardNFLDraft
- Shane Alexander, Inside the Pylon Contributor, @Alexander1Great
- Trevor Sikkema, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Beat Reporter, @TampaBayTre
- Arif Hasan, NFL Expert for ESPN 1500/ColdOmaha.com, @ArifHasanNFL
- Jeff Risdon, Editor for The Browns Wire, @JeffRisdon
- Luke Inman, NFL Draft Expert, @Luke_Spinman
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65) Cleveland Browns: Adoree Jackson, Cornerback, USC (Kyle Crabbs) – Analytics suggest that their secondary sucks.
66) San Francisco 49ers: Curtis Samuel, Wide Receiver, Ohio State (Mark Schofield) – Niners need receivers. Shanahan gets a nice weapon to move around the field.
67) Chicago Bears: Carlos Henderson, Wide Receiver, Louisiana Tech (Jon Ledyard) – Bears need speed and YAC ability in their offense. Henderson gives them both.
68) Jacksonville Jaguars: Rasul Douglas, Cornerback, West Virginia (Shane Alexander) – Defense is a good thing. Douglas tied for the best in the nation with nine interceptions. Adding this ballhawk with Jalen Ramsey is bad news for the rest of the AFC South quarterbacks.
69) Tennessee Titans: Damonte Kazee, Cornerback, San Diego State (Trevor Sikkema) – Titans are loaded in the trenches. Building the back end on both sides is the focus now. Lucky for them they are entering an ultra-deep draft of secondary players.
70) New York Jets: Dion Dawkins, Offensive Guard, Temple (Arif Hasan) – Might be too short for tackle, but they could try him there or at guard to replace James Carpenter.
71) Los Angeles Chargers: Zay Jones, Wide Receiver, East Carolina (Jeff Risdon) – All he does is make catches.
72) Carolina Panthers: Ethan Pocic, Center, LSU (Luke Inman) – Expect teams to try him at tackle. If not, he’ll be a great addition to the interior line.
73) Cincinnati Bengals: Marcus Maye, Safety, Florida (Kyle Crabbs) – This class of safeties is deeper than most and is going to surprise people with the talent on Day 2. Maye adds a shot of youth into a suddenly-aging safety group.
74) Philadelphia Eagles: Cameron Sutton, Cornerback, Tennessee (Mark Schofield) – Eagles addressed WR and RB early. Time to address the defense. They need CB help, Sutton can provide that.
75) Buffalo Bills: Josh Reynolds, Wide Receiver, Texas A&M (Jon Ledyard) – A long, lanky wide out. Think Josh Doctson Lite, and you get him two rounds cheaper. With Evan Engram the Bills suddenly have a loaded shotgun spread.
76) New Orleans Saints: Deatrich Wise Jr, EDGE, Arkansas (Shane Alexander) – Saints gotta learn to keep teams from scoring 30 on them. Wise can get after the passer and jump into the rotation as a Bruce Irvin blitzer right away.
77) Arizona Cardinals: JuJu Smith-Schuster, Wide Receiver, USC (Trevor Sikkema) – Floyd disappeared, Fitzgerald is old, and Brown can’t stay healthy. If you run a Bruce Arians offensive attack you NEED playmakers deep down the field.
78) Baltimore Ravens: Jourdan Lewis, Cornerback, Michigan (Arif Hasan) – He doesn’t have the size, but he’s one of the most fundamentally talented cornerbacks of the class.
79) Indianapolis Colts: Jermey McNichols, Running Back, Boise State (Jeff Risdon) – Colonel Luck requests help carrying the load. McNichols is a guy who can carry the rock 20 times a game, giving Luck some legitimate play-action to work off of.
80) Minnesota Vikings: Antonio Garcia, Offensive Tackle, Troy (Luke Inman) – Adding OL is the 1st, 2nd and 3rd biggest need for Vikes. Just keep ’em coming. Garcia has the foundation to be a guy who can protect the passer. However, worst case scenario, he adds great depth as a swing and utility lineman (something the Vikings just don’t have anymore).
81) Washington Redskins: Taywan Taylor, Wide Receiver, Western Kentucky (Kyle Crabbs) – Best WR available and likely taking a hit w/ a Desean departure.
82) Denver Broncos: Nico Siragusa, Offensive Guard, San Diego State (Mark Schofield) – OL is a need. Addressed again. Suddenly the Broncos have turned a weakness into a strength for years to come.
83) Tennessee Titans: Chad Hansen, Wide Receiver, Cal (Jon Ledyard) – Cornerbacks and receivers. That’s what Tennessee does.
84) Tampa Bay Bucs: Chris Goodwin, Wide Receiver, Penn State – After stockpiling on defense, the Bucs take advantage of great WR depth in this draft and grab Goodwin. A guy who can make teams pay for double covering Mike Evans for four straight quarters.
85) Detroit Lions: Tarell Basham, EDGE, Ohio (Trevor Sikkema) – Detroit got their interior pass rusher with Johnson, now they get their EDGE guy with Basham, who really flashed at the Senior Bowl.
86) Minnesota Vikings: Raekwon McMillian, Outside Linebacker, Ohio State (Arif Hasan) – Yeah, the Vikings need OL help, but you let McMillan fall. Fills another need and completes the 4-3 base unit allowing them to get Greenway off the field once and for all and forming a tremendously young and talented trio at the linebacker position.
87) New York Giants: Ahkello Witherspoon, Cornerback, Colorado (Jeff Risdon) – Long and strong and down to get the friction on.
88) Oakland Raiders: Carlos Watkins, Defensive Tackle, Florida (Luke Inman) – Reggie McKenzie just killed this draft. Drafting three players that not only filled a huge need, but were all taken far lower than their original draft projection.
89) Houston Texans: Justin Evans, Safety, Texas A&M (Kyle Crabbs) – Looked smooth down in Mobile covering a lot of ground quickly. Is there anything this Texans defense can’t do now?
90) Seattle Seahawks: Dalvin Tomlinson, Defensive Tackle, Alabama (Mark Schofield) – DL who can 1 or 2 gap, active in the twist game, will allow Reed and Bennett to eat.
91) Kansas City Chiefs: John Johnson, Safety, Boston College (Jon Ledyard) – Doesn’t excel at any one thing in particular but is all-around solid in every area. He could be a starter right out the gate and will add a lot of versatility for Reid in his secondary.
92) Dallas Cowboys: Marquez White, Cornerback, FSU (Shane Alexander) – A deep draft of cornerbacks has good talent falling into the laps of the Cowboys secondary that is in dire need of some talented youth.
93) Green Bay Packers: DeAngelo Brown, Defensive Tackle, Louisville (Trevor Sikkema) – The Packers need big bodies in the middle of their defense. However, Brown is a guy who can do much more with his quickness as a five tech.
94) Pittsburgh Steelers: Dede Westbrook, Wide Receiver, Oklahoma (Arif Hasan) – Pittsburgh’s had to answer uncomfortable questions in the past, right?
95) Atlanta Falcons: Davis Webb, Quarterback, Cal (Jeff Risdon) – Senior Bowl MVP just like Matt Ryan.
96) New England Patriots: Cooper Kupp, Wide Receiver, Eastern Washington (Luke Inman) – Every cliche in the book.
