The Final Defjamz 2017 NFL Mock (Two Options)

[Defjamz26]

The draft is 6 days away. This period is one of my favorite times of the year outside of the regular season. To close out I decided to present two different options because one is a scenario in which the most common picks are gone by #15 and Ballard goes against the grain. So here they are:

 

Option 1: 

 

R1: Gareon Conley, CB OSU: At 6'0" and running a 4.4 40 at the combine, Conley isn't as touted as Lattimore but he's a perfect fit in our press-man scheme. He can start day 1 opposite Vontae.

 

R2: Raekwon McMillan, ILB OSU: He's been one of my favorite prospects since the beginning of the CFB season. While people like Zerlein and PFF seem to question if he'll be able to get better in coverage I've seen him make enough plays on RBs and an occasional TE to be sold that he can. But he's a beast against the run. This is a guy who had 100+ tackles on a 2015 team that featured Darron Lee and Joshua Perry.

 

R3: Jourdan Lewis, CB Michigan: Considered a 2nd rounder until a supposed domestic dispute issue with his gf occurred a month ago. It doesn't appear to be serious but I think it knocks him down a round. Jourdan is one of the highest ranked CBs on PFF and may have the best ball skills of any corner in this draft. He's undersized at 5'10" so it's easy to project him to the slot. But I think he can play outside in certain packages. He's the same height and ran about the same 40(4.5) as 1st round pick Vernon Hargreaves.

 

R4: Tedric Thompson, FS Colorado: An underrated prospect who was award PFF's award for the best defender in coverage (at ANY posit). Ballard said the two areas of this draft he thinks are deep are Safety and TE. Thompson has grade A ball skills and is good value here. He's 6'0" and only ran a 4.60 at the Combine but he's got all the tools. He challenges Green for the starting spot in 2018.

 

R4: Brian Hill, RB Wyoming: at 6'0" and 230 pounds Hill is a high upside RB who ran a 4.54 at the combine. It's supports the 1,800 yards and 22 TDs he put up this season. On tape he has great quickness in the hole and breaks off big runs in a blink. Makes good cuts+reads and while he didn't catch the ball a lot in college, he looked comfortable doing it at his pro day. Sleeper pick here.

 

R4: Jake Butt, TE Michigan: As Ballard said, the TE class is really deep. He also loves competition. Butt falls because of the depth of the TE class and gets scooped up by a team who doesn't mind redshirting him while his ACL heals. Low risk, high reward pick.

 

R5: Joe Mathis, Edge Washington: An underrated pass rusher who also comes with a bunch of injury concerns. He's also dinged for his average athleticism and playing on a super talented Washington line. Mathis is better than people think and can be coached up behind Sheard and Simon. Reminds me of his former teammate Kikahua on the Saints.

 

Thats my most ideal mock. But if a lot of the picks we usually mock to the Colts are gone here's a version of a "What might actually happen" mock that I also did last year. This is based on who we've shown interest in and Ballard's comments:

 

R1:Malik McDowell, DL MSU

R2: Budda Baker, FS Washington

R3: Shaquill Griffin, CB UCF

R4: Alex Anzalone, ILB Florida

R4: George Kittle, TE Iowa

R4: Howard Wilson, CB Houston 

R5: Jamal Williams, RB BYU

 

That is all folks. More than likely the draft will be a mix of the two drafts though. I'll take any comments below and I look forward to draft day as much as the rest of you do!!!

[stitches]

Love it. I can sign on both versions and be happy with them.

[James Ducheteau]

7 minutes ago, Defjamz26 said:

The draft is 6 days away. This period is one of my favorite times of the year outside of the regular season. To close out I decided to present two different options because one is a scenario in which the most common picks are gone by #15 and Ballard goes against the grain. So here they are:

 

Option 1: 

 

R1: Gareon Conley, CB OSU: At 6'0" and running a 4.4 40 at the combine, Conley isn't as touted as Lattimore but he's a perfect fit in our press-man scheme. He can start day 1 opposite Vontae.

 

R2: Raekwon McMillan, ILB OSU: He's been one of my favorite prospects since the beginning of the CFB season. While people like Zerlein and PFF seem to question if he'll be able to get better in coverage I've seen him make enough plays on RBs and an occasional TE to be sold that he can. But he's a beast against the run. This is a guy who had 100+ tackles on a 2015 team that featured Darron Lee and Joshua Perry.

 

R3: Jourdan Lewis, CB Michigan: Considered a 2nd rounder until a supposed domestic dispute issue with his gf occurred a month ago. It doesn't appear to be serious but I think it knocks him down a round. Jourdan is one of the highest ranked CBs on PFF and may have the best ball skills of any corner in this draft. He's undersized at 5'10" so it's easy to project him to the slot. But I think he can play outside in certain packages. He's the same height and ran about the same 40(4.5) as 1st round pick Vernon Hargreaves.

 

R4: Tedric Thompson, FS Colorado: An underrated prospect who was award PFF's award for the best defender in coverage (at ANY posit). Ballard said the two areas of this draft he thinks are deep are Safety and TE. Thompson has grade A ball skills and is good value here. He's 6'0" and only ran a 4.60 at the Combine but he's got all the tools. He challenges Green for the starting spot in 2018.

 

R4: Brian Hill, RB Wyoming: at 6'0" and 230 pounds Hill is a high upside RB who ran a 4.54 at the combine. It's supports the 1,800 yards and 22 TDs he put up this season. On tape he has great quickness in the hole and breaks off big runs in a blink. Makes good cuts+reads and while he didn't catch the ball a lot in college, he looked comfortable doing it at his pro day. Sleeper pick here.

 

R4: Jake Butt, TE Michigan: As Ballard said, the TE class is really deep. He also loves competition. Butt falls because of the depth of the TE class and gets scooped up by a team who doesn't mind redshirting him while his ACL heals. Low risk, high reward pick.

 

R5: Joe Mathis, Edge Washington: An underrated pass rusher who also comes with a bunch of injury concerns. He's also dinged for his average athleticism and playing on a super talented Washington line. Mathis is better than people think and can be coached up behind Sheard and Simon. Reminds me of his former teammate Kikahua on the Saints.

 

Thats my most ideal mock. But if a lot of the picks we usually mock to the Colts are gone here's a version of a "What might actually happen" mock that I also did last year. This is based on who we've shown interest in and Ballard's comments:

 

R1:Malik McDowell, DL MSU

R2: Budda Baker, FS Washington

R3: Shaquill Griffin, CB UCF

R4: Alex Anzalone, ILB Florida

R4: George Kittle, TE Iowa

R4: Howard Wilson, CB Houston 

R5: Jamal Williams, RB BYU

 

That is all folks. More than likely the draft will be a mix of the two drafts though. I'll take any comments below and I look forward to draft day as much as the rest of you do!!!

I really like the first one, addresses a lot of issues and sets us up to be able to allow Davis & Butler to walk next year

[Smonroe]

You start out brilliantly by selecting two Buckeyes.  Then you taint the draft with two guys from that school up north.

 

All kidding aside, I certainly could live with that first draft.  I'm not a big fan of McDowell, but I really like Baker, Anzalone and Griffin.

[stitches]

Just a thing I can take an issue with - I really wish we take a edge pass-rusher somewhere on day 1 or day 2 in a draft with good depth of rushers.

[James]

I think both your mocks are really solid. I'll prefer the first one because of the early emphasis on the CB position.

[UKColt13]

First one. And it's not close.

 

I like Baker and Anzalone but I don't like McDowell personally.

 

Conley is probably my ultimate #15 pick at this point and I love Jourdan Lewis too. Not a McMillan fan really but I'll eat that pick for Conley and Lewis.

[DougDew]

Lemme guess.  You're a Big 10 fan.

[The Peytonator]

That first one is a 10/10.

 

Plus we've had pretty good success drafting edge rushers named Mathis in the fifth round. We should try that again.

[Defjamz26]

42 minutes ago, stitches said:

Just a thing I can take an issue with - I really wish we take a edge pass-rusher somewhere on day 1 or day 2 in a draft with good depth of rushers.

I just didn't see the value. Round 1 no one is a game changer after Garrett, Thomas (who may play inside), and Barnett who should all be gone by our pick. Not a Taco fan and I like Harris but not at 15. Round 2 maybe Tim Williams but way too many red flags. Takk won't be there either. None of the pass rushers were good enough to take at our pick IMO. Except round 5. But I'd consider a guy like Ryan Anderson in the 3rd-4th.

[MarquisJ]

love the first one and i'd be okay with the second one 

[rock8591]

Gotta take a rusher in the first 2 rounds, it's a deep class.

[James Ducheteau]

8 minutes ago, rock8591 said:

Gotta take a rusher in the first 2 rounds, it's a deep class.

In both rounds???

[Defjamz26]

1 hour ago, rock8591 said:

Gotta take a rusher in the first 2 rounds, it's a deep class.

Only if Barnett or Thomas is there at 15 or Harris or Takk is there in the 2nd. You take any other pass rusher in those 2 rounds and you're probably reaching.

[throwing BBZ]

1 hour ago, rock8591 said:

Gotta take a rusher in the first 2 rounds, it's a deep class.

 

 It would be nice to get a rusher and a CB with our 1st 2 picks. 
 Willis, Watt, Bowser are liked a lot by most to be taken in rd1-2.

[tvturner]

I love the first one, other than no edge until Mathis (who is severely underrated btw)

 

[Shive]

9 hours ago, Boomstick1 said:

I love the first one, other than no edge until Mathis (who is severely underrated btw)

 

I don't get the love for Mathis. I just watched the Arizona tape on Draft Breakdown to make sure I wasn't missing anything. I didn't see anything that made me think he was actually good. He looked so lumbering and heavy footed, slow to react, and unathletic. His lack of athleticism actually cost him a TFL and a few sacks. He struggled to disengage his blocker throughout the game (it only took one) and was only helpful when he was unblocked. I know it's just one game, but I was hoping to see at least some flashes.

[Defjamz26]

22 minutes ago, Shive said:

I don't get the love for Mathis. I just watched the Arizona tape on Draft Breakdown to make sure I wasn't missing anything. I didn't see anything that made me think he was actually good. He looked so lumbering and heavy footed, slow to react, and unathletic. His lack of athleticism actually cost him a TFL and a few sacks. He struggled to disengage his blocker throughout the game (it only took one) and was only helpful when he was unblocked. I know it's just one game, but I was hoping to see at least some flashes.

He's one of those guys who you have to watch him the previous seasons to see him at his best. This year was a wash. PFF said had he kept playing the way he did in 2015 he would have been in play as a 1st round pick. He dealt with injuries this year.

 

Edit: Also Im in the midst of watching said tape and it seems he was playing more of an off Ball LB role which isn't his game.

[Shive]

22 minutes ago, Defjamz26 said:

He's one of those guys who you have to watch him the previous seasons to see him at his best. This year was a wash. PFF said had he kept playing the way he did in 2015 he would have been in play as a 1st round pick. He dealt with injuries this year.

 

Edit: Also Im in the midst of watching said tape and it seems he was playing more of an off Ball LB role which isn't his game.

I think he was playing off ball that game because of the Arizona QB being a rush threat. He seemed to be playing more contain than actually rushing a lot of the game, but didn't look great when he did rush.

 

I checked out the Boise St game from 2015 and I can see a bit more, but he still doesn't excite me, especially as a pass rusher. I see his ceiling as someone like Walden. I think he'll be able to set the edge at the next level, but he doesn't have the explosion to be a threat as a pass rusher.

 

My favorite at that point in the draft is Ejuan Price. He's undersized and won't be able to play every down, but I think he'll be an animal as a pass rush specialist. He's explosive off the line and uses his size to leverage under OT's.

[Defjamz26]

38 minutes ago, Shive said:

I think he was playing off ball that game because of the Arizona QB being a rush threat. He seemed to be playing more contain than actually rushing a lot of the game, but didn't look great when he did rush.

 

I checked out the Boise St game from 2015 and I can see a bit more, but he still doesn't excite me, especially as a pass rusher. I see his ceiling as someone like Walden. I think he'll be able to set the edge at the next level, but he doesn't have the explosion to be a threat as a pass rusher.

 

My favorite at that point in the draft is Ejuan Price. He's undersized and won't be able to play every down, but I think he'll be an animal as a pass rush specialist. He's explosive off the line and uses his size to leverage under OT's.

Even so, I had him credited with 1.5 sacks and 3 pressures in that Arizona game. PFF gave him a 20.9 pass rushing productivity which lead all power 5 edge rushers.

 

https://www.profootballfocus.com/draft-pff-scouting-report-joe-mathis-edge-washington/

 

Also you don't have to get super excited about him. I'm taking him in the 5th round. He's a developmental pick with high upside. If not you spent a 5th round pick on him. It's clear on some snaps that he still doesn't know what he's doing. A couple of years of coaching will do wonders for him.