Track Guy

Wilkins > Lawrence - especially with the PED test on record.

Luck didn't play well, but he was far from alone on that. The receiving group had some drops and struggled to get open all day. The O-line did so-so, not as good as usual. Luck had a down day but Eric Ebron, Braden Smith, and AV also had down days. Aside from AV (who might retire at this point) I don't think it'll be a problem for any of those guys moving forward

Kelvin Harmon and Hakeem Butler are two of my favorite projected 2nd day WRs

Re-sign: Mark Glowinski - Glowinski has been playing well as the starting RG, I’d sign him to up to a 2 year deal. Piere Desir - Desir has played decently well in our secondary which is by no means the deepest in the league. Matt Slauson - Slauson did fairly well at the start of the season at RG before injuring his back. He’s a versatile, veteran guy who would be a really nice backup for all 3 interior positions. Clayton Geathers - Geathers is an adequate starting SS, I wouldn’t go crazy on his contract but he’s not bad. Daurice Fountain - I’d like to keep this athletic receiver with a fantastic vertical leap on our roster longer to see his growth in year 2. Free Agency: Ty Nsekhe, OL, Redskins - A veteran OT who is still a pretty good player and would be an fantastic swing tackle / 6th O-lineman to have on the depth chart. He will turn 34 next season, but I’d pay him above market value to be a backup for a year. Most importantly, he’s capable at LT (his natural position) - and having a guy like that can save your season. C.J. Mosley, LB, Ravens - A new starting Mike LB. Mosley is a guy who has multiple pro-bowl selections, so adding a guy of this caliber would be breaking the mold for Ballard. Still - in our defensive scheme there’s a lot of added value to having a really good Mike linebacker. Devin Funchess, WR, Panthers - A big, young receiver who is not meshing to come back in Carolina. Could be a useful depth receiver and red zone target in our offense. David Irving, DL, Cowboys - A big, dominant pass rusher who plays at DE/DT. He’s had some injury issues, but he’s young and if he can stay healthy can be dominant. Draft: R1 - Dre’Mont Jones, DL, Ohio St. - Jones is a 3-tech prospect who is athletic, and a little bit slight for his position by NFL. He is dominant in terms of generating interior pressure and is obviously very fast on tape. Capable of generating the sort of pressure up the middle our defense needs. R2 - Kelvin Harmon, WR, N.C. St. - Harmon is a possession receiver with good size and good hands. And while he’s not likely to be the biggest combine star, he’s a decent athlete with some YAC ability. I think he’s got potential to be a nice #2 receiver in the right offense. R2 - Lavert Hill, CB, Michigan - Hill has been dominant at the college level for Michigan. If he comes out, I think he’s a second rounder. I suspect he’ll put up good but not great marks at the combine, and perhaps be a nice pickup for a team like ours who could use some secondary help. R3 - Demarcus Christmas, DL, Florida St. - Of no relation to Lloyd. A big, powerful defensive tackle with some quickness to him. Could play an Al Woods role in our defense moving forward. R4 - DaMarkus Lodge, WR, Mississippi - Lodge is a solid WR prospect with good size and speed. He wasn’t the featured guy in his offense, and might have to develop a full route tree (although he shows good route running ability for what he’s asked to do.) He does the little things well like blocking too, which I like. R4 - Malik Carney, DE/LB, North Carolina - Carney is a candidate for SAM linebacker in the 4-3 scheme. He has some pass rushing ability, but really is dominant against the run. He forced an eye-popping 5 fumbles this season. He could also stick at DE, or play there situationally. R5 - Foster Moreau, TE, LSU - A depth guy at TE who is a reliably good blocker and who has flashed some receiving ability. He’s got great size of the position as well. R6 - McKinley Whitefield, S, Tulsa - A smaller school guy who is one of these new age LB/Safety hybrid types. He’s a good size/speed prospect, and has played well for Tulsa. Could be a backup SS for us. R7 - Cole Tracy, K, LSU - When your kicker is in his mid 40s, I think you can mock a kicker. Tracy has been good this year. Approximate Line-up: Offense: QB - A. Luck, J. Brissett RB - M. Mack, N. Hynes, J. Wilkins WR - T. Hilton, K. Harmon, D. Cain, D. Funchess, D. Fountain, D. Lodge TE - E. Ebron, J. Doyle, M. Allie-Cox, F. Moreau OT - A. Castonzo, B. Smith, T. Nsekhe, J. Haeg G - Q. Nelson, M. Glowinski C - R. Kelly, M. Slauson Defense: DT - D. Jones, H. Ridgeway, G. Stewart, D. Christmas DE - J. Sheard, D. Irving, K. Turay, D. Autry, T. Lewis, A. Muhammad LB - D. Leonard, C. Mosley, A. Walker, S. Moore, M. Adams, Z. Franklin, D. Carney S - M. Hooker, C. Geathers, G. Odum, M. Whitfield CB - K. Moore, N. Hairston, P. Desir, Q. Wilson, L. Hill, J. Collins Special Teams: K: C. Tracy P: R. Sanchez LS: L. Rhodes Analysis - I've kept the offense - with the exception of the WR position - very stable. I think improvement here comes from an extra year of experience for our O-line and running back groups, as well as the moves at WR (which is our thinnest position group on offense imo). Having more depth at tackle is also key. On defense, I've prioritized making additions on the interior of the defense. Adding a first round pick as an interior rusher, as well as a free agent signing of an impact defensive lineman. I've also tried in this mock to add a dominant presence at the Mike linebacker position and some quality depth in the secondary. With good health and the young players on the roster making good progress, I think it's a hypothetical lineup that could compete amongst the top teams in the league.

It all depends which prospects are available at which pick. We do need a WR who can step in and play, but its hard to say what pick that will be because you can't force it. That's just the nature of the draft. If I had to guess, I'd say either in round 1 or 2 we may take one. But it's impossible to know. I think BPA is a better approach.

With all the posts you see from people over reacting on this forum, it gets hard to distinguish

We're pretty thin at WR and our offense is designed to use a lot of TE.

I think we finally actually have a decent O-line! If they can show some performances even close to these last 2 weeks against playoff caliber teams, they have to be thought of as one of the better lines in the league. I'm not quite going there just yet, but I'm thrilled by the way they've played the last couple weeks. I commend Ballard on his additions of Quenton Nelson and Braden Smith this off season.

Finally our offensive line is playing well! After all these years. I know some were skeptical about taking a guard at 6th overall, but the additions of Nelson and Smith to a line that had Castonzo and Kelly has catapulted us forward substantially. I'm still waiting to see us win the battles at the LOS like this to a team that has an elite defense, but even being able to do it against anyone multiple weeks in a row is a big step forward. And look how efficient Luck has been. These last 2 weeks where we were able to run the football well, Luck has thrown 7 tds, no interceptions, and had a 72.2% competition percentage.

Both Hernandez and Nelson are good young players, but yes... I'm happy we took Nelson.

This is what we need more of. Everyone should also notice how efficient Luck was when the running game was good. Good on Ballard for stepping up the O-line this past off season.

This is nothing but good news. All of the people complaining about not taking Chubb don't realize that he wasn't available at 6, and for what it's worth Nelson's pff grade is actually higher than Chubb's. Watch for Nelson's grade to keep on climbing over the course of the season. Braden Smith has looked very good in his limited action. These young O-linemen will likely keep improving over time. This is nothing but excellent for our team. Let's get a run game going and watch what it does for our team. Edit: Nelson also has a higher grade currently than Roquan Smith too.

Personally, I don't think we'll be picking in the top 5 in 2019. However top 10? I'd bet yes as of right now. We have to just add some difference makers. There are some things to like about our roster. I like our QB, young interior O-line, some of the young defensive talent added over the last couple years. I think we could be really good in another year or two, I really do.

This makes sense, too bad Slauson got hurt but it sure is nice to have Smith waiting in the wings.

Which 3 OTs are you thinking? There's some speculation that Adams may go back for a 5th year. I know there's first round buzz on Jonah Williams, Greg Little, and David Edwards - are those the 3 names or are there others?