Track Guy's April Mock Draft

[Track Guy]

Strategies... Prioritized the trenches over the skill positions... Didn't bother trying to project trades, even though they are fairly likely... Valued guys with good athleticism for their position and who had good showings against good opponents. 

 

R1 - Forrest Lamp, OL, Western Kentucky - I know this is kind of a love/hate pick on this forum (due some people believing that drafting an O-lineman on day 1 would be a mistake for this team, I've not heard anyone try to claim Lamp is not a good player) but I view Lamp as a great pick, and just shy of being another Zack Martin on the field. The best all around offensive line prospect in the draft, he would project as an immediate starter at RG. Our run blocking would improve, and as the unit gels we might see our team wind up with one of the best interior starting 3 in the NFL - particularly in pass protection. Lamp is a high quality prospect to me, as he has showed so well head to head against blue chip college players like Jonathan Allen, Tim Williams, and Arden Key. 

 

R2 - Dalvin Tomlinson, DL, Alabama - We could use another interior disruptor on the defensive side of the football. Dalvin Tomlinson is a good player, who sometimes doesn’t get the full credit he deserves playing next to Jonathan Allen. There were a few times when teams chose to double team Tomlinson over Allen, which tells you something about how good he can be. 

 

R3 - Derek Rivers, Edge, Youngstown St. - An edge defender with good athleticism even by NFL standards. Highly productive senior year (14 sacks, 19.5 TFL). He’s just a little bit shorter limbed and lighter than ideal for a 4-3, so a transition to 3-4 rush OLB could be in the cards for him. We could be getting a steal here, with a pretty deep edge rushing class. 

 

R4 - Brian Hill, RB, Wyoming - Reportedly Hill performed quite well in pass catching drills at his pro day. This is big, as his lack of usage in the passing game at Wyoming was my concern with drafting him. He’s got the size and speed you look for in a 3 down running back. He runs well between the tackles and also taking runs outside. If we feel he has the chops in the passing game, he’s a solid pick. 

 

R4 - Howard Wilson, CB, Houston - A cornerback who has terrific short area quickness and ball skills. He had an ACL injury in 2015, and he’s not the most battle tested prospect in this deep cornerback class. But his 9 career interceptions (in 27 games) shows a knack for creating turnovers. The physical tools are there at almost 6’1” and outstanding agility scores in testing to believe that with good coaching he may be able to replicate his college success (if he can stay healthy). 

 

R4 - John Johnson, S, Boston College - Here’s another safety to throw into the mix in case T.J. Green stalls out. At the very least, Johnson will improve our depth at the position. He’s a good athlete, and plays the football well when it’s in the air. He has some past experience at corner, but he’s switched to safety which is where I see him in the NFL. 

 

R5 - Keion Adams, LB/Edge, Western Michigan - This guy is a terrific athlete, and could project either as a 3-4 rush linebacker or a WIL at the next level. I read somewhere that there were some character concerns with this guy, but unless they’re quite serious I think he’s a good 3rd day prospect to take a flier on. Kind of like Haasan Reddick as a prospect, only riskier which is why we may be able to get him as late as this. But a 247 pounder who has a 36” vertical, 10’4” broad jump, 27 reps on the bench, and a 10 yard split at 1.63 has physical tools to find his way onto the field somewhere. 

 

 

Projected Roster:

 

Offense:

QB - A. Luck, S. Tolzein

RB - F. Gore, B. Hill, R. Turbin

WR - T. Hilton, D. Moncrief, P. Dorsett, K. Aiken, C. Rogers

TE - J. Doyell, E. Swoope, B. Williams

OL - A. Castonzo, J. Mewhort, R. Kelly, F. Lamp, L. Clark, J. Haeg, D. Good, B. Schwenke, A. Blythe

 

Defense:

DL - H. Anderson, D. Tomlinson, K. Langford, H. Ridgeway, T. McGill, A. Woods, D. Parry, M. Hunt

Edge - J. Sheard, J. Simon, D. Rivers, A. Ayers, B. Mingo, C. Maggitt

ILB - S. Spence, E. Jackson, A. Morrison, K. Adams

CB - V. Davis, R. Melvin, D. Morris, H. Wilson

S - C. Geathers, D. Butler, T. Green, J. Johnson, M. Farely

 

Special Teams: 

K: A. Vinatieri 

P: J. Locke

LS: M. Overton

[JRnINDY]

 

[Smonroe]

Nice!  Not sexy, but solid.  I wouldn't mind it at all.

[SP_21]

I think Lamp might overrated and there should be better players available at our pick. 

[Track Guy]

1 hour ago, JRnINDY said:

 

 

I mean, the throwing him to the ground makes it look like he's being owned, but it takes like almost 3 seconds after the snap. Not really very damning tape imo. 

[Smonroe]

1 hour ago, Track Guy said:

 

I mean, the throwing him to the ground makes it look like he's being owned, but it takes like almost 3 seconds after the snap. Not really very damning tape imo. 

 

Didn't he sprain his ankle during practice?  Not to take anything away from the big DE, but Lamp still held his own.

 

 Tanoh is a freak and someone is going to take him one the second. 

[Track Guy]

2 hours ago, Smonroe said:

 

Didn't he sprain his ankle during practice?  Not to take anything away from the big DE, but Lamp still held his own.

 

 Tanoh is a freak and someone is going to take him one the second. 

 

Tanoh is a nice player in his own right, but yeah Lamp really held up alright there. He got thrown violently at the end, but in a game situation that play only could go for a sack if the QB held on to the football a long time. 

[a06cc]

4 hours ago, Track Guy said:

 

I mean, the throwing him to the ground makes it look like he's being owned, but it takes like almost 3 seconds after the snap. Not really very damning tape imo. 

Would've been thrown into Luck. He held that block for 3 seconds which Luck holds onto the ball that long. 6'4" 295 pounds. He needs to add 10-15 pounds more. 

[JRnINDY]

17 minutes ago, Track Guy said:

 

Tanoh is a nice player in his own right, but yeah Lamp really held up alright there. He got thrown violently at the end, but in a game situation that play only could go for a sack if the QB held on to the football a long time. 

 

Lamps a good Gaurd in the 2017 draft. My point is it's a very weak draft for OL and I don't feel you draft a guard in the first. Ask yourself where he would have been valued at in the 2016 draft? I'd say below our last years OL haul. Tanoh is a 3-4 round guy, I like him as well.

[Track Guy]

42 minutes ago, a06cc said:

Would've been thrown into Luck. He held that block for 3 seconds which Luck holds onto the ball that long. 6'4" 295 pounds. He needs to add 10-15 pounds more. 

 

Lamp was 309 at the combine. Check his tape against Alabama and LSU, he showed really well against guys like Jonathan Allen and Arden Key. Arden Key straight up embarrassed Le'Raven Clark, and many if not most people here are comfortable with Clark being a starter. Lamp fared much, much better against the same challenger. 

[UKColt13]

With our roster currently being lousy with young Olinemen, and all of the holes we have on defense, if we use #15 on a RG in the worst Oline class for probably a decade, I will actually have an aneurysm.  

 

Way too high for Tomlinson. I can see him being around in the 4th.

 

Rivers is solid. Hill is solid.

 

But no CB until the late 4th? Seriously? Outside of Vontae, we have nothing. Wilson is okay, but I cant see him being our no.2 and future no.1. I'd love to grab 2 CBs in the first 3 rounds personally.

 

Johnson is a really good pick though  

[Smonroe]

9 hours ago, Track Guy said:

 

Lamp was 309 at the combine. Check his tape against Alabama and LSU, he showed really well against guys like Jonathan Allen and Arden Key. Arden Key straight up embarrassed Le'Raven Clark, and many if not most people here are comfortable with Clark being a starter. Lamp fared much, much better against the same challenger. 

 

I was looking at the top 25 projected picks.  I don't think I'd complain with any of them, unless we drafted a WR or QB.  We can use just about every other position.  The criteria would be that the player is an upgrade over what we currently have.

 

Is Lamp an upgrade over Haeg?  Probably. 

[Track Guy]

1 hour ago, UKColt13 said:

With our roster currently being lousy with young Olinemen, and all of the holes we have on defense, if we use #15 on a RG in the worst Oline class for probably a decade, I will actually have an aneurysm.  

 

Way too high for Tomlinson. I can see him being around in the 4th.

 

Rivers is solid. Hill is solid.

 

But no CB until the late 4th? Seriously? Outside of Vontae, we have nothing. Wilson is okay, but I cant see him being our no.2 and future no.1. I'd love to grab 2 CBs in the first 3 rounds personally.

 

Johnson is a really good pick though  

 

Not taking a CB until round 4 did make me nervous too. I do think Wilson could be a future no. 2 CB, and possibly even push for that role as a rookie since behind Vontae we don't have much. The reason I waited this long on a corner was I followed the "build in the trenches first" type of model. 

 

O-line is the sneaky need that many people want to shrug off, but could sink our team if it's not addressed. I think there is way too much faith on this forum in the ability to keep a starting 5 fully healthy and how the right side of the line will progress. Surely, there are plenty of needs on defense and I wouldn't argue otherwise. But the fact that this is a poor O-line class doesn't really matter if you're selecting a good player like Lamp. There's not much depth, so if anything that makes it more likely jump in on a player who is actually really good early in the draft. I do like Dion Dawkins too, as a 2nd round alternative to Lamp. 

 

Tomlinson is underrated imo. He's about the same as those Alabama DTs last year that went in the 2nd. 

 

[Manning1887]

Not too bad. Personally, I think that Forrest Lamp will likely be the best player available at #15. That is not a popular sentiment, but I feel he has the potential to become an elite guard. 

 

I am not a fan of Dalvin Tomlinson in the 2nd round. I like him, but not so early. My understanding of Dalvin is that his forte is stopping the run. He will not provide much pass rushing presence. Personally, I am fine with that from a NT, but that should also push Tomlinson down the board. Perhaps a 4th round slot. I also like DJ Jones, NT from Ole Miss as a possible 3rd day pick. 

[Tmoney]

Wow worst 2nd round pick I've seen so far

[ClaytonColt]

17 hours ago, Smonroe said:

  The criteria would be that the player is an upgrade over what we currently have.

 

Is Lamp an upgrade over Haeg?  Probably. 

 

The point of high end draft picks is not simply to upgrade players but to upgrade positions of value to maximise the effect on the team.

 

We could upgrade our full back or punter in the first round of the draft but just because we've made an improvement in that position it doesn't justify it as a good pick. I feel the same way about offensive line this time around.

 

I don't mind the later round picks in this draft. Lamp plays the wrong side of the ball for our #1 and I don't think Tomlinson is disruptive enough against the pass to justify #2 although I do like him as a player. Other than that it seems a fine draft.

[Smonroe]

5 hours ago, ClaytonColt said:

 

The point of high end draft picks is not simply to upgrade players but to upgrade positions of value to maximise the effect on the team.

 

We could upgrade our full back or punter in the first round of the draft but just because we've made an improvement in that position it doesn't justify it as a good pick. I feel the same way about offensive line this time around.

 

I don't mind the later round picks in this draft. Lamp plays the wrong side of the ball for our #1 and I don't think Tomlinson is disruptive enough against the pass to justify #2 although I do like him as a player. Other than that it seems a fine draft.

 

I'm pretty sure Mr. Luck would agree that the Olinemen are positions of value.

[Barrdaddy]

In my opinion any team who drafts an O-lineman in the first round is really reaching this year. Compare these lineman to last year's first rounders, not great. Forrest Lamp is solid but it would be a waste of a 1st round pick. Build the defense...our O-line is developing better than the experts think. Look at our last 6-8 games last year we were really moving people and coming together. If Gore had more burst we would have been really gaining some yards. Focus on the D Ballard that's what wins champions. 

[a06cc]

On 4/4/2017 at 11:11 PM, Track Guy said:

 

Lamp was 309 at the combine. Check his tape against Alabama and LSU, he showed really well against guys like Jonathan Allen and Arden Key. Arden Key straight up embarrassed Le'Raven Clark, and many if not most people here are comfortable with Clark being a starter. Lamp fared much, much better against the same challenger. 

Lamp even on college tape to me seems to thin. Im not saying don't draft him. With the added weight I would like to see how he plays. I'll be happy with whatever course our team decided to go. My view is the same as well on Tim Williams. He also needs to add muscle weight to his chest and legs.

[ClaytonColt]

2 hours ago, Smonroe said:

 

I'm pretty sure Mr. Luck would agree that the Olinemen are positions of value.

 

I'm pretty sure any quarterback would and I would agree with them to a point. As the bit after the sentence you highlighted said though it has to maximize the effect on the team.

 

Other teams can create good lines with a combination of high and low picks which allows the high end talent to be spread around. I think that following that method would have a much greater impact on the team results. Just because rookie x is better than than player y isn't a justification for a first round pick to me.