Archer's Final 2018 Colt Mock

[Archer]

This is sad.  I did my first Colt mock about mid-college season, and this is the first one that did not include Bradley Chubb as the 1^st round pick.  When I first made that pick, we were running a 3-4, Chubb was considered a “possible 1^st round pick”, and I optimistically thought we’d be selecting between 11 and 16.  Two things from Ballard’s pre-draft presser (which I just listened to yesterday) convinced me: 1) John Simon is now a DE.  Not only does this further deplete a barren LB corps, but it also seems like we’re planning on proceeding without Chubb at DE.  2) When someone asked Ballard if he’d be more surprised by 4 or 2 QBs in the top 5, he answered 4 very quickly.  My two-round mock I did a week ago to determine who would be available to us in the first two rounds had QBs going 1-2-3-4.  Ballard expects otherwise, and he would know better than I would.  So, if two or more non-QBs go before our pick, I can’t imagine Chubb not being one of them.  I know I’m putting a lot of weight on a presser that’s liable to be half lies, but as an * fan I don’t have any better info to go on.  More than half the draftniks now seem to think Chubb’ll be gone by our pick too.  So, here’s my mock.

 

1) Roquon Smith, LB, Georgia.  Our D is designed to funnel tackles to a stud, undersized, fast-as-he!! Weakside LB.  That’s Roquon.  Absolutely ideal, and we need a playmaker like him somewhere on that level.

 

2) Tyrell Crosby, OT, Oregon.  OT has been growing in my mind as a need this whole off-season, as I consider Good a bad fit in the new O.  The OTs have to be versatile enough to do it all, and I can’t see Good out blocking on the second level (and hitting anyone, anyway).  I’m a bigger fan of Crosby than most.  He’s a monster run blocker, who has quite a good feel for pass pro, too.  He’s not an ideal athlete, and some team is going to take uber-athlete Kolton Miller over Crosby. 

 

2) Billy Price, OG/C, Ohio St.  I wrote Price off as a 1^st rounder a while ago, but the rise of Ragnow (now considered by some to have a floor of Cincinnati at #21!) could push him down to us.  Price’s inability to prove his athletic profile hurts him (pec injury).  I’m not one of those habitual Colt OL haters, but there are too many question marks on our interior.  Are Mewhort’s knees shot?  Can Haeg become a quality starter at OG?  Does Slauson have anything left?  A Guard here gives us a pair of youngsters to be the future (with Haeg being the other).  If Price doesn’t fall to us, I’d take Austin Corbett, who is also surging and is a scheme fit.

 

2) Carlton Davis, CB, Auburn.  The fact that we re-signed Desir to a 1-year contract has been eating at me.  Outside of Wilson and Desir, we’ve mainly got Chris Milton and new acquisition Kenneth Acker at outside CB (with Hairston reserved for the slot).  It seems that Ballard wants to get his bookend CB in the draft.  Davis is physical as all get-out, very aggressive in run-support, and has the length Ballard prefers.  He should be a pretty good option for the system.  Maybe only about a 50% chance of him lasting this long, but if your mock doesn’t have these type of picks, you’re probably being way too pessimistic (of which I’m usually guilty in my mocks).

 

3) Darius Leonard, LB, South Carolina St.  Some people really don’t like Leonard much.  I’m a big fan.  At the Senior Bowl, he got his first chance to play with the big boys, and he was the week’s biggest winner.  He was very good in coverage, and he was a tackle machine in the game.  He pulled up lame with a quad injury at the Combine, but still got a 4.70 on his forty.  Was still nursing the quad at his PD, and came up with a good 38.5 vertical and a disappointing 4.50 short shuttle.  In all, I think he has the speedy and explosive athletic profile we need in a Mike, and he proved he can cover and be productive against the run at the Senior Bowl.   Fred Warner of BYU is another great option at this spot if someone likes Leonard enough to snag him late in the 2^nd.

 

4) Daurice Fountain, WR, Northern Iowa.  I originally projected a trade down in the 4^th (like last year) to add a mid-5^th rounder, since Fountain isn’t generally considered an early 4^th rounder.  However, this morning I heard Kiper talking Fountain up, so I’ll forego that trade.  We need to improve our ability in the short- to intermediate-range passing game.  Fountain has the tools to excel at this.  He dominated East West Shrine practices with quickness and route-running.  Ran somewhere between 4.46 and 4.53 at 6’1”, 210 at his Pro Day, where he also logged a 42.5” vertical and a, 11’2” broad jump.  I’m willing to throw my lot in with this prolific small school prospect.  Plus, as Kiper just mentioned, he’s a rare hand catcher in a class of body catchers.

 

5) Natrell Jamerson, FS, Wisconsin.  I have a man-crush on this guy.  Over-looked by draftniks, I really believe the NFL folks will love him.  He was the defensive star of the East West Shrine.  Slightly undersized at 5’11, 201, he ran a 4.40 forty at the Combine, put up 25 bench press reps, jumped a 35.5” vertical (which he improved to 38” at his PD), and had 32.5” arms.  He also has return ability, and he’s a high character/football IQ guy.  If Hooker becomes a constant injury risk, this could be our Melvin Bullitt.  Even though most of you are probably thinking this is too early for him, I’m thinking there’s a very good chance he could be gone by this pick.

 

6) Chase Edmonds, RB, Fordham.  The two needs I see slipping down our priority list are RB and DT.   RB because I think Ballard will want to see his 2017 draftee Mack take a feature role, and because I think Ballard really likes Christine Michael.  But that won’t stop the man from taking advantage of the deep RB draft and snagging Edmonds.  He’s got good vision and receiving ability.  Ran a 4.55, so no real break-away speed, but he’s a good insider runner for a 205-lb. guy…and he was great in Pro Day receiving drills.

 

7) Danny Johnson, CB, Southern.  It’s always hard to decide what to do with the 7^th rounders.  Really, anyone who can add competition and possibly make the team is a good use of that pick.  I thought about adding that Tomasi Laulile, DT, BYU.  We had our DL coach work him out the weekend before the draft.  But, he probably won’t be drafted otherwise, and ya gotta figure we’d be a favorite to sign him as an UCFA after the draft (if he has an agent worth a dang).  So, I go with this small school CB, who has great ball skills (he had like 16 ints in college) and has a lot of zone coverage potential.  We’re supposedly going to be doing a lot more zone coverage this next year.  We’re not in danger of having too much at CB, so I’ll snag this guy.

[krunk]

I dont think there is much chance we come out of this draft without a pass rusher and 3 Tech.

 

[throwing BBZ]

yawn

[Shive]

I'm not the biggest fan of Crosby, but otherwise, I like It!

[richard pallo]

I think we're taking a RB with one of our two's. 

[Archer]

1 hour ago, krunk said:

I dont think there is much chance we come out of this draft without a pass rusher and 3 Tech.

 

 

Obviously, I disagree.  Pretty poor edge class, IMO.  If we miss out on Chubb and Landry, I see us passing on the edge guys later.  Why waste a pick on someone who won’t be any better than Sheard, Basham, or Simon?  I don’t see the big hurry on the 3-tech either.  Autry and Anderson should be pretty good for now, and there are a lot on decent DLs on the roster who aren’t terrible scheme fits...

[krunk]

1 minute ago, Archer said:

 

Obviously, I disagree.  Pretty poor edge class, IMO.  If we miss out on Chubb and Landry, I see us passing on the edge guys later.  Why waste a pick on someone who won’t be any better than Sheard, Basham, or Simon?  I don’t see the big hurry on the 3-tech either.  Autry and Anderson should be pretty good for now, and there are a lot on decent DLs on the roster who aren’t terrible scheme fits...

Despite the GM himself saying there's good depth at the Edge Rusher in this class?  He said this himself.

[krunk]

3 minutes ago, Archer said:

 

Obviously, I disagree.  Pretty poor edge class, IMO.  If we miss out on Chubb and Landry, I see us passing on the edge guys later.  Why waste a pick on someone who won’t be any better than Sheard, Basham, or Simon?  I don’t see the big hurry on the 3-tech either.  Autry and Anderson should be pretty good for now, and there are a lot on decent DLs on the roster who aren’t terrible scheme fits...

Whens the last time Henry Andersons been able to rush the passer? He's mostly a run stuffer.    I can give you Autry and Hassan Ridgeway.   Maybe Grover might be able to do something, but I'd still bring in one more body.   I'm not bashing your draft, but just on the point that we are discussing I just don't see how we get out this draft missing a pass rusher and 3 tech at the same time. 

[Archer]

I think we have a lot of holes, and we can ride it out with oval pegs for round holes like Henry Anderson for a year until his contract is up.  Then we can draft someone more ideal for the scheme next year.  Besides, Anderson supposedlylost 15 lbs, so let’s see if he’s quicker this year...

[Archer]

30 minutes ago, krunk said:

Despite the GM himself saying there's good depth at the Edge Rusher in this class?  He said this himself.

 

GMs tell a lot of lies this time of year...

[ColtsBlitz]

34 minutes ago, krunk said:

Despite the GM himself saying there's good depth at the Edge Rusher in this class?  He said this himself.

This is a weak edge rush class. Talent drops off rather quickly

[krunk]

5 minutes ago, ColtsBlitz said:

This is a weak edge rush class. Talent drops off rather quickly

Not really.   There's still good players after Landry.   That's your opinnion

[krunk]

8 minutes ago, Archer said:

 

GMs tell a lot of lies this time of year...

The same lies you listened to during Ballards conference and used for your decision making?

[Dr. T]

Put these picks (and a few back ups) in the draft contest Bro!

Only three days to go!

[Archer]

10 hours ago, krunk said:

The same lies you listened to during Ballards conference and used for your decision making?

 

Knew you’d come back with that.  Explained clearly that it was the best info I had.  Our GM saying a crappy Edge class is good is something i just can’t believe...

[Archer]

10 hours ago, Dr. T said:

Put these picks (and a few back ups) in the draft contest Bro!

Only three days to go!

Oh, yeah!  I’ll do that now.  Thanks!

[MikeCurtis]

Tough crowd.......

 

Those picks would fill some obvious holes

 

I dont agree with all of them, but this mock is as good as anyone else's

[Trueman]

Thanks for the post. It was detailed and well thought out.

 

Roquon is an option I’m warming up to.