Wild Card Weekend is now behind us, which means it’s time for some more teams to look ahead to the NFL Draft.
Even if your team is still in the playoffs, let’s look at a totally way too early knee-jerk mock to kick off the time of year where we will only see more of these with each passing week.
Because it’s way early, let’s get a little crazy here. Let’s say, for the sake of this being a knee-jerk Mock, that a team trades up into the No. 1 spot. The idea here is that Cleveland isn’t nuts about any of the quarterbacks and either wants to find their guy in next year’s draft or sign him in free agency. John Dorsey will want to fill out the whole roster, and moving down allows him to get more picks and not have to hit on the right guy at No. 1.
Washington, a team that needs a quarterback (assuming Kirk Cousins is gone, which he likely will be), will be in need of a splash. Daniel Snyder has traded up for a quarterback before and if he’s still in on Jay Gruden then he’ll want the coach to go out and get his guy. Gruden worked wonders with Andy Dalton, and picking up a guy like him atop the draft could be the type of insane move we see made. This isn’t to say it will happen, but let’s try and think outside the box here.
1. Washington Redskins (via Cleveland) — Josh Rosen, QB, UCLA
2. New York Giants — Sam Darnold, QB, USC
3. Indianapolis Colts — Bradley Chubb, DE, NC State
4. Cleveland Browns (via Houston) — Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State
5. Denver Broncos — Quenton Nelson, G, Notre Dame
6. New York Jets — Baker Mayfield, QB, Oklahoma
7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers — Arden Key, DE/OLB, LSU
8. Chicago Bears — Courtland Sutton, WR, SMU
9. San Francisco 49ers — Minkah Fitzpatrick, S, Alabama
10. Oakland Raiders — Joshua Jackson, CB, Iowa
With Cleveland trading down, they can still get Barkley with what would have been their second of two first-round picks. This means they wouldn’t take Minkah Fitzpatrick, which lets him fall to either Tampa Bay (unless they plug the edge rushing need) or San Francisco. Imagine how lucky Kyle Shanahan would be if the best safety in the draft fell right to him.
Jon Gruden would love to have him fall to No. 10, but as long as his first pick in his return to the Raiders is anybody other than a middle linebacker, he’ll hit on an upgrade.
11. Miami Dolphins — Roquan Smith, LB, Georgia
12. Cincinnati Bengals — Mike McGlinchey, OT, Notre Dame
13. Clevland Browns (via Washington) — Derwin James, S, Florida State
14. Green Bay Packers — Denzel Ward, CB, Ohio State
15. Arizona Cardinals — Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville
16. Baltimore Ravens — Calvin Ridley, WR, Alabama
17. Los Angeles Chargers — Orlando Brown, OT, Oklahoma
18. Seattle Seahawks — Connor Williams, OT, Texas
19. Dallas Cowboys — Maurice Hurst, DT, Michigan
20. Detroit Lions — Vita Vea, DT, Washington
Cleveland’s ideal mock draft seems to be grabbing Saquon Barkley and Minkah Fitzpatrick in the Top 5. They can still get one of the best safeties in the draft at No. 13, with the picks they got from Washington acting as a sweetener.
Miami getting Smith is a steal and fills a need on defense. Baltimore might even trade up to get Calvin Ridley if they think someone like Miami would take him. Arizona could go Josh Allen at No. 15, but Lamar Jackson is starting to look like a guy you can’t pass on if you need a dynamic quarterback. If Seattle takes anyone other than an offensive lineman to protect Russell Wilson, Pete Carroll should be locked out of the building.
21. Buffalo Bills — Rashaan Evans, LB, Alabama
22. Buffalo Bills (via Kansas City) — Josh Allen, QB, Wyoming
23. Los Angeles Rams — Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, DE/OLB, Oklahoma
24. Carolina Panthers — Christian Kirk, WR, Texas A&M
25. Atlanta Falcons — Donte Jackson, CB, LSU
25. Tennessee Titans — Marcus Davenport, DE/OLB, UTSA
26. New Orleans Saints — Mark Andrews, TE, Oklahoma
27. Pittsburgh Steelers — Mason Rudolph, QB, Oklahoma State
28. Jacksonville Jaguars — Carlton Davis, CB, Auburn
30. Minnesota Vikings — Chukwuma Okorafor, OT, Western Michigan
31. Philadelphia Eagles — Kolton Miller, OT, UCLA
32. New England Patriots — Sam Hubbard, DE, Ohio State
The most interesting pick here is Josh Allen falling to the Bills. They could be tempted by Mason Rudolph, but Allen seems to fit the type of pocket passer that McDermott wants to use. Then again, they switched offensive coordinators so who maybe he’ll be more open to using Tyrod Taylor and won’t want to move on so quickly. Also, doubling up Allen with one of the best linebackers in the draft is a stunning one-two combo addition for a team coming off a playoff berth.
Minnesota might take Miller off the board, but at some point, the team starts to become a pro version of UCLA, and none of the Bruins teams have been that good. There’s also a chance that P.J. Fleck gets in Zimmer’s ear and talks up a guy he’s had a lot of experience with at Western Michigan.
Be sure to check back on Tuesday for an even more in-depth Mock Draft.