NFL Draft 2019: 3 players who are falling down draft boards
A look at how some of the NFL Draft’s top prospects have seen their stock fall throughout the draft process. Who has fallen the most since January?
Each year draft analysts try to get out mock drafts
in order to dry and evaluate next year’s draft prospects. Throughout the year players, performance and off-field issues drastically shift the landscape of mock drafts.For example, one of the top quarterback prospects, Justin Herbert, decided not to declare for the draft and is
to play another season. This move shook up mock drafts, as a likely top-five pick was no longer available.
On top of that players can drastically shift the perception of themselves with strong performances at the NFL combine or pro days. And in a similar vein, a poor combine performance or bad interviews and news stories related to a player can send them flying down draft boards and scare teams with top picks away.
It is an interesting exercise to review mock drafts from throughout the pre-draft and evaluating how players rise and fall throughout the year.
Below, we are going to take a look at three players who have seen their draft stock fall the most in the last few months.
Greedy Williams
Williams was once considered the top cornerback prospect in this draft. However, some prominent analysts, such as Mel Kiper, have slowly moved Williams down their draft boards. In January, Kiper published his first mock draft and had Williams going No. 4 to the Oakland Raiders.
In March, Kiper published a new mock draft and Williams had dropped all the way to 29th to the Kansas City Chiefs. The highest I have seen him going in mock drafts was No. 3 overall in this mock draft from Sports Illustrated. The consensus is that Williams still possesses the skills to become the top lockdown corner in the draft, but questions about Williams’ tackling have been a topic of discussion in the last few weeks.
While Williams spoke out against those concerns, analysts still appear hesitant to place him in the top half of the first round in mock drafts. Whether it be doubt in Williams’ willingness to tackle, or teams falling in love with other cornerback prospects, it is strange to see a player who was considered to be the best prospect at the position fall so far.
Of all the prospects on this list, I believe that Williams has the best chance to still be selected in the top 10. His coverage skills may simply be too good for a team with a need in the secondary to pass up.