Yeah it's way too early but we aren't making the playoffs and curios to see the possibilities so here we go Round 1 (4) - Hamilton (S) This obviously depends on what happens before us. Det, Hou, and Jax all pick before us. Det will likely take KT or hutchinson. Jax will take neal. So it depends on houston who will take either haimlton or whatever edge rusher is there. Honestly I think They take the edge leaving us with hamilton and i'm not mad about it at all Round 1 (7) (from seattle) - Karlaftis (EDGE) with the seattle pick right now it stands at 7, i think by the end of the year it'll drop down to 10ish area. still at 7 Karlaftis should be there as the 3rd best edge in the draft in a draft full of edge rushers. I'm going to go heavy on defense and this covers edge and safety now. Karlaftis will rotate with lawson, JFM, and huff and possibly blair in a good edge group Round 2 (36) - Wydermeyer (TE) was originally thought of as a late 1st early 2nd and has slipped a little. should be there at 36. Wydermeyer likely starts as a rookie and goes with kroft who we bring back and yebiah who sticks around. wesco, griffin and brown can all go away. gives us an instant upgrade at TE in the receiving department even as a rookie Round 2 (39) (from carolina) - Lecitus Smith (OG) O-line isn't a big priority right now surprisingly. even without becton the jets o-line has went form worst to average this year. JD has turned it around. Still IDK if LDT is a long term answer and we always need depth. Smith is a converted TE and big and athletic and fits our scheme well. Could battle for a starting job as a rookie and solidfy the o-line. Fant has been great as has mcgovern. AVT is doing great for a rookie. becton and smith complete thelineup. LDT can be depth for us. GVR can be cut. Round 3 (68) - Kylar Gordon (CB) again were going heavy on defense. We do need some CB help as well. hall is great, echols has been a pleasent suprise. Carter is a nice nickel and guidry a good dime. after those 4 though we are not looking good. Gordon has all the traits to be a CB1 for us allowing more depth and an upgrade at CB1/2 with hall and echols can move into a reserve role Round 4 (109) From Carolina - Owen Pappoe (LBer) I'd prefer chad muma personally if he falls here but not sure he'll drop out of the top 100. Pappoe should be here though and he's a speedy LBer that fits our system perfectly as a WILL and can take over for mosley in 2023 when we cut him and provide much needed depth to a thin LBer group in 2022. Round 4 (111) From Minnesota - Tykee Smith (S) or Cade Otten (TE) THis depends on how the offseason goes. I like both players here. If we keep maye Then it's a no on smith as we'll have hamilton and maye starting with davis and riley as depth which is good enough. If we keep maye we can take otten since we did keep 4 TEs this season and I think brown, wesco, and griffen are all gone. otten would be the TE3 in a competition with yeboah. If we don't take maye then we take smith who would provide depth at safety with davis and hamilton starting along with riley who has done well here so far and deserves a roster spot in 2022 but not as a starter Round 5 (145) Calvin Austin III (WR) A small speedy WR who can play slot or outside. he's basically low budget elijah moore and can replace crowder as our WR3 as a rookie if crowder walks and if not he'll be good depth for injuries and eventually take over. Round 5 (156) (From Pitt) - OT Obinna Eze Massive 6-8 330lb OT with athleticism. a project player who needs to work on technique but it's the 5th round and he has potential to be our starting RT in a couple of years when we move on from fant. Combined with becton thats 700lbs protecting the edges. So with this draft I didn't do any trades. Defense the defense needs most of the help so taking the BPA avilable on defense who can be a game changer at safety with our 1st pick followed by the top edge avilable who is still a top 10 talent really adds to what we need on defense. more pressure up front and more playmakers in the back end. Adding Pappoe adds depth and an eventual replacement to mosley in 2023. these days Nickel is base defense so it's likely sherwood and mosley start in 2022 and then pappoe, quincy, and nasirildeen provide the depth. maybe phillips makes the roster too. I think cashman and davis are both gone. CB Gordon will improve the secondary as well and should start opposite of hall. which means carter is the NI and echols slides into the dime roll with guidry as depth. If maye walks we'll have tykee smith in the 4th who will be depth. I'm gonna assume we keep maye though for the sake of this so projected lineup EDGE Lawson, JFM, Karlaftis, Huff, Blair DT Q, Foley, Rankins, Shepard (no change here, none needed) LBer Mosley, Sherwood, Quincy, Pappoe, Nasirildeen CB Hall, Gordon, Carter II, Echols, Guidry S Maye, Hamilton, Davis, Riley (23) Not too bad Offense Offense doens't get as much love in this draft as it's been the focus for the past 2 offseasons but We do get some instant help. Mostly in 2nd round TE wydermeyer. He's an instant upgrade at TE for us and should be better then any TE we've had in the past decade. OG Smith is the perfect RG for us and our scheme and should be an upgrade over LDT who can stay as depth. Cade Otten in the 4th provides depth and an overhaul at TE where 3 of our current 5 TEs should be gone (keep kroft and yeboah). FInally with 2 5th rounders We get a future RT in eze to take over when fant walks in a year or 2 as well as austin III who is the perfect WR3 for our system to take crowders place if he walks. Probably in 2023 though QB Wilson, White RB Carter, Coleman, Ty, Walters WR Davis, Moore, Crowder, Austin III, Berrios, Mims TE Wydermeyer, Kroft, Otton, Yeboah OT Becton, Fant, Eze, Mcdermott OG AVT, LDT, Smith, Clark C Mcgovern, Feeny FB Bawden (27) K Pinero LS Hennesey P Mann PR/KR Berrios (3) Thats a full 53 man roster with only bringing back a few guys (maye, Berrios, Crowder, Sherpard, Foley) Obviously we can also improve in Free agency as well to take some of these spots and cut back end players and injuries will happen. Still i'd be ecstatic with a draft like this
Well done. I think I'm higher on Hamilton than most, mainly because I think he's more of a defensive chess piece than a traditional safety. Notre Dame played him all over the field, deep safety, WILL, nickelback, etc. It would be really intriguing to see how Saleh would use him. If it comes to our first pick and Hutchinson, Thibodeaux, and Neal are off the board, I think you could make a strong case to take Karlaftis, even over Hamilton. He's a slight step down from Hutchinson and Thibodeaux IMO but that's not by much at all and is a legit top 5 talent in this draft IMO. I'm not sure if I like the idea of drafting a TE in round 2, I think a much better option for us would be to go all-out for one of the top-tier FA TE's like Schultz, Gesicki, Njoku, etc. and then use a Day 3 pick on a developmental TE like Jahleel Billingsley, Josh Whyle, or Charlie Kolar. Love the idea of going OL with one of our early 2nd rounders as I think there is great value with a lot of the OL prospects here. Trevor Penning, Darian Kinnard, Nicholas Petit-Frere, Zion Johnson, and Sean Rhyan are all guys in the late-1st - mid-2nd range that could jump in and contribute immediately.
