Hey all, I like to do my final mock pretty early on in the process. I personally watch a TON of college football and actually watch game-tape of these players, so I like to do it early before my views get skewed by the ever changing media rankings perspectives. I know free agency is far from over, but it is fair to say what our needs are. It looks like we will be pressing to sign another CB (almost definitely Cromartie) and a FS (at the moment, Gilchrist, but who knows). Even if we don't sign a Cro or Gilchrist, I don't see our draft strategy changing too much. So without further ado, here is my final mock draft of the 2015 draft class. 1. Tampa Bay- Jameis Winston, QB, FSU No surprise here. Tampa desperately needs a QB, and Jameis is the best one (in my eyes) in the class. I'd honestly be shocked if anyone but Winston goes here. 2. Tennessee- Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon Personally, I see Mariota going at #2. Whether or not that is to Tennessee or to a team that trades up, that is another story. I do not plan on doing trade ups/downs in this mock (as they are way too hard to predict), so I will pencil him to Tennessee. I'm not a huge Mariota fan personally, but I think he's a hell of an upgrade over Mettenberger. 3. Jacksonville- Leonard Williams, DT, USC Simple case of BPA here. It was tempting to take an offensive lineman to protect Bortles, but there really isn't a top-3 quality OL in the draft. I would not be shocked to see them to try to trade back and take an OL, but here, they are going to play with the top player on the board, whom I believe is Leonard Williams. 4. Oakland- Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama They need some weapons for Carr in the worst way. Here's the best one in the draft. Pretty simple. 5. Washington- Danny Shelton, NT, Washington Based on their free agency moves, I think they're setting up for this. Shelton is somewhere from 7-9 on my board, but Washington released two defensive lineman during free agency. At the moment, they do not have a passable NT on the roster. Shelton is a blue-chip NT, and help anchor that Washington defense. 6. New York- Dante Fowler Jr., OLB, Florida This is the rare case where BPA perfectly aligns with need. We have needed a pass-rusher since Abraham left. Fowler just happens to be the best one in the draft. He's my #3 player on my board behind Winston and Williams (which makes him #2 for the Jets as Williams is not a good fit). He would make our defense complete. He has some of the most violent hands I've ever seen. He is incredibly athletic and played all over the defense at Florida, similar to Sheldon Richardson at Missouri. He also has a very high motor and is good against the run. He is far from a one-trick pony, and can beat you with speed to the outside or go right through you, and everything in between. It's time to right the Vernon Gholston wrong. As far as the rest of the draft goes: Round 2- Phillip Dorsett, WR, Miami Despite the addition of Brandon Marshall, we could still use another WR. We really need some speed in our offense, and Dorsett has it in spades. Ran a 4.33 at the combine, and looks even faster (if that is possible) on tape. He isn't just a deep threat however, and is a very good route runner. He could play in the slot this year if he proves better than Kerley right away. It's a nice change to be able to draft a skill position player high in the draft and not force them to start right away. Round 3- Duke Johnson, RB, Miami Dorsett's teammate. We've needed a reliable playmaking back (sorry CJ1/2K) since Leon suffered that gruesome injury. Here is our guy. He's fast, quick, and has a ton of burst. Can catch the ball well as well. Would be a perfect fit with Ivory and Powell, and again, would not be leaned upon heavily if not ready. Round 4- Garrett Grayson, QB, Colorado State I believe in the take a QB every year until you have one philosophy. Grayson is my favorite non-first round QB in the draft. He might rise up the draft boards and be taken earlier than the 4th (although remember we are in the very beginning of the round), but I'm hoping the physical talent of a Brett Hundley (for example) might push Grayson down other teams' boards. He has pretty ideal size (6'2, 220) and can make all the throws. He ran a pro-style offense at Colorado State, and was the best QB at the Senior Bowl. He was good at going through his progressions fully. Again, he'll be able to sit behind Fitzpatrick for a bit, so there will be no rush for him to start. It's incredibly hard to tell when you get into the late rounds where a player is going to go (if at all). Here are a couple of my favorite sleepers, but I'd focus more on the position than the actual players being taken. Round 7 (NYJ pick)- Chaz Green, OT, Florida A player that played both RT and LT this season. He's a very good run blocker, and is a decent enough pass blocker where he could fill in at LT if your starting LT gets injured. Obviously, this late in the draft, you're not (likely) getting day 1 starters, but he could add some depth at the tackle position which we've lacked for a long time. Round 7 (CHI pick)- Busta Anderson, TE, South Carolina Measured in at 6'5 and a little over 240 pounds. Pretty good run-blocker. Has pretty good speed, and seemingly good receiving ability. Only had 22 receptions this past year. Definitely a project. Injury concerns (torn tricep). We could use an upgrade on Cumberland and Sudfeld at our #2 spot. There you have it. With all this in mind, our depth chart (those that are expected to get significant playing time will be bolded) looks like: QB: Fitzpatrick, Geno, Grayson RB: Ivory, Powell, Johnson FB: Bohanon? WR: Marshall, Decker, Dorsett, Kerley, Shaq Evans TE: Amaro, Cumberland, Anderson OT: Brick, Giacomini, Green, Ijalana/JAGS OG: Carpenter, Aboushi/Winters, Winters/Aboushi, Colon, Dozier (Yes I believe Dozier is going to show something this year and take the second OG spot. Winters, Aboushi, or even Colon (god help us as this means none of our prospects showed anything) could be starting in this spot instead.) C: Mangold, Freeman NT: Harrison, Ellis/Barnes DT: Wilkerson, Richardson, Douzable/JAG (Randy Starks a possibility unfortunately) OLB: Fowler, Coples, Babin, Pace/Reilly/IK Enemkpali ILB: Davis, Harris, Bellore/JAG CB: Revis, Cromartie/FA, Skrine, Milliner*, McDougle, Marcus Williams, *if his injury allows FS: Gilchrist/FA, Jarrett SS: Pryor, Allen K: Folk P: Quigley LS: Purdum and I don't feel like continuing with all the special teamers. But they'll be there too . Anyway, that's my draft. As always, comments/criticism are welcome and encouraged!
Can't see any way the Jets go defense in the first. They will take White or Cooper if both QBs are gone and maybe even if they aren't or they will trade down and still go offense.
If Cooper is there, they make take him. They won't take White, though. I don't think he's a great fit for the slot, and they sure as hell are not about to invest the #6 overall pick into somebody that isn't going to play from day 1 (assuming he's not a QB, that is) and has no role on the team for the foreseeable future. Everyone always says "we'll just trade down!". It takes two to tango. Much easier to say "there isn't the correct value lining up for us, lets get more picks!" than to actually find a trading partner. At this point, I would be pretty shocked if the #6 pick is not an OLB or an offensive lineman.
Solid mock. i would sign up for that no problem. And thank you for keeping it simple. Hate the mocks witb a bunch of trade scenarios
I think your top 6 is potentially spot on the way it will shake down, barring trades of course which always makes these things pretty unpredictable. I'm not particullarly familiar with some of our later picks but the first two rounds sound good, not sure of RB in the 3rd round but if the value is there.
Love the first 2 picks. I, like most posters, hate the idea, in the abstract, of drafting another defensive player in the 1st, but it seems like the right thing to do given that we haven't addressed OLB at all yet in FA and don't exactly have somebody waiting in the wings. We've been clamoring for a pass rushing OLB for a decade, so I'm cool with taking Fowler and putting aside my irrational fear of athletic OLBs that Gholston instilled in me. Dorsett is a lightning fast WR who has very few flaws in his game. The real question is his size. He plays bigger than his 5'9.5, but you wonder if that will limit him to being a really good #3 WR playing out of the slot or a #1 or #2 that can play on the outside. At the end of the day, especially with 2 big bodied WRs in Marshall/Decker, if Dorsett is there I'd be ecstatic if we took him. I'm a little less enthusiastic about Rounds 3 + Round 4, in large part because I think ILB, OT, and FS are bigger needs and would have a better chance of making an impact. At RB Chris Ivory is darn good and Powell isn't too shabby either. Not sure if a 4th round QB in a draft that is so top-heavy has a good chance of being the answer at QB and maybe the answer is more likely to be found with our 1st or 2nd rounder in 2016. But I could be wrong, and I'll defer to your knowledge on Johnson and Grayson since my reservations are just about their positions, they could be BPA when we pick. Overall I'd be really happy if this was our draft weekend haul
I think it would make more sense to take White in our position. He has a higher ceiling and probably needs a year to get acclimated. He's a bit raw. We're set at WR for the next 2 years at the least so taking White makes a lot of sense if we expect him to eventually take over for Marshall. Cooper is a player, no doubt, but he should go to a team that needs immediate help, like the Raiders. It just makes more sense for them as White makes more sense for us.
Thanks for the feedback! Personally, I think we have too many holes to take a WR #6 overall and have him sit for two years. You have to think Marshall has at least two years left in him. Which is why I think OLB is much better value.
I'm trying to maximize value. This is a VERY deep draft for WRs and RBs, which is why I snagged one of each. We also need a RB. Ivory is injury prone, and Powell is the definition of mediocre. For better or worse, we just gave Harris 15M guaranteed over the next two years. Him and Davis are going to be playing everyday (barring injury) for the next two years. I didn't agree with the Harris resigning and wanted Perryman in the second, but at this point, it is what it is. OT is definitely a need for us, but we can't solve all of our needs in one draft. Thanks for the feedback! Really appreciate it!
It's likely we're not going to have a shot at any of the QBs in the first, and there's a good shot there will not be a WR fit there. I'd be all for trading down to 9-13 area and drafting a Scherff or Flowers, but predicting a trade down is wishful thinking and unrealistic. And as far as "going ballistic if we draft defense again", I guess you forgot to notice that literally every pick I made other than the first round is devoted to the offensive side of the ball. Thanks for the feedback!
I completely agree with the pick of an OLB. We clearly addressed WR and CB along with the band aid of trading for Fitz and signing James Carpenter. To me the only logical pick i can see us taking at 6 is either Fowler or Beasley and to be honest i wouldn't even be mad if we passed on the OLB and took OL like maybe Scherff? Which would completely solidify our Oline. The need for an explosive edge rusher may be a little more detrimental though.
It also wouldn't hurt to get a new punter in here this offseason. Im sick of watching squigly quigly shanking balls putting our defense in shitty field position.
Quigley was god awful two years ago. Last year, he was actually one of the best punters in the league in almost every metric.
Also, our inept offense allowed quigley to get a chance to stack stats last year. He was probably on the field more then most punters in the league.
I think this is spot on. Either the Jets get Mariota (if he falls) or they go OLB. Only other person I can see them drafting is Cooper.
