Three weeks out mock draft
With three weeks now remaining before the start of the NFL draft, the silly season is up and running. Rumors, innuendo and flat out lies will be put out about this prospect or team as the jockeying to acquire the right guy or throw up false smoke signals becomes the rule of the day.
Withy all of that in mind, here is my three weeks out mock draft. Note, that some picks will be different because no two mocks will be the same. That defeats the purpose.
1. San Francisco (from Tennessee), Jared Goff, QB, Calfornia: Yep, I’m putting Goff as the top pick. The 49ers won’t hope he lasts until pick 7.
2. Cleveland, Carson Wentz, QB, North Dakota State: I think Goff is the better prospect, but the Browns like Wentz better. I probably have a better track record than Cleveland looking at quarterbacks.
3. San Diego, Jalen Ramsey, S, Florida State: This one doesn’t change. Ramsey has the look of a future star.
4. Dallas, Ezekial Elliott, RB, Ohio State: Jerry Jones likes his stars. Elliott could be a star.
5. Jacksonville, Joey Bosa, DE, Ohio State: Back-to-back Ohio State picks. The Jags are building a potential big-time winner.
6. Baltimore, Laremy Tunsil, OT, Ole Miss: The Ravens get lucky here and get the draft’s best offensive lineman.
7. Tennessee, Ronnie Stanley, OT, Notre Dame: The Titans move down and acquire extra picks, but miss out on Tunsil. Stanley’s not a bad consolation prize.
8. Philadelphia, Myles Jack, LB, UCLA: Jack is a jack of all trades and might be the best athlete in this draft.
9. Tampa Bay, Vernon Hargreaves, CB, Florida: The Bucs need to upgrade their secondary, though they would have liked line help on either side of the ball here.
10. N.Y. Giants, Darron Lee, LB, Ohio State: Three Buckeyes in the top 10. Lee is a Ryan Shazier clone.
11. Chicago, DeForest Bruckner, DE, Oregon: The failure of some other Oregon defensive prospects will scare some teams away from taking Bruckner higher. Can he buck the trend?
12. New Orleans, A’Shawn Robinson, DT, Alabama: The Steelers brought Robinson in for a visit earlier this week. But the talented big man won’t last until their pick.
13. Miami, Mackensie Alexander, CB, Clemson: The Dolphins need cornerback help badly. Alexander is brash but smaller than ideal.
14. Oakland, William Jackson, CB, Houston: The Raiders love the fast guys. And Jackson has plenty of speed.
15. Los Angeles Rams, Paxton Lynch, QB, Memphis: The Rams need to give Jeff Fisher a QB to work with rather than going with journeyman after journeyman.
16. Detroit, Shaq Lawson, DE, Clemson: The Lions can bookend Lawson with Ziggy Ansah to provide a solid pass rush.
17. Atlanta, Reggie Ragland, ILB, Alabama: Ragland will provide immediate run-stopping ability for the Falcons and will be their defensive captain for years to come.
18. Indianapolis, Jack Conklin, OT, Michigan State: The Colts have to protect the quarterback better.
19. Buffalo, Laquon Treadwell, WR, Ole Miss: The Bills will add Treadwell to give Sammy Watkins a running mate.
20. N.Y. Jets, Leonard Floyd, OLB, Georgia: The Jets need to improve their pass rush.
21. Washington, Andrew Billings, DT, Baylor: Many Steelers fans have a love affair with Billings. He doesn’t last.
22. Houston, Robert Nkemdiche, DL, Ole Miss: Nkemdiche is athletic enough to play inside or out opposite J.J. Watt if he can keep his head on straight.
23. Minnesota, Cody Whitehair, G, Kansas State: The Vikings need to improve the interior of their offensive line.
24. Cincinnati, Sheldon Rankins, DT, Louisville: The Bengals pass on receiver to get younger in the middle of their defense. They have to slow Le’Veon Bell, after all.
25. Pittsburgh, Eli Apple, CB, Ohio State: Tall and athletic. He’s not a finished product yet, but in this mock, he falls to the Steelers.
26. Seattle, Taylor Decker, OT, Ohio State: The Seahawks have had a complete turnover in their offensive front since winning the Super Bowl a couple of years ago.
27. Green Bay, Jarran Reed, DT. Alabama: The Packers need a big man in the middle.
28. Kansas City, Noah Spence, OLB, Eastern Kentucky: This jumped to an immediate need when Justin Houston was lost for what looks to be the season.
29. Arizona, Keanu Neal, S, Florida: An outside-the-box pick for the Cardinals.
30. New England, forfeited
31. Carolina, Jason Spriggs, OT, Indiana: Michael Oher at LT. Really?
32. Denver, Jaylon Smith, LB, Notre Dame: The Super Bowl champs can afford to have Smith not play much if at all this season. But he was a top-15 talent before his knee injury. Now, he can sit and learn.