So, funny thing….ESPN didn’t contact me and Travis last year about becoming their new draft experts, something about Kiper and McShay already being under contract for quite a few more years. While we’re disappointed they didn’t want us to join the mothership we’ve still got high hopes and this year we’re expecting we’ll get a call from NBC Sports after they read these mock drafts, they need some true draft experts right? Anyways it’s that time of year again, it’s time for JAMES AND TRAVIS’ MOCK DRAFTS and the great thing about ours is that you don’t have to pay to be an Insider to read them!! You may want to savor reading them for free one last time this year because next year I’m sure some major network will want you to be paying for this kind of insight, I mean I think we’ve spent a combined zero hours talking to NFL executives about what they’re going to do this year in this draft, unless you count Jed and Richard as executives for the Browns and Vikings.
Anyways, without further ado here is James’ Mock Draft .303 and I bet you’re wondering why I named it that. The .303 Draft is the lifetime batting average of Braves great Chipper Jones and it gives me a chance to congratulate him on being elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame!! See, now Chipper Jones is reading my mock draft, there’s no way NBC Sports doesn’t add us as their draft experts now!! 1. Cleveland Browns – Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State The Cleveland Browns in the past have always been an interesting draft slot to watch and while they still are it’s for a different reason this year. In year’s past you would always watch the Browns picks just to see what dumb move they were going to make (while we laughed at poor Jed, at some point we finally just started feeling bad for him about his team’s terrible draft picks) this year seems a little different especially with how well they have been doing in free agency. I know a lot of people are projecting them to go quarterback, I’m not sold that any of these top three quarterbacks are that much better than the other one and if that’s the case one of them will still be available at the fourth pick. If the Browns feel the same way that I do then you have to take the best player in the draft and that seems to be Saquon Barkley. He put up some amazing numbers at Penn State and then backed up those with an amazing performance at the combine. At some point the Browns have to start using their draft equity to bring in players that are difference makers and that starts with this pick. 2. New York Giants – Josh Allen, QB, Wyoming If there is one team that no one seems to be able to predict, it’s the NY Giants. With a new coaching staff and a new GM there isn’t a lot of information to go on with their thinking about this team towards the draft. While I am a Carolina Panthers fan I do know that Dave Gettleman loves to invest in the offensive and defensive lines but there are a lot of people that seem to think it’s way too early for any of the lineman in this draft. I’m expecting Gettleman to trade back from here but since we agreed to no trades in our mock drafts, I’m going to say the Giants will draft Josh Allen and give him a few years to develop behind Eli Manning much the way Rivers did with the Chargers behind Brees. In case you were wondering what I really meant by all that, the Bills will probably trade up to two and take Josh Allen but I didn’t predict a trade. 3. New York Jets from Indianapolis Colts – Josh Rosen, QB, UCLA My good friend Dan Minkin was thrilled when he saw a report that the Jets are already preparing for the 2019 free agency season, I mean there’s no better ways to sell season tickets for this season than to start preparing for the next!! Anyways, with that thought process in mind you don’t trade up to the third pick unless you have a player in mind and I think that’s exactly what the Jets have done. The rumors that the Jets were high on Rosen has been rampant since last season so why else would they trade up unless they were almost sure they could get him, I mean unless they think it’s the 2019 NFL Draft of course. 4. Cleveland Browns from Houston Texans – Sam Darnold, QB, USC The Browns, the geniuses of the draft!! No, I really don’t mean that as a joke. I mean I don’t know if Darnold is the answer but what I do know is the Browns have to finally get this right at quarterback and with Tyrod Taylor penciled in at quarterback for next season it will finally give them someone who can take the pressure off the Browns from rushing a young quarterback along. Also, with Barkley already in the fold, and if he lives up to expectations, it should make the job a little easier for Darnold when he finally takes over the reins of the team a year from now. 5. Denver Broncos – Bradley Chubb, DE, NC State I keep seeing everyone projecting Baker Mayfield here but I really don’t know if he’s an upgrade over Case Keenum. I know the Broncos need to sort out who the quarterback of the future is going to be but I think the Broncos really need to work on improving their defense and what better way to do that than to draft the best pass rusher in the draft. When the Broncos were winning games with Brock a few years ago it was because they had a dominant defense, something they didn’t have last year. While Keenum may not be Peyton Manning I think he’s good enough to win if your defense gives you the chance and with this pick I think they’re taking a step in that direction. 6. Indianapolis Colts from New York Jets – Quenton Nelson, OL, Notre Dame While I keep seeing Chubb being mocked to the Colts, I think missing out on him may actually be helping save the Colts from themselves. The Colts have been all about drafting pass rushers but what they should have been doing is protecting Andrew Luck from other people’s pass rushers. With this pick the Colts get the best offensive lineman in this draft to team up with Ryan Kelly to start forming a good offensive line around Luck. If I were the Colts I would even use some of the picks I got from trading back to get back into the first round to draft another offensive lineman later on. 7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Minkah Fitzpatrick, DB, Alabama Tampa Bay seems to need a lot of help in the secondary and anytime that I read a team needs help in the secondary that means they could use help at just about any one of those positions. With that in mind I decided that they would probably be best served with the most versatile secondary player in this draft and that’s Minkah Fitzpatrick. I mean it’s kind of hard not to draft a defensive player from Alabama right? 8. Chicago Bears – Denzel Ward, CB, Ohio St. The Bears seem to be a team that could use help in many different areas but there doesn’t seem to a lot of players available this high that fit their team needs. In that case, it’s probably best to build up an area where you lack some depth and with Denzel Ward the Bears get the best corner back in the draft and help to give them some depth at the cornerback position. 9. San Francisco 49ers – Derwin James, S, Florida St When the 49ers drafted Eric Reid at safety a few years ago I thought they were getting a steal and I still think he’s a very good football player but the team doesn’t seem to agree with me. I guess that’s why they’re NFL executives and I’m writing on a website that talks about football and barbeque. Anyways, since the 49ers decided to move on from Reid it only makes sense that they draft someone to be his replacement and get the person who I believe is the best defensive back in this draft. 10. Oakland Raiders – Roquan Smith, LB, Georgia Gruden is finally back on the sidelines!! I’m not sure if I’m happier that he is back coaching or that I won’t have to hear the LITERALLY HUNDREDS of rumors about where he will be coaching next year (I think he was rumored to Tennessee twenty of those times). With Gruden back for another go around with the Raiders I think he learned in Tampa that having a strong defense leads to championships and with this this pick he’s getting a player who can help solidify a defense that is already pretty good. With Smith he’s getting someone who seems to love to play football and is an impressive linebacker. 11. Miami Dolphins – Baker Mayfield, QB, Oklahoma I know lots of people are predicting that Mayfield will be drafted in the Top 5, I’m not sure I’m sold on that. Heck, I’m not really even positive about it here but I think the Dolphins have to find someone that can be an insurance policy just in case Tanneyhill isn’t quite right when he returns and can be an option to be his replacement maybe in a few years. Mayfield may be a great quarterback in the league or he may not be, just like any other quarterback that is drafted, but I think being drafted here doesn’t put as much pressure on him to be great and may be worth the risk for the Dolphins. 12. Buffalo Bills from Cincinnati Bengals –Calvin Ridley, WR, Alabama The Bills in this mock draft didn’t have enough picks to get up to the number two pick to draft Allen so they are stuck at twelve. If you moved up this high it seems like you should at least get the best player at some position and it just so happens that they do just that as the best wide receiver in this draft is still available. While the Bills weren’t able to get high enough to get their quarterback of the future, they do give their current quarterback AJ McCarron a valuable offensive weapon. 13. Washington Redskins – Vita Vea, DT, Washington When I consider who the Redskins should draft every year I often consult Travis and I often get the same response, “Some large person to play on the defensive line” and most years his beloved team just disappoints him and drafts someone he doesn’t understand why they were drafted. The year 2018 is different for Travis though, this year he won the Journalist of the Year in South Carolina, his paper won for the best weekly newspaper in South Carolina and now his beloved Redskins draft the type of player he has wanted for years. After Hurst had the medical red flag at the combine Vea has become the best defensive tackle on most lists and pairing him up with a healthy Jonathan Allen should give the Redskins a formidable defensive line next year. 14. Green Bay Packers – Josh Jackson, CB, Iowa While it seems that Aaron Rodgers could make Green Bay’s offense go no matter what skill players are around him, the defense hasn’t been as lucky. With the defenses struggles the last few years the Packers fired Dom Capers and will now implement a new scheme. One of their biggest problems over the years has been in the secondary and here the Packers try to fix that problem with Jackson, a player that is used to playing in conditions very similar to those he’ll face in Green Bay. Now, if he can find a wide receiver named James Van Der Beek to match up against, the Green Bay marketing team will be thrilled (It’s a Dawson’s Creek reference, I know it was terrible). 15. Arizona Cardinals – Mike Hughes, CB, UCF I keep seeing that everyone wants to mock the Cardinals drafting Lamar Jackson but I just can’t see drafting someone people aren’t sold will play quarterback in the NFL all on the desperation to have a franchise quarterback. While I think Jackson will surprise people and be a pretty good NFL player I don’t think him going here is ideal for him nor the team. What the Cardinals do need to address though is their secondary and with Steve Wilks being a former defensive backs coach it only seems like a perfect fit to draft Hughes, a key player off of the defense that some like to refer to as the National Champions. 16. Baltimore Ravens – Tremaine Edmunds, LB, Virginia Tech The Ravens have always been known for their strong defense and one of the reasons they are known for that is because they invest into making it a strong part of their team. With Edmunds the Ravens are picking up a strong linebacker from a college that is the mirror image of the Ravens because they build around defense and have just enough offense to win. In other words, the Hokies love defense and the Ravens love defense, Edmunds should fit in just perfectly. 17. Los Angeles Chargers – Mike McGlinchery, OT, Notre Dame The Chargers are very similar to the Colts, they need help protecting their franchise quarterback and in this case they both get help from the same university. The Chargers have been needing to solidify their offensive line for years and drafting McGlinchery should help in that goal. 18. Seattle Seahawks – Will Hernandez, OL, UTEP 19. Dallas Cowboys – Maurice Hurst, DT, Michigan I really should have consulted some of my friends who are Cowboys fans on this pick but like I mentioned earlier, the zero hours of talking to NFL executives really cut into my research time. Before the medical red flag at the combine it was pretty much a given that Hurst would be drafted near the Top 10 but since that red flag his stock has fallen somewhat. The Cowboys have been known to be willing to take a chance on players that other teams have gotten scared away from, while sometimes it has worked out and sometimes it hasn’t the Cowboys are hoping this time it will be the prior and help them sure up their defensive line. 20. Detroit Lions – Orlando Brown, OT, Oklahoma The Lions not too long ago invested a lot of money into Matt Stafford and their new head coach comes from an organization that understands how important it is to protect your franchise quarterback. While the franchise may assure their new coach that they have people already in place that can do just that Patricia will probably want to be sure that they do have the right person. Brown is projected as the best left tackle in this draft by some and the Lions will hope he turns out to be just that. 21. Cincinnati Bengals from Buffalo Bills – Connor Williams, OT, Texas The Bengals resigned Marvin Lewis in the offseason after several reports that he was fired, it was almost like they were trying to impersonate Cleveland from recent years. Anyways, the Bengals never found a replacement for Andrew Whitworth when he left for the Rams and I think last season showed them that they need to make sure to address that position. With Williams the Bengals get a very good offensive lineman who they hope can make the Whitworth absence a lot less visible this season. 22. Buffalo Bills from Kansas City Chiefs – Mason Rudolph, QB, Oklahoma St Earlier in the draft the Bills missed out on getting one of the top four passers in the draft but did draft the best wide receiver. With their second pick of the first round the Bills get the quarterback that I believe actually may be the best one in the draft. I saw Rudolph play in high school and lots of people tried to find flaws in his game but he went on to win a state title and the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas. While people are trying to find flaws in his game now he leaves Oklahoma State as the school’s leading passer and I think may be the steal of this draft. If he becomes the quarterback I expect, the Bills will have found their franchise quarterback and kept a lot of draft picks. 23. New England Patriots from LA Rams – Harold Landry, LB, Boston College The Patriots need to address a very weak defense that seemed to struggle in the last few years. Was it Patricia's defensive scheme or was it the lack of players? We'll see this coming season but I don't see the Patriots front office leaving a chance for them to get blamed. With Landry they get a strong linebacker that could be a defensive anchor of the front seven for the next few years. 24. Carolina Panthers – Justin Reid, S, Stanford When I look at mock drafts I see a lot of people that believe the Panthers have to draft a wide receiver or offensive lineman but I think their free agency signings have helped address some of those needs. The one thing that I see when I look at the Panthers is that they really need to solidify the secondary, a place that the Panthers have been piecing together options over the last few years. The Panthers haven't had a true franchise safety since the days of Mike Minter but they may finally find one here with Reid. 25. Tennessee Titans – Christian Kirk, WR, Texas A&M The Titans are a team that is young and only seems to be getting better but playing in a division with a defense like Jacksonville should make the team want to give Mariotta as many weapons as possible and with Christian Kirk the Titans add that weapon. Kirk put up some pretty impressive numbers at Texas A&M in their high powered offense which is to be expected but when Kirk was on the field it always seemed like he was the best player on the field. 26. Atlanta Falcons – Marcus Davenport, DE, UTSA Even though the Falcons defense collapsed in the Super Bowl two years ago they came back last season and had a pretty good season. In the offseason it always seems like the Falcons are looking for another pass rusher and this offseason has been no different than the rest. With Davenport the Falcons get a player who in a lot of people’s opinions is the best pass rusher behind Chubb in this draft. I imagine Falcons fans hope this is the answer for another pass rusher or this will be like Groundhogs Day and we’ll be repeating this same conversation all over again next year. 27. New Orleans Saints – Hayden Hurst, TE, South Carolina It seems that the Saints offense hasn’t been the same since Jimmy Graham left. They have tried to replace Graham with many options but none have seemed to work out. As a Clemson fan it pains me to mock a South Carolina player ahead of any Clemson players but sometimes you just have to put a rivalry aside for the hopes of a better mock draft. Hurst I think answers the Saints questions at tight end. 28. Pittsburgh Steelers – Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville With Ben Roethlisberger getting older it may be time for the Steelers to start looking into a possible replacement for him. With the Steelers Lamar Jackson will find the perfect situation as he will have plenty of time to sit and learn the NFL game behind a Pro Bowl quarterback before taking over the offense in a few years and giving the Steelers a dynamic player at the quarterback position. 29. Jacksonville Jaguars – James Washington, WR, Oklahoma St. The problem with being a successful team is that when free agency begins a lot of teams come after your players to try and help improve their team. The Jaguars felt that pain this offseason and lost some important wide receivers. They try to fill that void with Washington who was a favorite target of Rudolph’s at Oklahoma State. 30. Minnesota Vikings – Isiah Wynn, OL, Georgia After an impressive run to the NFC championship game the Vikings decided to really improve a team that had little room for improvement when they signed Kirk Cousins to be their quarterback next season. With that move the Vikings left little weaknesses on their team but the one place they could use a little help is at the offensive guard position. The Vikings address that need by drafting Wynn, a man that helped pave the way for Nick Chubb to run for a whole lot of yards against some pretty good SEC defenses. 31. New England Patriots – Kolton Miller, OL, UCLA It never seems that the Patriots make a splashy draft pick so it only seems appropriate that they would draft an offensive lineman to replace Nate Solder who left to join the Giants in free agency. Miller has been protecting Rosen at UCLA and supposedly impressed a lot of scouts at the combine. It would very much be the Patriots style to find a Pro Bowl left tackle at the thirty-first pick in the NFL Draft. 32. Philadelphia Eagles – Dallas Goedert, TE, South Dakota St. Philadelphia just won the Super Bowl, do their fans even care about the draft? If so, they probably need to replace Burton at tight end and Goedert seems like a perfect option to just that. So there you have it James Mock Draft .303!! I am just sitting here now waiting for the executives at NBC Sports to read this and realize they need draft experts like Travis and myself. Speaking of there is an alert on my phone, it must be NBC………….never mind it’s just a text message from Travis wanting me to remind everyone to stay tuned for our MOCK DRAFT PODCAST!!! It’s going to be different from these mock drafts and we think you and all the people at NBC Sports will love it!!! Ok, maybe you’ll at least just listen to half of it but hey, at least you read all of this.
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JamesBoiling Springs native, lover of sports and food. 15x SC Press Association Award Winner. I do some sports writing and radio every now and then. Archives
April 2020
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