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Nick Bosa, EDGE, Ohio State Given the way teams tend to prioritize the drafting of quarterbacks, I still think the most likely scenario has the Cardinals trading down out of this spot for multiple picks. For now, though, we have them sticking here and taking the top prospect on the board in order to begin rebuilding their defense. |
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Josh Allen, EDGE, Kentucky Kyle Shanahan can turn pretty much any pieces into a good offense, but his team badly needs help pressuring the edge on the other side of the ball. Enter Allen, who provides something much different than any of the 49ers' recent defensive-line draft picks and makes for a perfect fit in defensive coordinator Robert Saleh's system. |
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Mock trade with Jets Dwayne Haskins, QB, Ohio State The Jaguars send picks No. 7, 38, and 109 to the Jets in order to move up and finally land their quarterback of the future and replace Blake Bortles. Haskins appears to be the best pure passer in this draft and he can open up the Jacksonville offense and take some pressure of the defense. |
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Rashan Gary, DL, Michigan Jon Gruden has some work to do to rebuild this roster but slotting Gary into the middle of the defense while adding additional value is a heck of a start. |
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Jonah Williams, OL, Alabama With Tampa seemingly committed to Jameis Winston for at least one more season, the Bucs spring for an offensive lineman here so that he's well-protected enough to wait out the downfield routes that are common in Bruce Arians' offense. |
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Dexter Lawrence, DL, Clemson With Haskins off the board, the Giants once again pass on a quarterback in favor of a high-level prospect who is considered one of the best players in the draft. Dropping Lawrence into the middle of the defense will help the Giants get some pressure up the middle, arguably the most valuable place to generate pressure these days. |
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Mock trade with Jaguars Quinnen Williams, DL, Alabama The Jets move down four spots, pick up two extra picks (including a second that helps recoup the value they gave up to move for Sam Darnold last year) and still pick up the same player we had them taking in our first mock. That's a nice job. |
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T.J. Hockenson, TE, Iowa The Lions are reportedly interested in finding a tight end target to help their offense and there are two elite prospects out of Iowa in this class. They go with Hockenson here, who is coming off a season that's even better than what either fellow prospect Noah Fant or current 49ers star George Kittle ever did with the Hawkeyes. |
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Ed Oliver, DL, Houston There will be some questions about Oliver's ability to rush the passer but there is no doubting his quick-twitch abilities as a penetrator in the run game. He can slide immediately into the spot of the retiring Kyle Williams, and the Buffalo defense won't miss a beat. |
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Greedy Williams, CB, LSU The Broncos have made their move for a quarterback for 2019, so instead they turn to the defensive side of the ball here. Slotting Williams in with Chris Harris and Bradley Roby would give the Broncos an excellent secondary to go along with their strong pressure up front. |
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Kyler Murray, QB, Oklahoma Somebody's going to take this leap, and it might as well be the Bengals, who have Sean McVay underling Zac Taylor as their new head coach. If he designs an offense around Murray's electrifying skill set, the Bengals could quickly make a whole lot of things happen with the skill position talent they already have on hand. |
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Clelin Ferrell, EDGE, Clemson Put Ferrell on the same defensive front as Kenny Clark, Mike Daniels, and Nick Perry and watch opposing offenses crumble. |
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Drew Lock, QB, Missouri With the Broncos out of the quarterback business after trading for Joe Flacco and the Bengals taking Kyler Murray, the Dolphins find their successor to Ryan Tannehill without having to trade up. |
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Montez Sweat, EDGE, Mississippi State We might need to switch this pick to a defensive tackle if Grady Jarrett ends up leaving, but the Falcons need some help on the edge as well, so Sweat makes for a nice fit here. |
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Daniel Jones, QB, Duke Washington has pretty much nothing at quarterback right now thanks to the devastating injury Alex Smith suffered last season, so the franchise takes a chance on Jones becoming its quarterback of the future. Jay Gruden did strong work with Smith and Kirk Cousins, and can hopefully do the same with Jones. |
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Jawaan Taylor, OL, Florida How many more huge hits do we have to see Cam Newton take before this team really does something about the offensive line? Hopefully zero, and they take Taylor here. |
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Byron Murphy, CB, Washington Pairing Murphy with last year's No. 4 overall pick, Denzel Ward, would move the Browns one step closer to having an elite defense. |
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Cody Ford, OL, Oklahoma Let's just copy/paste the same thing we said about the Panthers above into this spot, OK? The Vikings very badly need to address their offensive line issues, which undermined their entire season last year. Slotting Ford in up front starts that process. |
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Jachai Polite, EDGE, Florida Tennessee took two linebackers early in last year's draft but with Derrick Morgan hitting the free-agent wire this offseason and getting up there in age anyway, it makes sense to add an edge guy to pair with Harold Landry over the long term. |
20 |
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Devin White, LB, LSU Ryan Shazier wants to play football again some day. That's admirable and I hope he can make it back. But the Steelers can't realistically count on it. They may be in need of a wide receiver if they give into Antonio Brown's trade demand, but no team has shown more skill at getting production out of late-round receivers than Pittsburgh so they solve their linebacker issues in the first round instead. |
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Nasir Adderley, S, Delaware Adderley is not Earl Thomas. Nobody is. But you have to find his replacement somewhere. |
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Marquise Brown, WR, Oklahoma The Ravens can't realistically run Lamar Jackson 15-plus times a game for the rest of his career. He wouldn't last through his rookie deal taking that many hits. Their wide receiver corps was better last season but still does not have many long-term answers to grow with Jackson. Enter Brown, who is coming off back-to-back terrific seasons with Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray and should make for a nice fit with Jackson. |
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Andre Dillard, OT, Washington State If the Texans don't draft an offensive lineman to give Deshaun Watson some help up front, they should just fold the franchise. |
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From Chicago D.K. Metcalf, WR, Ole Miss The Raiders find their Amari Cooper replacement here, bringing in Metcalf as the kind of big-bodied perimeter wideout that Gruden tends to seek. (I mean, have you seen that picture of him floating around the internet?) He has an enormous catch radius and has shown the ability to make plays in both the quick game and down the field. |
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Josh Jacobs, RB, Alabama It's still possible that the Eagles check in on Le'Veon Bell but if they decide to pass on him, adding another high-level running back makes a good deal of sense. Philly will presumably still split the snaps between a few guys but last year's run game was missing something, and Jacobs is the kind of versatile contributor that could take the offense to a new level. |
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Christian Wilkins, DL, Clemson Wilkins had a heck of a college career with 40.5 tackles for loss, 16 sacks, and 14 pass deflections. Putting him in the middle of the defense along with Darius Leonard and Malik Hooker will be great for defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, who led this unit to one of the most surprisingly-good performances of 2018 but still needs some help to get them into the top 10. |
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From Dallas Devin Bush, LB, Michigan The Raiders add their second Michigan defender of the draft, solidifying the middle of the defense by pairing Bush with Gary. |
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Mack Wilson, LB, Alabama The Chargers defense struggled when missing Denzel Perryman last season. Wilson should hopefully rectify some of those issues. |
29 |
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Deionte Thompson, S, Alabama
If ever there were a team in need of a talent infusion in the defensive backfield, it is the Kansas City Chiefs. Eric Berry can't play forever, but he can tutor Thompson and potentially play alongside him as well. |
30 |
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From New Orleans Dalton Risner, OL, Kansas State David Bakhtiari and Bryan Bulaga are both headed into the final year of their contract in 2019. Risner can fill in as the long-term replacement for either one (probably Bulaga) or he can move inside to guard. |
31 |
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Dre'Mont Jones, DL, Ohio State If Ndamukong Suh leaves in free agency, the Rams are going to need a replacement. Jones would benefit from playing next to Aaron Donald and Michael Brockers along the defensive line, and could be an incredibly valuable contributor both right away and over an extended period of time. |
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Noah Fant, TE, Iowa Say hello to your Gronk replacement. |