Brinson's NFL Mock Draft 2.0, plus seeding each NFC team 1-16 and why Jayden Daniels is the real deal

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Happy midweek, everyone! John Breech is making his weekly rounds at the Bengals facilities, advocating for an extension of Tee Higgins. Or so we think. In the meantime, you've got me, Cody Benjamin, to deliver all the latest.

This is the Pick Six newsletter. Now let's get to it. (And please, do yourself a favor and make sure you're signed up to receive this newsletter every day! You don't want to miss our daily offerings of everything you need to know around the NFL.)

We've got March Madness-style seeding of every NFC team, offseason grades for AFC contenders and much more:

1. Today's show: AFC free agency grades

Former NFL player Leger Douzable joined Will Brinson on the latest "Pick Six NFL Podcast" to grade some of the splashiest moves across the AFC, including two big-name quarterback moves inside the AFC North. Some highlights:

Brinson gives the Steelers a B+ for the "interesting upside" they've added under center in Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, noting this is the first time Pittsburgh has embraced such "wholesale" change in a while.
The guys agree the Baltimore Ravens fared relatively well considering the internal free agents they had to manage. Patrick Queen's exit is "brutal," Brinson argues, but Derrick Henry's arrival on the other side of the ball seems like a perfect fit.
The Cleveland Browns' grade doesn't really matter, Brinson says, because at the end of the day, everything about the 2024 season comes down to whether Deshaun Watson can stay healthy and/or play well at quarterback.

Catch the full episode (and subscribe for all kinds of daily NFL talk) right here.

2. Brinson's Mock 2.0: Vikings trade into top five

Quarterback moves are always the headliners of mock drafts, and Will Brinson's latest forecast has Minnesota making a big leap, following the Bears, Commanders and Patriots as clubs with top-five picks at the position:

When the Vikings acquired another first-round pick from the Texans they made their intention quite clear: They are preparing to make a move up for a quarterback. Now, it's also possible the Vikings believe this draft class is much better than next year's class and they want to load up on this impressive first round. But I've got them trading up to No. 5 with the Chargers, who have a lot of holes on the roster after cutting Mike Williams and trading Keenan Allen. ... If three quarterbacks are off the board to start, J.J. McCarthy is probably their guy. He's (highly) regarded in NFL circles and the Vikings move up with the Chargers, who are happy to drop back for a pair of firsts (11 and 23).

3. NFL March Madness: Seeding every NFC team, 1-16

In the spirit of March Madness, we've sorted through the NFC to "seed" every team from No. 1 through No. 16, now that the first waves of free agency have passed. It should be no surprise which contender still headlines the pack, even after big-name movement via signings and trades.

1 seed: San Francisco 49ers

Key additions: QB Joshua Dobbs (MIN), DE Leonard Floyd (BUF), DE Yetur Gross-Matos (CAR), DT Maliek Collins (HOU), DT Jordan Phillips (CLE)
Key departures: QB Sam Darnold (MIN), DE Chase Young, DT Arik Armstead (JAX), S Tashaun Gipson

There's a reason this team was one score away from dethroning the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl just a month ago. Brock Purdy is only hitting his stride as the point guard for Kyle Shanahan's all-purpose attack, and the vaunted defensive front might actually be better with Floyd and Collins joining Nick Bosa and Javon Hargrave. They're the cream of the crop.

4. Jets sign former Chargers star Mike Williams

Aaron Rodgers may or may not be running for the White House in 2024. But he'll definitely have another weapon on the field, with the Jets adding Williams on a one-year deal worth up to $15 million. Williams has battled multiple injuries throughout his career, with Los Angeles cutting him to free up salary-cap space during free agency, but when healthy, the former Clemson standout has been one of the NFL's top contested-catch wideouts, notably topping 75 catches and 1,100 yards in 2021.

5. Why Jayden Daniels is the real deal in 2024 NFL Draft class

Much of this year's talk about top quarterback prospects has revolved around Caleb Williams and Drake Maye, the consensus top-two signal-callers from USC and North Carolina, respectively. But Daniels, of LSU, has also been a popular candidate to go No. 3 overall, either to the New England Patriots or another team. Why are some teams positively convinced the dual threat will reach his ceiling at the NFL level, perhaps proving to be the most dynamic quarterback of the entire class? New CBS Sports contributor Eric Galko has dissected Daniels' upside, arguing the prospect's stock should keep rising:

Over the past 20 years, only one other quarterback has seen similar substantial development year over year: fellow LSU alum Joe Burrow. Burrow and Daniels are the only two quarterbacks in the last 20 years (minimum 400 dropbacks) that increased their adjusted completion percentage by 4% or more and their yards per attempt by 3.0 or more. And beyond just those two metrics, Daniels also improved in his accuracy downfield, ball placement across the field, decision-making in the red zone and decision-making as a runner. ... (While) a Burrow comparison may be optimistic, NFL teams know that, whatever their projected upside is for him to reach, (Daniels has) given them every reason to feel confident he'll hit that ceiling and then some.