Welcome to Tuesday's edition of the With the First Pick newsletter. Completely on-brand for 2023 and the unpredictable NFL Draft, a Redditor has flipped the NFL Draft betting market -- and maybe the draft itself -- on its head with two days to go. Out of seemingly nowhere, after a few super-confident posts from "SaleAgreeable2834" stating Levis will be the No. 1 overall pick (!), his betting odds have jumped to +550 to be the first selection.
This is new-age drama at its finest.
Of course, the rebrand of the Pick Six newsletter isn't stopping now. And I, CBS Sports NFL Draft analyst Chris Trapasso, will be with you through this glorious week. This daily newsletter's sole purpose of existence is to track everything transpiring in the NFL and spin it into a draft angle.
Before I begin, here's your daily reminder to tell all your buddies and that one uncle who's always texting you mock draft links to sign up for the With the First Pick newsletter. Just click here and then share this link with them.
Today's NFL mock draft 🔮: What Pete Prisco would do
If you think Pete was going to post this annual mock draft with one iota of timidness then, well, you just don't know Pete very well. In the "what teams should do" mock, Pete begins with a haymaker, giving Will Levis to the Carolina Panthers at No. 1 overall. Is Pete the Redditor?!
But Pete wasn't done. He's never done.
Will Anderson slips deep into the top 10 and Jordan Addison -- not Jaxon Smith-Njigba -- is the first receiver off the board. In all seriousness, and I've probably written this before but it's worth repeating, I respect the hell out of Prisco for doing his homework during the draft process and not being swayed by external forces. He always stays true to his evaluations and has no qualms about defending them.
Other notable selections:
13. Green Bay Packers - Michael Mayer, TE, Notre Dame
16. Washington Commanders - Emmanuel Forbes, CB, Mississippi State
21. Los Angeles Chargers - Mazi Smith, DT, Michigan
'With the First Pick' podcast 🎧: Bryce Young on the pod!
The latest episode is a doozy with a guest who's probably going to hear his name called before anyone else on NFL Draft weekend. Yep, that's right. Former Alabama quarterback Bryce Young joined Ryan Wilson and discussed a variety of topics including his pro day performance, his relationship with Nick Saban, Mac Jones and C.J. Stroud. Young also speaks about his partnership with Body Armor and reacts to pro comparisons he's received during the pre-draft process.
Top 150 consensus prospects
The magnum opus for myself, Ryan Wilson, and Josh Edwards every year is our aggregate position rankings for the draft. And they've landed. They're done. Finalized. Josh turned our combined Top 150 into an article, which you can peruse here. He included analytical writeups on groups of prospects throughout.
Our entire 300-plus prospect Big Board can be found here, and I want to give Josh a shout for getting evaluations done on many of the lower-level prospects in this class. Josh = film grinder. Also props to Sportsline and fantasy editor R.J. White, who happens to be a Google Sheet extraordinaire among his many talents, for creating our aggregate ranking sheet a few years back and to current NFL Draft editor Kyle Stackpole for managing the sheet this draft season.
Here are where some marquee prospects finished in our rankings:
1. Will Anderson, EDGE, Alabama
2. Bryce Young, QB, Alabama
5. Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas
19. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Ohio State
30. Calijah Kancey, DT, Pittsburgh
Buying or selling biggest draft rumors 👀
CBS Sports staffer Jordan Dajani broke down the juiciest draft rumors as we zero in on the start of Round 1. Which rumors do we think are actually true? Which are just too much to believe in during prime lying season? Are the Texans really going to pass on a quarterback at No. 2 overall? Is Will Levis' stock really rising? Here's one of the rumors Jordan addressed -- "Jahmyr Gibbs is a first-round pick" that stems from a Peter King report stating Miami would love to trade up for the Alabama runner. Jordan's buying this one, by the way:
"If the Dolphins think of Gibbs that highly, I bet there are a couple other teams that share those feelings as well. Maybe one of those teams has a first-round pick to utilize.
I'm buying this rumor. There are random developments we get late in the draft process every year that end up being true. With how weird this draft feels, and with how many believe it's lacking in overall talent, I can see Gibbs sneaking in at the end of the first round."
News & Notes 📝
- Assigning winners and losers to Aaron Rodgers trade. Had to include something about the Rodgers trade, and Cody Benjamin covered everything regarding the aftermath of the deal. Yes, Jets fans were listed as a winner. You know how my brain works by now. I'm wondering what Green Bay will do at No. 13 and No. 42 overall?!
- 49ers have looked into Lamar Jackson trade. GM John Lynch spoke recently on a possible trade for Jackson. He said "You look into everything, and we seem to be linked to everything ... we really like our guys and we like where we're at."
- San Francisco GM noncommittal on Brandon Aiyuk. Lynch answered a question about Aiyuk possibly being traded with this response: "I'm not going to get into specifics on people," Lynch said Monday. "We love Brandon Aiyuk and I'm excited about Brandon being a part of this team."
