Libero's 7 Round Mock Draft

[Libero_2]

Hey Everyone,


A while back I decided that I wasn’t as connected to this draft cycle as I wanted to be. So I decided to create a full 7 round mock draft complete with trades. It was more fun than I imagined and significantly easier than it has been in the past thanks to tools like The Draft Networks ability to create your own big board. TDN has a ton of useful information and I relied heavily on their scouting reports to try and match the correct player with the right team.


Feel free to take a look at the file below and let me know what you think. There are two tabs on the spreadsheet, the draft itself, as well as the organized draft by team, sorted by division.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1a-WCOT0XwtBBvELOqh0nYAh-aJ-OhjES6LC9rWLMEDk/edit#gid=1766868596

I did learn some interesting things doing this process. First, I now have a much better understanding of why runs happen on a specific position in the draft. Once a certain "tier" of player is gone, the dropoff is huge. If you need a guy at that slot, you have to grab him now.

Secondly, the NFL is desperate for interior OL and secondary players this year. It's a rough class for both. The middle doesn't exist.

Teams can and will wait on RB's, as there are several clusters of players in that group that will allow teams to say "I can get one later" and if I don't grab this other player now, I won't get a reasonable player at that position.

WR is a strong position group in the mid rounds, and some talented guys will go later than they should just purely because so many other WR's have already gone. DL/Edge is talented at the top, WRs in the middle and secondary late.

It was a lot of fun to do, but a lot of work. I can't imagine how much harder it is for real GMs to do this, when the scratch work is all theirs to be done.

[Libero_2]

Jets Report

As anyone knows, around here it’s primarily about the Jets, and you will find our draft and my general rationale below.

Jets made two first round trades details below

Giants Receive #3, Jets receive #6, #17, #37

Chiefs Receive #17, Jets Receive #29, 2020 1st round selection

Now the Actual Draft

6 - Nick Bosa - Edge Ohio State

29 - Hakeem Butler - WR - Iowa State

37 - Elgton Jenkins - C - Mississippi State

68 - Julian Love - CB - Notre Dame

94 - Darrell Henderson RB - Memphis

106 - Beau Benzschawel - OG - Wisconsin

165 - Hunter Renfrow - WR - Clemson

198 - Dontavious Russel - DT - Auburn

219 - Bruce Anderson - RB - North Dakota State



The Explanation

The Giants lost out on the pre-draft sweepstakes for Josh Rosen (who ended up with the Bengals in my mock draft), and paid a similar price to us last year to move from 6 to 3. Last year we paid 2 current year 2nd rounds (corresponding trade value of a mid round 1 pick) and a future 2nd. This year the Giants paid about a half round more in trade value points to get their guy compared to what we gave up a year ago.

At 6 we needed a pass rusher more than anything else, with #17 in the bag now, I think that’s a better spot to target a playmaker or offensive lineman for Sam. As the draft unfolded, the Raiders opt for the versatility of Allen, and the Bucs thankfully choose to replace Alexander with a true stud in Devin White, letting the drafts best pass rusher fall into our laps at 6. Simply cannot pass up Bosa at this point.

As 17 creeps closer, Brian Burns is still on the board, in my eyes he is BPA, and I am honestly considering taking him if I can’t swing a deal for the pick. Bosa + Burns, talk about revamping a lackluster pass rush! But thankfully the Chiefs who are absolutely desperate to replace both Houston and Ford make the move to trade up to #17 for Burns. However, they are trying to win right now, and choose to give us a future #1 rather than the 2

nd round picks they have this year. Knowing that we aren’t winning it all right now, future top draft picks is a win for us to keep building.

At 28 the Texans leap frog us to steal our center of the future, Bradbury. So I go with the best remaining target for Sam. Butler is one of my favorites in the draft, and we could only be so lucky to really grab him in real life.

Early in the second, we absolutely have to grab a center and can’t risk missing out again. No one is calling, so I make the play to grab the best remaining center. It’s not the best value, but it is the most important position to walk away with a guy we feel really good about starting for us long term.

By some miracle other teams passed on Love in a CB weak draft opting for measureables, speed and/or scheme fit to select other guys. Love would be a really great fit in a position of need for us.

Late in the 3rd the RB run begins and I snatched up a guy who fits our versatility mold quite well. I think he could be a much better version of Mcguire and would spell Bell quite nicely.

Beau was the last of the interior olineman with starter potential and I grabbed him while he was still available.

After the Colts came up empty in the LB market (which is extremely thin in this class) they tossed us a 5th to secure Darron Lee, who will start for them. Our ROI is awful on that draft pick, but we are able to turn him into an asset that can help us. In the 5th I simply couldn’t pass up Renfrow. I love that dude. He may lack size, but he doesn’t lack hands, route running or that knack of just pissing off opponents. It’s been a long time since we had a pesky little bastard running around catching pass after pass. Renfrow gets to be our guy that infuriates opposing fan bases as he beats their team repeatedly despite peoples claims “he’s not even that good!”

In the 6th, the board is getting thin, and there isn’t much talent left. So I opt for a run stuffing specialist that I imagine can learn quite well from Henry Anderson.

Lastly I took another return man flyer in Anderson from North Dakota State. First off, that program is filled with championship pedigree (for a lower level program of course) and he was one of their biggest reasons why. Like Cannon a year ago, he has return ability and he might be able to make the roster as a replacement for Andre Roberts.

By doubling up on WR and RB we now have crowded skill position rooms and all that competition should allow the cream to rise to the top to give us functional weapons to work with. With Bosa bolstering a weak pass rush, we should be able to take big strides forwards in 2019. With a spare 1st rounder in our pocket in 2020, we will have plenty of options to work with to help build a winner in the future.

[MBGreen]

Solid effort here...well done, Libero.

[Heismanberg]

Would love to see us make a trade like that with the Giants

[Libero_2]

Would love to see us make a trade like that with the Giants

Agreed it could be franchise altering if we connect on the picks they give us. I also think if they don’t get Rosen, they will pay us big time to secure Haskins. So we need to root like crazy for the Giants to lose out on Rosen.

Not gonna lie I’m a little salty about the trades going down yesterday for Quinn and Howard. But im going to leave the mock alone and then at the end check off picks I get right. I think that will be a fun exercise. Shooting for 10-15% accuracy.

[Derek Smalls]

I mean, it would be a great draft, but getting Bosa after a trade down is just unrealistic.