2019 Draft Prospects Thread

[AZ_]

Mock Draft Monday: Pre-Collegiate Bowl Edition

Free Agency:

Trent Brown - LT - New England - Another large scale investment into the offensive line. A worthwhile investment, Brown is 26 next season and honed his game under Dante Scarnecchia. Can be an ideal fit in the zone block scheme, and protect the blindside of the franchise player.

Rodney Gunter - DT - Arizona - Enjoyed a breakout 2018 under Browns new DC Steve Wilks. Strong and quick, can collapse a pocket. Great fit and a chance to acquire a young emerging talent.

Gerald Hodges - LB - Arizona - Another Wilks addition, providing good LB depth.

Breshad Perriman - WR - Cleveland - Signed on late and played really well, may have resurrected his career.


Draft:

1 (17) - Devin White - LB - LSU - Elite player who plays an undervalued position. Can play outside or insider, but will immediately step into a starting lineup and be a 10+ year player and All-Pro caliber talent. If he's here, he's my guy (especially if they solidify LT)

2 (49) - TJ Hockenson - TE - Iowa - Another player who has elite potential and a refined current game. Best blocker to come into the draft since his former Iowa teammate George Kittle. A weapon that helps both the run and passing game. Will blow out the combine.

3 (81) - Charles Omenihu - DE - Texas - Strong senior season puts him on the prospect map. 6'6 and 275, great length, hand placement and power. Plays all over the line, sort of like Myles Garrett. Presents Wilks the opportunity to move guys around and create a legitimate pass rush. Pro Bowl potential.

3 (93) - Preston Williams - WR - Colorado St. - Left Tennessee and had some disciplinary issues everywhere he's been. Finally seems back on track, and playing at a very high level. If you're noticing a theme here, its HIGH ceiling picks.

4 - Justin Layne - CB - Michigan St. - Big corner who I thought would wind up at WR. Long arms, really good athleticism but needs a fair amount of refinement with his feet.

5 - Clayton Thorson - QB - Northwestern - Good days and bad days, but a smart young player with potential to stick around the league as a good backup.

5 - Daniel Wise - DT - Kansas - Problem along the interior DL. I think he's going to show out in the combine season and may trend to far upward for this pick.

5 - Jimmy Moreland - CB - James Madison - Mentioned him earlier today as showing out at the Shrine. He's got really quick feet and could profile as a future Nickel/Dime back and special teams player. Very undersized.

6 - Lamical Perine - RB - Florida - Crowded backfield at UF, but he's always jumped out to me. Add him into the backfield as the #3.


Depth:
QB - Baker Mayfield - Clayton Thorson - Drew Stanton
RB - Nick Chubb - Duke Johnson - Lamical Perine
WR - Antonio Callaway
WR - Jarvis Landry
WR - Rashad Higgins - Breshad Perriman - Preston Williams
TE - David Njoku - TJ Hockenson - Darren Fells

LT - Trent Brown - Desmond Harrison
LG - Joel Bitonio
C - JC Tretter - Austin Corbett
RG - Kevin Zeitler
RT - Chris Hubbard

DE - Myles Garrett - Chris Smith
DT - Rodney Gunter - Brian Price
DT - Larry Ogunjobi - Trevon Coley
DE - Emmanuel Ogbah - Charles Omenihu

LB - Chris Kirksey - Tanner Vallejo
LB - Joe Schobert
LB - Devin White - Genard Avery

CB - Denzel Ward - Phillip Gaines
FS - Demarious Randall - BBC
SS - Jabril Peppers - Derrick Kindred
CB - Terrence Mitchell - Justin Layne
CB - TJ Carrie - Jimmy Moreland

 

[tristan+kyrie=$]

Mock Draft Monday: Pre-Collegiate Bowl Edition

Free Agency:

Trent Brown - LT - New England - Another large scale investment into the offensive line. A worthwhile investment, Brown is 26 next season and honed his game under Dante Scarnecchia. Can be an ideal fit in the zone block scheme, and protect the blindside of the franchise player.

Rodney Gunter - DT - Arizona - Enjoyed a breakout 2018 under Browns new DC Steve Wilks. Strong and quick, can collapse a pocket. Great fit and a chance to acquire a young emerging talent.

Gerald Hodges - LB - Arizona - Another Wilks addition, providing good LB depth.

Breshad Perriman - WR - Cleveland - Signed on late and played really well, may have resurrected his career.


Draft:

1 (17) - Devin White - LB - LSU - Elite player who plays an undervalued position. Can play outside or insider, but will immediately step into a starting lineup and be a 10+ year player and All-Pro caliber talent. If he's here, he's my guy (especially if they solidify LT)

2 (49) - TJ Hockenson - TE - Iowa - Another player who has elite potential and a refined current game. Best blocker to come into the draft since his former Iowa teammate George Kittle. A weapon that helps both the run and passing game. Will blow out the combine.

3 (81) - Charles Omenihu - DE - Texas - Strong senior season puts him on the prospect map. 6'6 and 275, great length, hand placement and power. Plays all over the line, sort of like Myles Garrett. Presents Wilks the opportunity to move guys around and create a legitimate pass rush. Pro Bowl potential.

3 (93) - Preston Williams - WR - Colorado St. - Left Tennessee and had some disciplinary issues everywhere he's been. Finally seems back on track, and playing at a very high level. If you're noticing a theme here, its HIGH ceiling picks.

4 - Justin Layne - CB - Michigan St. - Big corner who I thought would wind up at WR. Long arms, really good athleticism but needs a fair amount of refinement with his feet.

5 - Clayton Thorson - QB - Northwestern - Good days and bad days, but a smart young player with potential to stick around the league as a good backup.

5 - Daniel Wise - DT - Kansas - Problem along the interior DL. I think he's going to show out in the combine season and may trend to far upward for this pick.

5 - Jimmy Moreland - CB - James Madison - Mentioned him earlier today as showing out at the Shrine. He's got really quick feet and could profile as a future Nickel/Dime back and special teams player. Very undersized.

6 - Lamical Perine - RB - Florida - Crowded backfield at UF, but he's always jumped out to me. Add him into the backfield as the #3.


Depth:
QB - Baker Mayfield - Clayton Thorson - Drew Stanton
RB - Nick Chubb - Duke Johnson - Lamical Perine
WR - Antonio Callaway
WR - Jarvis Landry
WR - Rashad Higgins - Breshad Perriman - Preston Williams
TE - David Njoku - TJ Hockenson - Darren Fells

LT - Trent Brown - Desmond Harrison
LG - Joel Bitonio
C - JC Tretter - Austin Corbett
RG - Kevin Zeitler
RT - Chris Hubbard

DE - Myles Garrett - Chris Smith
DT - Rodney Gunter - Brian Price
DT - Larry Ogunjobi - Trevon Coley
DE - Emmanuel Ogbah - Charles Omenihu

LB - Chris Kirksey - Tanner Vallejo
LB - Joe Schobert
LB - Devin White - Genard Avery

CB - Denzel Ward - Phillip Gaines
FS - Demarious Randall - BBC
SS - Jabril Peppers - Derrick Kindred
CB - Terrence Mitchell - Justin Layne
CB - TJ Carrie - Jimmy Moreland

Looks like a division winning roster and one that can make some noise in January

 

[AZ_]

Browns met w/ these guys at the Shrine Bowl today:

Tre Watson - LB - Maryland - Tape
Jon Duhart - WR - ODU
Brian Wallace - OT - Arkansas - Tape

 

[Lee]

Mock Draft Monday: Pre-Collegiate Bowl Edition

Free Agency:

Trent Brown - LT - New England - Another large scale investment into the offensive line. A worthwhile investment, Brown is 26 next season and honed his game under Dante Scarnecchia. Can be an ideal fit in the zone block scheme, and protect the blindside of the franchise player.

Rodney Gunter - DT - Arizona - Enjoyed a breakout 2018 under Browns new DC Steve Wilks. Strong and quick, can collapse a pocket. Great fit and a chance to acquire a young emerging talent.

Gerald Hodges - LB - Arizona - Another Wilks addition, providing good LB depth.

Breshad Perriman - WR - Cleveland - Signed on late and played really well, may have resurrected his career.


Draft:

1 (17) - Devin White - LB - LSU - Elite player who plays an undervalued position. Can play outside or insider, but will immediately step into a starting lineup and be a 10+ year player and All-Pro caliber talent. If he's here, he's my guy (especially if they solidify LT)

2 (49) - TJ Hockenson - TE - Iowa - Another player who has elite potential and a refined current game. Best blocker to come into the draft since his former Iowa teammate George Kittle. A weapon that helps both the run and passing game. Will blow out the combine.

3 (81) - Charles Omenihu - DE - Texas - Strong senior season puts him on the prospect map. 6'6 and 275, great length, hand placement and power. Plays all over the line, sort of like Myles Garrett. Presents Wilks the opportunity to move guys around and create a legitimate pass rush. Pro Bowl potential.

3 (93) - Preston Williams - WR - Colorado St. - Left Tennessee and had some disciplinary issues everywhere he's been. Finally seems back on track, and playing at a very high level. If you're noticing a theme here, its HIGH ceiling picks.

4 - Justin Layne - CB - Michigan St. - Big corner who I thought would wind up at WR. Long arms, really good athleticism but needs a fair amount of refinement with his feet.

5 - Clayton Thorson - QB - Northwestern - Good days and bad days, but a smart young player with potential to stick around the league as a good backup.

5 - Daniel Wise - DT - Kansas - Problem along the interior DL. I think he's going to show out in the combine season and may trend to far upward for this pick.

5 - Jimmy Moreland - CB - James Madison - Mentioned him earlier today as showing out at the Shrine. He's got really quick feet and could profile as a future Nickel/Dime back and special teams player. Very undersized.

6 - Lamical Perine - RB - Florida - Crowded backfield at UF, but he's always jumped out to me. Add him into the backfield as the #3.


Depth:
QB - Baker Mayfield - Clayton Thorson - Drew Stanton
RB - Nick Chubb - Duke Johnson - Lamical Perine
WR - Antonio Callaway
WR - Jarvis Landry
WR - Rashad Higgins - Breshad Perriman - Preston Williams
TE - David Njoku - TJ Hockenson - Darren Fells

LT - Trent Brown - Desmond Harrison
LG - Joel Bitonio
C - JC Tretter - Austin Corbett
RG - Kevin Zeitler
RT - Chris Hubbard

DE - Myles Garrett - Chris Smith
DT - Rodney Gunter - Brian Price
DT - Larry Ogunjobi - Trevon Coley
DE - Emmanuel Ogbah - Charles Omenihu

LB - Chris Kirksey - Tanner Vallejo
LB - Joe Schobert
LB - Devin White - Genard Avery

CB - Denzel Ward - Phillip Gaines
FS - Demarious Randall - BBC
SS - Jabril Peppers - Derrick Kindred
CB - Terrence Mitchell - Justin Layne
CB - TJ Carrie - Jimmy Moreland

Do you think Hockenson lasts until the middle 1st?

You know I like the idea of adding a 2nd tight end, and one who is a dual tight end like that could be ideal.....but I think he is a late first/early 2nd pick.

But I aint mad at you, like the concept of the offseason for sure.

 

[AZ_]

Do you think Hockenson lasts until the middle 1st?

You know I like the idea of adding a 2nd tight end, and one who is a dual tight end like that could be ideal.....but I think he is a late first/early 2nd pick.

But I aint mad at you, like the concept of the offseason for sure.

I think the TE market is rather deep, and that we could see a run in that 2nd-3rd round range. Kaden Smith from Stanford would be another option there as well.

Just would LOVE to add Hockenson’s blend of blocking and athleticism.

What a nightmare for defenses.

 

[Jordan]

I think the TE market is rather deep, and that we could see a run in that 2nd-3rd round range. Kaden Smith from Stanford would be another option there as well.

Just would LOVE to add Hockenson’s blend of blocking and athleticism.

What a nightmare for defenses.

Considering the amount of receivers we have on this team that will probably be legit options next year - Landry, Callaway, Higgins, and Perriman - I've always felt adding another high profile (or high round) receiver to be risky. Ditto for adding another runningback.

But adding a Tight End makes all of the sense in the world. The Eagles and Rams both have two really good TEs and it makes them so diverse on offense. LAR have Everett and Higbee and last year the Eagles had Ertz, Celek, and Burton.

I'd really like to add a TE that can block and be an athlete for a few reasons: first, TE remains one of the most undervalued positions in the NFL; second, Monken likes using two TE formations to confuse the defense; third, TEs can always play three roles on any play (receiver, pass blocker, or run blocker), which means using them in motion will reveal defensive coverage; and fourth, Baker could use another big receiving option.

Also - I happen to think Njoku is pretty overrated. He's still a bad blocker and, for such a phenomenal athlete, he is inconsistent at getting open. I'm fine keeping Njoku, and he obviously deserves snaps, but adding Hockenson will change how our offenses uses the TE, and that's attractive.

 

[FiveThous]

Considering the amount of receivers we have on this team that will probably be legit options next year - Landry, Callaway, Higgins, and Perriman - I've always felt adding another high profile (or high round) receiver to be risky. Ditto for adding another runningback.

But adding a Tight End makes all of the sense in the world. The Eagles and Rams both have two really good TEs and it makes them so diverse on offense. LAR have Everett and Higbee and last year the Eagles had Ertz, Celek, and Burton.

I'd really like to add a TE that can block and be an athlete for a few reasons: first, TE remains one of the most undervalued positions in the NFL; second, Monken likes using two TE formations to confuse the defense; third, TEs can always play three roles on any play (receiver, pass blocker, or run blocker), which means using them in motion will reveal defensive coverage; and fourth, Baker could use another big receiving option.

Also - I happen to think Njoku is pretty overrated. He's still a bad blocker and, for such a phenomenal athlete, he is inconsistent at getting open. I'm fine keeping Njoku, and he obviously deserves snaps, but adding Hockenson will change how our offenses uses the TE, and that's attractive.

8th in receptions, 8th in yards, 7th in YAC, and an ok blocker. And he's only 22.5, if that's overrated, sign me up.

 

[MD13]

8th in receptions, 8th in yards, 7th in YAC, and an ok blocker. And he's only 22.5, if that's overrated, sign me up.

Not to mention he (and Calloway) improved as much as anyone down the stretch. By the end of the season his blocking was bordering on good, and I think he had the highest PFF score (80) of any of our pass catchers under Kitchens. If we're looking at a position that needs a lot of improvement among our offense, look no further than Landry.

 

[Jordan]

8th in receptions, 8th in yards, 7th in YAC, and an ok blocker. And he's only 22.5, if that's overrated, sign me up.

Football Outsiders has him ranked 44th out of 49 possible Tight Ends in DVOA. Let's explore why.

First, he drops ten percent of passes thrown to him. That's not terrible, but it is also not great.

Second, he averages 5.6 yards after the catch but only 11.4 yards per reception. In large part, that's because he is a pretty crappy weapon beyond ten yards. 36 of his 56 receptions were within ten yards. On those plays, he catches 80% of targets, which is very solid. But, it gets bad when you look beyond that. He only caught 12/30 targets, or forty percent, beyond ten yards. Njoku is a good weapon within ten yards. He's great to have as a receiving option in goal-line situations and in short-yardage situations. But he's really inefficient as a receiver outside of those.

Third, and most importantly, Njoku is a horrendous pass blocker. He pass blocked on 61 possessions this year, on those 61 possessions, he allowed four hurries, one non-sack hit, and one sack. So on ten percent of plays with him as a blocker his man got pressure on the quarterback. That is unacceptable as your sole TE.

Do I think he is one of the six worst regularly played TEs in the NFL? No, not even close, I think DVOA probably is prioritizing efficiency too much. But Njoku has a lot of flaws that make me pretty comfortable in using another high pick on a Tight End.

 

[FiveThous]

Not to mention he (and Calloway) improved as much as anyone down the stretch. By the end of the season his blocking was bordering on good, and I think he had the highest PFF score (80) of any of our pass catchers under Kitchens. If we're looking at a position that needs a lot of improvement among our offense, look no further than Landry.

Landry just isn't that good. If we moved on from him, I'd have zero issues with that. He wasn't worth the contract extension he received, regardless of our cap space.

 

[Lee]

Football Outsiders has him ranked 44th out of 49 possible Tight Ends in DVOA. Let's explore why.

First, he drops ten percent of passes thrown to him. That's not terrible, but it is also not great.

Second, he averages 5.6 yards after the catch but only 11.4 yards per reception. In large part, that's because he is a pretty crappy weapon beyond ten yards. 36 of his 56 receptions were within ten yards. On those plays, he catches 80% of targets, which is very solid. But, it gets bad when you look beyond that. He only caught 12/30 targets, or forty percent, beyond ten yards. Njoku is a good weapon within ten yards. He's great to have as a receiving option in goal-line situations and in short-yardage situations. But he's really inefficient as a receiver outside of those.

Third, and most importantly, Njoku is a horrendous pass blocker. He pass blocked on 61 possessions this year, on those 61 possessions, he allowed four hurries, one non-sack hit, and one sack. So on ten percent of plays with him as a blocker his man got pressure on the quarterback. That is unacceptable as your sole TE.

Do I think he is one of the six worst regularly played TEs in the NFL? No, not even close, I think DVOA probably is prioritizing efficiency too much. But Njoku has a lot of flaws that make me pretty comfortable in using another high pick on a Tight End.

Glad people are coming around to another top level tight end which I said weeks ago, don't need another WR if we keep Perriman, not saying he is top end, but was very effective as a 4th WR down the stretch.

 

[Lee]

Considering the amount of receivers we have on this team that will probably be legit options next year - Landry, Callaway, Higgins, and Perriman - I've always felt adding another high profile (or high round) receiver to be risky. Ditto for adding another runningback.

WR and RB in the late rounds are always good for special teams and depth. I have no problem with 6th and 7th rounds for those guys for that reason.

 

[natedagg]

Why? It's not like he just passed some MLB deadline. He can still sign with Oakland in the next few weeks. This merely keeps his options open.

Declaring was always going to happen. If he didn't, he'd have nothing to negotiate with.

I thought it was reported that if he declared for the draft he would lose $5M. My bad. Fake news.

 

[MD13]

Landry just isn't that good. If we moved on from him, I'd have zero issues with that. He wasn't worth the contract extension he received, regardless of our cap space.

I think we end up moving on from him next off-season. There seems to be a potential 2 year out where we'd only take on $4.5 mill in dead cap. If we're going to pay that much to a WR, he needs to be the type that consistently draws doubles and makes it a 10 vs 9 game for everyone else. I don't see us hanging on to him when we have to give out big money extensions and guys like Higgins do similar things as well as or better than he does.

 

[CBBI]

Football Outsiders has him ranked 44th out of 49 possible Tight Ends in DVOA. Let's explore why.

First, he drops ten percent of passes thrown to him. That's not terrible, but it is also not great.

Second, he averages 5.6 yards after the catch but only 11.4 yards per reception. In large part, that's because he is a pretty crappy weapon beyond ten yards. 36 of his 56 receptions were within ten yards. On those plays, he catches 80% of targets, which is very solid. But, it gets bad when you look beyond that. He only caught 12/30 targets, or forty percent, beyond ten yards. Njoku is a good weapon within ten yards. He's great to have as a receiving option in goal-line situations and in short-yardage situations. But he's really inefficient as a receiver outside of those.

Third, and most importantly, Njoku is a horrendous pass blocker. He pass blocked on 61 possessions this year, on those 61 possessions, he allowed four hurries, one non-sack hit, and one sack. So on ten percent of plays with him as a blocker his man got pressure on the quarterback. That is unacceptable as your sole TE.

Do I think he is one of the six worst regularly played TEs in the NFL? No, not even close, I think DVOA probably is prioritizing efficiency too much. But Njoku has a lot of flaws that make me pretty comfortable in using another high pick on a Tight End.

I don’t have access to the DVOA numbers like you do, so I’ll need you to either back me up or call me out here. But it sure seems like Njoku was the biggest victim of the Hue Jackson/Todd Haley malpractice from the first half of the season.

Under Hue/Haley, Njoku averaged 6.4 targets per game and record 9.6 yards per catch, 5.8 yards per target with a 60.8% catch percentage.

Under Kitchens, Njoku averaged 4.6 targets per game, but his yards per catch spiked to 13.7 and his yards per target increased to 9.2. He also reeled in 67.6% of his available targets.

I remember Njoku running a TON of 4-5 yard curls over the middle under Haley. Since the Browns really didn’t work their RBs in the passing game all that much in the first half of the year, it was Njoku who essentially became the checkdown option when the OL didn’t hold up long enough on those longer developing routes on the outside.