Top 10 Mock Draft (with trades):
1. Tampa Bay: Jameis Winston, QB FSU. Tampa Bay could be bluffing, but they’re very interested right now in Winston. Lovie Smith is willing to deal with the off the field issues if Winston produces and they’re desperate for a QB to produce for them. They’re also going to make the common draft fallacy that goes “well, he played college ball in our media market, so this will also boost ticket and jersey sales.”
2. Tennessee: Leonard Williams, DL Southern Cal. Tennessee needs a franchise level defensive player, and the Bucs gift Williams to them. This pick shouldn’t take long for the Titans to make.
3. Jacksonville: Brandon Scherff, OL Iowa. A bit of a surprise here, but it shouldn’t be. Scherff is more fit for RT than LT, and this takes a lot of the burden off of Joeckel to always be great.
4. Chicago(trade with Oakland, Oakland gets pick #7, Jared Allen and a future 2nd in 2016): Dante Fowler Jr, DL Florida. And our first trade. Chicago sees the future and its one without Dante Fowler if they don’t move up. The Redskins will take him, right now, if he’s there. As part of it, they can dump Allen on a 4-3 team for cap relief.
5. Cleveland(trade with Washington, Washington gets picks 12 and 19). Marcus Mariota, QB Oregon. Oh yes, this is being discussed in the real world as well. Cleveland badly wants Mariota, the Redskins badly want to get out of this pick unless Dante Fowler Jr or Leonard Williams are available here.
Washington’s 1sts:
12. Shane Ray, DE/OLB Missouri. When Jim Haslett was canned, all of Brian Orakpo’s political protection left with him. The Skins like Trent Murphy but maybe more as an ILB or DE. They can’t pass on Ray here especially considering that they would have considered taking him at 5 if Fowler and Williams were gone. A trade back up for Gregory is possible, but only if Ray is taken shortly after pick #5.
19. Trae Waynes, CB Michigan State. The Skins like Breeland, but they literally have nothing else at CB and Breeland got burned plenty in the 2nd half of the season. Waynes is a press man guy how can also switch up into a zone on occasion.
6. New York Jets: Amari Cooper, WR Alabama. They would have preferred that Winston dropped here, but they’re not willing to give up a defensive stud to make a deal up happen. They’ll be fine with Cooper, especially if they’re cutting Harvin.
7. Oakland(from Chicago): Kevin White, WR WVU. Oakland drops down 3 spots, gets Jared Allen and a 2nd in the future to pick the player that they probably would have taken anyway.
8. Atlanta: Todd Gurley, RB UGA. Your weekly reminder that teams don’t draft for need. Gurley is, like Winston, being drafted here on potential and the local star fallacy.
9. New York Giants: Ereck Flowers, OT Miami. They’re tagging Jason Pierre-Paul if they can’t come to a long term agreement with him. Flowers replaces Beatty, but don’t be shocked if this is another BPA pick from Reese.
10. Pittsburgh(trade with St. Louis, St Louis gets Jarvis Jones, pick #22 and a 2015 4th rounder): Randy Gregory, OLB Nebraska. Pittsburgh only trades up for special players(the last one that they did for was Troy Polamalu) and Gregory could be one. This is also a tacit admission that Jarvis Jones has been a disaster for them and needs a change of scenery: either on a new team or in a new position. St Louis now has another speedster for their defense and still has a first rounder to get a WR with.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of prospects for the 2015 NFL draft. This is more a look into the draft and which prospects are making a name for themselves organized into several categories. The names will move up and down the categories and perhaps even off the lists if the prospects sully their draft stock.
So, today’s question: did the player have a good combine or a bad one?
The Blue Chip Prospects. There are as close to “can’t miss” as you get.
Leonard Williams, DL Southern Cal. Good combine. He’s the first player in combine history to measure it at over 6-5 300 lbs and run a sub 5 40 time. And he has 36+ inch long arms.
Ereck Flowers, OT Miami. Good combine. Good speed, great strength and his knee checked out.
Brandon Scherff, OL Iowa. Good combine. He was the strongest and fastest offensive lineman.
Shane Ray, DE/OLB Missouri. Good combine. He showed long arms, good size and strength.
Kevin White, WR WVU. Good combine. Had a blazing 40 time and did 23 bench presses(as much as some OLmen).
Randy Gregory, DE/OLB Nebraska. Bad combine. He weighed in at less than 240 lbs and played last season at 219.
Andrus Peat, OT Stanford. Bad combine. He looked stiff and unsure of himself through the position drills.
Dante Fowler, Jr, DL Florida(moving up). Good combine. He aced his 40 time and generally looked like a monster physically.
Green Chip Prospects. These are prospects who have roughly the same level of talent as the blue chip ones, but have a red flag or question mark about them.
Amari Cooper, WR Alabama. Good combine. If just for his 4.42 40 time.
Benardrick McKinney LB, Mississippi State. Bad combine. Didn’t look overwhelming physically.
Eric Kendricks, LB UCLA. Good combine. He didn’t have any surprises in his measurables.
Shaq Thompson, LB Washington. Bad combine. He had so-so speed numbers and for a player who's all about his speed, that's no bueno.
DeVante Parker, WR Louisville. Good combine. 4.45 speed with a 1.56 split. Thats exactly what he wanted to do.
Arik Armstead, DL Oregon. Good combine. Scouts wanted to see him up close and he measured in as a monster.
La’El Collins, OL LSU(moving up). Good combine. He flashed the footwork he needed to.
Vic Beasley, OLB Clemson. Good combine. If just for weighing in at 246 lbs and running a 4.53.
Red Chip Prospects. Talented prospects but with multiple red flags or serious questions about their ability to transition to the NFL.
Todd Gurley RB UGA(moving down). Bad combine, just by not letting doctors examine his surgically repaired knee.
Marcus Mariota, QB Oregon. Good combine. He checked all the boxes in terms of his athleticism, but he needed to do well in the passing drills and did so.
Danny Shelton, DT Washington. Good combine. Great combo of size(343 lbs) and speed(5.0 40).
Jameis Winston, QB Florida State. Good combine. Ignore the 40 times and vertical jump, he impressed coaches with his football knowledge.
Landon Collins, S Alabama. Good combine. He didn’t turn many heads with so-so physical numbers but apparently aced the whiteboard interviews(teams asking him to break down a defense for them).
Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, CB Oregon. N/A his knee injury kept him from really showing the scouts anything.
Marcus Peters, DB Washington. Bad combine. Ran a poor 40 time and didn’t impress in the interviews.
Duke Johnson, RB Miami. Bad combine. His appeal is speed/quickness, he didn’t show either really.
Solid First round prospects. These are guys who don’t have blue chip levels of talent, but are clearly talented enough to merit strong consideration in the top 25 picks.
Trae Waynes, CB Michigan State. Good combine. He ran a sub 4.4 40 time and had great speed/quickness times.
Markus Golden, DE/OLB Missouri. Good combine. Ran a 4.9 but didn’t do the strength drills.
Mario Edwards Jr, DL FSU. Good combine. Ran an amazing 40(4.79) and weighed in at 279.
Devin Funchess, TE Michigan. Good combine. He didn’t overwhelm with his speed, but looked fluid as a receiver.
Jalen Strong, WR ASU. Good combine. He didn’t show quickness but ran a 4.44.
Cam Erving, OL FSU. Good combine. Aced the physical drills and showed good footwork.
Nate Orchard, DE Utah. Good combine. He didn’t bench but showed at 6-3 250 with 4.84 speed.
Alvin Dupree, DE/OLB Kentucky(moving up). Good combine. He absolutely killed it during the physical tests. He could jump into the top 12 easily.
25-60 prospects. Prospects with talent but you feel better about your favorite team drafting them in the second round.
Quinten Rollins, DB Miami(OH). Bad combine. So-so speed/quickness times and generally looked lost.
Jordan Phillips, DT Oklahoma. Bad combine. Small(ish) hands, slow splits in the 40 and not a great bench number.
Clive Walford, TE Miami. Good combine. Great physical tools.
Donovan Smith, OL Penn State. Good combine. He looked fluid in the position drill, which was his biggest question mark.
Lorenzo Mauldin, OLB Louisville(moving down). Good combine. He checked all the physical boxes.
Maxx Williams, TE Minnesota. Bad combine. Bad speed, bad drills, bad strength.
Brett Hundley, QB UCLA. Good combine. He didn’t do anything special but did well in the passing drills.
Malcolm Brown, DT Texas. Good combine. He did well in the physical drills and aced the interviews.
Sammie Coates, WR Auburn. Bad combine. A good 40 time, not great and showed his bad hands off in the position drills.
Anthony Harris, S Virginia. N/A Didn't do enough at the combine to judge.
Ronald Darby, DB FSU(Moving up). Good combine. He ran a sub 4.4 40 and did well in the quickness drills.
Denzel Perryman, LB Miami(Moving up). Good combine. He aced the interviews and showed good strength/speed for his size.
AJ Cann, OG South Carolina(moving up). Good combine. Flashed good strength and quickness.
Tyrus Thompson, OT Oklahoma(moving up). Bad combine. His footwork looked awful.
Daryl Williams, OT Oklahoma(moving up). Bad combine. He looked slow and weak during the blocking drills.
D.J. Humphries, OT Florida(moving up). Good combine. He looked fluid as a blocker and flashed good footwork.
Larry Warfords. Talented players who have dropped to the 3rd round for whatever reason(usually because they play a secondary position like Strong Safety or Offensive guard).
Max Garcia OL, Florida. N/A He didn't do enough to judge.
Cedric Ogbuehi, OL Texas A&M(moving down). Good combine. He didn’t do much with his knee injury, but benched a decent amount and had long arms.
Laken Tomlinson, OG Duke. Good combine. He flashed great blocking skills in space.
Gerod Holliman, DB Louisville. N/A. Skipped the combine essentially.
Tyler Lockett, WR Kansas State. Bad combine. Small hands and drops in the position drills.
Kevin White, CB TCU. Bad combine. He blew the 40 drill(he only did it once so he might have had an injury) and had small hands.
Grady Jarrett, DT Clemson. Good combine. He did well in the interviews and did well in showing big hands and good strength.
Mike Davis, Rb South Carolina. Bad combine. He told a probable lie about why he declared after his junior year and his 40 time/splits were bad(4.6).
Reese Dismukes, OC Auburn. Good combine. He confirmed what teams thought, he’s a smaller faster OC.
Tyler Sambrailo, OL CSU. Bad combine. He looked like a slow footed RT in the NFL.
Nick Boyle, TE Delaware. Bad combine. Big hands and fluid in the drills, but ran an OLman’s time in the 40.
Hroniss Grasu, OL Oregon. Bad combine. He decided against running.
Jake Fisher, OT Oregon. Good combine. Great footwork and looked super quick and nimble.
Nick O’Leary, TE/HBack FSU. Bad combine. Small hands/arms, didn’t run.
Arie Kouandjio, OL Alabama. Bad combine. He didn’t do much positive in the position drills. Looked sluggish in the physical ones.
Tre Jackson, OG Florida State. Bad combine. He ran a slow time and declined to do the strength drills.
Stefon Diggs, WR/RB UMD. Good combine. Big hands(10 inches) and a decent 40 time(sub 4.5).
PJ Williams, CB FSU. Bad combine. He did horrible in the 40 time and did nothing to show that he’s a potential starting Cb.
Owamgabe Odighizuwa, DE UCLA. Good combine. Showed great speed/splits, and did well on the bench.
Rob Havenstein, OT Wisconsin. Good combine. He ran a decent 40 time and looked very strong.
Cameron Artis-Payne, RB Auburn. Bad combine. Another guy who’s game is speed/quickness and showed neither.
Alex Carter, CB Stanford. Good combine. Nothing special but didn’t hurt his draft stock.
David Cobb, RB Minnesota. N/A. Didn’t do enough at the combine to judge.
Hauoli Kikaha, LB Washington. N/A Skipped the on field work because of illness.
Danielle Hunter, DE LSU. Good combine. Big and fast. Teams like that and will ignore his lack of production.
Carl Davis, DL Iowa(moving up). Good combine. He didn’t bench press, but ran a sub-5.1 40.
TJ Clemmings, OT Pittsburgh(moving up). Good combine. Flashed some major physical skills across the board.
Dorial Green-Beckham, WR Oklahoma(moving up). Good combine. He showed contrition for his mistakes and flashed great natural receiving skills.
Eddie Goldman, DL FSU(moving up). Good combine. He showed NFL power and size.
Lottery tickets. High talent but high risk if they’re still around here. They also could be a player with one good tool(like Martavis Bryant and Pittsburgh) that could get them playing time.
Sean Mannion, QB Oregon State. Good combine. He did well in the throwing drills, but as Mayock succinctly put it: he does fine if no one is rushing him.
Cody Prewitt, DB Ole Miss(moving down). Good combine. Not a bad 40 time, but his cone/quickness drills was poor.
Garrett Grayson, QB Colorado State. N/A Skipped the combine drills.
Ameer Abdullah, Rb Nebraska. Good combine. While he didn’t have a great 40 time or splits, teams were blown away by his fluidity.
Corey Robinson, OT South Carolina. Good combine. He showed great power/strength.
Michael Bennett, DL Ohio State. N/A He interviewed well, but didn’t do the physical drills.
Trey Flowers, DE Arkansas. Good combine. Interviewed well, big hands, good splits.
Tony Lippett, WR/CB Michigan State. Bad combine. He ran a TE’s 40 time(4.67) and generally looked like he had stars in his eyes.
Devin Smith, WR Ohio State. Good combine. He ran a good time(4.42) and looked fantastic.
David Parry, DL Stanford. Bad combine. Short and squat. He didn’t run well at all.
Mark Glowinski, OL WVU. Good combine. A fast 40 time and good bench press numbers.
Devin Gardner, WR Michigan. N/A Not invited.
Jeremy Langford, RB Michigan State. Good combine. He smoked the 40 time and that was the biggest question he was facing.
Amarlo Herrera, LB UGA. Bad combine. Looked slow, stiff and sluggish.
Blake Bell, TE Oklahoma. Good combine. He needed to show good catching ability for his position switch and he did just that.
Tevin Coleman, Rb Indiana. N/A. He skipped the combine(the physical parts) due to an injury.
TJ Yeldon, RB Alabama. Bad combine. Ran a 4.61 with a 1.63 split. Yikes.
Rashad Greene, WR FSU. Good combine. Solid speed(4.47) but a great 10 yard split(1.53)
Justin Hardy, WR ECU. Bad combine. While he looked good in the position drills, running a 4.6 is bad.
Geneo Grissom, OLB Oklahoma. Good combine. Big hands and 4.83 speed. Always works for teams.
Henry Anderson, DE Stanford. Good combine. At 6-6 294 lbs with 5 40 time speed, he looked like a stock and trade 3-4 DE.
Jay Ajayi, RB Boise State. Bad combine. He had big hands and strength, but his his measurables were bad.
Jarvis Harrison, OG Texas A&M. Good combine. Answered the questions about his speed/strength.
Jalen Collins, CB LSU. Good combine. He smoked the physical drills.
D'Joun Smith, CB Florida Atlantic. Good combine. He ran a sub 4.5 40 and did well otherwise.
Ty Montgomery, WR Stanford. Good combine. Ran a respectable 40 time(4.55), had big hands and showed them off.
Moving off this list:
Matt Jones, RB Florida.
Karlos Williams, RB FSU.
JT Surratt, DL South Carolina.
Michael Dyer, RB Louisville.
Ramik Wilson, LB UGA.
David Andrews, OC Georgia.
Josue Matias, OG Florida State.
Brison Williams, S, South Carolina.
Watch list for the next update:
Eli Harold, DE/OLB UVA
Paul Dawson, LB TCU
Nelson Agholor, WR Southern Cal
Xavier Cooper, DT Washington
Jamison Crowder, WR Duke
Phillip Dorsett, WR Miami
Kevin Johnson, CB Wake
Chris Hackett, S TCU
Josh Harper, WR Fresno
Preston Smith, DE Miss State
David Johnson, RB Northern Iowa
Joey Mbu, DT Houston
John Miller, OL Louisville
Za’Darius Smith, DE Kentucky
Kwon Alexander, OLB LSU
Andy Galick, OC BC
Breshaud Perriman, WR UCF
Ben Koyack, TE Notre Dame
Marcus Hardison, DT Arizona State