As always, this is not a mock draft of what this author would do. It’s a mock draft based on what the team is likely to do based on the current perceptions of the prospects in college football.
10. New York Giants. Ezekiel Elliot, RB Ohio State.
Jerry Reese, the Giants’ GM, loves to take the most talented player available regardless of position. His supporters will point to Odell Beckham Jr, Jason Pierre-Paul and Ereck Flowers as examples of this working but his detractors certainly have enough examples to point to as well.
Elliot would be an attempt to bridge Reese’s “best player available” philosophy with filling a need for the Giants. He’s arguably the most talented player left at this point, but the Giants also need him. They don’t have a prime running back on the roster and need to junk their committee at this position.
9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Emmanuel Ogbah, DL Oklahoma State
New Tampa defensive coordinator Mike Smith’s defense works best when he has two fast ends bringing a consistent rush. If they can’t be disruptive, then the entire house of cards falls apart.
Tampa has a superstar in Gerald McCoy and some interesting pieces on the line, but they don’t have that kind of reliable attacker that Ogbah could bring to their defense. They probably would play him on the left side lined up over the right tackle like he did in school but they wouldn’t need that top flight end on the right side of the defense because Ogbah could have that be the focus on the pass rush.
8. Miami Dolphins. William Jackson III, DB Houston
Don’t act surprised. The film pundits LOVE Jackson and think he could be the best corner in this draft-better than Hargreaves or Ramsey in fact. Personally, this author thinks that’s a bit extreme but in watching the tape he definitely looks like a top 10 talent.
His major flaw is that he has some hip tightness. He does just about everything else well, especially locate the ball in the air. What’s most impressive is how he knows how to use the sidelines to force a wideout to take himself out of the play. This is usually a skill that corners don’t learn-if they learn it-until several seasons in the NFL.
7. San Francisco 49ers. Carson Wentz, QB North Dakota State
Kaepernick apparently has no desire to play in Chip Kelly’s offense and probably will be moved, Blaine Gabbert is still Blaine Gabbert and Paxton Lynch’s draft stock is fading. Unless Kelly makes a move for someone like RG3(which is very plausible, but he’d have competition from Dallas and Houston), he’s going to have to draft someone high.
Wentz actually makes sense for Kelly. He not only has a big arm(which Kelly prefers for his offense) but he has enough mobility where he could put designed QB runs back into their offense.
The big question with Wentz is how much his skills and production were a product of the poor competition that he played against. He did answer a lot of these questions at the Senior bowl when he put on a show for the scouts and coaches during the practices when he clearly was the best passer on the field.
6. Baltimore Ravens. Jalen Ramsey, DB Florida State.
While their defense has been fairly good in the years since Ed Reed was released and eventually retired, they haven’t had that same sting because their free safety play just hasn’t been anywhere near as good. They’ve had to tape together their secondaries and hope that their corners could make up for the deficiencies in the back.
Ramsey is an attempt to bring balance back to their defensive coverage. He may never be as great a pure player as Reed was, but that’s a very high expectation to put on any rookie prospect. What he will be is an improvement over the multi-headed monster that they’ve tried to use to replace Reed.