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Well here we are. We made it to the finally mock of a three part series. First we stayed put with no trades for anyone. Then we began trading, but kind of played it safe. Here in the third mock, there's more trading and bigger jumps, sticking with the trends we have seen on draft day over the last couple of years. There's plenty of surprises, and some necessary moves that are sure to rattle some draft boards.
TRADES
Cleveland trades both first round picks this year and their first round pick next year to Tennessee in order to move up to the number two pick. The Browns appear hell bent on finding their quarterback once and for all.
Atlanta trades up with Jacksonville to number 3. Atlanta finally starts to build a good pass rush, as they move up to select the best rusher in the draft surrendering their first, second and next years fourth.
San Diego trades up with New Orleans to jump Miami and draft their next running back. San Diego gives up their first, third, and fifth round picks.
Cincinnati trades up with San Fransisco to began to restore their line. The move will cost them their first, fourth, and fifth.
Pittsburgh trades up with Houston as they look to rebuild their pass rush. They will trade away their first and third round picks.
Indianapolis trades up with Arizona to finally start getting Andrew Luck some sort of protection. The move will cost them their first and fourth round picks.
Washington trades up with New England to re-enter the first round, and get a pass rusher to play across from Ryan Kerrigan. The jump back into the first round would cost them their second, fourth, and next years second round picks.
Miami trades up with St. Louis in round two to jump Jacksonville and select Damarious Randall. The move will cost their second, fourth, and fifth round picks.
Pick |
Team |
Player |
Pos |
College |
1 |
Tampa Bay
|
Jameis Winston |
QB |
Florida St. |
2 |
Cleveland |
Marcus Mariota |
QB |
Oregon |
3 |
Atlanta |
|
LB |
Florida |
4 |
Oakland |
Amari Cooper |
WR |
Alabama |
5 |
Washington |
Trae Waynes |
CB |
Michigan St. |
6 |
N.Y. Jets |
Vic Beasley |
OLB |
Clemson |
7 |
Chicago
|
Leonard Williams |
DE |
USC |
8 |
Jacksonville |
Todd Gurley |
RB |
Georgia |
9 |
N.Y. Giants |
Brandon Scherff |
OG |
Iowa |
10 |
St. Louis
|
Kevin White |
WR |
W. Virginia |
11 |
Minnesota |
Devante Parker |
WR |
Louisville |
12 |
Tennessee |
La'el Collins | OT/OG |
LSU |
13 |
San Diego
|
Melvin Gordon |
RB |
Wisconsin |
14 |
Miami |
Byron Jones |
CB |
U. Conn |
15 |
Cincinnati
|
Andrus Peat |
OT |
Stanford |
16 |
Pittsburgh |
Alvin "Bud" Dupree |
OLB |
Kentucky |
17 |
New Orleans
|
Danny Shelton |
DT |
Washington |
18 |
Kansas City
|
Cameron Erving |
OT |
Stanford |
19 |
Tennessee
|
Shane Ray |
OLB |
Missouri |
20 |
Philadelphia |
Nelson Agholor |
WR |
USC |
21 |
San Francisco
|
Breshad Perriman |
WR |
UCF |
22 |
Houston
|
Kevin Johnson |
CB |
Wake Forest |
23 |
Detroit |
Marcus Peters |
CB |
Washington |
24 |
Indianapolis |
Ereck Flowers |
OT |
Miami |
25 |
Carolina |
D.J. Humphries |
OT |
Florida |
26 |
Baltimore |
Phillip Dorsett |
WR |
Miami |
27 |
Dallas |
Landon Collins |
S |
Alabama |
28 |
Denver |
Laken Tomlinson |
OG |
Duke |
29 |
Arizona |
Owamagbe Odighizuwa |
OLB |
Boise St. |
30 |
Green Bay
|
Malcolm Brown |
DL |
Texas |
31 |
New Orleans
|
Eric Kendricks | CB |
Wake Forest |
32 |
Washington
|
Randy Gregory |
OLB |
Nebraska |
RD/Pick
|
Player |
School
|
Pos
|
2-15
|
Jake Fisher
|
Oregon
|
OT
|
3-8
|
Garrett Grayson |
Colorado St.
|
QB
|
4-15
|
Mitch Morse
|
Missouri
|
OG
|
4-20
|
Ramik Wilson
|
Georgia |
LB |
5-14
|
Jamil Douglas |
Arizona St. |
OG |
6-39
|
Damian Swann
|
Georgia |
CB |
7-10
|
Frank Clark
|
Michigan |
DE |
THE EXPLANATION
The Rams get lucky in the first roudn as Leonard Williams slips to the Bears due to trades in the top five, causing Kevin White to get past Chicago and Jacksonville, as they are more willing to pull the trigger on Todd Gurley, where they feel the value is better.
In round two the Rams trade down. This is where the drafts depth plays into the Rams' hands. Because the offensive line is deep in this draft, the Rams can move down and still get a very good player for great value and picking up a few extra picks. I have said since January that I am not 100% sold that the Rams will get past the third round without a QB being added. I feel the absolute cut off for them is the fourth round, in which case they would not draft anyone. So in the third they get Grayson to let sit for at least a year and let Chris Weinke do his job and develop the youngster.
After their trade down in round two, the Rams now have two fourth round picks. First Les Snead will continue to address the offensive line as there are not only holes for starting positions, but also depth. With the second of the two, Fisher gets what the team has long needed, more linebacker depth, as well as a possible successor for James Laurinaitis.
In the fifth round the trend continues, as the team refuses to allow the offensive line be a weakness for another year. The team wants to run the ball and run it well, but also might be tired of their brittle quarterbacks taking a beating. These changes will take a vast improvement on the offensive line. In the sixth round the team continues to add depth in key areas. There is no guarantee Janoris Jenkins or Trumaine Johnson will return after the season. Also Brandon McGee has not developed as planned.
With their last pick, the Rams get a major steal. Clark drops to the last round after getting arrested for domestic violence charge. This undoubtedly will cause him to fall completely off a lot of team boards, but he realistically should be a third round pick if not for his off field issues. The Rams can start grooming a possible successor for Chris Long.
There you have folks. Now it's time to sit back and watch the draft and see how wrong the entire world has been for the last couple of months. The clock is ticking and in due time we will know exactly how this whole thing will play out.