The Oakland Cathedral's Mock Draft

[The Oakland Cathedral]

Round 1: Solomon Thomas, DL, 6’3”, 273lbs, Stanford

Thomas is built like a wall. He has top level technique and consistently wins one on one matchups. He is also very good at absorbing double teams and still driving the Linemen backwards which just shows the power he is working with. He also has a solid swim move and spin move. He’s got well above average athleticism for his size. While he hasn’t recorded enormous sack numbers I think he is certainly capable of reaching 8-10 a year with some additional support on the line that I just didn’t see at Stanford. He is also a great run stopper with room for improvement in the pass rushing department. He has great character on and off the field and has a high football IQ. Like Raine mentioned in his mock draft he is a versatile player.

 

 

Round 2: Mason Cole, C, 6’5”, 305lbs, Michigan

Cole is a phenomenal pass protector at Center and above average in the run game. He routinely wins the leverage battle and delivers quick and clean snaps. He went up against great competition in his college career and performed very well against the best defensive players he faced. He will be a great player to either start in place of Zuttah or sit for a year behind him and learn before taking the helm.

 

 

Round 3: Chidobe Awuzie, CB, 6’0”, 205lbs, Colorado

Awuzie is one of my favorite players in this draft and someone I think would be a steal in the 3^rd. He has the prototypical size and athleticism you want in a corner. He is probably one of, if not the best tackling corners in the draft although occasionally he’ll forget to wrap and go for the big hit, but even then I have yet to see him fail to bring down his target. He has plus hands for when he puts himself in position for an interception. He is explosive off the line when asked to blitz. He seems to be good when asked to press but that is honestly not one of my better evaluation areas. Awuzie puts himself in position to jump routes while in coverage. He rarely gets beat in coverage. Overall I think he would be a great addition to our Corner depth and I think he has a high ceiling and all the skills necessary to reach that ceiling.

 

 

Round 3 (Comp): Jake Replogle, DL, 6’5”, 289lbs, Purdue

Replogle is probably my favorite under the radar player in the draft, he has steal written all over him. Fortunately, he sticks around until here because Purdue is trash. He is a phenomenal pass rusher who just eats one on one matchups for breakfast. He is also very good when it comes to stopping the run. If he can put on a little more weight and maintain his quickness and motor he could be downright dominant. There may or may not be some exaggeration in there but definitely check him out if you haven’t he is a great player and steal in the third.

 

 

Round 4: Amba Etta-Tawo, WR, 6’2”, 202lbs, Syracuse

Etta-Tawo had a bit of breakout year this season putting up 94 receptions for 1482 yards and 14 touchdowns. Even as a one year wonder he is worth this pick thanks to his silky smooth route running and impressive hands. By no means is he a world beater but he would make for a very reliable move the chains target with a little higher ceiling.

 

 

Round 5: Forrest Lamp, OT/OG, 6’3”, 300lbs, Western Kentucky

Lamp has primarily played LT at WKU throughout his time their but has played outstandingly well at the position, albeit against mostly weak competition. I think he would be a much better fit at Guard or RT in the NFL. He was the top rated tackle in college football last season by PFF with a +31.8 and top ten performances in the run game and pass pro. He also allowed 0 sacks in that season. In total in the two years prior to this season he gave up 26 total pressures on 1200 pass protecting snaps. This season he was similarly dominant including a 1 pressure outing against Bama and a shutout for FAU’s Trey Hendrickson among a number of other very talented pass rushers. His abilities are well proven and I think he could be a valuable asset for this team.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 5, 2016 by The Oakland Cathedral

[jboy19]

Since I'm down the street from Cathy, I'll bite: 

Solomon Thomas has been getting a lot of attn on here, I haven't watched much of him, but I'd be excited to see what he could do on this defense. I'd love to move him all around the front, 5-T, passing down 3-T, OLB. Would love to see what he could do. 

Mason Cole is a good Center. I'd love to see him taken if he's there. Saw this morning on Twitter that he might return to school though. Definitely better as a Center than a Left Tackle and would love to see him maul some people. 

Chidobe Awuzie is one of my favorite prospects, but I'd be pretty surprised to see him fall out of the top 40 picks. Love his instincts and ball skills though. 

Haven't seen Replogle at all, I'll need to check him out. Same with Etta-Tawo. 

Big fan of Lamp, but I don't think that he makes it out of the Second Round since the OL class is weak and the top OL guys will go fast. Unfortunately, I think the Cowboys' success is going to lead to 5 years of overdrafted linemen. 

[LosT_in_TranSlatioN]

8 hours ago, The Oakland Cathedral said:

 

Round 5: Forrest Lamp, OT/OG, 6’3”, 300lbs, Western Kentucky

I Love Lamp

Fixed.

 

Love Awuzie. Haven't seen much on Mason Cole because I am busy.  But Overall, it's a good mock. 

[The Oakland Cathedral]

11 hours ago, jboy19 said:

Since I'm down the street from Cathy, I'll bite:

Mason Cole is a good Center. I'd love to see him taken if he's there. Saw this morning on Twitter that he might return to school though. Definitely better as a Center than a Left Tackle and would love to see him maul some people. 

Chidobe Awuzie is one of my favorite prospects, but I'd be pretty surprised to see him fall out of the top 40 picks. Love his instincts and ball skills though. 

Haven't seen Replogle at all, I'll need to check him out. Same with Etta-Tawo. 

Big fan of Lamp, but I don't think that he makes it out of the Second Round since the OL class is weak and the top OL guys will go fast. Unfortunately, I think the Cowboys' success is going to lead to 5 years of overdrafted linemen. 

Yeah I saw cole might return which bit disappointing. 

On Awuzie, I couldn't find like any mocks or projections for where he might go so I just guessed on where he might go and picked the 3rd because of how loaded this DB class is. 

I could easily see Lamp going that but he's another I couldn't find many projections for  but I'd wouldn't mind grabbing a few rounds earlier though. 

[The Oakland Cathedral]

10 hours ago, LosT_in_TranSlatioN said:

Fixed.

 

Love Awuzie. Haven't seen much on Mason Cole because I am busy.  But Overall, it's a good mock. 

The fixed is pretty accurate lol. I'm a big fan of his. Thanks for the feedback and definitely check out cole if you get a chance.

[jboy19]

9 minutes ago, The Oakland Cathedral said:

Yeah I saw cole might return which bit disappointing. 

On Awuzie, I couldn't find like any mocks or projections for where he might go so I just guessed on where he might go and picked the 3rd because of how loaded this DB class is. 

I could easily see Lamp going that but he's another I couldn't find many projections for  but I'd wouldn't mind grabbing a few rounds earlier though. 

Yeah I could be off base because I really like those 2 haha and Im not secretly a GM or anything so who knows. 

[JoeyFlex5]

bruh i would love a player named forrest lamp. like... he lights up the forest. 

his parents didnt consider his last name when naming him a homonym of a location?

[Jacquouille]

7 hours ago, JoeyFlex5 said:

bruh i would love a player named forrest lamp. like... he lights up the forest. 

his parents didnt consider his last name when naming him a homonym of a location?

Deforest was pretty good in its own right.

[redlobster]

I was under the impression DL was deep this year, I would be meh, on the Stanford DL early. Think a bigger impact CB , pure Pass rusher, or interior OL could be more helpful.

[Jacquouille]

22 minutes ago, redlobster said:

I was under the impression DL was deep this year, I would be meh, on the Stanford DL early. Think a bigger impact CB , pure Pass rusher, or interior OL could be more helpful.

It's not deep, apart from a few sleeper (Replogle, Tomlinson) it's actually a horrible one. Teams searching for a run stuffer will be able to get that but if you want to bolster your pass rush you'll have to give your first pick, no other way around. Plus Thomas is a really good pick and a born leader, would definitely not be a 'meh' pick.

[JoeyFlex5]

ive been seeing his name a bit around here, havent seen him yet though. 

ill say this though... id be disappointed with a DL in the first. jernigan and pierce and if we re-sign him, brandon william will be a devastating 3 man rotation that will become very well known and feared around the league, and its a deep group so its not like we need depth there, lawrence guy is a backup who has played at a starting level for 3 seasons now. i dont see any reason at all to make a high priced investment there again, now if we were picking top 10 and the next aaron donald was there, then ill sing a different tune, but that wont be the case here. 

 

[ravensnation5220]

56 minutes ago, JoeyFlex5 said:

ive been seeing his name a bit around here, havent seen him yet though. 

ill say this though... id be disappointed with a DL in the first. jernigan and pierce and if we re-sign him, brandon william will be a devastating 3 man rotation that will become very well known and feared around the league, and its a deep group so its not like we need depth there, lawrence guy is a backup who has played at a starting level for 3 seasons now. i dont see any reason at all to make a high priced investment there again, now if we were picking top 10 and the next aaron donald was there, then ill sing a different tune, but that wont be the case here. 

 

What about a guy like demarcus walker?

[RaineV1]

3 hours ago, JoeyFlex5 said:

ive been seeing his name a bit around here, havent seen him yet though. 

ill say this though... id be disappointed with a DL in the first. jernigan and pierce and if we re-sign him, brandon william will be a devastating 3 man rotation that will become very well known and feared around the league, and its a deep group so its not like we need depth there, lawrence guy is a backup who has played at a starting level for 3 seasons now. i dont see any reason at all to make a high priced investment there again, now if we were picking top 10 and the next aaron donald was there, then ill sing a different tune, but that wont be the case here. 

 

Jernigan hasn't been that good. Everyone keeps waiting for him to break out and finally be that great pass rusher he shows flashes of, but it doesn't seem like that's coming. As for Peirce, I like him, but he isn't helping the pass rush that much. In fact, outside of Jernigan on one of those rare games where he flashes, none of the linemen are particularly that good of a pass rusher.

With Thomas we'll have a pass rusher with some consistency who can play the edge or DE on any down, and be penetrating NT on passing downs.

[Robbyrobbass]

6 hours ago, RaineV1 said:

Jernigan hasn't been that good. Everyone keeps waiting for him to break out and finally be that great pass rusher he shows flashes of, but it doesn't seem like that's coming. As for Peirce, I like him, but he isn't helping the pass rush that much. In fact, outside of Jernigan on one of those rare games where he flashes, none of the linemen are particularly that good of a pass rusher.

With Thomas we'll have a pass rusher with some consistency who can play the edge or DE on any down, and be penetrating NT on passing downs.

6 sacks so far is pretty good  

[rmw10]

6 hours ago, RaineV1 said:

Jernigan hasn't been that good. Everyone keeps waiting for him to break out and finally be that great pass rusher he shows flashes of, but it doesn't seem like that's coming. As for Peirce, I like him, but he isn't helping the pass rush that much. In fact, outside of Jernigan on one of those rare games where he flashes, none of the linemen are particularly that good of a pass rusher.

With Thomas we'll have a pass rusher with some consistency who can play the edge or DE on any down, and be penetrating NT on passing downs.

I'd disagree that Jernigan hasn't been good.  He's been good, but he just hasn't been consistent.  He's getting a lot of push from the interior when he's on.  It just needs to become more common for him.  His consistency has improved compared to last year, but we definitely need for him not to disappear from games.

[Jacquouille]

14 minutes ago, rmw10 said:

I'd disagree that Jernigan hasn't been good.  He's been good, but he just hasn't been consistent.  He's getting a lot of push from the interior when he's on.  It just needs to become more common for him.  His consistency has improved compared to last year, but we definitely need for him not to disappear from games.

The fact that he's getting double teamed on almost every snap doesn't help.

[RaineV1]

7 hours ago, Jacquouille said:

The fact that he's getting double teamed on almost every snap doesn't help.

This is definitely true. That could be another good reason to grab Thomas. Can't double team both of them.

[Jacquouille]

46 minutes ago, RaineV1 said:

This is definitely true. That could be another good reason to grab Thomas. Can't double team both of them.

Yeah it's why I like to add some interior pass rush. I was one of the rare advocate for Buckner last year (even though he was far from being my favourite prospect) because a guy like Thomas coupled with Jernigan and Pierce gives a trio of guys that can't be blocked if they're not double teamed. It's scary when you think about it.

[RaineV1]

1 minute ago, Jacquouille said:

Yeah it's why I like to add some interior pass rush. I was one of the rare advocate for Buckner last year (even though he was far from being my favourite prospect) because a guy like Thomas coupled with Jernigan and Pierce gives a trio of guys that can't be blocked if they're not double teamed. It's scary when you think about it.

Yep. Also, if Judon keeps improving he can also really take advantage of the interior guys getting the double teamed.

[Jacquouille]

18 hours ago, RaineV1 said:

Yep. Also, if Judon keeps improving he can also really take advantage of the interior guys getting the double teamed.

Right, didn't think about that but it would definitely be a good thing. I'm not on a Judon hype train, I really like him and how he's progressing but I don't think he's got the physical tools to ever be a guy that's going to take the OL's attention. If you think about it his sacks are mostly coverage sacks or recovery sacks, but given time if he's put into 1on1 matchups he has the smarts to take advantage of that and having a dominant DL that takes all the attention could be the way for him to get double digit sacks in the future.

[PurpleCity5]

I would be pretty disappointed if we picked a DL if we keep BWill, even without Bwill I wouldn't be for picking a DL at that spot. I would be more inclined to pick a CB, Edge, FS, or even a RB if Cook or McCaffey make a huge leap before a DL. 

[rmw10]

15 minutes ago, PurpleCity5 said:

I would be pretty disappointed if we picked a DL if we keep BWill, even without Bwill I wouldn't be for picking a DL at that spot. I would be more inclined to pick a CB, Edge, FS, or even a RB if Cook or McCaffey make a huge leap before a DL. 

I'm not saying he's as good, but I don't think Thomas is a pure DL in the sense that you're thinking.  He's more of a Michael Bennett to me.  He'll play the edge in our 4-3 under and slide inside to 3T in passing situations.

[PurpleCity5]

9 hours ago, rmw10 said:

I'm not saying he's as good, but I don't think Thomas is a pure DL in the sense that you're thinking.  He's more of a Michael Bennett to me.  He'll play the edge in our 4-3 under and slide inside to 3T in passing situations.

I see, I haven't paid much attention to Thomas so I didn't know about his flexibility, but we could certainly use someone in the 4-3 rotation who can line up in the edge and 3T in passing downs, with that said, my stance on DL still hasn't changed even if Thomas is an exception, I would still prefer plenty of other guys over a DL unless Thomas is exactly how you describe him as. 

[JoeyFlex5]

I've seen Thomas labeled as an edge rusher by some outlets but from what I've seen he's a 3T and a 34DE. Does anyone have film of him playing a true edge role? 

Also, his stunts and athleticism are impressive, I just feel like he has a lot of work. He seems like a tweener to me. He may be athletic enough to edge rush but I haven't seen proof of it, his feet are super quick and he eats up ground in a hurry, but he's doing this on the inside from what I've seen so idk if that would translate to the edge. And at 270ish I don't know if he can play DT. And for a guy like him in the first round youd really like more sacks, makes you wonder why he isn't getting home with all his incredible traits.

[RaineV1]

38 minutes ago, JoeyFlex5 said:

I've seen Thomas labeled as an edge rusher by some outlets but from what I've seen he's a 3T and a 34DE. Does anyone have film of him playing a true edge role? 

Also, his stunts and athleticism are impressive, I just feel like he has a lot of work. He seems like a tweener to me. He may be athletic enough to edge rush but I haven't seen proof of it, his feet are super quick and he eats up ground in a hurry, but he's doing this on the inside from what I've seen so idk if that would translate to the edge. And at 270ish I don't know if he can play DT. And for a guy like him in the first round youd really like more sacks, makes you wonder why he isn't getting home with all his incredible traits.

I don't think Stanford actually used him as an edge guy that often, but at his size he'd be probably a DE in a more traditional 4-3 defense. I'm not sure if he would stick to DE and just occasionally play edge like Mario Edwards did last year for the Raiders or transition to edge to play the type of role that Suggs has been. I just think either way he'll help our defense a lot in getting consistent pressure, and won't be a liability against the run.

As for him not getting home, I think it's because of the defense he played for. He was their biggest threat to get to the QB and other teams focused on stopping him.

I think Thomas definitely has plenty of room to improve. If he didn't have some question marks he wouldn't be available that late in the 1st round. But he's at a position that we're fairly good at coaching up. He just seems like the Ravens' best chance in the late 1st to improve the passrush, barring some surprising slide.

[Jacquouille]

1 hour ago, JoeyFlex5 said:

I've seen Thomas labeled as an edge rusher by some outlets but from what I've seen he's a 3T and a 34DE. Does anyone have film of him playing a true edge role? 

Also, his stunts and athleticism are impressive, I just feel like he has a lot of work. He seems like a tweener to me. He may be athletic enough to edge rush but I haven't seen proof of it, his feet are super quick and he eats up ground in a hurry, but he's doing this on the inside from what I've seen so idk if that would translate to the edge. And at 270ish I don't know if he can play DT. And for a guy like him in the first round youd really like more sacks, makes you wonder why he isn't getting home with all his incredible traits.

The scouts I follow were saying Stanford isn't using Thomas well by only putting him inside, and that he would be actually better as a 4-3 end. And I don't know about the sacks, but for a guy who is consistently double-teamed he disrupts a lot of plays. To me being able to get a guy as physically and mentally ready for the NFL who's also an A+ character and a born leader this late in the first round is a blessing, no less.

[usmccharles]

I haven't paid much attention to college players yet, but I don't see us drafting a DL in the first considering how well we develop that position and find gems in the later rounds. 

[Cillmatic]

16 minutes ago, usmccharles said:

I haven't paid much attention to college players yet, but I don't see us drafting a DL in the first considering how well we develop that position and find gems in the later rounds. 

Expect either a Edge rusher, CB or O-lineman. 

[usmccharles]

1 minute ago, Cillmatic said:

Expect either a Edge rusher, CB or O-lineman. 

That's exactly what I expect and prefer as well.  We need to find someone for Suggs to groom

[Jacquouille]

4 hours ago, usmccharles said:

I haven't paid much attention to college players yet, but I don't see us drafting a DL in the first considering how well we develop that position and find gems in the later rounds. 

We make above average starters out of late round gems. Thomas is a gym rat and one of the hardest workers I've seen, Cullen would make him an  All Pro. Also, he can and will work on the edge as a pro.