JJ's early mock

[January J]

Round 1 ( trade back) 

Dan Feeney- possible we lose Wagner in FA - and even if not feeney has showed he can play center. Always good to have a lineman who can move around in a pinch. I actually thought about going Oj Howard here with the uncertainty at TE- But considering the direction the offense is going- Beefing up the line while adding an extra 2nd and possible fourth Is a no brainer to me. Decosta and co. hinted that  protecting Joe and strengthening the line was priority #1 next to corner...obviously it takes two teams to tango- so if we have to stay put Im 75% sure we go with the highest available CB on our board who will likely be Quincy Wilson or Sidney Jones.

Round 2

TJ Watt- pass rushing is an absolute necessity. I think decosta downplayed a bit as to how high of a priority it actually is. Its far too early to tell  if KC will pan out- but early signs are not looking good- and with the departure of Orr its looking like KC will possibly make  the permanent switch to ILB. with doom likely on the way out and suggs in his last year or two- I think this is another no brainer. The Watt genes obviously seem pretty good- and if he can make an impact even close to the one his brother has made- this will be a home run. May not fall this far - but if so we will pounce.

Round 2

Cooper Kupp- this guys stock is constantly rising and its possible he sneaks into the back end of  the first. I think he fits the exact mold of what we need in a receiver- and if he falls to us i think we pull  the trigger without hesitation.

Round 3  

Desmond King-  its an absolute necessity we draft a corner early..however I think we will mainly utilize him as a safety. I don't think we will move on from Webb- but he does have a pretty high cap # so its possible he could be on the way out if he doesn't agree to another paycut. I think king and weddle would make a great duo- and he's already stated he would love to play here. And once again- it never hurts to have somebody that can move around in a pinch.  Could be wishful thinking that he falls to the third- but certainly possible after a not so good showing at the senior bowl.

Round 3 ( comp)

Damontae Kazee- had a hard time here choosing between him, Kevin king and Cameron Sutton. In the end the 7 interceptions his senior year sold me. Turnovers win games. Sutton has injury concerns , and I think its possible he could fall down to the late 4th or even 5th ...in which case id grab him. Sutton's only 5'11 186 so that concerns me a bit as well. However he showed at the senior bowl how much he could move around and play safety, nickel and outside. He was very fluid and shut down oj howard a few times.he's very physical for his size. If he has a good combine i may reconsider. Kevin King on the other hand I'd strongly consider here. Has much better measurables at 6'3 192- and if Kazee is gone he's my pick. Now Kazee is also only 5'11 also but he plays much bigger and made many more plays. His 67 tackles is more than anybody in the entire cb class next to Elder and Douglas. He's VERY physical and extremely aggressive. I worry that he could draw some penalties-but his playmaking potential far outweighs that worry. it's very important we take a pure corner- one of the highest  necessities on the totum pole.  Ideally we would take one sooner- but I think we get the most value here- and by picking up those extra picks in the first. The only other corner I would take here would be White or Douglas- however I don't see them falling this far.

Round 4

Ejuan Price-  can never  have enough pass rushers. At 6'1 255 I think he will be able to win with leverage- haven't watched alot of tape on him- but he registered 42 tackles and 13 sacks his senior year at Pitt. I think getting him here is great value.

Round 4 ( acquired from tradeback)

Damien Mama- adding more depth to the OL is always good. This guy had a good season as a junior from USC but has alot of room for improvement. Maybe we can strike gold here in the fourth  once again like we did last year with Alex Lewis

Round 5

Chris Odom- we triple dip at edge rusher. Great value here in  the fifth for a guy that registered 53 tackles and 12.5 sacks.

Round 6

Marquel Lee - tough call here. I thought about going with Jordan Evans who had 100 tackles, 2.5 sacks and 4 interceptions. Haven't watched much tape on either- but the 4 interceptions lets me know that he has good hands and is pretty good at dropping back into coverage- which is an important trait to have at the position and with the departure of Orr. However I went with Lee from Wake Forest who  had a pretty solid senior season with 105  tackles and 7.5 sacks. Getting him in the 6th would be great value once again- and he can help us bring some pressure up the middle which is essential going up against good qbs that can avoid pressure from the edges by stepping up in the pocket such as Brady and Big Ben.

Round 7

Jerod Evans Jr.- I haven't heard anything about us trying to retain Ryan Mallet- but I think many would agree its not a bad idea to take a flyer on a backup qb to try and develop behind Joe. Evans is 6'4 235 from Virginia Tech- I may be just a little biased being a virginia kid- but I think he has some potential. Joes not going anywhere anytime soon  so there's  really no reason to take a qb high- but god forbid he goes down with another injury we need a contingency plan in place. We tend to go the veteran route- which didn't pan out well with  guys like schaub or Clausen. I happen to like mallet- but I think he may try to go elsewhere for more money or to compete for a starting job. We did a good job developing tyrod Taylor who also was from VA- so I think its time to go young again and see if we can develop this kid. You never know when you will find a late round gem ( Prescott, Brady, Antonio Brown, etc.)

i don't have us taking a RB although I think there's a decent chance we grab one. Donnell Pumphrey is somebody we've spent ALOT of time with- so he's somebody to  keep an eye on. With over 2000  yards and 17tds he could be that 3rd playmaking rb we're looking for. I have all the faith in the world in Dixon- but it never hurts to have insurance. If he falls to the 6th or even the 5th I think there's a very high likelihood we take him.  Maybe we tradeback with our second 4th to pick up an extra 5th and use that on him.  I didn't wanna include too many trades on a mock draft- but that is something I think is certainly feasible so I will throw that in.

 to sum up:

1) Dan Feeney (G/C)

2) TJ Watt (OLB)

*2) Cooper Kupp  (WR)

3)Desmond King ( CB/S)

3) (COMP) Damontae Kazee  ( CB)

4)Ejuan Price ( DE/OLB)

*4)Damien Mama (OL)

5)Chris Odom ( DE/OLB)

*5) Donnell Pumphrey (RB)

6)Marquel Lee ( MLB)

7)Jerod Evans Jr. (QB)

* =Acquired from trade-back.

 

I know some of this may be wishful thinking -that bein said this is obviously IMO a best case scenario mock. However I don't see any of the picks as a "Pipedream"  and think all of this is certainly within the realm of possibilities. thoughts?

Edited February 3 by January J

[ravensnation5220]

I think this is a very solid draft. Fills a lot of holes on our roster. I really like kazee and king in the 3rd, those would be solid picks. If kings not there then I think Sutton could be an option. Overall very solid draft. However.....i dont see a game changer in this mock. There's a lot of solid guys I'd say B+ grade. 

[January J]

2 hours ago, ravensnation5220 said:

I think this is a very solid draft. Fills a lot of holes on our roster. I really like kazee and king in the 3rd, those would be solid picks. If kings not there then I think Sutton could be an option. Overall very solid draft. However.....i dont see a game changer in this mock. There's a lot of solid guys I'd say B+ grade. 

I see watt and kupp both as potential game changers. I mean I guess their not "can't miss" prospects but I think they're pretty darn close.

[ravensnation5220]

38 minutes ago, January J said:

I see watt and kupp both as potential game changers. I mean I guess their not "can't miss" prospects but I think they're pretty darn close.

Ya I'd say they are pretty safe picks. High floor but not the best upside

[rossihunter2]

im a big fan of tj watt - the more i watch the better he looks

[RaineV1]

I'd love the combination of Feeney and Watt as the first two picks.

[Wildabeast88]

I like this mock Feeney is a nice pick and insurance policy to kick Lewis to RT if Wagner leaves. Rounds 2-3 are amazing I think I may ave been one of the first on Kazee. I like Pumphrey as well. Price concerns me because of his age I mean he was in school for 6 years. 

[BmoreBird22]

Jerrod Evans was a heaven send for VT this year. I wish he would have stayed another year because he needs major refinement, but I think he was scared to not play with Ford and Hodges.

[RavensDieHard21]

King in the third seems like a stretch, but I like the Feeney trade back scenario. Kupp as a late second would be really tough to see too, but possible. I'd hope for Conley, Lewis, Pocic, Baker. 

[usmccharles]

Watt looks like he could be that guy that takes over Suggs role and brings back some of that swag.  Would it be crazy if we traded back and took him in the 1st?

[RaineV1]

3 hours ago, usmccharles said:

Watt looks like he could be that guy that takes over Suggs role and brings back some of that swag.  Would it be crazy if we traded back and took him in the 1st?

Kinda. I think Watt has potential to go early second but he's unlikely to crack the first round. He's probably not going to be super good in the combine compared to some other guys. And it doesn't help that he's seen as a high floor but with only an average ceiling kind of guy. I can't call it a low ceiling, but it's not quite on the same level as some other guys set to go in the later half of the first. Granted he has the potential to be the type of reach in the late first that gets vindicated when he turns out to be a very solid player, but it's a bit of a gamble to take him over some of the other guys in the first. Personally, even though I like Watt, I'd sooner target Ryan Anderson with a trade down than Watt.

Edited February 4 by RaineV1

[usmccharles]

5 minutes ago, RaineV1 said:

Kinda. I think Watt has potential to go early second but he's unlikely to crack the first round. He's probably not going to be super good in the combine compared to some other guys. And it doesn't help that he's seen as a high floor but with only an average ceiling kind of guy. I can't call it a low ceiling, but it's not quite on the same level as some other guys set to go in the later half of the first. Granted he has the potential to be the type of reach in the late first that gets vindicated when he turns out to be a very solid player, but it's a bit of a gamble to take him over some of the other guys in the first. Personally, even though I like Watt, I'd sooner target Ryan Anderson with a trade down than Watt.

Makes sense.  I havent really looked into many players this year. 

[Jacquouille]

What makes you guys think Watt's ceiling is low? He's been playing the position for only two years, I'd say he has one of the highest ceilings of all.

[rossihunter2]

2 hours ago, RaineV1 said:

Kinda. I think Watt has potential to go early second but he's unlikely to crack the first round. He's probably not going to be super good in the combine compared to some other guys. And it doesn't help that he's seen as a high floor but with only an average ceiling kind of guy. I can't call it a low ceiling, but it's not quite on the same level as some other guys set to go in the later half of the first. Granted he has the potential to be the type of reach in the late first that gets vindicated when he turns out to be a very solid player, but it's a bit of a gamble to take him over some of the other guys in the first. Personally, even though I like Watt, I'd sooner target Ryan Anderson with a trade down than Watt.

I don't know why you see such a low ceiling - the guy shows bags of promise the more I watch film on him

[RaineV1]

1 hour ago, Jacquouille said:

What makes you guys think Watt's ceiling is low? He's been playing the position for only two years, I'd say he has one of the highest ceilings of all.

 

9 minutes ago, rossihunter2 said:

I don't know why you see such a low ceiling - the guy shows bags of promise the more I watch film on him

I didn't say low ceiling, just that it's not as high as some others that are expected to go in the first. He's simply not as good of an athlete as the other edge guys expected to go in the first. He doesn't have that explosive burst, and is unlikely to be able to push back NFL tackles. He has the tenacity and motor you'd want in an edge rusher and shows some ability to help against the run (though due to him not being that big he could get pushed back by some NFL tackles). With time he could mix that tenacity with savvy moves to get around tackles and be a good starter.

I see TJ Watt as the text book example of what you normally look for in the second round, a guy with potential to be a solid starter but won't likely be a top ten player at his position.

[Jacquouille]

1 hour ago, RaineV1 said:

 

I didn't say low ceiling, just that it's not as high as some others that are expected to go in the first. He's simply not as good of an athlete as the other edge guys expected to go in the first. He doesn't have that explosive burst, and is unlikely to be able to push back NFL tackles. He has the tenacity and motor you'd want in an edge rusher and shows some ability to help against the run (though due to him not being that big he could get pushed back by some NFL tackles). With time he could mix that tenacity with savvy moves to get around tackles and be a good starter.

I see TJ Watt as the text book example of what you normally look for in the second round, a guy with potential to be a solid starter but won't likely be a top ten player at his position.

Don't see that. He's not the most "boomish" guy with his first step, that is true, but it doesn't mean he isn't a good athlete. He has good length, elite hand placement, quick hand movement to slap back OT's hands, shows very solid bend and speed arond the corner. If what you mean is that he isn't Tim Williams then yes, he isn't. But Bosa gets 10.5 sacks in a short season, and I don't see a better athlete than Watt when watching Bosa. That is to say I truly see a double digit sacks guy in Watt, not just a starter.

Edited February 4 by Jacquouille

[January J]

11 hours ago, usmccharles said:

Watt looks like he could be that guy that takes over Suggs role and brings back some of that swag.  Would it be crazy if we traded back and took him in the 1st?

If we did we could almost def trade back twice and still land him easily. Get 2 extra 2nds and a third.  we need starters- so I would then package our original two thirds to Jump back Into the 2nd. That would give us watt-and then have FOUR picks in the 2nd and STILL have a 3rd. Imagine the damage we could do with that many picks in the 2nd ...we could knock out corner, OL, WR and another pass rusher. Then maybe go safety in the third if a guy like hooker falls. This would be an absolute dream haul. If only something like this could actually come to fruition. We'd have atleast 5 immediate starters... Who could all be game changers. Getting that young and having that many rookie contracts would allow us to move on from some of the older guys with high numbers and have a ton of cap room to make 2 or 3 splashes in FA. We could bring in Marshall no problem- along with a proven cb and maybe a pass rusher. 

Really we could do the same thing with oj howard- trade back twice and still land him.. Then wreak havoc in the 2nd.

Edited February 4 by January J

[PurpleCity5]

If Feeney projects as a C then I think we could definitely take him in a trade back scenario. I believe the team has a lot of confidence in Alex Lewis though and sees him as a potential stud at LG. 

[berad]

I could definitely get behind this. Without trading back, I don't see how the Ravens can make legitimate selections at their areas of need. This draft covers that.