Welcome to Draft Week! My goal was to do 4 this cycle but time got away from me, so this will be my third and final mock. You can check out my previous versions of these HERE.
As I did at the end of my mocks last season, I will be focusing on trades this time around, but I don’t have as many as I thought I would. I finished my mock with only 3 trades in total. A lot of projected trades I have seen from other draft experts haven’t always made sense to me, and the 3 I have projected are the ones that I can feel confident on. As always, give me your thoughts below and let me know what you think your team will do Thursday night!
- Let’s start with the most obvious trade: Minnesota is going to move up to select a QB. They positioned themselves to do so with the trade with Houston to secure the 23rd overall pick. I think for them to get the guy they want; they need to jump the Giants. It does sound like New England and Arizona are listening to offers, but I think that package will be too rich for the Vikings to move up, so they instead will strike a deal with the Chargers, in what is a win-win trade. Vikings will get their QB, and, based on how my mock goes, the Chargers will get an OT that Harbaugh will build around, and Brian Thomas Jr. at 23 that will slide in and help replace some of what Keenan Allen and Mike Willams have left behind.
- I think Denver would have liked to move up in this draft to get one of the top 4 QBs, but as previously mentioned, I don’t know if Arizona or New England will truly want to trade out unless they are just blown away with an offer, and the Chargers won’t want to trade in division. But as it becomes clear that they won’t get up to get one of those guys, they start exploring a trade down. Philadelphia has moved up in every mock draft I have done, and this one is no exception, and by doing so select arguably the best CB prospect in this draft. As for Denver, they snag Bo Nix, who may not be the QB they exactly want, but when you are paying Russell Wilson to play in Pittsburgh, you must have a cheap option playing for you.
- Buffalo remains my wild card, as before my previous mock they had cut their entire defense, and now have traded Stefon Diggs to Houston. The only thing I can certainly say they won’t take is a QB. To me, WR is now probably what makes the most sense, and they trade up to draft their guy in Adonai Mitchell. Dallas is happy to oblige and take Colson at 28, who easily could have been their pick at 24, and grab an extra couple picks.
- Here are some other trades that make sense to me but I didn’t mock just due to confidence reasons:
- I think the Giants could be an intriguing team to trade up with Arizona or New England if they have a QB they really like, and the cost would not be as high as those teams would only drop a couple slots. But they are paying Daniel Jones $40 mil a year. That’s where my confidence issues are.
- I could see a team trading up to select Brock Bowers if they like him. They might have to jump the Jets to get him (even though I think the Jets need someone to protect Rodgers), but I think it could be very possible. My lack of confidence here is previous 1st round TE success. The track record isn’t great, and teams may not want to pay the price to go up and get him.
- Is there truly a team that is willing to trade up with the Chiefs? If the right WR or OT falls far enough, I could see KC being aggressive. If Fautana or Thomas Jr. is there around the early 20s, I could see the Chiefs calling, but I’m not sure anyone is picking up the phone.
