NFL Mock Draft

This is one of my favorite times of the year, NFL Draft season. Watching the tape, breaking down the best college players, putting together mock draft after mock draft that will never be accurate. Making the bold predictions that I usually get so wrong I just forget I even mentioned them. That’s happened more times than I’ve been right.

This year is one of those years where I honestly have no idea what is going to happen, and it’s mainly within the first five picks. The Cleveland Browns have two picks in the top five (1 and 4). The New York Jets traded up to get the third pick overall. The Denver Broncos are lurking at number five but do they move up? There are so many questions that no one has the answers to, and likely the teams at the top don’t even have those answers right now.

The draft is where you build your team with players who you have no idea what you’re going to get because the transition from the college level to the pro ranks is so intense that some players fade out before they even get started.

The top five picks in the draft could see 3, maybe 4 quarterbacks chosen. That’s 3 or 4 quarterbacks that in my mind aren’t worthy of going that high, let alone in the top 10.

(Photo from chatsports.com)

The object of the draft is to get the best players available, not the player who is a ‘good fit’ or a logical pick. For example, with the Browns holding the top pick many are wondering what direction they’ll go; do they take a shot at their next franchise quarterback? Or do they take the best player in the draft, Penn State running back Saquon Barkley? That franchise quarterback might not even be in the top 10 of best players in the draft but again, it’s the logical thing to do. Taking a running back number one is almost unheard of and coincidentally the last running back to be selected number one overall was another Penn State running back, Ki-Jana Carter in 1995.

The top question is, what do the Browns do with their first two picks? Many believe they will select USC quarterback Sam Darnold number one. Darnold has been the top quarterback on many draft boards since before the 2017 college season even started. With the fourth pick it’s very likely that Barkley won’t be around so where do they go? The Jets are bound to take a quarterback. That leaves two intriguing players, North Carolina State defensive end Bradley Chubb and Notre Dame guard Quenton Nelson. Either pick would help solidify both the offensive and defensive line.

 The New York Giants are next and it seems inevitable that they’d take Barkley if the Browns don’t, right? You wouldn’t dare skip a generational type of player, right? Even if it’s a running back? If you’re going to draft a running back that high, it almost seems like the Giants are the best landing spot. You have a Hall of Fame quarterback in Eli Manning and a potential Hall of Fame wide receiver in Odell Beckham Jr on the offensive side of the ball who will just naturally command the spotlight and would take some of it away from Barkley. That’s not to say he wouldn’t get some of that spotlight should he be their guy, but it won’t be nearly as bright of a light as it would be in Cleveland where he would be immediately become the face of the franchise for a team that desperately needs it. They drafted defensive end Myles Garrett last year with the number one pick, but Barkley would come in and be able to play all four downs and ignite the offense.

Regardless of how the first five picks shape out, the NFL Draft always provides drama and excitement. I’ve taken the liberty of putting together the 346^th mock draft you’ll see before the draft next week with about 100 more to come.

Note: these picks are what I believe the teams SHOULD do, not what I think they WILL do. Big difference. Also note, I did not factor in any trades that might occur.

1.     Cleveland Browns: RB, Saquon Barkley, Penn State

2.     New York Giants: DE, Bradley Chubb, NC State  

3.     New York Jets: Quarterback, Sam Darnold, USC

4.     Cleveland Browns: Offensive guard, Quenton Nelson, Notre Dame

5.     Denver Broncos: S, Derwin James, Florida State

6.     Indianapolis Colts: CB, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Alabama

7.     Tampa Bay Buccaneers: CB, Denzel Ward, Ohio State

8.     Chicago Bears: DT, Vita Vea, Washington

9.     San Francisco 49ers: OLB, Tremaine Edmunds, Virginia Tech

10.  Oakland Raiders: WR, Calvin Ridley, Alabama

11.  Miami Dolphins: ILB, Roquan Smith, Georgia

12.  Buffalo Bills: QB, Josh Rosen, UCLA

13.  Washington Redskins: OT, Mike McGlinchey, Notre Dame

14.  Green Bay Packers: DE, Harold Landry, Boston College

15.  Arizona Cardinals: QB, Josh Allen, Wyoming

16.  Baltimore Ravens: ILB, Rashaan Evans, Alabama

17.  LA Chargers: WR, D.J. Moore, Maryland

18.  Seattle Seahawks: OT, Connor Williams, Texas

19.  Dallas Cowboys: WR, Christian Kirk, Texas A&M

20.  Detroit Lions: DT, Da’Ron Payne, Alabama

21.  Cincinnati Bengals: DE, Sam Hubbard, Ohio State

22.  Buffalo Bills: OT, Kolton Miller, UCLA

23.  New England Patriots: CB, Josh Jackson, Iowa

24.  Carolina Panthers: WR, Courtland Sutton, SMU

25.  Tennessee Titans: OLB, Leighton Vander Esch, Boise State

26.  Atlanta Falcons: CB, Jaire Alexander, Louisville

27.  New Orleans Saints: TE, Mike Gesicki, Penn State

28.  Pittsburgh Steelers: QB, Lamar Jackson, Louisville

29.  Jacksonville Jaguars: WR, James Washington, Oklahoma State

30.  Minnesota Vikings: RB, Derrius Guice, LSU

31.  New England Patriots: OLB, Malik Jefferson, Texas

32.  Philadelphia Eagles: DE, Marcus Davenport, UTSA

Cavs in 7

The NBA Finals are finally upon us and the storylines are endless. The wait is over and we will hopefully get the Finals we have been looking forward to. Many believe the Warriors are just too good for the Cavaliers and will end the series in 5 games, some are saying it could end in a 4 game sweep. The main storylines are the usual; can LeBron James win another title? Can he do it against these Warriors? Can Steph Curry get back to the top of the best in the league status? Can Kevin Durant finally get his ring after joining the Warriors in the offseason? There are plenty of other storylines to dive into so let’s do that.

(Photo: Sporting News)

We’ll start at the top with LeBron James. LeBron has now reached the NBA Finals for a staggering seventh straight season (4 with Miami and 3 with Cleveland), and is looking for his fourth ring. You have to go back to the Boston Celtics of the 1960’s to find the last time a player, in this case players, went to the Finals in seven straight seasons. (I’d like to acknowledge James’ teammate James Jones who has also made it seven straight Finals.) The pressure from the outside is on LeBron to win and it always is, but is there really pressure on him? The discussion is and will continue to be where is LeBron on the all-time list for the NBA. It’s never that LeBron is a top 5 or top 10 player, but it’s where is LeBron compared to Michael Jordan? Winning last season and bringing the city of Cleveland it’s first pro sports title in over 50 years added to LeBron’s legacy but beating this Warriors team would launch LeBron into the discussion of the greatest of all time without a doubt. I don’t think LeBron has anymore pressure on him and pressure on his legacy because the pressure was on him once he came back to Cleveland and to win a title for his city. He did that. Now, as you can tell by the way he’s been playing, that he’s just playing ball for the love of the game. The titles will come, but now he’s just playing to play. For the Cavaliers to win another title and go back to back LeBron has to be the reason.

What about Kevin Durant? If we’re ranking the best players in the NBA, you don’t have to go more than one spot behind James to find Durant’s name. Much like James, Durant is a phenomenal talent and one of the more skilled players we’ve ever seen at his size. During his time in Oklahoma City he made the Finals once and lost in five games to LeBron and the Heat. He’s the best player without a title right now and needs that ring. Just like LeBron. In case your memory is foggy, Durant and the Thunder were up 3-1 on the Warriors last season in the Western Conference Finals and ended up losing three games in a row and their season was over. Fast forward to July 4^th when KD announces he’s leaving Oklahoma City and heading to the Warriors. The pressure isn’t on LeBron to win but Durant and to perform at an MVP level. What if the Warriors lose and Durant has a terrible series? How will that look on his legacy? He’s on this ‘super team’ that nearly everyone is picking as prohibitive favorites so they should win, right? If the Warriors want to win and cap off this season and playoff run, then Durant will have to be the guy. Plain and simple.

Don’t think I’ve forgotten about Step Curry. The 2-time league MVP and the only unanimous MVP in league history. Oh, he also has a title to go along with those MVP’s. So why has everyone seemingly forgotten about Steph? Maybe it’s because he didn’t play well in some games in last year’s Finals. Maybe it’s because his new teammate is Kevin Durant. He doesn’t talk much like his other teammate Draymond Green. But for some unknown reason we forget that right behind Durant and LeBron on the league’s best list is Curry. He’ll have to step up and play like the MVP he is for the Warriors to win but like the two previous guys I’ve mentioned, there is pressure on Curry. The pressure is to make everyone forget last season and make them remember that he’s that guy.

Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love need to score. A lot. LeBron will score his points and will probably score plenty of them but the help of Kyrie and Love will be something to watch. We know that both guys can go cold and have hit or miss games, but during these playoffs both guys are playing at a high level. Kyrie is averaging 24 points per game while Love is averaging a double double with 17 and 10. Both have played well as the playoffs go on but now is when the real season starts. We saw what Irving can do in big game situations as he dropped 41 in game 5 which was the culmination of three straight games with 30 or more points. Love on the other hand struggled last year in the Finals scoring no more than 17 points in a game. And that was game one. It’s almost safe to say that Kyrie will show up in the Finals and help out LeBron but will Kevin Love? He’ll not only have to score points and grab rebounds, but he’ll have to play above average defense on whoever he’s guarding.

Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are both x-factors for the Warriors but that goes without saying. Thompson has been struggling during these playoffs only averaging 14 points and shooting 36% from beyond the arc. Green on the other hand, while his numbers won’t jump off the page, it’s his attitude and how he plays that is the reason why he earned the reputation (or respect) he's gotten. Or maybe the lack of respect depending on if he’s kicked you in the nuts. Both guys are All-Stars and will need to play at that level, especially Thompson. The Warriors got by the Blazers, Jazz, and Spurs without Klay hitting more than 4 threes in a game. Last year Draymond was suspended for game 5 of the NBA Finals which many believe is why they lost the Finals but he was available for games 6 and 7. If the Warriors want to win another title they’re going to need Klay to heat up, which if he can do that then this series could be over sooner rather than later. They'll also need Draymond to keep his cool.

The Cavs players who might be the biggest x-factors outside of the big three, JR Smith and Tristan Thompson. Thompson is a pivotal member for the Cavaliers if they want to repeat. Thompson won’t have to score 15 points a game but he might have to grab 15 rebounds a game. He’s a great offensive rebounder who will have to keep guys like Draymond Green, Kevin Durant, Zaza Pachulia, and JaVale McGee off the boards. In a series like this it’s obvious that every player that enters the game has to play better than they’ve ever played and for Thompson, that could not be more true. On the flip side, for JR Smith, it’s all about shooting. And shooting some more. LeBron has said that Smith has the ultimate, florescent green-light, when it comes to shooting. It’s always been said about Smith that he can shoot you into a game just as easily as he can shoot you right out of it. So for Cleveland, they aren’t going to rely on Thompson and Smith to get major amounts of scoring but each game they’re going to have to produce on both ends of the floor. 

The bench players for each team will play a significant role as they usually do. The Cavs might have the better bench depending on what the lineup is. Deron Williams has given them a spark running the second unit and they’re going to need him to keep doing that. Kyle Korver is known as a three-point specialist and not for being a defensive specialist. You can’t hide Korver on defense but if the Cavs are willing to trade the 8-12 points he might give up for the 14-18 points he could potentially score in any given game then it might be worth the risk to have him on the floor longer than expected. Iman Shumpert is another player who the Cavs aren’t going to call on to score 25 but they’ll ask him to provide a spark on defense which he is known for. For the Warriors, Andre Iguodola and Shaun Livingston are two veteran players that they can always count on to make plays. Iguodola will be the guy who comes off the bench and takes the challenge to guard LeBron, which we’ve seen him do that before. Livingston is just someone who can get you a bucket. JaVale McGee is a wildcard for many reasons. McGee is someone that can come in and get you 10 points and 10 rebounds along with 4 blocks OR he can can come in and take awful shots, get a technical foul, and allow the Cavs to go on a run. It's hit or miss with McGee but the other names I’ve mentioned are players who can make a real impact and will be called upon in certain situations to get a bucket or a defensive stop.

Needless to say both teams, more so Cleveland, need to play a perfect game to capture the title. Golden State is more likely to be that team but when you have LeBron James who has been there and done that, you have to like your chances.

With all of that being said, Cavs in 7.