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- Jan 19, 2019
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Being nearly 4 weeks into lockdown, no live sport to watch, and going a little stir crazy I thought I’d try and put some time after the last week or so to decent use and try and watch some videos and do my first real mock draft. Disclaimer upfront – besides watching one or two games we get live over here on a Saturday I hadn’t spent too much time watching potential draftees beforehand so started watching clips mainly based around players I’ve seen mentioned here and trying to draw my own conclusions. Searching those players then gave me tip-offs to check some others out. I've trade to make the trades realistic based on value and whether I think the other teams in the trade would genuinely consider them.
Trades
A couple of trades to start off with to get us an extra pick near the top of the 4th round and move us closer to the top of the third round to take advantage of the depth of the draft around this level:-
LA Rams trade Round 2 Pick #20
Denver Broncos trade Round 3 Pick #13 and Round 3 Pick #19
Perfect match on the trade value chart and allows Denver with 3 3rd round picks to gain a 3rd pick in the top 52 of the draft
LA Rams trade Round 3 Pick #40
Jacksonville Jaguars trade Round 4 Pick #10 and Round 5 Pick #19
Another match on the trade chart and allows Jacksonville with 8 picks in the last 4 rounds to move up to the bottom of the 3rd round
LA Rams trade Round 4 Pick #20 and Round 5 Pick #19
LA Chargers trade Round 4 Pick #6
A small trade back up in the 4th round to take a player who could contribute in year 1.
Based on the it becoming increasingly likely that the Jags will settle for anything, I’ve debated back and forth about giving up our 6th round pick or a direct trade for Gerald Everett – a move which would make one of my picks make even more sense – but I’ve decided against it. The above trades leave us with the following picks:-
LA Rams Picks
Round 2 Pick #25
Round 3 Pick #13
Round 3 Pick #19
Round 3 Pick #20
Round 4 Pick #6
Round 4 Pick #10
Round 6 Pick #20
Round 7 Pick #20
The selections
Round 2 Pick #25 – Lloyd Cushenberry - C – LSU
My number 1 Center in the draft ahead of Ruiz and I have a sneaky feeling that he will drop this far. Part of the best OL in the country and one of the reasons Burrow and Edwards-Helaire were able to have the years’ they did. Was the best in the drills at the Senior Bowl against Javon Kinlaw, excellent character and person to have around the locker room. We could play him from day 1, improve the OL, better protect Goff and be set at Center for the best part of the rest of this decade.
Round 3 Pick #13 – Chase Claypool – WR/TE – Notre Dame
He’s become my draft crush and can be used to create miss-matches against any Defense based on where we play him. I’m not sure if he’ll be an out-and-out WR or become a TE but can as a hybrid offensive threat would thrive in this offence and give us another big bodied target. Drafting him would make me more comfortable trading Everett as could see him being used in 12 personnel alongside Higbee combined with Kupp and Woods giving Defensive Co-ordinators headaches. Blocks well although a little too inconsistently for my liking at the minute and is intelligent. Would be a great addition to our Special Teams too. Still a lot of work to do, and all it needs is one other GM to want his combination of height, physicality and speed but would love us to draft him
Round 3 Pick #19 – Zack Moss – RB – Utah
A player I hadn’t see in any of the games on TV before watching highlights but I liked what I saw. A perfect addition to our offence as someone who can be a workhorse and pound the hard yards softening the defense up for Henderson or forcing more players to be added into the box which should create the opportunities for Woods and Kupp’s route running. Nervous about how much punishment his body will be able to take but you know he’s got heart and not going to back down from a battle. I like us to have a mixture of skill sets and abilities across the skill players and adding Moss and Claypool in addition to our existing roster would make us a more rounded threat.
Round 3 Pick #20 – Logan Wilson – ILB – Wyoming
We’ve got a glaring need at ILB and Wilson is the best at this position on the board at this time. Tackling machine, another plus for Special Teams, another with high character as a three-year captain at Wyoming, reasonable in coverage with 3 picks in his senior year and someone who can stay on the field for all three downs. I could see Wilson and Micah Kiser being our starting ILBs early in the season and him being another who can contribute early on.
Round 4 Pick #6 – Darnay Holmes – CB – UCLA
4.48 in the 40 at the Combine. Did well at the Senior Bowl. Another aggressive and physical player – an athlete - who can go out and make plays. There were too many plays last year where we totally missed his assignment and he’ll be a work in progress for Aubrey Pleasant but with his athletic ability and knack for picking off the QB I see him complementing the existing CBs well and being a potential replacement for Nickell Robey. Potentially a high upside pick if we can coach him well.
Round 4 Pick #10 – Leki Fotu – DL – Utah
The perfect player to groom to take over the NT position in 2021 and also add a bit of beef on running downs this year. A bit like the previous pick of Darnay Holmes he’s going to need a lot of coaching up and working on his technique to help put it all together….but if you can add technique to his strength and size then we would have a hell of a player on our hands at a low cost for the next few years.
Round 6 Pick #20 – Derreck Tuszka – Edge – North Dakota State
Only played in a 4-3 defense previously but a small school kid who has racked up 29.5 sacks in 3 years as a starter. Best 3-cone time among linemen at the Combine and showed up well at the East-West Shrine game. At this stage of the draft I guess it becomes even more luck than judgement but I’d rather take a chance on someone who has performed well but not necessarily have the same opportunities and exposure as someone at a larger school. You can only beat what is in front of you – which he consistently did – and could be a diamond in the rough
Round 7 Pick #20 – Kindle Vildor – CB – Georgia Southern
I’d never heard of Vildor until doing some work on Darnay Holmes and he popped up on some of the commentary. Performed much better in 2018 than he did in 2019 and following a theme for the draft is another excellent athlete who will need to develop his technique to progress at the next level. However he made 9 interceptions at Georgia Southern and his 4.44 time in the 40 and finishing with the 5th best athleticism scores on all CBs at the Combine would give us the basic tools to work with.
My biggest concern with this mock is that Cushenberry and Claypool don’t reach where I’ve drafted them – there really seems no consensus on where they go in the mocks. If Cushenberry isn’t there I’d still make the same trades but draft Edwards-Helaire in round 2, Hennessy (or Biadasz if Hennessy has gone too) in round 3 along with Van Jefferson.
Trades
A couple of trades to start off with to get us an extra pick near the top of the 4th round and move us closer to the top of the third round to take advantage of the depth of the draft around this level:-
LA Rams trade Round 2 Pick #20
Denver Broncos trade Round 3 Pick #13 and Round 3 Pick #19
Perfect match on the trade value chart and allows Denver with 3 3rd round picks to gain a 3rd pick in the top 52 of the draft
LA Rams trade Round 3 Pick #40
Jacksonville Jaguars trade Round 4 Pick #10 and Round 5 Pick #19
Another match on the trade chart and allows Jacksonville with 8 picks in the last 4 rounds to move up to the bottom of the 3rd round
LA Rams trade Round 4 Pick #20 and Round 5 Pick #19
LA Chargers trade Round 4 Pick #6
A small trade back up in the 4th round to take a player who could contribute in year 1.
Based on the it becoming increasingly likely that the Jags will settle for anything, I’ve debated back and forth about giving up our 6th round pick or a direct trade for Gerald Everett – a move which would make one of my picks make even more sense – but I’ve decided against it. The above trades leave us with the following picks:-
LA Rams Picks
Round 2 Pick #25
Round 3 Pick #13
Round 3 Pick #19
Round 3 Pick #20
Round 4 Pick #6
Round 4 Pick #10
Round 6 Pick #20
Round 7 Pick #20
The selections
Round 2 Pick #25 – Lloyd Cushenberry - C – LSU
My number 1 Center in the draft ahead of Ruiz and I have a sneaky feeling that he will drop this far. Part of the best OL in the country and one of the reasons Burrow and Edwards-Helaire were able to have the years’ they did. Was the best in the drills at the Senior Bowl against Javon Kinlaw, excellent character and person to have around the locker room. We could play him from day 1, improve the OL, better protect Goff and be set at Center for the best part of the rest of this decade.
Round 3 Pick #13 – Chase Claypool – WR/TE – Notre Dame
He’s become my draft crush and can be used to create miss-matches against any Defense based on where we play him. I’m not sure if he’ll be an out-and-out WR or become a TE but can as a hybrid offensive threat would thrive in this offence and give us another big bodied target. Drafting him would make me more comfortable trading Everett as could see him being used in 12 personnel alongside Higbee combined with Kupp and Woods giving Defensive Co-ordinators headaches. Blocks well although a little too inconsistently for my liking at the minute and is intelligent. Would be a great addition to our Special Teams too. Still a lot of work to do, and all it needs is one other GM to want his combination of height, physicality and speed but would love us to draft him
Round 3 Pick #19 – Zack Moss – RB – Utah
A player I hadn’t see in any of the games on TV before watching highlights but I liked what I saw. A perfect addition to our offence as someone who can be a workhorse and pound the hard yards softening the defense up for Henderson or forcing more players to be added into the box which should create the opportunities for Woods and Kupp’s route running. Nervous about how much punishment his body will be able to take but you know he’s got heart and not going to back down from a battle. I like us to have a mixture of skill sets and abilities across the skill players and adding Moss and Claypool in addition to our existing roster would make us a more rounded threat.
Round 3 Pick #20 – Logan Wilson – ILB – Wyoming
We’ve got a glaring need at ILB and Wilson is the best at this position on the board at this time. Tackling machine, another plus for Special Teams, another with high character as a three-year captain at Wyoming, reasonable in coverage with 3 picks in his senior year and someone who can stay on the field for all three downs. I could see Wilson and Micah Kiser being our starting ILBs early in the season and him being another who can contribute early on.
Round 4 Pick #6 – Darnay Holmes – CB – UCLA
4.48 in the 40 at the Combine. Did well at the Senior Bowl. Another aggressive and physical player – an athlete - who can go out and make plays. There were too many plays last year where we totally missed his assignment and he’ll be a work in progress for Aubrey Pleasant but with his athletic ability and knack for picking off the QB I see him complementing the existing CBs well and being a potential replacement for Nickell Robey. Potentially a high upside pick if we can coach him well.
Round 4 Pick #10 – Leki Fotu – DL – Utah
The perfect player to groom to take over the NT position in 2021 and also add a bit of beef on running downs this year. A bit like the previous pick of Darnay Holmes he’s going to need a lot of coaching up and working on his technique to help put it all together….but if you can add technique to his strength and size then we would have a hell of a player on our hands at a low cost for the next few years.
Round 6 Pick #20 – Derreck Tuszka – Edge – North Dakota State
Only played in a 4-3 defense previously but a small school kid who has racked up 29.5 sacks in 3 years as a starter. Best 3-cone time among linemen at the Combine and showed up well at the East-West Shrine game. At this stage of the draft I guess it becomes even more luck than judgement but I’d rather take a chance on someone who has performed well but not necessarily have the same opportunities and exposure as someone at a larger school. You can only beat what is in front of you – which he consistently did – and could be a diamond in the rough
Round 7 Pick #20 – Kindle Vildor – CB – Georgia Southern
I’d never heard of Vildor until doing some work on Darnay Holmes and he popped up on some of the commentary. Performed much better in 2018 than he did in 2019 and following a theme for the draft is another excellent athlete who will need to develop his technique to progress at the next level. However he made 9 interceptions at Georgia Southern and his 4.44 time in the 40 and finishing with the 5th best athleticism scores on all CBs at the Combine would give us the basic tools to work with.
My biggest concern with this mock is that Cushenberry and Claypool don’t reach where I’ve drafted them – there really seems no consensus on where they go in the mocks. If Cushenberry isn’t there I’d still make the same trades but draft Edwards-Helaire in round 2, Hennessy (or Biadasz if Hennessy has gone too) in round 3 along with Van Jefferson.
