Memento's Final 2024 Mock Draft.

[Memento]

All right, I'm posting the next mock draft (given that we've made a couple of moves like Tre'Davious White).

TRADES:

2024 first round pick (#19 overall) to the Dallas Cowboys for 2024 first round pick (#24 overall) and 2024 second round pick (#56 overall).

(Dallas trades up for Amarius Mims after Fautanu goes before us. We get to move down a bit and get a second.)

2024 second round pick (#56 overall) to the Washington Comm Anders for 2024 third round pick (#67) and 2024 third round pick (#100).

(Washington moves up for a falling edge rusher (thinking Booker. Yeah, I'm saying it because I don't want a Kansas player, and because we got our edge early.). We get a couple of thirds.)

Chatarius Atwell to the Baltimore Ravens for 2024 sixth round pick (#218 overall).

(Ravens don't have much at receiver. Zay Flowers is the only real threat. Atwell gives Lamar another younger option.)

Derion Kendrick to the Denver Broncos for conditional 2026 seventh (becomes a sixth if Kendrick plays more than 75% of the snaps).

(If the Broncos deal Surtain, they'll need a corner. We give them a cheaper one, and get rid of Kendrick once and for all.)

Ben Skowronek to the Kansas City Chiefs for 2026 conditional seventh (passes if Skowronek gets 50% of the snaps).

(K.C. could definitely use another veteran receiver with their corps in shambles. Skowronek will give them that.)

DRAFT:

#24 overall (Cowboys) - Jer'Zhan Newton, DT, Illinois. (6'2", 304 lbs.)



(Newton is the crown jewel of defensive linemen in this class, and I think that if we can get him even at nineteen, it would be an automatic win. Being able to get a second-round pick is a huge bonus because out of all of the linemen I've seen, I think Newton comes closest to AD. His explosive first step, his power, his technical prowess, his violent hands, all of that makes him a very dangerous lineman - and he was playing through a serious foot injury this year. You place him next to The Conductor, and he could be one of the more dominant linemen in the NFL.)

#52 overall (Rams) - Edgerrin Cooper, ILB/EDGE, Texas A&M. (6'2", 230 lbs.)



(I'm hopping on the bandwagon. I'm praying we re-sign Ernest Jones, but if we don't, we have his replacement in hand, and if we do re-sign Jones, Cooper could be a solid edge on the opposite side of Agent Zero. He reminds me of a mix of Nick Bolton, Fred Warner, and a lesser Micah Parsons, all in one. Just an incredibly instinctive player who can literally do it all.)

#67 (Washington) - Ja'Lynn Polk, WR, Washington. (6'1", 203 lbs.)



(Our new big play receiver, Polk actually had even more big plays than Rome Odunze. He is physical, has solid hands and leaping ability for all kinds of focused and contested catches, and plays much faster than his forty time indicates. He isn't the best route runner, but he's good enough to sell them. Reminds me a bit of a better Tyler Johnson, actually.)

#83 overall (Rams) - Jalen McMillan, WR/PR, Washington. (6'1", 197 lbs.)



(Yep, I'm double-dipping on Washington receivers, but McMillan is different enough from Polk (reminds me a bit of Kupp, actually) that it would be foolish not to (especially since Nacua played at Washington and would know McMillan from his time there). He's a punt returner as well, so that could definitely help us.)

#99 overall (Morris comp pick) - Kris Abrams-Draine, CB, Missouri. (5'11", 179 lbs.)



(Abrams-Draine is my main prospect crush. No offense meant to Cobie Durant, whom I also love, but if I had a choice between him and KAD, I'd pick KAD every time. He's a ballhawk, a dominant cover corner, and plays well above his size.)

#100 overall (Washington) - Jonah Elliss, EDGE, Utah. (6'2", 248 lbs.)



(Elliss is an absolutely dominant pass-rusher; he utterly abused UCLA's tackles with a spin move that's amongst the best I've seen, he's bendy, he has all sorts of counters. Sadly, he lacks the ability to set the edge. He's got potential as a pass-rusher, but he better learn how to defend the run if he ever wants to be a starter.)

#153 overall (Rams) - Javon Solomon, EDGE, Troy. (6'1", 246 lbs.)



(Solomon may be short and plays for a smaller school, but he still racked up an impressive amount of statistics. He has surprising athletic traits for his size and lack of length; reminds me a bit of Dumervil or Houston. He could be a steal here.)

#154 overall (Steelers) - Jalyx Hunt, EDGE, Houston Christian. (6'4", 252 lbs.)



(Hunt's extremely raw, but his traits make him absolutely worth the slot here. A former safety that outgrew the position, who still retains safety-like traits in coverage, Hunt is bendy with long arms, a quick first step, and surprising power. Definitely worth a flier.)

#195 overall (Broncos) - Isaiah Davis, RB, South Dakota State. (6'0", 218 lbs.)



(Power is the name of Davis's game. He will run you over and let you know he did it. He needs to learn a bit of finesse and hit the hole when he sees it, but when you need to grind out yards, you're not going to find much better.)

#209 overall (comp) - M.J. Devonshire, CB/STAR, Pittsburgh. (5'11", 186 lbs.)



(Devonshire is a lengthy (6'6" wingspan) corner who racked up a lot of passes defensed and has remarkable athletic traits that few corners have. He struggles mightily against the run, but could end up as a dominant cover corner.)

#213 overall (comp) - Chau Smith-Wade, CB/SAF, Washington State. (5'10", 184 lbs.)



(CSW is a very good defensive back on a very bad team. Washington - with all of their talent - wouldn't throw his way, and when Penix did, he often came out the winner. He's a smaller corner who needs to improve run defense technique, but at least has the willingness to help tackle. Just an underrated corner who reminds me of Asante Samuel Jr.)

#217 overall (comp) - Khristian Boyd, NT, Northern Iowa. (6'2", 329 lbs.)



(Boyd just cranked out 38 reps on the bench at his Pro Day but didn't test athletically because of an injury. He's a short, squatty interior defender who turned twenty-four in February. He was dominant at Northern Iowa, but he lacks length and doesn't always play to his strength in the weight room. Some may think he lacks upside because of his age and lack of production against the FCS. I disagree, but I still think that he's going to fall for those reasons. He could be a find this late.)

#218 overall (Ravens) - Rasheen Ali, RB/KR, Marshall (5'11", 206 lbs.)



(Ali had a freshman season for the ages, didn't play his sophomore year, and had a bounce-back junior year. Could be a solid running back and kick returner, now that the rules are different for kickoffs.)

#254 overall (comp) - Jordan Whittington, WR, Texas. (6'1", 205 lbs.)



(Whittington has turned into my wide receiver prospect crush, and I'm just praying he's here for the taking. Not fast at all and didn't have a lot of production, but he reminds me of Amon-Ra St. Brown and Puka Nacua with his playing style.)

Roster (bold/starter; italics/rookie:

QB: Matt Stafford, Stetson Bennett (until Garappolo comes back), Jimmy Garappolo (SUSP)

(Pretty obvious here. I'm hoping for the best for Bennett...but I'm not expecting much. Stafford is your starter, Garoppolo hopefully sees the field on Week 18.)

RB: Kyren Williams, Isaiah Davis, Rasheen Ali (KR), Zach Evans.

(Well, we have our three-headed Hydra in K-Will, Davis, and Ali. Evans might start out with the backup job, but I don't expect much out of him; I fully expect Davis or Ali to take it from him.)

TE: Colby Parkinson, Davis Allen, Tyler Higbee (PUP).

(When/if Higbee comes back, I could see us cutting Zach Evans. But I hope that Parkinson or Allen takes the job by force. No offense meant to Higbeast, but he's getting older, and he's always been a bit injury prone.)

WR: Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua, Demarcus Robinson, Tyler Johnson, Ja'Lynn Polk, Jaylen McMillan (PR), Jordan Whittington.

(Kupp, Nacua, Robinson, with a healthy dosage of Johnson, Polk, McMillan, and Whittington as your backups. No need to overthink it. Robinson and Johnson are only signed for a year, Kupp's production is worrisome, and Nacua has had injury issues in the past.)

OL: Alaric Jackson, Jonah Jackson, Steve Avila, Kevin Dotson, Rob Havenstein, Joseph Noteboom, Warren McClendon, Zachary Thomas (OC), Logan Bruss.

(Our O-line is going to absolutely eat. Avila at center will make us completely forget about Creed. Noteboom is your swing tackle for this year, while McClendon learns from the best in Havenstein. I still have faith in Bruss, and I think Thomas could make an outstanding backup center. We'll probably draft a tackle next year when A-Jax leaves.)

DL: Kobie Turner, Jer'Zhan Newton, Bobby Brown III, Desjuan Johnson, Khristian Boyd.

(I admit, it's a little thin, and it makes me nervous, but I can see Boyd emerging in the future, and a front two of Turner and Newton sounds awesome, right? And then there's BB3, D-John, and Boyd. Should be an interesting, albeit young, group but I'd love to draft Dontay Corleone (NT, Cincinnati) next year, just to replace BB3.)

LB: Ernest Jones, Edgerrin Cooper, Byron Young, Michael Hoecht (DL), Nick Hampton, Jonah Elliss, Javon Solomon, Jalyx Hunt, Christian Rozeboom, Jake Hummel.

(Imagine this beast of a linebacking corps. Jones and Cooper end up starting in the middle, Agent Zero gets the while Hoecht can move between the D-line and help outside. Then you have Elliss, Solomon, Hampton, and Hunt as your potential rotation. Rozeboom and Hummel are your backups and special teams aces.)

DB: Tre'Davious White, Darious Williams, Kamren Curl, Russ Yeast, Quentin Lake, Cobie Durant, Tre'Vius Hodges-Tomlinson, Kris Abrams-Draine, M.J. Devonshire, Chau Smith-Wade, Jason Taylor II.

(Lots of cornerbacks. I don't expect much from White, and D-Will is over thirty. Durant and THT get the first shot outside, while KAD, CSW, and MJD learn from the best while starting on teams. Curl, Yeast, and Lake start, given that Curl will likely be deployed at STAR. JT2 is mainly a special teams player, but he's good at it.)

ST: Jake Bates (Free agent signing!), Ethan Evans, Alex Ward.

(Yep, I'm predicting that we sign Bates after the UFL season is done. If not, Tanner Brown has enough potential to make me take notice. Otherwise, not much has changed.)

-

Feel free to rip me a new one on this.

 

[fanotodd]

Ok, so there’s the pick at #24. I’m sure Newton would work out just fine, but if the Rams at sitting at #24 and Darious Robinson is on the board…he’s a more versatile pick in that he can play both DT and DE.
…but that’s just my preference and I’m really liking the idea of him going to the Rams.

After that, you have several very good picks, especially Cooper and Polk. KAD would also be a good get at CB.

As for all of those picks in the last 2 rounds, your guess is as good as most, I suppose.

It’s your trades I find most interesting.
Trading Atwell and Skow is a convenient dump, but I offer this:
Skow gets extended if he turns out to be the only reliable ST player. The Rams really have to do something about those STs. They were awful last year.

As for Atwell, I’d be more interested in him than Skow if I were the chiefs. IMO, it would be an exciting proposition for them. Atwell is a burner with good hands. Combined with mahomes’ off script ability, those two could put up weekly highlights.

On Kendricks, I just don’t see trading him before/during the draft as a good idea for two reasons:
1) There’s no telling how good White is gonna be when camp starts. Maybe he’s done. Maybe he’s not, THEN making Kendrick expendable. A fallen player in another camp begets bigger value for Kendrick than before the draft, IMO.
2) White can’t go and Kendrick ends up playing opposite DW, the return on Kendrick will be better as comp—possibly.

Sometimes it’s better to hold onto a player until camp gets going.

 

[Memento]

Ok, so there’s the pick at #24. I’m sure Newton would work out just fine, but if the Rams at sitting at #24 and Darious Robinson is on the board…he’s a more versatile pick in that he can play both DT and DE.
…but that’s just my preference and I’m really liking the idea of him going to the Rams.

I've watched a lot of Darius Robinson, being a Mizzou fan...and as a Mizzou fan, I can't justify spending a first-round pick on him. He produced in his senior year, but he never really popped on tape as an NFL prospect. I honestly think Johnny Walker Jr. (EDGE, 2025) is a much better player on our D-line, and he's a second-round prospect in my eyes (who could drop even later due to character problems; he's an absolute hot-head on the field).

I just don't see a dominant force in Robinson, unlike Newton - and this is coming from a massive Mizzou fan who loves hyping up her players (i.e., KAD, Rakestraw, Schrader, Foster, etc.)

After that, you have several very good picks, especially Cooper and Polk. KAD would also be a good get at CB.

As for all of those picks in the last 2 rounds, your guess is as good as most, I suppose.

Thank you. I admittedly went large on the edges and secondary because you can never have too many good pass-rushers or corners. I also picked up McMillan because every time I watched Odunze on tape - whom I love and would not be upset if we got him at #19, by the by - Polk and McMillan flashed. It's no wonder Penix flashed so much with those three excellent receivers, much like Ewers. Part of the reason I don't want us taking Penix, really...because his receivers bailed him out on a lot of bad passes; Polk alone had at least two contested catches that, were it another receiver, would've been interceptions.

But I digress. I picked up three edge-rushers and three corners. Whittington was far too good to pass up this late (even if it means triple-dipping on receivers. But like I said, I worry about next year, given that Kupp has posted lesser stats every year after his Triple Crown win, and Robinson and Johnson are UFAs after this year...as are Atwell and Skow.), and I love Davis and Ali to help K-Will out.

It’s your trades I find most interesting.
Trading Atwell and Skow is a convenient dump, but I offer this:
Skow gets extended if he turns out to be the only reliable ST player. The Rams really have to do something about those STs. They were awful last year.

It's partially why I picked Whittington, three edges, three cornerbacks, and two running backs. THT is already a solid gunner, and CSW and Devonshire should be solid as well. And, of course, Whittington should be solid on teams; he did them a lot at Texas. Cooper does teams as well, along with Rozeboom and Hummel.

They were awful last year, but I don't think it's because of the players (kicker aside). Honestly, the most frustrating thing about the McVay era is not getting a solid special teams coach after Bones. I don't think Blackburn's the answer.

As for Atwell, I’d be more interested in him than Skow if I were the chiefs. IMO, it would be an exciting proposition for them. Atwell is a burner with good hands. Combined with mahomes’ off script ability, those two could put up weekly highlights.

True. Possibly Skowronek and Atwell could be switched, but I'd have to add a sweetener for the Ravens to pick up Skow, potentially a seventh next year. Maybe that means that Boyd isn't picked, but I prefer next year's defensive tackle corps anyway; Sweat aside, I don't see any real impact nose tackles, and there's no way I'm taking Sweat.

On Kendricks, I just don’t see trading him before/during the draft as a good idea for two reasons:
1) There’s no telling how good White is gonna be when camp starts. Maybe he’s done. Maybe he’s not, THEN making Kendrick expendable. A fallen player in another camp begets bigger value for Kendrick than before the draft, IMO.
2) White can’t go and Kendrick ends up playing opposite DW, the return on Kendrick will be better as comp—possibly.

Sometimes it’s better to hold onto a player until camp gets going.

I can see your point...but there's no way I ever want Kendrick on this team, let alone as a starter. I will take Durant, I will take any of the corners I drafted, I will take D-Will and White either way, I will even take fucking THT because he, at least, has solid recovery speed and isn't an idiot on and off the field (Yes, THT has made costly mistakes, but he can at least cover without a stupid taunt after every play.) like Kendrick is.

But I'm done with Kendrick and have been done with him for a long time. No one player has ever aggravated me so much in the McVay era as much as he has, not even Marcus Peters or Mesean Jackson. The Broncos will need a cornerback, particularly a younger one. Maybe you hold on to Kendrick, but I'm just...done with him.

Even if White and Williams can't go, there's no way I want Kendrick wearing a Rams uniform after the stupidity he showed last year. Let's get a group of younger cornerbacks who aren't idiots to play instead of him; we can easily - and should easily - upgrade him.

 

[Londoner]

We’re coming out considerably better than both Dallas and Washington on those trades, no matter what trade value chart you use. The Cowboys, in particular, would have to be really stupid to make that trade.

Getting rid of those players listed looks like convenience to me, and not particularly realistic.

The draft itself is down to personal taste, obviously, but you’ve got some solid prospects in there.

Overall, this isn’t one of your better efforts, in my opinion.

 

[Flatlyner]

Shockingly, I was working on a mock yesterday and had the same teams trading, albeit a bit different compensation. I also had Newton at 24. We differ until I had Polk at 3.67. But very similar. Also have KAD in mine.

Love me some Cooper, so couldn't be mad at that, but, I'd hope they are drafting him to use at edge mostly and MLB when its needed. Possibly taking over for Jones if we can't resign him.

I truly don't believe the Rams will go through the draft and not draft a single offensive lineman. A bit too heavy on edge's unless they are throwing away the prospects they drafted last year entirely. Also, 3 WR's seems a bit much to me also, the back to back Washington WR's I cannot imagine happening.

Appreciate the time this took and its a very interesting take!

 

[Allen2McVay]

It's a fun read. Thanks for the effort. Lots of good and/or interesting players.

Biggest problem I have is with these two trades:
"2024 first round pick (#19 overall) to Dallas for #24 and #56.
... #56 overall to Washington for #67 and #100."

You have the Rams trading-down just five spots in Round One; and adding a 2nd and two 3rds

That would be Great! ... but seems unrealistic in my opinion.

 

[FrantikRam]

I think Atwell has more value to us this year than a 6th rounder would, and I don't see why a team would give up more than a 7th round pick swap for Kendrick a year or two out.

 

[OnceARam]

The best part if your draft is you got rid of Tutu and DK.