First April Mock

Using the simulator at: http://www.first-pick.com/

The site didn't seem to like my draft very much, giving it a C- overall. But I LOVE how things fell.

Round 1 Pick 25: Andrew Billings, DT, Baylor (A)
Round 2 Pick 27: Karl Joseph, SS, West Virginia (A-)
Round 3 Pick 26: Carl Nassib, DE, Penn State (A+)
Round 4 Pick 25: Rashard Robinson, CB, LSU (B+)
Round 6 Pick 45 (COMP): Deiondre' Hall, CB, Northern Iowa (A)
Round 7 Pick 8: Stephen Weatherly, DE, Vanderbilt (B-)
Round 7 Pick 25: D.J. Foster, RB, Arizona State (C+)

My Recap:

Round 1 Pick 25: Andrew Billings, DT, Baylor (A)
- I've said a lot about Billings, so I'll keep it short here. Stud. He's going to be dominant in a Poe meets Short kind of way.
# 11 on my board
My Value: High First Round

Round 2 Pick 27: Karl Joseph, SS, West Virginia (A-)
- He's the guy I've given the most time to over the last few weeks. If he hadn't torn his ACL, he'd but a 1st rounder IMO. There's a ton of risk here, obviously... but the pay off, at a position of need is huge. I wasn't very high on him early in the process, and maybe that's because he missed most of the year and was off my radar for so long. I rewatched the game vs Alabama and TCU in 2014 ... **** this guy is ridiculous
# 31 on my board
My Value: Late 1st Round/Early 2nd round

Round 3 Pick 26: Carl Nassib, DE, Penn State (A+)
- IMO talent in this draft falls off a cliff around 60 players. So I'm elated to find a top 50 player in the late 3rd round. Nassib has limitless potential, and also the potential to a bust and out of the league in 2-3 years. I'm willing to take risks in the 3rd-5th rounds in this draft. The developed talent just isn't very good, and the opportunity to hit homers is more enticing given the success rate in this range.
#50 on my board
My Value: 2nd/3rd round

Round 4 Pick 25: Rashard Robinson, CB, LSU (B+)
- Speaking of trying to hit homers. We would be discussing whether Rashard or Vernon was the better cover corner if Rashard wasn't a fool. This is the Martavis Bryant pick all over again. This is the risk to take. Maybe there's only a 25% chance that this guy gets his head on straight, but if he does we have a man shutdown corner. From a talent perspective he's right there with Jalen and Vernon. The top of the class.
#97 on my board
My Value: 1st round talent / 7th round character

Round 6 Pick 45 (COMP): Deiondre' Hall, CB, Northern Iowa (A)
- He's been at the top of my late round target list for awhile. I love his versatility. I think it's a fantastic value pick, that would get on the field very quickly. Depth at multiple positions and the demeanor to be a special teams impact player
#116 on my board (note my board only goes 125 deep at this time)
My Value: Late Rounder

Round 7 Pick 8: Stephen Weatherly, DE, Vanderbilt (B-)
- The depth in this draft is garbage, so when it comes to these late round picks I'm looking for veratility (Hall) or measurables. Weatherly quietly had one of the best combine performances for a player of his build that I've seen in awhile. So I went to watch some tape... and well... it's not impressive. This is the problem with the draft, too many underclassmen that really aren't ready for the NFL at all. I'd like to get Weatherly on the practice squad to see what the staff can do with him. His length, speed, and explosion testing are very impressive traits to work with.
#119 on my board (note my board only goes 125 deep at this time)
My Value: Late Rounder

Round 7 Pick 25: D.J. Foster, RB, Arizona State (C+)
- There are plays in the playbook for a guy like Foster to have value. We've failed to make this type of pick work numerous times, but the QB class is awfule, the late round Oline class is a joke, from a need perspective this felt like a good flyer to take.
#NR on my board
My Value: Late Rounder / UDFA

 

I like it. Some on here will flame you for only taking one CB and not until the 4th (I'm assuming Hall will be a S in the NFL). It at least addresses all of our needs. I like Joseph a lot, but it doesn't seem like the Steelers have shown him much interest yet.

 

I think Hall could be a corner.

I'm less bullish on "we need corners" than I am on "we need to improve the defense". Billings and Joseph could be near immediate difference makers. And adding Golson and Grant to the DB picture is as good or better than adding mid rounders. Not to mention a full camp for Cockrell.

I want to upgrade our corners as much as anyone. It's just not a great draft. I wish we could draft Vernon... that would be amazing. But Billings is a significantly better talent than 2nd round corners like Mackenzie and Jackson, and questionable pass rushers in Dodd, Ogbah, etc Although, I think all of those guys were off the board in the mock sim i ran.

Joseph is interesting. The Steelers are pretty predictable when it comes to 1st/2nd rounders. They've usually met with/visited the guys they take. But SS is such a need area, and Joseph is such a Steeler safety... I wonder if they are throwing smoke screen?

 

Pretty good. If Robinson's character is a concern, maybe they'll go Ryan Smith or Tavon Young. They seem to have an interest in them.

I like Derrick Alexander, Tulsa, better than Weatherly but its always a toss up in the 7th. I like DJ Foster, I think he would be a good fit.

 

Yeah, I wasn't hating on the amount of corners. I think our corner situation could be much better than last year, we need depth tho and probably a guy that is a future number one.

I like Billings better than the guys you listed too. It just depends on who is available I guess.

I am also a little surprised in the lack of interest in Joseph, but who knows. Maybe they love the kid and just haven't shown it yet.

 

yea, I've used that one too. Better board, weaker simulator.

 

Waiting until the 4th rd to take a CB don't like that, Robinson has some character issues and he performed badly at the combine not interested.

 

I like it, but I am really hesitant at DL going that high, lets put an OLB/edge rusher
in there and I think you got it.

 

I'll take a dominant interior pocket collapser, over a nice edge rusher...

 

Yup, pressure up the middle is the quickest, most direct way to the QB.

 

I really feel our current roster can supply enough depth/rotation at DL position, but if you feel this person
is (DOMINANT) to each his own. Nassib is a gamer, should be interesting to see how it plays out. Looks like you maybe a NYG disciple, that's how they use to put pressure on the QB
with DL. Sounds like your proposing the same thing?

 

I'd use Seattle as an example. My intent would be to create an Under Front for our Nickel defense. And the way Seattle does it is to mix 1 gap and 2 gap philosophies/schemes.

Under:
Leo(weak side C gap edge rusher): Dupree
3Tech(weak side B gap penetrator): Tuitt
1Tech(2 GAP A/A): Billings
5Tech(2 GAP B/C): Heyward

And you can flip from run/pass base formations by flipping NB (Golson) and SLB (Jarvis Jones)

I also think there is some... synergy here with how we've seen the transformation of coverage schemes from favoring a cover 3, to Tomlin's upbringing in cover 2. Similarly, Tomlin came up in the 4-3 Under, and coached it in Minnesota.

From what we saw last year, I think it's fairly obvious that Butler/Tomlin are merging their 34 and 43 philosophies, their cover 3 and cover 2 philosophies. You can see it on tape, and you can hear it in the general commentary: "we need to be multiple"

 

i'd like to see a continuation of fast ILB'ers, and good tackling, good coverage safeties. big, strong and fast up front and off the edges.

 

Nice work, RPO. I'd be ecstatic if it played out like this. And you're right, without the ACL Karl Joseph would have been a first rounder for sure.

 

Round 1 Pick 25: Andrew Billings, DT, Baylor (A)
Round 2 Pick 27: Karl Joseph, SS, West Virginia (B+)
Round 3 Pick 26: Zack Sanchez, CB, Oklahoma (A-)
Round 4 Pick 25: Max Tuerk, C/OG, Southern California (A-)
Round 6 Pick 45 (COMP): Stephen Weatherly, DE/OLB, Vanderbilt (B-)
Round 7 Pick 8: Cre'von LeBlanc, CB, Florida Atlantic (B+)
Round 7 Pick 25: Nick Richter, OT, Richmond (C+)


Round 1 Pick 25: Eli Apple, CB, Ohio State (A)
Round 2 Pick 27: Paxton Lynch, QB, Memphis (A+)
Round 3 Pick 26: Javon Hargrave, DT, South Carolina State (A)
Round 4 Pick 25: Darian Thompson, FS, Boise State (A-)
Round 6 Pick 45 (COMP): Deiondre' Hall, CB, Northern Iowa (A)
Round 7 Pick 8: Victor Ochi, OLB, Stony Brook (B-)
Round 7 Pick 25: Drew Kaser, P, Texas A&M (A-)

 

Nice, freak! I'd like that one just as much. I like the Tuerk kid from USC.