Alright, Boys. Who we drafting?

Eli Apple or William Jackson III

 

I don't think its going to be Apple or Jackson, think we are going to have to temporarily ban Deans account draft night

 

I think at least 3 of our first 4 picks will be guys we brought in for visits, or guys that we had long visits with at their pro days or the combine. I doubt that Apple is in the mix since I've seen no info on us meeting with him. Jackson probably is in the mix if they liked the conversation that they had over dinner.

Looking at the list of who we've brought in for visits, there are two clear trends: 1. We've brought in a bunch of safeties who are projected to go in the lower half of the top 60 -75 on many "expert" draft boards; and 2. We've brought in a bunch of corners who are generally projected to the 3rd round.

My guess is that we have a few non-safety prospects that we like in R1 with Robinson and Jackson being obvious candidates based on pre draft interest. Maybe Decker as well. I would guess there are a few others in that mix that didn't come in for pre draft visits like Billings, Lawson and Alexander. If the 1st round targets all go before 25, I think we take our highest rated safety in the 1st and look to a non-DB position in the 2nd. Either way, unless we take Jackson or Alexander in the 1st, I think we wait until the 3rd for a corner.

If we get a non-safety in the 1st, then I would bet heavily on us going safety in the 2nd. We've brought in too many safeties to not take one early IMO.

 

I have a feeling the first rd pick is going to be a curve ball like the Shazier pick. I think the only person not surprised by that was TTF. I know he was never on my radar, thats for sure.

 

Shazier visited and was uniformly projected as 1st rounder, so the signs were there. I admit I didn't look to the signs and was surprised, but now I know better. Look to where our prospect meeting list (visits, pro day and combine meetings) and 1st round projections intersect for likely targets.

 

I like a lot of the safeties, but to me Joseph is the only one worth pick #25 (assuming he passes the medical recheck).

 

Correa would be the type of surprise Shazier was, even more so since no way do I see Correa better than 3rd rd.

Could be Neal though. I could see that type of surprise.

 

Cortez actually. Will is a free agent, and could still be brought back to get burned on a weekly basis if we don't get a safety or two in the draft.

 

I hope it's neither of those two at pick #25. Neal has some traits that are nice, but his film is unsteady. I just don't see 1st round value there. There are plenty of safeties I'd rather have. Correa is a surprisingly effective player on tape. I really didn't expect much when I started watching him, but he started winning me over - but not as a first rounder. No way, no how. 2nd, maybe.

 

Yeah I didn't think Shazier was that much of a surprise. Highly productive. Highly athletic. Didn't he run 4.35 or something at his pro day? Lebeau always loved Ohio St players. I had him at the top of my list.

I don't think Correa is anywhere near the talent Shazier was.

 

I did a mock where I could only take players that BTSC lists as being interviewed by us, or who had official visits, just to see how it worked out. This was using the Fanspeak premium simulator with the NFL.com draft board.

25: R1P25 DE SHAQ LAWSON CLEMSON
58: R2P27 S VON BELL OHIO ST
89: R3P26 CB CYRUS JONES ALABAMA
123: R4P25 DT JAVON HARGRAVE SOUTH CAROLINA ST.
220: R6P45 OT CALEB BENENOCH UCLA
229: R7P8 RB TYLER ERVIN SAN JOSE ST.
246: R7P25 CB TAVON YOUNG TEMPLE