starkesn Posted January 5, 2014 Report Share Posted January 5, 2014 I got a little of the mock draft itch this weekend (hopefully there is a cream for that lol) so here's my first take on where I think we might go this offseason. I am assuming we retain most of our free agents, except for MJ and Collins, and work on extensions for the big 3 of Dalton, Green, and Burfict this offseason. 1st Round - Scott Crichton, DE, Oregon State The only problem with success is that now we’re going to be picking towards the very end of the 1st round. While a corner would make sense here, there is so much depth at corner in this draft that I think it makes more sense to upgrade the defensive line first where the options aren’t nearly as impressive in this draft. Crichton is a well-spoken, intelligent player that gives you 100% effort every single play. Hunt is going to be your passing downs guy, well this guy is his rotation on the run downs. Crichton is an extremely well disciplined and physical player who does a good job of holding his gap in run defense. You aren’t going to replace Michael Johnson with just one guy, but between Crichton and Hunt, I think they are more than covered for his departure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmFtyIKIGlE 2nd Round - Kyle Fuller, CB, Virginia Tech Since we passed on a corner earlier, you have to get one now. Outside of maybe Dennard, Fuller is the next best fit for the AFC North. He doesn’t have elite speed, which is why he’s going later than some of the top corners in this draft, but I imagine this guy stepping into Crocker’s shoes right away and locking up that safety/corner hybrid Zimmer loves since he’s great in man coverage and an excellent tackler. He’s also not too shabby on special teams; he is from Virginia Tech after all. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8o-aandA74https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8o-aandA74 3RD Round - James Hurst, OT, North Carolina I am so, so tempted to slot Carlos Hyde here, but we need tackle depth early. Collins is going to price himself out of town after his play this season. We are going to have to shell out all kinds of money for Dalton, Green, and Burfict; so there isn’t going to be enough money to go around unfortunately. Unless someone takes a pay cut (which I could actually see Whitworth doing btw) we need a replacement at swing tackle. Hurst would have gone a full round higher had he not broken his leg in their bowl game. Hurst held Clowney in check when they played South Carolina this past season, so reuniting Bernard with his Left Tackle sounds like a great idea to me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41ow8gODsPg 4th Round - Jeremiah Attaochu, OLB, Georgia Tech One Yellow Jacket leaves, another comes in. I think Lamur is going to be your primary SAM backer next season, but we could use a true pass-rushing threat at OLB. Attaochu possesses the requisite speed and quick-twitch athleticism to threaten the edge as an outside linebacker. His violent hands, lateral agility, and explosiveness enable him to blow past blockers on the edge. He has been a threat in both a 3-4 and 4-3 defensive formation while at Georgia Tech, so he’ll only make out defensive alignments even more multiple than they already are. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnkPywsOVYI 5th Round - Andre Williams, RB, Boston College For some reason, I have us hitting the ACC pipeline big time this year. The fact is Green-Ellis is just about done. He’s got no explosiveness anymore (not that he ever did) and his salary number is needed elsewhere for extensions to key players. Williams is going to fall in the draft because he was a true workhorse back for 4 years at BC, and few teams need that anymore. He’s got a ton of wear on the tires, but that’s not an issue for us since he’s only going to be the complement to Gio in our system. He’s a perfect fit to fill into Green-Ellis’ shoes next season with his strong, punishing running style. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ujt1S9P2XHE 6th Round - Ryan Hewitt, HB, Stanford They may still give Charles a shot at being the HB they thought he could be before the season, but it’s time to get a true fit at HB since Gruden seems to have done away with the fullback in this offense. Hewitt has been an integral part of Stanford’s power run offense and is an effective, sure handed receiver when called upon. The fact that Hewitt can combine his old school run blocking skills with the versatile ability to play tight end is exactly what we need in our offense. 7th Round - Jordan Lynch, QB/WR, Northern Illinois Think of this as the Julian Edelman pick. He’s not a polished QB for an NFL offense, but his skill set is a dangerous one. He at the very least can compete with Johnson for the backup spot and maybe, just maybe, you can turn him into another versatile weapon for this offense. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwhrJ8CXux4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alleycat Posted January 5, 2014 Report Share Posted January 5, 2014 I'm sure you're expecting us to sign Alex Mack in FA so I'll have to give you a big fat A for that Draft. :) I don't know much about Crichton yet, and my feeling is we will see some combo of the positions you chose in the first 4 picks (but I could see switching CB with DE, for example). Believe it or not, the only pick I don't love is the RB from Boston, but he's late enough that I can't complain. Nice job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starkesn Posted January 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2014 I would LOVE to see Alex Mack in Cincy, but it's not gonna happen. I mean, MAYBE if they can cut Cook they might have the money for him, but even then I don't know. I'm not sure on which DE I really want, but Crichton is the best scheme fit. Think of him as Robert Geather's replacement when he's cut in the offseason. Like Fuller from VA Tech, they are both great fits for Zimmer's defensive schemes and Fuller adds a great special teams aspect too. I could take or leave Williams at RB, but he's the best I could think of as a power back. He won't go high, and like you said, in the 5th, I'd be fine with him. EDIT: Just checked the top salary for a center (Nick Mangold) and that was 7 years at $50 mil...or over 7 mil per year. For perspective, that's higher than we are paying to ANYONE on our offensive line. We can hold out hope, but there is absolutely no way we can sign him and everyone else to extensions as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alleycat Posted January 5, 2014 Report Share Posted January 5, 2014 I would LOVE to see Alex Mack in Cincy, but it's not gonna happen. I mean, MAYBE if they can cut Cook they might have the money for him, but even then I don't know. I'm not sure on which DE I really want, but Crichton is the best scheme fit. Think of him as Robert Geather's replacement when he's cut in the offseason. Like Fuller from VA Tech, they are both great fits for Zimmer's defensive schemes and Fuller adds a great special teams aspect too. I could take or leave Williams at RB, but he's the best I could think of as a power back. He won't go high, and like you said, in the 5th, I'd be fine with him. EDIT: Just checked the top salary for a center (Nick Mangold) and that was 7 years at $50 mil...or over 7 mil per year. For perspective, that's higher than we are paying to ANYONE on our offensive line. We can hold out hope, but there is absolutely no way we can sign him and everyone else to extensions as well. Yes, Alex Mack is my own personal, rather gigantic PIPE DREAM. Kony Ealy is someone that I would take over Crichton if he's there. He had crazy measurables, but production was lacking. He showed up big time in their bowl game, though, so I'm hearing more first round talk... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starkesn Posted January 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2014 Yes, Alex Mack is my own personal, rather gigantic PIPE DREAM. Kony Ealy is someone that I would take over Crichton if he's there. He had crazy measurables, but production was lacking. He showed up big time in their bowl game, though, so I'm hearing more first round talk... I'm really high on Ealy, but outside of Clowney, he's the next best DE. Seriously doubt he'll be there when we pick. If he is, I'd love to have him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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