Cornerback is a position of depth in this draft even if it is lacking for elite talent beyond Jeff Okudah of Ohio St.  Safety is a position lacking in depth and elite talent period.  No offense to Xavier McKinney and Grant Delpit but neither of them are going to be mistaken for Ed Reed or Troy Polamalu.  Okudah has a chance to be a perenniel Pro Bowler.  The race at the combine was to prove who was the second best CB and whether or not they are worth at least a mid-first round pick.  Coming in to today the contenders were; Kristian Fulton, Trevon Diggs, CJ Henderson, Damon Arnette, and AJ Terrell with an outside possibility of a Cam Dantzler or Bryce Hall.  There were some clear winners and clear losers in this race.  At safety some players enhanced their value but overall it’s a group that was lacking star power.

Cornerback

• Jeff Okudah is the star of the group and he showed why when he ran 4.48 at 6’1 205 lbs., he couldn’t be a more prototypical CB if you made him in a lab.  He’s also competitive enough that even with no competition for the top CB spot he still wanted to work out.  He ran his forty and then went to compete in the on field drills.  He ended up leaping for a pass and coming down hard and hitting his head on the turf.  He was a shook up by it but he wanted to continue.  Luckily for him Deion Sanders was on the field covering the combine for the NFL Network and literally talked Okudah into skipping the rest of the drills (the guy has nothing more to prove).  Even though he was supposed to call it a day he decided to still do the jumping tests (he just couldn’t help himself) and even a little banged up he hit 41 inches on the vert and over 11 feet on the broad jump.  This guy is unreal.
• The race for the second CB had two guys bow out early as Bryce Hall only did the bench press (he’s still coming back from an ankle injury) and Cam Dantzler ran a 4.64 in the forty (see you round 3).  Trevon Diggs didn’t workout other than the on field drills but he looked good enough to stay in the competition but he lost ground today.  Damon Arnette ran 4.56 which doesn’t eliminate him from the competition either but it does make teams start to wonder if he ends up as a safety.  CJ Henderson ran 4.39, Kristian Fulton ran 4.46, and AJ Terrell ran 4.42 and the competition was on.
• CJ Henderson showed why it seems like he has such great makeup speed on the field, because he does.  He also proved highly athletic with a 37.5″ vert and a 10’7 broad jump.  He looked very smooth in drills and he may have had the best overall day.
• AJ Terrell ran plenty fast at 4.42 and his 34.5″ vert and 10’9 broad jump showed his athleticism too.  He wasn’t quite as natural as Henderson in the drills but one thing Terrell has that every CB needs is a short memory.  He got torched early in Clemson’s game against LSU by Ja’Marr Chase but he rebounded to play well in the second half.  Chase is a stud and Terrell never backed down.
• Kristian Fulton went 4.46 in the forty, 35.5″ in the vert and 10’3 in the broad jump.  He is a slightly less athletic player than Henderson and Terrell but he’s just a tough guy to shake in coverage.  All three guys are 1st round picks but I think Henderson pulled slightly a head overall.
• Javelin Guidry from Utah made himself some money.  He’s 5’9 and most likely going to be a nickel corner but that’s an important position to everyone in the NFL and Guidry ran a 4.29 forty to make everyone go back and watch his tape.  He apparently played in the slot a lot at Utah which only helps his cause, he has plenty of experience.
• UCLA’s Darnay Holmes had a good day.  He ran faster than expected (4.48) but it was his work in the position drills that really stood out.  This kid is smooth and looks natural at everything he does.  It’s easy to forget UCLA’s football team (their fans are trying to anyway) but Holmes is a bright spot for them.
• Iowa’s Michael Ojemudia ran a faster than expect 4.45 forty and that’s going to help but he looked a little stiff in the position drills.  I’m not sure he can stick at CB in the NFL but I can see him making a Micah Hyde like transition to safety and playing that position for a long time in the league.
• One guy who is for sure going to have to transition to safety is Florida St.’s Stanford Samuels.  He ran 4.65 but honestly it was the slowest looking 4.65 I’ve ever seen and I’ve been watching the combine intently for quite some time.

Safety

• Xavier McKinney pulled up with cramps during his forty and ended up with a 4.63, he’s not actually that slow, but then he pulled out of the rest of the workout.  Grant Delpit didn’t work out at all and Ashtyn Davis only did the bench press.  That took the top three safeties out of the day and those guys are by far the best of the bunch.
• Jeremy Chinn of Southern Illinois had a fantastic day.  He’s 6’3 221 lbs. and he ran 4.45, had a vert of 41″, and a broad jump of 11’6.  That’s a freaky athlete that almost every team would be glad to take a chance on.  Considering there’s an opening for the fourth safety in this draft, Chinn put his best foot forward and had a good day.
• Two other players on the opposite ends of the physical stature spectrum both turned in good days.  Clemson’s Tanner Muse is  6’2 221 lbs. and ran 4.41, jumped 34.5″ and 10’4.  Minnesota’s Antoine Winfield Jr. is 5’9 203 lbs. and ran 4.45, and jumped 36″ and 10’4.  Those are good numbers for anyone of any size.  Winfield looked especially good in the on field drills but that’s not a surprise considering he’s the son of Antoine Winfield and was born to play defensive back.
• Iowa’s Geno Stone had a day to forget.  I believed when he announced his decision to turn pro a year early that he was making a mistake.  Today only confirmed that idea.  In what was a very pedestrian group of safeties Geno Stone managed to finish in the bottom five of all four physical tests he did on the day; forty, vert, broad jump and bench press.  Technically 5 guys finished with worse forty times but one of those guys was Xavier McKinney, the top safety in the class, who pulled up with a leg cramp about 5 yards shy of the 40 and still only finished .01 seconds behind Stone’s time.

Saturday was a bit of a let down after the WRs impressed on day one and the offensive line impressed on day two with almost all of the top prospects at those positions deciding to compete in the physical testing.  DE Chase Young and DT Javon Kinlaw, two of the premiere players, didn’t participate.  Also among the notable players that either didn’t participate at all or only participated in some events were; K’Lavon Chaisson, Yetur Gross-Matos, Terrell Lewis, Curtis Weaver, Julian Okwara, Troy Dye and Josh Uche.  Some of these were due to injury and some just decided to wait until their pro days to workout.  Add in the fact that Isaiah Simmons pulled out after running one forty and both Kenneth Murray and Patrick Queen pulling up lame with hamstring injuries after their second fortys and there was a lot of star power sitting on the sidelines during the workouts.  There were some impressive moments but overall Saturday was a bit disappointing.

Defensive Tackle

• Derrick Brown has been considered the top DT prospects in this draft since he announced last year he was returning to Auburn and he has done nothing but solidify that spot all year long.  He didn’t need to workout in Indy but he did and he looked very impressive.  He’s 6’5 326 lbs. and moves like a guy who’s 250 lbs.  He’s smooth, he’s powerful and he should be a top five pick.  He might not be because other positions get valued more than DT but he should be a top five pick.
• Javon Kinlaw didn’t workout in Indy and he was the only guy who could have competed with Brown for the top DT spot.  That chance is over, regardless of how he works out at a pro day.  Kinlaw is a top 15 pick but he can’t catch Brown after Brown’s performance.
• If you are trying to figure out who the #3 DT is in this class that puts you in the same boat as every talent evaluator in the NFL.  There are three viable options and if you ask all 32 NFL teams you will get a pretty even split between Oklahoma’s Neville Gallimore, TCU’s Ross Blacklock and Auburn’s Marlon Davidson.
• Gallimore is the shorter guy with the quick first step who doesn’t always use it to his advantage.  Blacklock is the athletic one who doesn’t seem to possess the power to anchor but can collapse the pocket on passing downs.  Davidson is the guy who looks like a DT but plays better on the end.  He fits best on the end of a three-man line and not as a pure pass rushing DE.
• The only other DT of note is Texas A&M’s Justin Madubuike.  He’s a bit lean and he relies quite a bit on his ability to slip through gaps and isn’t known for his power.  He actually put up 31 reps on the bench press but you don’t see him using that type of power on the field.  It sort of feeds into the narrative that the bench press isn’t a great measurement for a guy’s power on the football field.

Defensive Ends

• Chase Young had no reason to workout in Indy and after the showing by the DE group as a whole he only solidified his spot well above the rest of the group.  He is as clean of a prospect as there is and barring a catastrophic event (I’m talking him losing a leg in a shark attack type of event), he’s a top three pick at worst.
• The one guy who had any chance of closing the gap between himself and Young was Iowa’s AJ Epenesa and that chance vanished in exactly 5.04 seconds.  That was Epenesa’s forty time and while no one expected Epenesa to be fast that time was disappointing.  He rebounded during the on field drills and looked fairly quick and smooth.  He’s still the second best DE in the class but that has as much to do with the rest of the class either sitting out or not looking impressive at all.  Epenesa cost himself any shot at going in the top 10 and he’s probably looking at going somewhere between 20-30 but it’s all going to depend on the right team wanting him.  He’s a power rusher, not a speed rusher and while teams are looking for speed, a pass rusher is a pass rusher however they get there.
• The DE class overall isn’t overly impressive and with Yetur Gross-Matos and K’Lavon Chaisson not working out it got real thin.  Gross-Matos and Chaisson are both still raw and Chaisson is undersized and probably fits better as a pass rushing OLB than a true DE.
• One impressive physical speciman at the combine was Florida’s Jabari Zuniga.  He’s 6’3 264 lbs. and looks like he was chiseled out of granite.  He ran an impressive 4.64 in the forty and had 29 reps on the bench press.  All of these physical gifts are nice but it makes his play all the more frustrating because while he will flash with an impressive pass rush one minute he then disappears for a too long of a stretch.  He has had some injury history that works against him and he really struggles against the run but if someone drafts him to be a pass rushing specialist he could be a double digit sack guy.
• There are two other DEs I liked at the combine and both tested out physically better than I thought they would but neither of them will get drafted because of their physical gifts.  Michigan St.’s Kenny Willikes and North Dakota St.’s Derrek Tuszka are two guys who’s motors run constantly.  They are the opposites of Zuniga in the fact that they don’t usually make the flashy play but they are never far from the action.  Opponents never forget about these two as they are constantly fighting to make a play even if they don’t get there.  Willikes is a second day (2nd or 3rd round) pick while Tuszka is more a sleeper that should be moving a up a bit after a good showing in Indy.

Linebackers

• This was supposed to be the Isaiah Simmons show and it was, it was just a very short show.  Simmons ran the forty in 4.39 seconds and then dropped the mic and walked away.  There was no reported injury issue he apparently just felt like that’s all he needed to do, and he was right.  Simmons is a special type of talent who could play about five different positions on defense at a Pro Bowl level.  He should be a top five pick like Brown, unfortunately like DT, LB isn’t valued as much either so he may not make the top five.  Wherever he goes, he’s a good bet to be the Defensive Rookie of the Year next season.
• The LB group got even thinner for the on field drills after top prospect Kenneth Murray and Patrick Queen both pulled up with hamstring issues during their second forty runs (Simmons looks like even more of a genius not running a second time).  Simmons, Murray and Queen are the only three legitimate LBs who should go in the first round of the draft (not counting pass rushing OLBs like K’Lavon Chaisson or Zack Baun).   While neither Queen nor Murray are as fast as Simmons they both ran blazing fast fortys; Queen 4.50 and Murray 4.52.
• Having so many pass rushing OLB prospects sit out the workouts (Chaisson, Terrell Lewis, Josh Uche and Curtis Weaver) left it open for a guy like Wisconsin’s Zack Baun to show out.  He ran 4.65 and looked good overall.  That is going to help him on draft day, along with his versatility.  Baun can rush the passer like those other guys and he offers better pure LB skills than those guys.  Those other four have to be pass rushers to be useful defenders while Baun can do more in coverage and as a run stopper.
• Two LBs who came into the combine needing a good showing due to some off the field issues were LSU’s Michael Divinity and Mississippi St.’s Willie Gay Jr, and boy did they go opposite directions.  Divinity was suspended for a multitude of reasons and missed most of his senior year.  Gay was suspended for some academic improprieties and while he did get to play his last year he didn’t start a single game.  Divinity went out and ran a 4.85 forty and showed very little physically.  Gay ran a 4.46 and absolutely balled out in the testing and drills.  These are two guys with similar issues, similar physical profiles and they show exactly where the value in the combine lies.  Gay just earned himself a shot at getting drafted, making a team and having a future in the NFL.  Divinity just punched his ticket to the XFL.  Having the opportunity to evaluate players side-by-side is exactly what the combine is all about.

The final day of the combine will feature the defensive backs.  Jeff Okudah is the top CB and there is no way any of the other guys pass him, the real fight will be who is the second best CB.  At safety, Grant Delpit will try to impress after having a bit of a slow year while Xavier McKinnie of Alabama will show his myriad of skills and probably confuse even more teams about whether he’s a CB or a safety.

While the WR position is the deepest in this draft the Offensive Line is a pretty impressive group and should have as many as six OTs go in the first round.  After the combine Tristan Wirfs, Mekhi Becton, Jedrick Wills and Andrew Thomas are guaranteed to go in round one and they should all be off the board in the top 15-18 picks.  Josh Jones and Austin Jackson look like 1st round guys at this point and while QB is the most over drafted position, offensive tackle is a close second.  Two guys look like worthwhile projects that could end up drafted higher than they should be, Ezra Cleveland and Isaiah Wilson.

Running back has certainly been a devalued position overall the past half decade and a Super Bowl that featured Damian Williams and Raheem Mostert as the starting RBs didn’t help the cause but it’s still a position of need for a number of teams.  Luckily there are some dynamic players in this group, none of whom are seen as top 15 picks but the back half of round one through rounds two and three should provide some serious talent at the position.  Jonathan Taylor, D’Andre Swift and Cam Akers really solidified themselves as top players at the combine.

Offensive Line

• The offensive line drills might as well have been called the Tristan Wirfs show.  I knew he would test well but he exceeded even my expectations.  He set the combine record in the vertical for offensive lineman, tied the record in the broad jump and then ran the fastest forty time of the position group this year at 4.85.  By the way, Wirfs is barely 21 years old and if just scratching the surface of his talent.  Anybody who doesn’t think Wirfs can play OT in the NFL just isn’t paying attention.
• Mekhi Becton ran the forty in 5.10, that’s good for an offensive lineman, that’s exceptional when you consider he’s 6’7 364 lbs.  After doing one position drill he pulled up with a bad hamstring and cut his workout short but he did what he needed to do, he impressed.  Becton might be he first OT off the board, he’s not my top guy but he’s worthy of a top 10 pick.
• Jedrick Wills looked good, he’s plenty athletic and his workout only confirmed what his play on the field already tells you, he’s an immediate starter next season.  The biggest question for Wills is can he flip to the left side or does he stay on the right side in the pros.  The commentators noted that while playing RT at Alabama he protected Tua Tagovailoa’s blind side but that doesn’t mean he’s comfortable flipping to the left side and changing his stance and all the other things that look different from that side.  It’s not as easy as you might think.  Both Becton and Wirfs have played both RT and LT so that might give them an edge.
• Andrew Thomas didn’t do anything to stand out athletically but he looked plenty good and solidied his stock.  Thomas is the type of player that while he might not have the potential ceiling of Becton or Wirfs he has the highest floor of any of the OT prospects.  Is he a hall of famer? Maybe, maybe not but he’s a 10 year starter who won’t get your QB killed.
• Josh Jones and Austin Jackson are kind of the opposite guys in the fact that Jones looks good on tape but doesn’t stand out athletically.  Jackson looked good at the combine, he was overshadowed by he freaks Wirfs and Becton but he’s a very good athlete.  On tape it doesn’t always translate.  He just needs some more work and he’ll be damn good.
• Ezra Cleveland is an early entry guy out of Boise St.  At 6’6 311 lbs. he fits the mold of a starting LT and his 4.93 forty along with 30 reps on the bench press means he has the athleticism and strength to be just that.  He’s still a bit raw and he needs some technique work but he’s a round two pick and probably pretty high in that round.
• Isaiah Wilson is another gigantic athlete at 6’6 350 lbs. and he ran a 5.32 forty.  He has 35.5 inch arms and when he engages the defender it’s over.  He too is pretty raw but he is well worth the investment.  Wilson will likely be a RT only but he has the potential to be the best RT in the NFL in three years with the right coaching (assuming Wirfs ends up at LT for someone).
• The interior linemen aren’t as impressive as the OT class.  With Tyler Biadasz sitting out the drills and Lloyd Cushenberry coming up lame after his forty it left the door open for some other guys to look good but I’m not sure anyone other than Biadasz has a shot of going in the first round, even Cushenberry might only be second round guy.  Michigan C Cesar Ruiz looked good as did Oregon’s Shane Lemieux.  Washington C Nick Harris had a good workout but nothing is going to make up for him being a bit undersized at 6’1.  There are some quality players but the C/G position is going to be 3rd round and lower position.

Running Backs

• Jonathan Taylor owned the combine.  He was the only RB to run the forty in under 4.4 as his official time was 4.39, and he did that weighing 226 lbs.  While I understand that D’Andre Swift, JK Dobbins and even Cam Akers are talented prospects Taylor isn’t getting the respect he deserves.  He ran well, caught the ball well and generally looks like a stud RB.  Someone is going to get a huge steal with him in the draft.  You can’t convince me he won’t be the most productive RB out of this class in the NFL.
• D’Andre Swift looked good.  I like his skill set. He was fast enough and he looks really smooth running the drills.  Swift isn’t the tallest guy but he’s built like a bowling ball and can do everything you need a RB to do.
• Cam Akers is almost the forgotten man because the last couple of years at Florida St. have been pretty rough.  Akers is an exceptional talent and he displayed all his playmaking ability at the combine.  This is one of the guys that can really benefit from the combine because since his team wasn’t very good he wasn’t always able to show off his skills on the field.  He’s a great back for today’s game because he excels in the screen game.
• One guy that you can throw out the combine stuff and just go with the game tape on is Clyde Edwards-Helaire out of LSU.  He’s short and he only ran a 4.6 forty but he clearly plays faster than that and he brings a modern day skill set to the position.  He’s never going to be your go-to goalline/short yardage back because he lacks size and power but he has so many skills otherwise he’s incredibly valuable as an offensive weapon.
• The NFL has seen a lot of teams go to the multiple back system where you use different players with different skill sets depending on your need.  This draft has guys who fit as backs who work well in space and can catch the ball; Eno Benjamin, Darrynton Evans, and Anthony McFarland.  As well as bigger, power backs like AJ Dillon, Zack Moss, and Mike Warren.
• One guy I like better than most is Vanderbilt’s Ke’Shawn Vaughn.  He isn’t dynamic in any one particular thing but he ran 4.51, he has excellent size at 5’10 214 lbs. and even though he played on a less-than-stellar Vanderbilt team he was still a productive back.  Even when his SEC opponents knew he was Vandy’s best offensive weapon.  He can be a productive NFL back.
• One guy that didn’t participate is Ohio St.’s JK Dobbins.  Dobbins is small, fast and shifty.  Not participating won’t affect his draft stock overall but there is a bit of a jumble at the top of the position.  Swift, Taylor, Dobbins, Akers and Edwards-Helaire are generally considered the top five, all of them should somewhere from the 20th overall pick in round one to somewhere through the second round.

Defensive Linemen and Linebackers go on Saturday.  I guess we will see if AJ Epenesa can impress as much as his teammate Wirfs did in the physical testing.  Chase Young isn’t working out so Epenesa has a chance to make himself the star of the defensive line drills.

The NFL Draft Combine is upon us and we started off on Thursday with QBs, WRs and TEs.  The QB group was missing the two headliners of the class in Joe Burrow (skipping the workouts because he’s the presumptive #1 overall pick) and Tua Tagovailoa (because he’s not cleared from his hip injury).  That left us to sort out the next tier of guys and see who could separate themselves.  The WR group is thought to be the best WR draft class ever and they didn’t disappoint.  All of the top guys worked out with the exception of Tee Higgins from Clemson.  It usually doesn’t hurt a great player to not work out at the combine but in this case Higgins didn’t help himself as being out of sight means your out of mind and so many players looked incredibly good.  TE is one of the more underwhelming position groups this year and while a few guys looked good I wouldn’t be surprised if there are no TEs in round one this year and I would be absolutely shocked if there was more than one.  Here’s a Hott Read on each position.

Quarterback

• With no Tua and no Joe Burrow working out it left Oregon’s Justin Herbert as the headliner.  Herbert looked good throwing the ball and looked very athletic in the workouts.  He solidified himself as the third guy in the group but as long as Tua’s health checks out next month being third is the best Herbert is going to do.  Herbert aims his throws too much and he has to learn to trust himself more and just let it go especially on deep throws.
• Utah St.’s Jordan Love looks like the next guy behind Herbert and he basically confirmed that by being good and by having no one else step up to compete with him for that spot.  Love is an impressive athlete with a top-notch arm.  He wasn’t great last season compared to the year before but that was more about circumstances at Utah St. (new coaches and losing almost his entire offense around him).  He’s probably a top 15 pick.
• Washington’s Jacob Eason was supposed to be the competition to Jordan Love and while Eason has a canon for an arm he didn’t put on the kind of show people were expecting. Also, reports are that his interviews with teams were less than impressive.  Words and phrases like immature, laid-back and lacking swagger are used to describe Eason.  In the hyper competitive environment of the NFL, front offices don’t want their QBs to lack fire and competitiveness.  Eason has the potential to be a big, strong-armed QB with a long career like Ben Roethlisberger or he could be the next Kyle Boller, that’s the problem with him as a prospect.
• Jake Fromm is another big name at the combine and while he didn’t do anything to hurt himself he basically confirmed what everyone knows.  Fromm is a good player who lacks elite arm strength and isn’t going to wow anyone physically.  In an NFL that is being taken over by guys with athleticism like Lamar Jackson and Deshaun Watson and arm talent like Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen it’s hard for anyone to get excited by a QB who compares more to Andy Dalton.
• Oklahoma/former Alabama QB Jalen Hurts looked good throwing the ball.  Everyone knew he would look good in the athletic portion of the combine it was how he performed in the throwing drills that impressed.  The one thing I will say is that while he has certainly improved as a passer it is his ability to read a defense and move through progressions that will limit him early in his career.  While he may not want to be “the next Taysom Hill” it is probably the best path forward for him early on.
• When it comes to the rest of the QB group there wasn’t much of note.  If I were a team looking for a developmental QB in the mid to late rounds two guys looked worth taking a chance on.  Colorado QB Steven Montez and Iowa’s Nate Stanley (that’s not even a homer pick).  Montez showed really good athleticism and a great deep arm.  He lacks touch on intermediate routes but that’s why he’s a developmental guy.  Stanley looked far more fluid and athletic than expected and for a guy his size that was impressive.  His biggest issue is consistency but all the tools are there.  Stanley came into the combine as a 6th or 7th round guy, I could see him as a late 4th or 5th rounder now.
• One last note.  While there were a lot of people thinking Jalen Hurts might be the “next Taysom Hill” the guy who should consider trying to be that is Michigan’s Shea Patterson.  After watching him for the past several years at Michigan I’ve never been overly impressed with him as a QB but he tested fairly well as an athlete.  One thing it is going to take for someone to follow Hill’s path to the NFL is a commitment to being that type of player, Hurts seems quite reluctant to do so, Patterson should embrace it.

Wide Receivers

• There has never been a WR class like this one and there are legitimately eight WRs who could go in round one.  CeeDee Lamb, Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs III, Tee Higgins, Justin Jefferson and Laviska Shenault are almost assuredly going in round one.  Jalen Reagor and Brandon Aiyuk have the potential to sneak into the first round.
• I’m not sure the race to be the top WR got any clearer after the combine.  CeeDee Lamb is a favorite of many but he didn’t break 4.5 in the forty which was a little disappointing, but then he went out and looked fantastic in the on field drills.  Jerry Jeudy was always going to look good running routes but it was him running 4.45 that caught people’s attention.  No one thought he would be faster than Lamb.  Henry Ruggs III was disappointed he didn’t break John Ross’ forty record but he ran 4.27 which is crazy fast.  Unfortunately, after running so fast he hurt his quad and didn’t do the on field drills.  Like I said, it didn’t clear much up.  These three still look like the top tier of the position but who’s first, second and third is anyone’s guess.
• Tee Higgins didn’t workout at the combine preferring to wait until his pro day at Clemson.  In this case, it may have hurt him a little.  There were some guys chasing him for the top spot in the second tier of WRs after the top three and certainly Justin Jefferson made up some ground.  Jefferson ran a 4.43 which was a pleasant surprise to many.  The other thing that might hurt Higgins is that while he fills the profile of the big, physical and fast WR there were a couple of guys that emerged as alternatives to him meaning teams may not value him as much if they can get a similar profile guy later on.  Denzel Mims of Baylor is 6’3 207 and ran 4.38 while Chase Claypool of Notre Dame is 6’4 238 and ran 4.42.  If Higgins had been there and run in the 4.4 range at 6’4 216 lbs. he would have solidified his status with the top tier guys.  Now he has to hope his pro day goes well.
• A couple of guys who helped themselves by running under 4.4 were Texas’ Devin Duvernay and Memphis’ Antonio Gibson, both clocking in at 4.39.  Not surprising Duvernay was fast, he’s a track guy but at only 5’10 he needed to show his speed.  He was very productive at Texas and he helped himself.  Gibson is 6’0 but he’s not purely a WR, as a matter of fact he might be a better RB prospect.  His speed got him noticed by many, that’s never a bad thing.
• I mentioned Mims and Claypool before as big WRs who ran very fast.  That’s a great combination.  Claypool came into the draft as a guy some thought might move to TE due to his size, well he would be a damn fast TE if he does.  I think he stays at WR for now.  Mims gets a little lost among the impressive group of WRs but he was very productive at Baylor and he checks all the boxes.  He and Claypool may go higher than people think, like second round.
• Another bigger WR who had a good day is Liberty’s Antonio Gandy-Golden.  The small-school prospect looked good at the Senior Bowl and teams took notice.  At 6’4 223 lbs. he was dominant at Liberty and he held his own during Senior Bowl week.  At the combine he ran 4.6 in the forty which isn’t anything special but then he looked very smooth and agile in the receiver drills and in the rest of the testing.
• One guy that isn’t getting enough attention is Michael Pittman Jr out of USC.  He’s 6’4 223 lbs., he ran 4.52 and he was unbelievably productive at USC.  This is a guy that is going to end up going at the end of round two or in round three and then starts for whatever team drafts him next season and he catches 75 balls as a rookie.  Everyone should stop sleeping on Pittman.
• One guy emerging as a ridiculous athlete that makes everyone go back to the tape and ask why he wasn’t more productive is Michigan’s Donovan Peoples-Jones.  He’s 6’2 212 lbs. ran a 4.48 and has a 44.5 inch vertical.  Crazy stat about Peoples-Jones, he never had a 100-yard receiving game in 3 years at Michigan.  The reasons, some of it was on Michigan’s inconsistent offense, some of it is on Peoples-Jones lacking innate WR skills.  He’s a great athlete who lacks burst of the line to separate from DBs (weird considering his vertical which usually translates to athletic burst) and he’s not a great route runner.  His athletic skills might trick some team into drafting him too high on the assumption they can make him a better WR,  In a draft with so many good WRs I would advise any team against drafting him higher than the fifth round, I’m not kidding I don’t care how athletic he looked.
• Jalen Reagor had an interesting combine.  He came in at 5’11 206 lbs. which was a bit heavier than he played at TCU.  It seemed to affect his speed because his forty time was 4.47 and he’s faster than that.  He needs to take a little of the bulk off and get back to being the speed demon he was in college.  The slower speed is going to hurt him a little until him improves it at his pro day.  It might knock him into the second round which would make him a steal.
• Laviska Shenault Jr. didn’t exactly help himself on Thursday.  He went out and ran a 4.58 forty and while no one expected him to run fast that was slightly disappointing.  The bigger disappointment was that he only ran once and then pulled out and didn’t do any of the on field drills or any of the other testing.  Shenault is a jack-of-all trades type of WR but he may have lost ground to a guy like Justin Jefferson and that will hurt his stock.
• Every year there are underclassmen that comes out and end up regretting it.  I think Quintez Cephus may end up one of those guys.  He’s a special case because while he had a year of eligibility left he was a fourth-year player due to sitting out the 2018 season with legal issues.  Cephus isn’t particularly big at 6’1 202 lbs. and he ran the slowest forty of all the WRs that ran at 4.73.  He isn’t a great route runner and he doesn’t do any one thing particularly well.  In a draft class like this one he is the definition of pedestrian.  He may really regret not going back to Wisconsin and being in next year’s draft where the competition should be considerably lighter.

Tight Ends

• It’s a good thing the WR class is so stacked because the TE class is really weak.  If you’re looking for playmakers in the passing game you might as well draft a big WR and line him up as TE because this class isn’t going to help much.
• The top TE is Cole Kmet out of Notre Dame and he looks the part at 6’6 262 lbs. and he ran a 4.7 forty.  There is a physical comparison to Rob Gronkowski but it ends there.  He doesn’t have the functional strength of Gronk either getting off the line into his routes and certainly not as a blocker.  Kmet has potential to get there but it’s going to take work.  He is a potential first-rounder but he looked as good as he did at the combine due to a lack of real competition.
• Albert Okwuegbunam out of Missouri probably had the one number from the TE position that will get some notice, he ran 4.49 in the forty at 6’5 258 lbs., that’s impressive.  While he’s a big man that can move he’s pretty stiff and not very smooth.  He isn’t a physical blocker and has a ways to go to get better at it.  He is fast and there are some good traits to work with but he’s still a project.
• One of the more frustrating TE prospects is Purdue’s Brycen Hopkins.  There are times he looks like a future All-Pro because he’s a great athlete and runs like a deer, then he drops the easiest pass ever thrown to him.  Hopkins looked great at the combine running around in shorts and t-shirt but he didn’t have to block anyone so that helps.  In this draft class he looks good but overall he’s a very inconsistent player.
• One TE of note that didn’t participate in the combine was LSU’s Thaddeus Moss, the son of Randy Moss (yes, that makes me feel old).  Moss was found to have a foot fracture during the medical examination at the combine so he couldn’t compete.  He will miss several months with rehab so his draft stock might take a hit.  He may have been the second best prospect behind Kmet but now we won’t know.  He wasn’t an exceptional prospect before the foot issue and that injury isn’t going to help him.

That’s all I’ve got from Thursday.  Offensive linemen and running backs are up on Friday.  Looking forward to watching Tristan Wirfs show off.

This is my first mock draft of 2020 and yes I’m making an assumption the 49ers beat the Chiefs in the Super Bowl.  Never good to assume these things but I had to put the last two teams in some order.  You will see this 1st round is pretty heavily dominated by WRs, it’s an excellent receiver draft.  I’m also assuming Tua Tagovailoa gets a clean bill of health on his hip injury.  I will also fully admit two of my favorite prospects in this draft (besides the Iowa guys) are Georgia OT Andrew Thomas and Alabama WR Jerry Jeudy.  Jeudy is going to be a star. There is no one I completely hate in this draft but I’m not all that sold on the CB class after Jeff Okudah.  There are a lot of mock drafts putting two more QBs in the first round, Jordan Love and Jacob Eason, I’m not on that bandwagon.  I like Eason better than Love but someone is really going to have to be desperate to take either one in the first round.  Truthfully, I’m not really sold on Justin Herbert either but he’s going to have plenty of fans in the first round.

2020 NFL Mock Draft 1.0

1. 1. Cincinnati Bengals (2-14): Joe Burrow     QB         LSU

The Bengals had a terrible first season under new coach Zac Taylor and obviously Andy Dalton isn’t the future for this team.  In the middle of the year the team even benched him to give rookie Ryan Findley a shot at the job but he flamed out too and they went back to Dalton.  Burrow has been absolutely masterful at LSU this season under new passing game coordinator Joe Brady.  His seven touchdown 1^st half against Oklahoma in the College Football Playoff semifinal was insane and I can’t see how any team could watch him play this year and not draft him.  The Bengals need a new face of the franchise and Burrow happens to be an Ohio native, this match is simply too perfect.  Chase Young will certainly be a consideration but don’t overthink it Bengals, take Joe.

2. Washington Redskins (3-13): Chase Young      DE         Ohio St.

If Burrow hadn’t been so unbelievable this season Young would be the runaway choice at #1 but QBs trump pass rushers, even ones as great as Young.  He had a monster season at Ohio St. and even though the last month of the season he wasn’t quite as dominant as he was at the beginning of the year that simply doesn’t matter.  The Redskins got their QB last year (Dwayne Haskins) from Ohio St. and now they go back to the Buckeyes to get their elite defensive player.  New head coach Ron Rivera had some great defensive linemen in Carolina and he knows their value.  New defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio will be transitioning the defense back to a 4-3 look and Young is the perfect DE to build that transition around.

3. Detroit Lions (3-12-1): Jeff Okudah          CB          Ohio St.

The Lions are led by Matt Patricia who is supposed to be a defensive minded coach but their defense was atrocious.  Patricia is making a number of changes to his staff on both sides of the ball but what he really needs on defense is talent.  Each level needs help so taking the best available player on defense is the smart move.  Darius Slay has been a mainstay at CB for years and he can be great but he’s been doing it alone his whole career and he’s 29 so he can’t do it forever.  Okudah is the best defender in the draft not named Chase Young.  He’s a lockdown corner with size and incredible instincts.  He won’t fix all that ails the Lions defense but he is a very strong start.  The Lions have to make major strides next season or Patricia won’t survive.

4. New York Giants (4-12): Andrew Thomas       OT         Georgia

For some reason the Giants fired their head coach but kept GM Dave Gettleman.  The team is deficient in some key areas of the team like offensive line and the entire defense.  While they were equally terrible on offense and defense this season and they should just go with the best player available, Gettleman is likely to address the offensive or defensive line.  It just so happens that Thomas is one of the best players available at any position and while they have Nate Solder at LT, he is 31 and far less reliable than he used to be.  Thomas could slide in at RT as a rookie but he will eventually be the starter at LT.  QB Daniel Jones and RB Saquon Barkley deserve more talent in front of them and while this team also needs to address the WR position on offense it won’t matter who lines up there if they can’t block up front.  Thomas is a monster and he’s one of my favorite players in this draft.

5. Miami Dolphins (5-11): Tua Tagovailoa           QB         Alabama

Well this pick is completely dependent on the medical evaluation of Tua’s hip injury by the Miami medical staff.  There is no doubt that the Dolphins need a QB of the future and there is no doubt a healthy Tua is worthy of a top 5 pick.  At the moment it seems things are trending towards Tua getting a clean bill of health and that means Miami has their QB.  He’s an accurate passer with a solid arm and good athleticism.  That athleticism might be affected by his hip injury but we will see on that.  The team is likely to bring Ryan Fitzpatrick back to serve as a mentor and he can start the season if Tua isn’t fully healthy.  The team embraced the all-out rebuild last season so there is no reason to hurry Tua’s rehab.

6. Los Angeles Chargers (5-11): Jedrick Wills Jr.         OT         Alabama

The Chargers could look for Phillip Rivers replacement with a pick like Justin Herbert but despite the team’s bad record last season they are actually ready to win now if they get healthy.  I think they bring Rivers back for one more year and if they do, they need to protect him better.  Wills is a late rising prospect and while I like Tristan Wirfs better, I think Wills may end up going higher.  He would be an immediate starter at RT and really improve the protection up front.  He would also help the run game.  He wasn’t the Alabama OT everyone had pegged at the beginning of the season as a possible first round pick but Alex Leatherwood decided to stay in school and it was Wills that had a breakout season.

7. Carolina Panthers (5-11): Isaiah Simmons      LB          Clemson

The Panthers are going through a coaching change and part of that change is moving back to a 4-3 defense under new coordinator Phil Snow.  The Panthers will need some personnel changes to make that happen and that became much more difficult with the retirement of future Hall of Famer Luke Kuechly.  With him gone and some of their OLBs likely transitioning to DE the team really only has one true LB and that’s Shaq Thompson.  That’s a good start but they need playmakers and there isn’t a better one than Simmons in this draft.  Simmons is fast, athletic and versatile and Phil Snow can dream up ways to use his vast skills.  Simmons and Thompson would form a nice pair of athletic LBs who could do many things.

8. Arizona Cardinals (5-10-1): Derrick Brown      DT         Auburn

There are going to be a lot of mock drafts that have the Cardinals taking a WR to pair with Kyler Murray but this is an exceptionally deep WR draft and this team needs help on defense, everywhere on defense.  Brown could play any of the three positions on their defensive line and he would be an upgrade.  He would give them someone up front to take a little pressure off of Chandler Jones and Brown can stop the run and push the pocket.  He also has the benefit of arguably being the best available player left on the board.  Brown is a legitimate top five prospect and here he goes 8^th overall.  I could make a pretty strong case for them taking Tristan Wirfs because they need better blocking for Kyler Murray but I feel Brown is too good to pass up.

9. Jacksonville Jaguars (6-10): Javon Kinlaw        DL          South Carolina

The Jaguars are a team in flux as they have to make a decision at QB between going with last year’s expensive free agent Nick Foles or sparkplug rookie Gardner Minshew at QB.  The offense has plenty of pieces to work with once they pick a QB but the defense needs some attention.  They need LB help and if Simmons falls here, he’s a no-brainer.  They should probably address the CB position after trading Jalen Ramsey last year so Kristian Fulton, Trevon Diggs or Bryce Hall could be in play here.  I think the better value is at defensive line.  Javon Kinlaw doesn’t get the ink Chase Young or Derrick Brown get but he’s a phenomenal player.  He’s a pocket crushing interior lineman and the Jags aren’t exactly stacked on the inside.  Taven Bryant hasn’t broken through yet and the rest of the group is pedestrian at best.  Also, DE Calais Campbell is aging and Kinlaw could slide outside in certain situations and replace Campbell if needed.

10. Cleveland Browns (6-10): Tristan Wirfs         OT         Iowa

The Browns are once again starting over with a new coach and while Kevin Stefanski might be the guy to restart Baker Mayfield’s progress it will be a whole lot easier if the team fixes the offensive line.  Greg Robinson simply isn’t a starting LT for a good NFL team and while Wirfs mostly played RT at Iowa I think he can flip over to LT full-time.  He’s a better option than Robinson and if he can’t be a LT in the NFL, he’s a better RT than Chris Hubbard.  Either way he improves the offensive line.  Wirfs is big and powerful and he’s still a young guy who will only get better as he grows.  The Browns are a team that has way too much talent to end up with six wins so with a better offensive line and better coaching they could make a significant jump next season.

11. New York Jets (7-9): CeeDee Lamb                WR        Oklahoma

The Jets are almost as desperate for offensive line help as the Browns and if this draft falls the way I have it they will be kicking themselves because they miss out on Thomas, Wills and Wirfs.  The Jets could be a prime candidate to trade up a few spots to get one of those OTs.  If they are gone the team needs WR help just as badly.  I like Jerry Jeudy the best of all the WRs but some teams will have CeeDee Lamb ranked above him.  Jeudy is a tactician while Lamb is a deep speed playmaker.  Robbie Anderson is a free agent and Lamb would be the perfect replacement and a likely upgrade in terms of consistency, something Sam Darnold would appreciate.  Lamb is long, lean and tracks the deep ball especially well.  If the Jets can’t get Darnold some protection they can certainly give him better playmakers to work with.

12. Las Vegas Raiders (7-9): Justin Herbert         QB         Oregon

The Raiders need help on defense, especially at LB and CB.  However, the team will be moving to Las Vegas and there is talk Jon Gruden isn’t enamored with QB Derek Carr.  What better way to open in a new city than with a new franchise QB?  Herbert was a major prospect coming into the year with the possibility of being the #1 overall pick, he didn’t progress that far and there are questions about his game.  He’s still a bit underdeveloped but that won’t stop Gruden.  It should be pointed out that Carr may have been better if his best receiving weapon wasn’t his TE Darren Waller.  It would be fitting to have Herbert be the starting QB on the first NFL team in Vegas, he’s the ultimate big bet, he may be a huge jackpot or you go broke.

13. Indianapolis Colts (7-9): AJ Epenesa       DE         Iowa

If either Tua or Herbert were to fall here the Colts could certainly grab a QB to replace Jacoby Brissett.  That’s not happening in this mock draft.  I also couldn’t fault the team for grabbing a WR here and I love Jerry Jeudy, however, there is a really good defender left on the board.  AJ Epenesa is good enough to be a top 10 pick and represents great value at 13^th overall.  The Colts were not great at getting to the QB last season and both Jabaal Sheard and Justin Houston are on the wrong side of 30.  Epenesa is a powerful DE with good speed and burst and would give the Colts a piece to build their defensive front around for the future.

14. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-9): Grant Delpit       S            LSU

Todd Bowles should get an award for what he was able to do as the defensive coordinator of the Bucs.  They surprisingly had one of the better defenses in the league even though they were lacking talent in key positions.  One area that really needed some help was at safety.  The position isn’t usually valued in the draft like others but Todd Bowles is an excellent secondary coach and he will see the value in Grant Delpit.  Delpit is a smart, ball-hawking safety who would look great playing in Tampa’s defensive secondary.  He would help cover up mistakes of other players and  while he got off to slow start last season at LSU because of an injury, he came on late in the year when he got healthy and the secondary was fantastic down the stretch.

15. Denver Broncos (7-9): Jerry Jeudy       WR        Alabama

The Broncos have bigger needs than WR but Jeudy is too good to pass up.  He should be a top 10 pick but some teams are going to value CeeDee Lamb more than him and so he may fall.  Jeudy isn’t the biggest or fastest WR in this draft but he’s the best route runner and he will immediately be one of the best route runners in the NFL.  The Broncos may have found their QB in Drew Lock and getting him another weapon would help him out tremendously.  They have RBs Royce Freeman and Phillip Lindsay, TE Noah Fant and WR Courtland Sutton.  Jeudy would be an excellent complement to Sutton and he would make Lock’s life easier.  The offense would be pretty set at the skill positions and they can all grow together.

16. Atlanta Falcons (7-9): K’Lavon Chaisson       DE         LSU

The Falcons have needed another edge rusher for quite some time and now they could lose the best one they do have in Vic Beasley.  Chaisson is young and needs some time to grow but he’s a long, lean and fast and the Falcons prioritize speed on defense.  It’s possible they will go with Yetur Gross-Matos but I think Chaisson profiles more to their liking.  He isn’t the most refined pass rusher but he has skills to work with and he can get to the QB.

17. Dallas Cowboys (8-8): Xavier McKinney        DB         Alabama

The Cowboys offense is good and even new head coach Mike McCarthy isn’t going to mess with it, he is bringing back Kellen Moore as the coordinator.  The defense is a different story.  They need help for Demarcus Lawrence on the defensive line and they need safety help too.  CB Byron Jones is also a free agent but the team is hoping to bring him back.  McKinney is a bit of a hedge against the possibility of losing Jones because McKinney can play both safety and corner.  If Jones departs, they could use McKinney at CB but if they re-sign Jones, McKinney steps in at his better position, safety.  He will immediately upgrade their secondary in the middle.

18. Miami (from Pittsburgh): Austin Jackson      OT         USC

If the Dolphins invest the #5 overall pick in Tua they have to spend some draft capital on their offensive line.  LT is a good place to start and while Jackson isn’t the level of Thomas, Wirfs or Wills he is a legitimate starting option at LT.  He has the size, length and athleticism you look for in an OT and he’s a major upgrade over everyone on the Dolphins offensive line.  That’s no setting the bar very high but I like Jackson’s potential to be a long-term solution at LT.

19. Las Vegas (from Chicago): Kristian Fulton     CB          LSU

The Raiders ended last season with Daryl Worley and Trayvon Mullen as their top two CBs, that’s not an ideal set up.  Fulton isn’t the biggest or the fastest CB you’ll find in this draft but he’s talented and tough and he can matchup with just about any WR.  He will be the top CB for the Raiders on day one and that’s all the reason they need to draft him.

20. Jacksonville (from LA Rams): Trevon Diggs         CB          Alabama

The Jaguars are going to count on a new offensive coordinator to figure out how to better utilize the talent they have on that side of the ball.  On defense they need some more new blood.  Jalen Ramsey was traded last year and AJ Bouye wasn’t great so they need help at CB.  Diggs isn’t a household name but he’s a big CB at 6’2 and he learned at Alabama, that’s a pretty solid resume.

21. Philadelphia Eagles (9-7): Tee Higgins       WR        Clemson

As badly as the Eagles need help in the secondary, and they really need help in the secondary, the value is at WR.  They also need help at WR and it’s almost as bad as it is at CB and luckily for them Tee Higgins is still available.  Higgins is a big, physical WR at 6’4 215 lbs. and he will become Carson Wentz’s favorite target on the outside very quickly.  Higgins is also fast and has a large catch radius and will make Wentz’s life easier.  He’s a higher rated prospect than the CBs left on the board at this point (Bryce Hall, CJ Henderson) and Higgins is a steal at this point.

22. Buffalo Bills (10-6): Yetur Gross-Matos         DE         Penn St.

The Bills had a very good season with 10 wins and their defense was a large part of that.  The offense is young and still coming together but they have players to around like Josh Allen and Devin Singletary.  They could use some help at WR because John Brown and Cole Beasley aren’t exactly young by NFL standards.  That need can wait given the depth at the position.  What they really need to address is their pass rush.  On the edge, they have Jerry Hughes who is aging and Trent Murphy who isn’t all that great.  Gross-Matos would bring a guy who can bend the edge and he’s a better player than Shaq Lawson, a guy the Bills may let walk in free agency.

23. New England Patriots (12-4): Henry Ruggs III         WR        Alabama

While there are some good TEs in this draft; Cole Kmet, Brycen Hopkins and Hunter Bryant, none of them rate as highly as Henry Ruggs III overall.  No matter who lines up at QB for the Patriots next season (I’m still betting on Brady), they need more help in the passing game.  Julian Edelman or bust is not a passing game philosophy that’s sustainable.  Ruggs is a deep speed threat who can take the top off the defense.  His presence would open up the middle of the field for Edelman and complement N’Keal Harry’s mid-range power game quite well.  Ruggs can play both inside and outside receiver and working around Julian Edelman would be quite helpful in refining his route running.

24. New Orleans Saints (13-3): Laviska Shenault Jr.         WR        Colorado

Shenault has been described as a swiss-army knife type of receiver because he can play every receiving position and can even line up in line like a TE.  He’s a big guy at 6’2 220 lbs. and runs like a RB once he catches the ball.  He’s lined up in the backfield and even taken snaps as a wildcat QB at times.  Does anyone fit the description of a Sean Payton player better than that?  Shenault would take a lot of pressure off of Michael Thomas just by being a legitimate WR threat on the opposite side but Payton would take great pleasure in drawing up plays for a guy who can do pretty much anything on offense.

25. Minnesota Vikings (10-6): Bryce Hall             CB          Virginia

Hall isn’t a name a lot of people are talking about because he was injured back in October and didn’t play the rest of the year.  If he had been healthy, we may be talking about the second-best CB in this draft behind Okudah.  Hall isn’t the most athletically gifted player with his speed or agility but he’s a top-notch cover guy who won’t back down from anyone.  The Vikings got a less than stellar season from Xavier Rhodes and Trae Waynes and Mackensie Alexander are free agents this off season.  CB could be a major need for the team if Rhodes doesn’t bounce back and even if he does, they may have to replace Waynes, Alexander or both.

26. Miami (from Houston): Jonathan Taylor       RB          Wisconsin

The Dolphins need so many things it’s a good thing they have three first round picks.  My picks for them have a theme, offense.  The get a QB with Tua, a left tackle with Austin Jackson and now a RB.  Most teams avoid RBs in round one anymore but this is the Dolphins third pick so that shouldn’t apply.  The team doesn’t have a legitimate starting RB on the roster and Taylor is a star.  He will need more help, they have to draft multiple offensive linemen in this draft, but he’s an immediate starter and he becomes Tua’s favorite teammate.  Any time you have a back who can carry the ball 25 times a game for your rookie QB that’s a good thing.  Taylor only gets stronger as the game goes and he really started to expand his game this last year by becoming a better pass catcher.  He’s everything you want in a RB and Brian Flores supposedly wants to simplify the Dolphins offense, nothing simpler than hand it to Taylor and get out of the way.

27. Seattle Seahawks (11-5): Mekhi Becton        OT         Louisville

The Seahawks patched together their offensive line throughout the year as they dealt with a number of injuries.  They survived it to the tune of an 11-5 record but they should address their depth.  LT Duane Brown will be 35 next season and they weren’t great at RT no matter who lined up there.  Becton is a huge human being at 6’7 369 lbs. and despite his size he’s a very athletic player.  He can still be a bit raw at times but he has future stalwart LT written all over him.  Russell Wilson would feel a whole lot better with Becton in front of him and his future blindside would be well protected.

28. Baltimore Ravens (14-2): Kenneth Murray         LB          Oklahoma

Clearly, a team that goes 14-2 on the year has a pretty good team and not a lot of issues to deal with.  There is the possibility they lose pass rusher Matt Judon in free agency and that would be a major hole to fill.  They could look to get some slot receiver help with Willie Snead not having a great connection with Lamar Jackson this season.  I think they go best player available and Murray is a stud at LB and in their defense he could step in for well-traveled veteran Josh Bynes.  Patrick Onwuasor has played well at the other ILB spot and Bynes is a steady presence but hardly a playmaker.  Murray would add something special to the middle of the Ravens defense.

29. Tennessee Titans (9-7): CJ Henderson           CB          Florida

The Titans had a magical run at the end of the year and into the playoffs and they most certainly need to retain free agents QB Ryan Tannehill, RB Derrick Henry and RT Jack Conklin and that might mean they don’t have the ability to retain CB Logan Ryan.  They were so thin at CB they picked up Tremaine Brock off the street late in the year so with or without Ryan they need CB help.  Henderson is a long, wiry corner who is willing to play physical and isn’t afraid to tackle.  At 6’1 202 lbs. he still has some filling out to do so he could become an even better run defender on the edge.  He can be used as a blitzer and he doesn’t back down from anyone.

30. Green Bay Packers (13-3): Jalen Reagor        WR        TCU

The Packers relied heavily on their running game and their defense to get them to the NFC Championship game but that wasn’t enough to get them to the Super Bowl.  Aaron Rodgers is still an elite talent at QB but he other than Davante Adams he has no weapons that scare anyone.  One of the things he misses most is a slot receiver over the middle.  Reagor would be an excellent addition because he can be an elite slot guy while also being good enough to flip outside when needed.  They have to get Rodgers some weapons and while they also need a TE I think Reagor is a better player than any of the TEs available in the draft.  They could also look at Justin Jefferson as he would also be a great option in the slot.

31. Kansas City Chiefs (12-4): D’Andre Swift       RB          Georgia

The Chiefs need a CB and if they lose Kendall Fuller in free agency the situation might become dire.  The problem is that at this point the quality drops off a bit, I still like AJ Terrell from Clemson but he’s not good enough to pass up Swift.  Swift would be an unbelievable addition to an already incredible offense.  LeSean McCoy is not the solution and Swift is like an upgraded version of Damien Williams.  Adding him to the Chiefs offense is almost unfair.  The team could grab Terrell or another CB or even go after an interior offensive lineman or an edge rusher to pair with Frank Clark.  However, Andy Reid is a “take the best available player” type of guy and when your team just made the Super Bowl that’s a pretty solid plan.

32. San Francisco 49ers (13-3): Justin Jefferson        WR           LSU

The 49ers passing game is clearly not the strength of the team.  The got better when they traded for Emmanuel Sanders but he’s 32 and going to be a free agent this off season.  Whether he returns or not this team needs playmakers besides TE George Kittle.  Jefferson isn’t the elite athlete most of the WRs ahead of him in this draft are but he wins with technique and instinct.  He can play on the outside and even at 6’3 he can be very effective from the slot.  If the 49ers bring back Sanders it would give them three WRs (Sanders, Deebo Samuel and Jefferson) who are all very versatile.  They could really use some help at safety but unless McKinney or Delpit fall there isn’t another 1^st round level safety.