The 2019 NFL Draft is over.
Let the 2020 NFL Draft begin!
We’ve got an early 2020 mock from Mocking the Draft’s Dan Kadar that sets out a baseline for some of the best prospects heading into the college football season.
At the top, he’s got Alabama Crimson Tide QB Tua Tagovailoa as the #1 pick. I think Tua’s getting overrated (and perhaps heavily so), but we’ll see how 2019 plays out. He’s a fine QB prospect, but I think people are falling more for outputs than skill set. You don’t get to draft outputs when you take a guy out of his environment and away from his current teammates.
Alas, an argument for another day perhaps.
Two picks later, Kadar has his second QB in Oregon Ducks QB Justin Herbert. He’s one of the four Kadar has going in the first round including Tagovailoa, Herbert, Georgia Bulldogs QB Jake Fromm and his former teammate now Washington Huskies QB Jacob Eason. Could be a nice year for quarterbacks depending on who declares early.
There’s tons of Alabama all over the mock, but one schism to track will be the courses of WR Jerry Jeudy and WR Henry Ruggs III.
The Los Angeles Rams just drafted Washington S Taylor Rapp so we can likely cross safety off the list early on, but man alive would I love to have LSU Tigers S Grant Delpit on my team.
Notable that Kadar doesn’t have an offensive lineman until #16 with Georgia OT Andrew Thomas going to the Seattle Seahawks.
Oklahoma Sooners WR CeeDee Lamb goes at #23 to the Green Bay Packers. Should be a fascinating offense to watch this year as the Sooners have gone from Baker Mayfield at QB to Kyler Murray and now hand the keys to Alabama transfer Jalen Hurts.
One pick after the Rams that I really like? Wisconsin Badgers OT Tyler Biadasz. If the Rams are in the market next year for a starting LT to replace retiring Andrew Whitworth, that would be a very sensible pick that hits the mark for value too.
Anyway, at #29 Kadar mocks the Rams to take:
#31.) Michigan State Spartans DE Kenny Willekes
If the Rams don’t want to re-sign defensive linemen Michael Brockers and Dante Fowler Jr. next offseason, they could find a replacement in the draft with Willekes.
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I don’t like it.
Don’t misunderstand. Criticizing a mock 11 months and 29 days out is pretty useless, but I just don’t like the fit given what the Rams’ DL/DE depth chart should look like in a year. Willekes could kick out as a 3-4 EDGE, but I’d see him more as a replacement for Samson Ebukam than Fowler. And if the Rams are looking to boost the edge, I’d rather look for a premier pass rusher in the first round to replace Fowler who’s on a one-year contract anyway.
Some early 2020 food for thought.