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While we’re mostly looking at NFL Draft gurus such as ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. or NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah, here at USA TODAY Sports Media Group, we have a great resource as well in DraftWire.
And our sister site, which put together a four-round NFL mock draft this weekend sees a lot more Michigan players coming off the board later this month than some of its competitors.
We already can expect center Cesar Ruiz, who left Ann Arbor with a year of eligibility remaining, to be an early-round pick, but there’s little-to-no consensus about the other dozen-plus players who could be selected. While other sites who have four-to-seven round mock drafts foresee three-to-four former Wolverines get selected in the first two days and about eight total, DraftWire predicts there could be seven maize and blue players selected, including some surprises.
Starting with the first-round pick of Ruiz and DraftWire’s evaluation:
26. Miami Dolphins (from HOU)
Cesar Ruiz | OL | Michigan
Let’s keep with the “protect Tua at all costs” mentality here. Yes, it would be tempting to take the top running back off the board here, but the depth of this year’s class should give Miami better value on Day 2. Instead, they grab this year’s best interior blocker in Ruiz, who is just 20 years old and already as athletic and physical as they come.
While DraftWire didn’t see any Michigan players being selected in the second-round, they do have a mass of former Wolverines being selected in the third and fourth:
Third Round
- 85. Detroit Lions (from PHI) | Donovan Peoples-Jones | WR | Michigan
- 92. Baltimore Ravens | Josh Uche | EDGE | Michigan
- 101. Seattle Seahawks | Ben Bredeson | OL | Michigan
Fourth Round
- 137. Jacksonville Jaguars (from SF) | Khaleke Hudson | S | Michigan
- 140. Jacksonville Jaguars (from CHI) | Lavert Hill | CB | Michigan
- 145. Philadelphia Eagles | Jon Runyan | OL | Michigan
Right now, we have little idea if that will happen, but given the high level of play and/or athleticism from all of the aforementioned, we see it as being more likely that some could come off the board sooner than some of the other experts think.