Draft Wire’s latest mock draft goes seven rounds. See what players the Cardinals land.
With all the compensatory picks awarded and NFL teams now know exactly what picks they have in the 2020 NFL Draft. Draft Wire managing editor Luke Easterling put together a full seven-round mock draft including compensatory picks.
Let’s take a look at the picks for the Arizona Cardinals.
Round 1: Oklahoma WR CeeDee Lamb
Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Lamb is a common and popular pick for the Cardinals. He makes sense on many levels. They need a true No. 1 receiver and he has the potential to be a big playmaker. He has a relationship with Kyler Murray and he already is familiar with the Arizona offense. The question is whether they would take him or an offensive lineman. Mekhi Becton is already off the board, so this would mean taking Lamb over other athletic tackles like Tristan Wirfs, Jedrick Wills or Andrew Thomas.
In the Draft Wire’s latest mock draft, they have the Jets making necessary adjustments to the offensive line while adding key contributors.
With the combine at the end of the month and the NFL in a holding pattern of draft buzz, Draft Wire released its latest mock, a four-rounder.
In this hypothetical, the Jets are able to reload on both sides of the football by targeting needs and finding value on Day 2 and the early portion of Day 3. Not only do the Jets find a key cog on the offensive line, but they also find multiple starters that they can plug-and-play on the offensive side of the football. At the same time, they’re able to find players who can be contributors from Day 1 of OTAs on defense.
Here’s a look at the players selected by Luke Easterling in each round for the Jets.
First Round: Mekhi Becton | OT | Louisville
(Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports)
With the Jets’ first pick, they address the offensive line and are fortunate enough that one of the draft’s top-four offensive linemen falls to them with the 11th pick.
Here’s Easterling’s explanation for the pick:
If Sam Darnold is going to live up to his full potential, the Jets need to find him a true franchise left tackle to keep him upright. Becton is a massive force with rare athleticism for his size, and while he may not be as polished as some of the other top tackles in this class, his upside gives him the nod for the Jets here.
Becton has a huge frame, standing at 6-foot-7 and 360 pounds, but he’s complemented with nimble feet and functional athleticism for his size, allowing him to be plugged in at either tackle position. The Louisville product is an athletic blocker with the size, length and skill to become a top offensive lineman.
Time will tell but recent trends in some of the most-respected draft analysts mock drafts have had fewer and fewer former Fighting Irish going in round one.
April 23 will bring the start of the 2020 NFL Draft, this year being held in Las Vegas as part of the NFL’s celebration of bringing the league to Vegas with the Raiders.
How many Notre Dame players will we see drafted in those three days? Time will tell but recent trends in some of the most-respected draft analysts mock drafts have had fewer and fewer former Fighting Irish going in round one.
Matt Miller from Bleacher Report released his full seven round mock draft this weekend and had eight different Notre Dame players getting selected. Now who were they and where did he have them going?
R1 – 30: Cole Kmet, TE, Green Bay Packers
R2 – 54: Julian Okwara, Edge Rusher, Buffalo Bills
R3 – 75: Khalid Kareem, Edge Rusher, Indianapolis Colts
R3 – 94: Chase Claypool, WR, Green Bay Packers
R4 – 145: Troy Pride, Jr., CB, Baltimore Ravens
R5 – 153: Jalen Elliott, S, Arizona Cardinals
R6 – 196: Alohi Gilman, S, New England Patriots
R7 – 241: Tony Jones, Jr., RB, Miami Dolphins
A few thoughts on this one:
First off, as a Chicago Bears fan I despise the idea of both Kmet and Claypool going to Green Bay. Jimmy Graham is washed up at tight end while aside from Davante Adams, there aren’t many options for Aaron Rodgers to throw to. Kmet and Claypool fix that issue, especially when you factor in the ridiciulous depth of talent at wide receiver in this draft being the only reason Claypool would be a fourth round pick.
Okwara not only not in the first round but really not sniffing the first round. It certainly is starting to seem like it’s going to be Kmet or bust for that first round.
Troy Pride, Jr. as a fourth round pick by the Ravens feels like the kind of Ravens defensive pick that you see, don’t think a ton about initally and then you look up six years later and he’s still a mainstay on that defense.
Alohi Gilman as a reserve safety and special teams player for the Patriots seems like the most Bill Belichick sixth round draft pick ever…well, besides that Brady guy.
Tony Jones, Jr. gets selected in this one. I know the All-Star games don’t carry nearly the weight as the practices before them do but he had a rather weak showing a few weeks back in Tampa and I’ll be pleasantly surprised if his name is called and he’s not an undrafted free agent.
Two four-round mock drafts for the Buffalo Bills at the 2020 NFL Draft.
The NFL offseason has been underway for the Buffalo Bills for some time now. The league year does not officially end under March, but Super Bowl LIV between the Chiefs and 49ers is one day away.
Once the final whistle blows and the confetti hits the turf in Miami on Sunday, that’s the unofficial start of the NFL offseason for everyone.
To celebrate, Bills Wire’s Kyle Silagyi and Nick Wojton pushed Bills Mafia into the offseason with two dueling four-round mock drafts for Buffalo.
Take your pick between both below:
Kyle’s pick:
22. RB Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin
Wisconsin Badgers running back Jonathan Taylor. Credit: Richard Wood/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via USA TODAY Sports
Though unlikely, there is a scenario where the top four-or-five wide receivers are off the board when Buffalo goes on the clock at pick No. 22.
Should this situation occur, the team should take a long look at Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor.
Though his stock has fallen in recent weeks, Taylor is still widely looked at as a top-three ballcarrier in this year’s class. A well-rounded back with elite vision, Taylor rushed for 6,174 yards and 50 touchdowns throughout his three years at Wisconsin, winning the Doak Walker Award as college football’s best running back in 2018 and 2019.
Taylor was a high-usage player in Madison; there was nothing creative about the way the Badgers got the ball into his hands. The majority of his runs went up the middle or off-tackle, and this suited the 21-year-old, as he was often able to identify holes with his first-class vision and make the most of them with his strong footwork.
Taylor has solid speed and power, and he projects to be an impactful running back at the next level straight away. He would immediately make Buffalo’s backfield one of the league’s brightest, as his downhill-style of running would effectively complement the open-field shiftiness of Devin Singletary.
Though wide receiver is undoubtedly a bigger need for the Bills, selecting Taylor would perhaps unintentionally help address that positional deficiency. With Taylor and Singletary manning the backfield, Buffalo would become a ground-oriented team, relying on the two backs to consistently move the ball. This would open up opportunities in the play-action passing game, creating more chances for wide receivers to get open on called passes through a commitment to the ground game.
Jonathan Taylor makes everything look smooth. Great footwork here to jump cut on this and break it the house.
Clemson Tigers wide receiver Tee Higgins. Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
The writing on the wall just seems too apparent ahead of April’s draft. The Bills needing a wide receiver isn’t anything new. The last time the Bills had a premium No. 1 wideout was back in Sammy Watkins’ days with the team.
While John Brown and Cole Beasley had profitable seasons with the Bills in 2019, Buffalo needs a top, young prospect in that group. Tee Higgins would be exactly that.
That writing has been there because for about a season or two, many draft pundits predicted the 2020 draft will be one of the deepest classes for the position, The Bills knew that too, so they’re going to take their swing and that’s why they didn’t last season.
In Higgins, Buffalo would get exactly what they need. That big-bodied target that quarterback Josh Allen has lacked. While the Bills would be smart to not just pin-point a guy that’s tall, realistically, Higgins’ pre-draft selection in mock drafts has been right around where the Bills pick. It wouldn’t be a reach and early outlooks appear the Bills choosing between Higgins and Colorado’s Laviska Shenault here, both talented receivers the Bills could use.
Kyle Silagyi is joined by Justin DiLoro and McKenna Middlebrook to lead the Buffalo Bills through a 7-round 2020 NFL mock draft.
In markets that house an NFL franchise, there is a fifth season, a sometimes-annoying but ever-interesting period that complements spring, summer, fall, and winter.
In Buffalo, NY, this enigmatic fifth season perhaps outlasts spring.
This mysterious period – known affectionally as ‘mock draft season’ – is now upon us.
On this episode of The Kyle Silagyi Variety Hour, host Kyle Silagyi and BillsWire staff writers Justin DiLoro and McKenna Middlebrook take the reins of the Buffalo Bills, leading the team through a seven-round 2020 NFL mock draft.
New Year’s Day brought news that Gilman will wear his gold helmet one more time for the public to see, that coming in the Reese’s Senior Bowl later this month.
Earlier this week safety Alohi Gilman made it known he’d be leaving Notre Dame before using all his eligibility and entering the NFL Draft.
Gilman was undoubtedly a fan-favorite for the Fighting Irish but also an impressive leader. If you’re into that kind of thing I shared my three favorite memories of his two-year playing career with the Fighting Irish after he announced his decision.
New Year’s Day brought news that Gilman will wear his gold helmet one more time for the public to see, that coming in the Reese’s Senior Bowl later this month.
Gilman becomes the fifth Notre Dame player participating in this year’s Senior Bowl, joining Chase Claypool, Jalen Elliott, Khalid Kareem and Troy Pride, Jr.
The annual Reese’s Senior Bowl takes place on Sunday, January 25 this year and can be seen live on NFL Network that day starting at 2:30 pm E.T.
I still think the Irish win Saturday had Isaiah Foskey not blocked the punt late in the first half because Notre Dame was simply too dominant afterwards to think it was only that play.
A look at the final score and you might not think Saturday’s 45-24 Notre Dame win over Stanford and think they dominated for the entire afternoon.
Although domination eventually came on, for 27 minutes or so in the first half things were anything but for the Fighting Irish.
So who gets the reward of the game balls in today’s win that wraps up a 10-2 regular season?
Let’s check it out:
Offense:
I could go a couple different ways here with Chase Claypool scoring twice and providing the go-ahead touchdown or Tony Jones scoring and putting up 90 total yards but to me it was Ian Book that offensively was the biggest star.
Four touchdowns and no interceptions, his ground game wasn’t as strong today but it was just as lethal when it absolutely needed to be, his fourth down run for 26 yards to the Stanford three while still only leading 21-17 was a huge play by the quarterback who Brian Kelly had big-time praise for after the game (more on that, later).
Khalid Kareem forced two fumbles early on and got Navy out of their game-plan offensively.
[jwplayer Dh5mMtzW-er0jUifI]
No. 16 Notre Dame’s 52-20 rout of No. 23 Navy was sight for sore eyes, as the Irish dominated Navy in every part of the game until calling off the dogs in the second half.
When you dominate a game like Notre Dame did Saturday, especially in the first half, there were plenty of performances that were praise-worthy and deserving of our game-ball award had it been pretty much any other week, but we limit them down to one on both offense and defense to present you our FIW game ball awards for the Navy game.
Pride has 33 tackles on the year along with one interception, as he recorded his first last-Saturday at Duke.
It seems like just about every hour at this point another Notre Dame player accepts an invitation to play in the Reese’s Senior Bowl
We’ve given you the stories on both Chase Claypool and Jalen Elliott but that’s not enough as a couple of other Notre Dame seniors accepted their invitations to the annual Mobile, Alabama event today.
