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This is the first time we’ve seen this in 2020 mock drafts, but the theme is consistent with recent years when Michigan has put several players into the NFL.

In 2016, when Michigan led all of college football with 11 NFL draft picks, Taco Charlton and Jabrill Peppers were both selected in the first-round. In 2019, the Wolverines put Devin Bush Jr. and Rashan Gary into the league with the No. 10 and No. 12 picks, respectively.

According to The Athletic’s Dane Brugler in his NFL mock draft 5.0 ($), the maize and blue again had two first-round selections.

While many have prognosticated that early entrant, center Cesar Ruiz, would sneak into the tail end first-round, Brugler sees things similarly, but also says another Michigan teammate will join him, albeit several picks earlier.

It’s part of a seven-round mock that sees eight Wolverines selected, with a few changes compared to some of the usual suspects we’ve seen picked in other multiple-round mocks.

• No. 27 (1) – Josh Uche – Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks are always a wild card on draft day so I wouldn’t be surprised to see a stunner here like Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor. But I’m going with Uche, who gives Seattle an explosive edge threat and a player just scratching the surface of his ability.

• No. 31 (1) – Cesar Ruiz – San Francisco 49ers

With the 49ers not picking again until the fifth round, good bet they look to trade back (maybe for a team looking to trade up for Jordan Love?). But if they stay put, upgrading the interior offensive line is on the priority list and Ruiz has big upside as a center-guard.

• No. 107 (4) – Ben Bredeson – Cincinnati Bengals
• No. 115 (4) – Donovan Peoples-Jones – Cleveland Browns
• No. 161 (5) – Josh Metellus – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• No. 188 (6) – Jon Runyan Jr. – Buffalo Bills (from Cleveland)
• No. 205 (6) – Michael Onwenu – Minnesota Vikings
• No. 245 (7) – Sean McKeon – San Francisco 49ers

This is the first mock draft from a major publication that includes Michael Onwenu and Sean McKeon and we’ve found very few that have had Josh Metellus — though none this high. But it’s rare that we haven’t seen VIPER Khaleke Hudson, who had a solid showing in the NFL Scouting Combine, be selected in a seven-round mock, and we’d anticipate that CB Lavert Hill and DE Mike Danna could also be picks.

There has been ample speculation in recent weeks that former five-star QB Shea Patterson could go undrafted, such as this from Rivals’ Mike Farrell:

Overview: Patterson played in only 10 games over two seasons at Ole Miss as he dealt with injuries and then he transferred to Michigan to re-spark his career. Rated as the third-best prospect in the 2016 class, Patterson posted good numbers in Ann Arbor but he hardly showed elite passing ability and there’s a decent possibility that he will go undrafted. He finished his college career with 8,800 passing yards with 68 touchdowns and 27 interceptions, only 52 fewer yards than Joe Burrow in two fewer games. An early Arizona pledge who then ended up at Ole Miss, only Rashan Gary and Dexter Lawrence were ranked higher than Patterson in the 2016 class.

Farrell’s take: Patterson had everything you wanted in a quarterback coming out of high school. He was mobile, his arm strength was solid and he had that moxie and confidence you want. It never really showed consistently on the field at either Ole Miss or Michigan, and that’s surprising. Size was the main question about him in high school, but now there are many more questions surrounding him.

The 2020 NFL Draft is slated to begin virtually on April 23.