Tag: trade up

Mock Draft Monday: Cowboys focus on defense for Dan Quinn’s arrival

The Dallas Cowboys have a new defensive coordinator and Dan Quinn is going to need a lot of reinforcements to get the ship going in the right direction. If the Cowboys can find some spending capital, they’ll need to address some of their biggest …

The Dallas Cowboys have a new defensive coordinator and Dan Quinn is going to need a lot of reinforcements to get the ship going in the right direction. If the Cowboys can find some spending capital, they’ll need to address some of their biggest needs in free agency, and that is even more of the case when looking at the strengths in this year’s draft class.

There isn’t a Top-10 lock player at either defensive tackle or safety, two of the three biggest needs going into 2021. Assuming Dallas addresses those needs in some level of free agency, they’ll still need reinforcements there as well as front-line starters at other positions. Here’s our attempt to round out those positions with impact players using The Draft Network’s simulator and scouting reports.

4-Round Mock Draft 2.0: Cowboys get cake, trade it, eat for days

If the Cowboys ended up with 1 first, 2 seconds and 4 picks in the first 25 of the third round, would you be mad if the first player they took was on offense? Let’s ride, ladies and gents. | 2 CBs, a safety, 3 DL, a linebacker for the 2021 DC to play with.

This may not go over well, I already know but bear with me. It’s early in the draft process and rolling out mock after mock with the same players chosen will become repetitive very quickly. In our first mock, run a month ago, we had a small trade back and selected corner-corner-safety to hit the secondary with a barrage of high-level targets. All things being equal, that is likely going to be where we settle once it gets to mid-April.  Bombard the secondary.

But four months prior? It’s imperative to consider every possibility. So what happens if the Dallas Cowboys are not enamored – for whatever reason – with the two cornerbacks most currently see as the top options? What happens if they aren’t enamored with the other defensive options projected for the top of the draft? Could they make moves backwards to stockpile picks, grab the best player on the board when they finally do select and then walk away with a mountain of defensive talent still ranked in their Top 30, 50, 100 players?

That’s what we did in this exercise, ending up with seven picks in the Top 88. This team has a talent deficiency, so rebuilding the base on defense is probably more important than finding a stud at one spot and leaving others to the end of the draft.

Assuming Dak Prescott is still the man in Dallas and will be under center for the foreseeable future, what about adding a fourth dynamic playmaker to his arsenal if it comes with a slew of defenders? Let’s rock.

Get to know Seahawks 2nd-round pick defensive end Darrell Taylor

A closer look, including college highlights, of Tennessee Vols’ defensive end Darrell Taylor who the Seattle Seahawks selected at No. 48.

In a rare move, the Seattle Seahawks traded up Friday night to select Tennessee Vols’ defensive end, Darrell Taylor. Seattle sent the No. 59 and No. 101 picks to the New York Jets in exchange for No. 48 overall.

Taylor, 23, grew up in Virginia and received offers from Florida and Virginia Tech before ultimately deciding on the University of Tennessee, where he was listed as a linebacker.

In 13 games played for the Vols in 2019, Taylor lead the team with 46 total tackles – 28 of those solo – 8.5 sacks, four passes defended and a fumble recovery. He tied for second in sacks in the SEC.

Throughout his college career, Taylor managed 118 tackles, 19.5 sacks, six forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries and seven passes defended over 38 games.

Here’s a look at the highlight reel from his senior season.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FeR-G_NuR8&w=560&h=315]

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Seattle Seahawks select Tennessee EDGE Darrell Taylor at No. 48

The Seattle Seahawks traded pick No. 59 and pick No. 101 to the Jets for pick No. 48, which they used to select Tennessee DE Darrell Taylor.

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The Seattle Seahawks made another surprising move in the 2020 NFL draft, trading pick No. 59 and pick No. 101 to the New York Jets to acquire pick No. 48, which they used to select Tennessee defensive end Darrell Taylor.

Taylor fits a need for the Seahawks, as the team was among the worst at rushing the quarterback during the 2019 season. Now, the team watched Quinton Jefferson sign with the Bills and has yet to re-sign star defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, making the defensive end spot even more of a need.

Taylor is one of very few players from the college ranks who had eight or more sacks in each of the past two seasons, and he has an NFL body with incredible play strength, burst, tackling ability and playmaking skills – making him a prototypical Seahawks-type draft pick.

Taylor is rather raw, however, being called a player with five-star traits and three-star skill level at this point by NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein.

Taylor will compete for snaps right away on the edge for the Seahawks, who now have just four picks remaining in the 2020 NFL draft.

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2020 NFL Draft: Bears expected to trade down in 2nd round

Bears GM Ryan Pace isn’t known for trading down to accumulate draft picks, but it sounds like that might change this year.

Bears general manager Ryan Pace has garnered a reputation in the NFL Draft for trading future draft capital and going all-in on players that he believes in. Although, it hasn’t always worked out.

Pace has traded up each of the last four drafts with mixed results. In 2016, he traded up to land outside linebacker Leonard Floyd in the first round and linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski in the fourth round. In 2017, Pace traded up one spot to draft quarterback Mitchell Trubisky No. 2 overall, and he also traded up in the fourth round to land safety Eddie Jackson.

Pace continued the trend in 2018, when he traded up to select receiver Anthony Miller in the second round. Even last year, Pace moved up 13 spots in the third round to select running back David Montgomery.

But something Pace is not known for is trading down to accumulate picks, although he has done so on a couple of occasions.

In a recent mock draft, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune hinted that the Bears are expected to trade down in the second round, which would certainly go against the norm.

The Bears are expected to seek a trade down with at least one of their second-round picks to add depth to their class.

Considering the Bears have just two draft picks in the first four rounds — and with a number of roster needs — it would make sense for Pace to trade back and lock up an extra draft pick, perhaps before the fifth round.

The interesting part about Biggs’ note is that he mentioned seeking a trade with “at least one” of those picks, hinting that trading down with both second-round picks isn’t necessarily out of the question.

This NFL Draft is different from last year’s for Chicago in that it’s not about selecting the best player available. This year, the Bears have several roster needs both on offense and defense that need to be addressed with Chicago’s limited draft capital.

When all is said and done, whether Pace decides to trade back ultimately depends on whether or not one of his guys is still on the board when Pick 43 or 50 rolls around.

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Updated Chiefs’ 2020 NFL draft picks with trade value chart

Keep track of the trade value of all of the Kansas City Chiefs’ draft picks here.

In the NFL draft, nothing can be said to be certain except for fans booing the commissioner, a team drafting a kicker way too high, and Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach making trades.

Seeing a trade from Veach in this month’s draft is quite likely for Chiefs fans. In each of the past two drafts with Kansas City, Veach has traded draft capital to either move up in the draft or to acquire a player. He was quite selective in the 2018 NFL draft, using the team’s eight picks to move around and make a total of six selections. The Chiefs traded up a total of three times in order to select Breeland Speaks, Derrick Nnadi and Kahlil McKenzie. They also acquired pick No. 100 in the Speaks trade, which was used on Dorian O’Daniel. In the 2019 NFL draft, the Chiefs traded their first-round pick for DE Frank Clark. They also moved up to select Mecole Hardman at pick No. 56 in the second round.

In order to determine the value of draft picks, NFL teams use a trade value chart. Most of them are based on the chart below, which was devised by Jimmy Johnson when he was the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in the 90s. To get a better idea of what each pick in the draft is worth, here is a look at the 2020 NFL draft order with their accompanied trade values:

Here are the individual values of the Chiefs’ draft picks this year, per the chart:

Round 1, No. 32: 590
Round 2, No. 63: 276
Round 3, No. 96: 116
Round 4, No. 138: 37
Round 5, No. 177: 19.4

Total value: 1,038.4

The Chiefs have a first-round pick, for the first time since 2017, which significantly increases the total value of their picks.

It’s entirely possible the Chiefs use that first-round pick to make a move up during the upcoming draft. If the Chiefs combine all of their draft capital they can move up as high as pick No. 16 in the first round. That’d leave them with a single pick and little flexibility, though.

Their first-round pick is also a prime spot for moving back into the second round. Keep in mind that salary cap space also comes into play here. As Kansas City adds more draft picks, they’ll add more salary cap commitments too. With their current draft slots, the Chiefs are projected to need just over $5.1 million according to Over The Cap.

Use the chart above and play around with some potential trades for Kansas City. Be sure to let us know the haul that you end up with on Twitter and Facebook.