It used to be that ESPN’s mock draft experts — Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay — wouldn’t project trades in their predictions for where college football’s best players would go.
But that has apparently changed.
In McShay’s latest mock draft, he informs us that “my guy Mel Kiper Jr. waived the no-trade clause on our mocks.” And he made two mock trades, which is pretty awesome, especially for the two teams involved who are in need of getting a quarterback of the future.
Let’s start with the first one: he had the Panthers deal the No. 8 pick, a second-rounder and a first-rounder in 2022 (that’s a HIGH price, in my opinion) to the Miami Dolphins for the No. 3 pick, and had Carolina take North Dakota State’s Trey Lance:
The quarterback-to-Carolina rhetoric isn’t new, but some might be surprised to see Lance as the pick, rather than Ohio State’s Justin Fields. They both possess strong arms, they both are highly competitive, they both are sturdy in the pocket and can pick up chunks when they decide to tuck it and run and they both can hit the deep ball. But in going back to the tape, I think Lance goes through his progressions a little quicker than Fields, who gets stuck on his primary read too often. It’s tight, but I think Lance has an edge right now.
Mock 2.0 is here – and it includes two QB-driven trades. Have at it… https://t.co/Q6297sUs3K
— Todd McShay (@McShay13) February 10, 2021
The other trade will perhaps excited Bears fans: They would trade up with the 49ers at No. 12, sending No. 20, their second-rounder, “probably along with a 2022 first- or second-rounder.”
That’s where McShay has them taking Alabama’s Mac Jones.
“If there is a run on quarterbacks,” he wrote, “and Wentz goes to Indianapolis or elsewhere, then the Bears have to do what they have to do here.”
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