9. Jacksonville Jaguars: Javon Kinlaw, DT, South Carolina
Now the rebuild begins. With Calais Campbell off to Baltimore, the Jaguars have managed to eliminate nearly every impact player on a defense that was one half away from Super Bowl LII in January 2018. Most of that had to do with former executive VP of football operations Tom Coughlin telling everyone to get the heck off his lawn, but regardless, general manager Dave Caldwell has quite the job in front of him if he’s going to make this defense relevant again. Secondary is a need, but the Jags can address that with the 20th overall pick — which they will do in this mock. For now, let’s give Jacksonville a preternatural force on the interior defensive line in Kinlaw, who might be even better than Derrick Brown at one-tech and three-tech down the road when he learns the nuances of those positions.
10. Cleveland Browns: Mekhi Becton, OT, Louisville
New Browns general manager Andrew Berry, 32, is the youngest at his position in the NFL, and he started his tenure by putting the Browns on the right path in a couple of different ways. Signing tight end Austin Hooper and right tackle Jack Conklin will help a lot with an offense that, under new head coach Kevin Stefanski, will run a ton of right-handed boot-action stuff with two tight ends. Now, it’s time to address the left tackle position, left vacant by the utterly replaceable Greg Robinson. At 6-foot-7 and 364 pounds, Becton doesn’t look like the ideal “move” tackle, but he absolutely blew up the combine with his athletic exploits, and he’s played both left and right tackle in a system that had him in heavy zone/slide blocking in a play-action passing game. Becton needs refinement in his pass sets, but he allowed just one sack and six total pressures in 314 pass-blocking snaps in 2019. A Becton/Conklin combination at tackle would be a massive upgrade over what the Browns presented last season.
11. New York Jets: Tristan Wirfs, OL, Iowa
The Jets and new general manager Joe Douglas have done a lot to retool an offensive line that was responsible for 24 sacks and 188 pressures in 2019, per Pro Football Focus. The additions of tackle George Fant, center Connor McGovern and guards Josh Andrews and Greg Van Roten show the extent to which Douglas realizes the need for improvement. But none of those guys are top-tier starters, which still leaves an opening for someone like Wirfs, the weightlifting monster of a tackle who was the first true freshman to start at offensive tackle for Kirk Ferentz at Iowa. Some believe that Wirfs projects better as a guard at the next level, given his combination of strength and athleticism. But based on the tape, I think he could be a rock star over time at either guard position, right tackle, or protecting Sam Darnold’s blind side.
12. Las Vegas Raiders: Jerry Jeudy, WR, Alabama
Last season, Hunter Renfrow and Tyrell Williams were the only Raiders wide receivers to catch over 40 passes — and neither caught 50. Signing Nelson Agholor to a one-year deal isn’t going to pick up much of that slack. Jon Gruden needs a route perfectionist in his highly advanced West Coast offense with its modern designs, and Jeudy would be a perfect fit. Not only can Jeudy tie defenders in knots with his on-field moves; he’s also got the kind of top-end speed required for big plays all over the field. He’ll upend a cornerback in press coverage at the line of scrimmage with his quick movement, and from there it’s off to the races. Jeudy is as ding-proof a player as you’ll find in this draft class.
13. San Francisco 49ers: Trevon Diggs, CB, Alabama
The 49ers’ roster is one with very few holes. Cornerback was one of them in a relative sense when Ahkello Witherspoon was on the field, and only marginally less so when Emmanuel Moseley replaced Witherspoon for performance reasons as the season progressed and into the postseason. Richard Sherman had one of the more remarkable bounce-back seasons in recent NFL history last year, but he’ll also be 32 when the next season starts. Given that uncertainty, and understanding what the 49ers want out of their cornerbacks — big, physical defenders who can take the alpha to the field in a defense based more on execution than schematic diversity — Diggs would be a great addition. The brother of former Vikings and current Bills receiver Stefon Diggs, Trevon allowed 15 receptions on 50 targets last season for 266 yards and one touchdown in 2019, per Sports Info Solutions. If you combine his three interceptions and 12 pass breakups last season, he negated as many receptions as he allowed. Shoring up the cornerback position for the next few years beyond Sherman could extend the 49ers’ championship window into something pretty formidable.
14. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Josh Jones, OT, Houston
In case you missed it, the Buccaneers made an interesting acquisition at the quarterback position last week. With Tom Brady on board, expect Bruce Arians to modify his “no risk-it, no biscuit” philosophy to a point to mesh with Brady’s perfectionism, and expect Brady to start to turn it loose once he realizes that his targets are no longer Julian Edelman and the Pips. So, Brady’s probably going to have more five- and seven-step drops than he’s had since he was burning everyone with bombs to Randy Moss. With that in mind, and given a group of offensive tackles that allowed 13 sacks and 82 total pressures, per Pro Football Focus, it would be nice to give Brady some time to get those deep passes down the field. A spread/zone blocker in college for the most part, Jones will need time and development to become a high-level run-blocker, but when you have the chance to select a guy who’s allowed just 18 pressures on 1,282 pass-blocking snaps over the past three years, and you now have the greatest quarterback in NFL history plying his trade for you, I’d say it’s a pretty good match.
15. Denver Broncos: CeeDee Lamb, WR, Oklahoma
Last season, Courtland Sutton led the Broncos with 72 receptions on 124 targets for 1,112 yards and six touchdowns. The next most prolific receiver was Emmanuel Sanders, whom Denver traded to San Francisco halfway through the season. Given the investment in franchise quarterback du jour Drew Lock, and given that the biggest free-agency deal Denver has made so far is a two-year deal for running back Melvin Gordon, it’s safe to say there’s a need here. Last season, Lamb led all draftable receivers in yards per target (14.3), yards per route run (3.9), and yards after catch per reception (11.2). He’s a plus player in just about every relevant receiving attribute with the possible exception of route diversity, and that can be improved over time with an athlete of this caliber. In the short term, Lamb gives Lock another immediate target and makes Sutton even more dangerous.
16. Atlanta Falcons: C.J. Henderson, CB, Florida
It’s not that the Falcons were wrong for letting Desmond Trufant head to Detroit in free agency — when you can save $10.75 million in cap room by releasing a cornerback who allowed five touchdowns and an opponent passer rating of 106.3 last season, that just makes sense. But even with the re-signing of Blidi Wreh-Wilson, there’s not a lot in Atlanta’s cornerback room that provides a lot of encouragement, despite the late-season upswing in performance that took root when Raheem Morris took over the defense. Now, the Falcons need another cornerback with the ability to be a zone-based shot-caller, and Henderson qualifies. He’s played at a very high level over the past three seasons, excelling both in coverage in man and zone concepts, both outside and in the slot. He gave up a few deep shots in 2019 as he worked through an ankle injury, but his 2018 tape is about as clean as you’ll see in this cornerback class.