Happy Draft Eve! Our penultimate mock. Check back tomorrow for our final mock and our Draft Day Drinking Game, the perfect complement to your Draft night experience. Anyway, there are have been some big moves on the draft board, and big trades (welcome Mr. Rodgers to the Jets). Aaron, straight out of his darkness chamber, should have no problem relating to the average Jets fan (an overweight, beer-soaked guy from Long Island who’s perpetually pissed off). Good luck!
And the QB slide begins. There’s always misdirection and smokescreens with the Draft and player analysis. I think some of the time people are tired of writing the same thing, and are looking for ways to spice things up. Or teams will put out information hoping that it will cause a player to fall to them. That could be the case with C.J. Stroud, or people are staring to realize he played quarterback for Ohio St. Quick: name me a successful QB in the NFL from Ohio St. Ever. Terrelle Pryor? Troy Smith? Dwayne Haskins (RIP)? Bobby Hoying? Justin Fields may be the best, and the jury is still very much out on him. Truth is: Ohio St. sucks at producing quarterbacks that can play in the NFL. Perhaps more damning is the release of his S2 Cognition Test score, which was, putting it mildly, underwhelming. That could have teams nervous to invest a high pick. If Indy doesn’t take him at 4, I think he could fall out of the Top 10. Stay tuned.
Some noteworthy changes here. I’m hearing that New England is the floor for Bijan Robinson, especially if JSN is off the board. Also, I think the floor for Anthony Richardson is Seattle. That would be quite the first round for Seattle: restarting the Legion of Boom with Devon Weatherspoon, and drafting the quarterback who I think has the most upside in the Draft.
Welcome Hendon Hooker to the Show! While some qbs are sliding, Hendon is soaring. If Hooker didn’t tear his ACL last year, he would be in the conversation for first overall. We think he’s the most NFL ready quarterback in the Draft. Given the 5th year team option for first round picks, someone should take him at the end of the first round. It makes sense if that someone is Minnesota. He could sit for a year, which would allow him to fully heal from his injury, and allow Kirk Cousins to collapse in the post-season again. Elsewhere, if the Bills don’t pull off a trade for Hopkins, look for them to draft Zay Flowers, a speedy, slot receiver that will finally shut up free up space for Stefon Diggs.
Get some sleep. Big day tomorrow, kids.