Mock 2March2014

[xwalker]

I used NFLDS (CBS) rankings as a guideline.

Trade down in the 1st, gain a 3rd and 6th .

Trade 2nd for early 3rd and 4th.

1st: Aaron Donald DT
Ideal 3-tech for Marinelli.

3rd-1: Marcus Smith DE
Excellent quickness, with good height and arm length.

3rd-2: Billy Turner OG/OT or Brandon Thomas OG
Both are strong, athletic players that with high upside.

3rd-3: Terrence Brooks FS (other options Kelcy Quarles DT, Martavis Bryant WR)

4th-1: Keith McGill CB/FS
Big, fast CB with long arms and Safety size.

4th-2: Caraun Reid DT
Playing at Princeton pushes him lower than his talent deserves.

5th: Isaiah Crowell RB
Impressive RB with some exaggerated character issues.

6th: Aaron Lynch DE
Mental makeup needs to be checked out, but physical ability is top notch.

7th: Calvin Barnett DT
Very strong with good quickness and high motor. Nasty.

7th: L'Damian Washington WR
Big and fast.

7th: Kadeem Edwards OG
Strong and aggressive with decent quickness. Good arm length.

UDFA:
Trey Millard FB/HB
Modern style athletic, taller FB. Excellent pass receiver.

Dri Archer WR
Small but super fast. Excellent returner.

Ben Gardner DE
High motor DL that seems to be in the backfield often.

Jonathan Dowling FS
Big FS.

Jeff Matthews QB
Tall, strong arm and intelligent.

Trai Turner OG
Solid college player at LSU. Good size, athleticism, and arm length.

I probably need a LB in there somewhere. I'm not overwhelmed by any of the 4-3 LBs in this draft but I don't dislike many of them either. Zumwalt and Tripp are solid mid rounders. It would be great to have the luxury to take Tevin Smith and let him stay at 218 lbs and only play as the Nickel LB. A late round guy that looks better than his ranking is Avery Williamson. There are some guys that were pass rushers in college but might be too small for that in the NFL. It would be interesting to see some of them workout as a 4-3 type LB. A guy like Howard Jones is in that category.

 

[TheRomoSexual]

Yeah, I seriously doubt Donald will last until 16, and I don't think there's any chance we can land him after a trade down.

 

[xwalker]

Yeah, I seriously doubt Donald will last until 16, and I don't think there's any chance we can land him after a trade down.

He has gotten a lot of hype with the Senior Bowl and the Combine, but when all that settles, many teams will step back and still not be gung ho to draft a 6-0, 288 lb DT in the top half of the 1st round.

 

[tm1119]

Its a good list of talented players....I'll give that. Not sure about the order or how realistic it is. I feel like every UDFA you have besides Matthews won't even make it past the 6th.

 

[xwalker]

Its a good list of talented players....I'll give that. Not sure about the order or how realistic it is. I feel like every UDFA you have besides Matthews won't even make it past the 6th.

I'm just going by the NFLDS rankings on the UDFAs.

 

[DFWJC]

Yeah, I seriously doubt Donald will last until 16, and I don't think there's any chance we can land him after a trade down.

I do.
I guess anything can happen though

 

[Nirvana]

So you're saying the fastest guy at the combine won't get drafted?

 

[jterrell]

Heck of a draft if you could actually get those players in those spots.

Trading down (for 2nd time) in 2nd seems foolish with talent in that range being so strong.

Probably have to use 16 on Donald if he is there then.
But CBS has him at 22 so by this guide you could trade down a tad and hope for the best.
Not sure what trade you made or if was more theoretical.
The only possibility that meets drafting by cbs rating and abiding by draft charts is GB at 21.
We trade 16 for 21, round 3 and round 6 and get a couple points worth of value.--could easily give them a 7th as we have plenty.

The only negative there is GB apparently has safety and DL atop their draft board.
Pryor and DL are generally mocked to them.

 

[jterrell]

So you're saying the fastest guy at the combine won't get drafted?

I suspect Archer, Dowling and Turner all get drafted.
Once comp picks are introduced the draft will be about 8.5 rounds worth of players.

 

[Nirvana]

I suspect Archer, Dowling and Turner all get drafted.
Once comp picks are introduced the draft will be about 8.5 rounds worth of players.

Archer would have to be in prison at the time of the draft to not get drafted. Speed man.

 

[XxTDxX]

give me the Martavis Bryant option in the 3rd and this draft would be amazing

 

[gmoney112]

I like this draft. I think we actually had the same first 3 picks. I opted for Tripp with my 2nd third round choice though. I don't know if they want another young safety, I'd rather seduce Tillman to come play S for his favorite coach, but if that's not an option and Buchanon is BPA you have to take him. I also think we'll take a WR at some point in the first 5 rounds, but I could see it playing out like this as well if Donald actually falls. If he doesn't, it definitely limits our options.

Good work. You think Marcus falls to the third?

 

[xwalker]

Yeah, I seriously doubt Donald will last until 16, and I don't think there's any chance we can land him after a trade down.

So you're saying the fastest guy at the combine won't get drafted?

Those types of players have fallen to the end of the draft or to UDFA status before.

The below 5'8 players that get drafted earlier are usually in the 195+ pound range. Archer is 173 lbs.

NFLDS has him rated at #259. Not counting the comp picks, there at 7x32 = 224 draft spots.

 

[Gaede]

Love it. Great job.

On a side note, I am really liking the second tier DEs lately-namely, Chrichton and Smith.

 

[xwalker]

I like this draft. I think we actually had the same first 3 picks. I opted for Tripp with my 2nd third round choice though. I don't know if they want another young safety, I'd rather seduce Tillman to come play S for his favorite coach, but if that's not an option and Buchanon is BPA you have to take him. I also think we'll take a WR at some point in the first 5 rounds, but I could see it playing out like this as well if Donald actually falls. If he doesn't, it definitely limits our options.

Good work. You think Marcus falls to the third?

I would be fine with Tripp at that pick. He is a solid player with good measureables. I agree that another young mid-round Safety might not be the answer to the Cowboys problems; however, I think Brooks is a little different than the other guys they have and he would probably be a 2nd rounder most years, but this is a deep draft so I have him falling to the late 3rd.

NFLDS has Marcus Smith at #70. It's hard to do in a mock, but I like the concept of letting the draft come to you as opposed to forcing a pick. I thought taking Smith with in the mid 2nd was taking him at the very earliest that he might get drafted. I consider that forcing the pick. Sometimes it's a good thing to force the pick like with Frederick. Center is a very difficult position to fill with a quality player and it was the Cowboys #1 need in 2013, IMO. Center and QB are the only 2 positions where quality free agents almost never become available. Undersized DE/OLB tweeners are not quite as difficult to find. Teams like the Giants would not be in the market for an undersized DE like Smith. Only a few 4-3 teams will draft him; otherwise he'll have to go to a 3-4 team.

I like the idea of Tillman on a short medium priced contract; however, he recently said emphatically that he didn't want to play Safety; although, money talks. I think Tillman would be very helpful in getting Marinelli's scheme up and running.

As far a WR, I had Martavis Bryant as an alternate in the 3rd round. With WR possibly being the deepest position in this draft, it would probably be good to take one at some point. I did take L'Damian Washington in the 7th, but he is a project.