First mock draft for the 2024 season

[RicFlairoftheNFL]

Hey Gang,

Doing my first mock draft of the post-2023 season. I am in NO way trying to steal tyni's thunder. I love doing these things as much as he does. At best he and I are Kiper and McShay (Me being McShay...the guy who got fired)

I'm doing this mock on nflmockdraftdatabase.com. Speed fast, free for all settings. So here we go

Pick 25 is being flipped to Buffalo for Picks 28, 60, 128, 158 and 201 of the 2024 draft.

Pick 28 Kameron Kinchens S Miami: Admittedly not a guy I've seen play but highly rated in any and all mocks I've seen. Slight stretch drafting the #31 rated player at 28...but this is a need position.

Pick 41 Kris Jenkins DL Michigan: It was really tough for me not to go S S 1 and 2 with Nubin sitting there. But I'm looking at Kenny Clark going into his 12th season and knowing that whomever it is we probably have to have the NEXT guy ready in the next 2 years.

Pick 58 Blake Corum RB Michigan: Same basic principal as Jenkins. We need to have the NEXT guy for when 33 is injured or no longer affective within the next 2 years.

Pick 60 Edgerin Cooper LB Texas A&M: SEC linebacker, same size as Quay *2 pounds lighter* at a position we need to get younger and better at.

Pick 88 Cooper Beebe IOL Kansas State: Big road grader. late 2nd round grade picking him up late 3rd. Our interior O-Line is a mess, and now with Runyan being a free agent we need to fill holes here.

Pick 91 Javon Bullard S Georgia: Big game experience at Georgia. We all know whether we'll admit it or not we need to rebuild and improve the safety room. Bullard has a early 3rd grade and picking him up late 3rd.

Pick 126 is flipped to the Ravens for Picks 132, 165 and 225

Pick 128 is flipped to the Saints for picks 148, 168 and 172

Pick 132 Cam Hart CB Notre Dame: In the past I've HATED all the CB picks as most haven't turned out. Hart late 4 I think is a safe bet. Could step in opposite Valentine if it's needed or FOR Valentine.

Pick 148 Tommy Eichenberg LB Ohio State: Drafting multiple linebackers to me does 2 things. 1.) Gets that multi year starter with Quay that isn't 30 years old and 2.) Gets McDuffie who is STILL lost in the passing game either relegated to ST only, or to the unemployment line.

Pick 158 Ainias Smith WR Texas A&M: Whether it's Doubbs or Toure no one has stepped up into that Randall Cobb role. At 5'10 200 maybe he's that guy or maybe he's a returner for the Packers.

Pick 165 is being flipped to San Francisco for Picks 175 and 208

Pick 166 Roger Rosengarten T Washington: Bakhtiari's size, and we don't need him to play LT necessarily. Slot him at RT and you can move Tom inside where he would be dominant for years.

Pick 168 Javion Cohen IOL Miami: Knowing we have to move Myers out, and either move Tom in OR draft someone...on top of now hearing Runyan might not be back this is a solid pick drafting a guy with a late 4th round grade in Round 5.

Pick 172 Austin Booker EDGE Kansas: Depth pick. Gonna be moving on from Preston soon and training as many guys as you can at a deep position makes sense to me.

Pick 175 is being flipped to the Saints for picks 191 and 200

Pick 191 is beintg flipped to Cleveland for picks 204 and 209 as I didn't like anyone on the board at or near the draft spot

Pick 200 AJ Barner TE Michigan: McCarthy's safety blanket all year. Solid guy good hands is he gonna come in and push the top 2 for playing time. Can he slot in easily as the #3 or #4 TE on your team? Yes (And with the previous trade I got him 9 spots later...i.e. less money)

Pick 201 Frank Gore Jr RB Southern Miss: Reasong given with other RBs, and let's see if he has what his dad did.

Pick 203 Malik Mustapha S Wake Forrest: We know the DB room is weak at Safety. We know we need to hit on 2...we need to draft more than 2.

Pick 204 Jordan Jefferson DL LSU: Thinking again with the Kenny Clark situation a couple years down the line we need to be training guys to take that spot

Pick 208 Trevor Keegan IOL Michigan: We need Interior line guys.

Pick 209 Brandon Coker T TCU: We need bodies in the O-Line room and fresh bodies. Not only do we have a couple holes with the starting 5 we have canyons at the depth spots.

Pick 215 Myles Harden CB South Dakota: YES I actually drafted multiple CBs, but for a good reason. I have a hunch with Rasul gone to Buffalo and with 23's attitude issues he may be gone as well.

Pick 225 Edefuan Ulofoshio LB: Best available

Pick 242 Will Reichart K Alabama: Let's do an Iron Bowl competition at K and see if Carlson can rise to the occassion.

Pick 250 Omar Speights LB LSU: Prototypical size range, though on the shorter side *Personal preferrences* saw him play this year. Can understand why he's a day 3...can't understand why he has a late 6 grade, and why I'm able to get him late 7.


I fully understand there's no way we're getting this many draft picks, but I am interested in everyone's thoughts.

I had wanted to draft Sam Hartman but by the time I thought he was worth the pick he was gone. Could've gotten Joe Milton round 4, didn't see enough of him this year so went another way.

 

[tynimiller]

Cooper Beebe would be the massive steal of this draft. He is my OG1 and it isn’t close, dude is the best pure guard prospect I’ve seen in a while. I will go on record even if wrong he should go top50.

Otherwise too many trades but you know that. Cooper is an off ball I really like and would immediately defend trading Campbell or doing a post June 1st cut to save a ton of cap space.

 

[AmishMafia]

22 picks! That would help improve our odds in the draft contest.

Frank Gore Jr pick makes me feel old. Seems his dad was playing so recently.

Looks like you fill a lot of holes.

 

[RicFlairoftheNFL]

Cooper Beebe would be the massive steal of this draft. He is my OG1 and it isn’t close, dude is the best pure guard prospect I’ve seen in a while. I will go on record even if wrong he should go top50.

Otherwise too many trades but you know that. Cooper is an off ball I really like and would immediately defend trading Campbell or doing a post June 1st cut to save a ton of cap space.

Most of the trades were offered to me as it was free for all. I only offered 1 which involved the 6 rounders. I could've made 4 others.

 

[tynimiller]

Most of the trades were offered to me as it was free for all. I only offered 1 which involved the 6 rounders. I could've made 4 others.

I get it, that's how engines work but IMO better to stay more realistic is all lol.

 

[Poppa San]

I get it, that's how engines work but IMO better to stay more realistic is all lol.

A few years back I did a mock where I accepted almost all trades on days one and two. My first pick was round 4. I ended with about about 20 picks day 3, half a dozen firsts, and a dozen seconds the following year.

 

[sschind]

22 picks! That would help improve our odds in the draft contest.

Frank Gore Jr pick makes me feel old. Seems his dad was playing so recently.

Looks like you fill a lot of holes.

Seems like just a few years ago Gore was still winning fantasy leagues for people who drafted him in the 15th round.

 

[RicFlairoftheNFL]

22 picks! That would help improve our odds in the draft contest.

Frank Gore Jr pick makes me feel old. Seems his dad was playing so recently.

Looks like you fill a lot of holes.

What I've always done in mocks is identified positions that fit 2 and now 3 areas. 1.) Guys who have no value to this team as they are. I identified 4 players that fit this group. 2.) Guys who in 2 years either won't be at their best, or who may be gone either by their choice or the teams. I identified 5 guys from this group. 3.) This year I had to add guys playing out of position. I Identified 2 guys in this group, and did what I could to rectify each situation.

 

[AmishMafia]

What I've always done in mocks is identified positions that fit 2 and now 3 areas. 1.) Guys who have no value to this team as they are. I identified 4 players that fit this group. 2.) Guys who in 2 years either won't be at their best, or who may be gone either by their choice or the teams. I identified 5 guys from this group. 3.) This year I had to add guys playing out of position. I Identified 2 guys in this group, and did what I could to rectify each situation.

Aren't you a barrel of laughs. I don't know if any GM has drafted better than Gute over the last 2 years. But hey, you want to take a contrary position, have at it.

 

[edensmage]

Ric, thanks for sharing the free sim. Went and tried it and was pretty pleased with these results. Admittedly I haven't scouted deep enough to know the later rounds so I cut it off but here's what I ended up with. I wasn't sure about Bowers being there at 25, but it was hard to pass on BPA in this scenario. All of the top T's and CB's were gone - which is realistically how this could happen.

I'm a big fan of Cooper and just missed on Cedric grey but snagged Liufau (who I haven't watched much but I like his measurables). I know we've talked about the Van Pran pick and felt the value was good there. I haven't watched Brooks but know you guys have mentioned liking him so I took that shot as well.

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[edensmage]

Alright this is addicting...
I did a few more and had this one offer some enticing trades. Curious about the aggressiveness on O-line and playing a little BPA which, unfortunately caused me to miss on a getting a few of the higher ranked safeties:

I linked this for a few reasons:
-We're uncertain about what stokes will bring so it gives us a second top tier option at CB
-Graham is definitely a packer type player with being able to play all over. Can compete at LT (though not likely his spot) and RG, maybe C?
-Sweat can be mentored by Clark - also a Longhorn so I'm sure those two would hit it off. We need some more beef in the middle to contrast our lighter pass rush types
-Cooper and Wilson I've already discussed - love both of these guys. I opted for Wilson over Gray - I'd have to rewatch some tape to see how I feel about that.
-Van Pran & beebee were still sitting there and can be a day one starters or offer great competition to the rest of the room. Ultimately with 3 IOL one of these guys would likely be a back-up...but having the confidence that all 3 of these guys are good OL would be great for a SB run for injury or even some 6 man OL run options.
-Rounding out round 4 with a few Safeties...mostly because we had too, but grabbing Williams at the end of the 4th I thought was decent. I was fairly convinced seattle would take him but with Pete gone, that could change.

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[Poppa San]

Alright this is addicting...
I did a few more and had this one offer some enticing trades. Curious about the aggressiveness on O-line and playing a little BPA which, unfortunately caused me to miss on a getting a few of the higher ranked safeties:

I linked this for a few reasons:
-We're uncertain about what stokes will bring so it gives us a second top tier option at CB
-Graham is definitely a packer type player with being able to play all over. Can compete at LT (though not likely his spot) and RG, maybe C?
-Sweat can be mentored by Clark - also a Longhorn so I'm sure those two would hit it off. We need some more beef in the middle to contrast our lighter pass rush types
-Cooper and Wilson I've already discussed - love both of these guys. I opted for Wilson over Gray - I'd have to rewatch some tape to see how I feel about that.
-Van Pran & beebee were still sitting there and can be a day one starters or offer great competition to the rest of the room. Ultimately with 3 IOL one of these guys would likely be a back-up...but having the confidence that all 3 of these guys are good OL would be great for a SB run for injury or even some 6 man OL run options.
-Rounding out round 4 with a few Safeties...mostly because we had too, but grabbing Williams at the end of the 4th I thought was decent. I was fairly convinced seattle would take him but with Pete gone, that could change.

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I really hope the round 3 jinx is over if it works out close to this.

 

[edensmage]

I really hope the round 3 jinx is over if it works out close to this.

I think Kraft's performance this year has suggested it is over.

 

[Todd Princl]

Cooper Beebe would be the massive steal of this draft. He is my OG1 and it isn’t close, dude is the best pure guard prospect I’ve seen in a while. I will go on record even if wrong he should go top50.

Otherwise too many trades but you know that. Cooper is an off ball I really like and would immediately defend trading Campbell or doing a post June 1st cut to save a ton of cap space.

Would you justify taking him at 41?

 

[tynimiller]

Would you justify taking him at 41?

Me personally yes, he is a plug and play guard day 1 in the NFL IMO. Zak Zinter is a guy I'm very intrigued with, if medicals indicate he is healing nicely he is also a stud guard....

Christian Haynes UCONN and Christian Mahogany Boston College are two other STUD guards to be familiar with come April.


Cooper is a guy when he is drafted MUCH higher than many see these "engines" predicting will scream the most ignorant statement we see EVERY draft "you could have waited till _________ and gotten him."

 

[RicFlairoftheNFL]

Would you justify taking him at 41?

IF we come out of round 1 with a T or S I can do this. If we go any other way, and haven't addressed these areas in FA then I can't do it. I can't leave O-Line holes on this team, at all. Our biggest needs are Tackle...which would move Tom inside and shore up the interior O-Line issues we saw this year, as well as depth at O-Line. Van Pran is being mocked as a late 2 early 3...he can be picked up at 58 and I think Beebe can be as well.

 

[shockerx]

IF we come out of round 1 with a T or S I can do this. If we go any other way, and haven't addressed these areas in FA then I can't do it. I can't leave O-Line holes on this team, at all. Our biggest needs are Tackle...which would move Tom inside and shore up the interior O-Line issues we saw this year, as well as depth at O-Line. Van Pran is being mocked as a late 2 early 3...he can be picked up at 58 and I think Beebe can be as well.

I hear yeah on the need to keep building OL. But Im not touching Tom leave him at RT. Maybe go Fautanu at 25 if he there, gives you a tackle or IOL option. Or wait for a high end guard late 2nd or 3rd round pick....one you like will be there.

 

[OldSchool101]

About 50% of my Mocks I find myself trading back. When perfecting those trades I generally only do the slight trade backs. So even after 2 trade backs I’m picking at #33 or #35 etc. it’s an area where I still feel like there’s some fantastic players that will win a starter role.
Then I usually have an extra 65 overall from moving around. That extra pick is huge

 

[edensmage]

About 50% of my Mocks I find myself trading back.

I actually find that even if a top prospect falls, I prefer to trade back because there are so many options in rounds 2-3 that I like. I've listed before that trading with NYG or WAS could end up making a lot of sense. I expect too that there are several teams who may want a QB but not in the top 15...so they could be looking to trade back up at the end of the first for a JJ, Penix, etc if they fall.

 

[edensmage]

I've realized I don't know how to start a new thread (maybe permissions?) so I'll just keep dropping stuff here for now...
I think I may have done my perfect mock draft (at least as far as I have knowledge on players so far):

So this actually seems like a realistic possibility. I don't know if the eagles give up all of the later picks but the 2x 2nd rounders were hard to pass up. It also...interestingly...made sense. Kool-Aid fell to 25 and they grabbed him.

So I've probably ran 50+ mocks so far and I've had some good ones, but this one fell about as perfectly as I could've asked. Anyone else disagree? I would argue the only real miss on this would be a CB and possibly DL...but man...to me this would give us what we need to have a SB-caliber roster.

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[gopkrs]

IF we come out of round 1 with a T or S I can do this. If we go any other way, and haven't addressed these areas in FA then I can't do it. I can't leave O-Line holes on this team, at all. Our biggest needs are Tackle...which would move Tom inside and shore up the interior O-Line issues we saw this year, as well as depth at O-Line. Van Pran is being mocked as a late 2 early 3...he can be picked up at 58 and I think Beebe can be as well.

I don't understand wanting to move Tom inside. He does such a good job out there on the R side. Why not just draft a stud interior lineman that looks like he can start right away? But I do want another tackle. You can't go through a season with only two.

 

[tynimiller]

I don't understand wanting to move Tom inside. He does such a good job out there on the R side. Why not just draft a stud interior lineman that looks like he can start right away? But I do want another tackle. You can't go through a season with only two.

Truthfully this team can flex either way the board falls. If a premiere RT is sitting there, you pick em. The reason this could bring a Tom shift inside to RG is because Tom is that good and diverse...plus measurables come into play.

Tom body wise is not a Tackle persay, sub 34 inch arms and under 6'5' with a sub 81 inch wingspan....now just because a player doesn't fit the tendencies doesn't mean they cannot play high level Tackle, he can BUT say you draft a Tyler Guyton - has been a pure RT in college and is massive...your best five structure wise is likely Tom inside with Guyton at RT.

Likewise you draft a Beebe or a now a OT like Jordan Morgan, similar to Tom in measurables it would likely make more sense he goes RG and Tom stays.

It isn't about "wanting" to move Tom as the motivation of a pick for me, it's about that being the structure of the best line as a result of the pick. High level OT or iOL will both help our front 5...now what I don't want to see is us pick two guys best suited for interior or exterior...if we go two tackles i'd prefer to see one not be a mountain of a man type.

 

[gopkrs]

Well, Tom has held up against all the defensive ends he has faced. So there's that. And how do you know he will be as good at guard or center? But sure, if there is a premier tackle available, since they are more coveted than interior line, I guess you take him. But I would not trade up for one in order to move Tom and would probably rather have a premier interior at that point because so many OTs will have already been taken. On the side, I am thinking more and more that inside linebacker is a need. But he has to be a thumper and that, I think, would make Q better. And I like McDuffie as someone who can come in and make a play. In my mind, Campbell is not here anymore. At least I hope not.

 

[tynimiller]

Well, Tom has held up against all the defensive ends he has faced. So there's that. And how do you know he will be as good at guard or center? But sure, if there is a premier tackle available, since they are more coveted than interior line, I guess you take him. But I would not trade up for one in order to move Tom and would probably rather have a premier interior at that point because so many OTs will have already been taken. On the side, I am thinking more and more that inside linebacker is a need. But he has to be a thumper and that, I think, would make Q better. And I like McDuffie as someone who can come in and make a play. In my mind, Campbell is not here anymore. At least I hope not.

Tom actually has guard snaps in pre-season games for us as well as playing their his rookie year. His rookie year saw 19.6% of his snaps at LG, 60% LT, 2.9% RG, 17.2% RT

Now that is the regular season only, I don't have official figures from preseason.

MLF, and OL staff have even discussed Tom at center - his versatility is amazing and I actually tend to think he can play high level at every position better than post injury Jenkins (Jenkins flopped at LT when back).

 

[RicFlairoftheNFL]

Tom actually has guard snaps in pre-season games for us as well as playing their his rookie year. His rookie year saw 19.6% of his snaps at LG, 60% LT, 2.9% RG, 17.2% RT

Now that is the regular season only, I don't have official figures from preseason.

MLF, and OL staff have even discussed Tom at center - his versatility is amazing and I actually tend to think he can play high level at every position better than post injury Jenkins (Jenkins flopped at LT when back).

In pre-season 2023 there were 3 guys for two spots. Tom, Myers and Nijman...but Tom ended up at Tackle because Nijman was worse at Tackle than Myers was at Center...yes folks I said that and you read it correctly. Myers who was abysmal this year at Center, was better there than Nijman was at Tackle during camp and pre-season.