Mock Draft Round Up Final Edition

I am the captain. Now as we dive into a mock draft roundup episode here on Drivetime, we'll go around the web and dive into the latest mock drafts from the foremost experts around the league ESPN, NFL Network. Wherever they are, we'll find them. We'll break down their mock drafts the way the board falls, evaluate the pis, explore the options, and give you a better sense of what to expect Thursday night in well the virtual world, not Las Vegas. All of that more on this Tuesday, April

edition of the Drivetime Podcast. And I want to start this episode by asking a question to the fans out there. Is it just me or has this particular draft process been the most arduous of all of them? Since basically forever for me. Maybe it's recency bias. I think we're all getting a little bit draft fatigue this time of year, especially with every single outlet having an opinion and seemingly different from the last, and all this speculation just to see the event play out in real time, truly in

just two days. I'm sure the quarantine and shelter in place orders only serve to fuel that fire more. But man, this one just seems to have amplified times ten compared to pass draft classes. And that serves as a beautiful segue into our first mock draft. From a man who

only does one mock draft every year. He is the o G. And I turned on the Adam Sandler version of The Longest Yard Movie the other day, which, by the way, I'd like to make another MAJA copa request here for forgiveness on leaving super Bad off of Jonah Hill's Greatest Hits list. That's my fault. That's inexcusable. And here you all came in from Scottsdale, and I'm not gonna sing for you. These eyes truly are crying in

that regard. And this is what happens when I write solo. Guys, tangents evolved into other topics altogether, And back to the topic here. I was watching The Longest Yard, and that movie always reminds me of this moment. In my high school days, I had the Sports Marketing class, which was essentially twenty of the school's athletes across the major sports. And your boy was a nifty middle infielder on the baseball diamond and a solid distributing point guard on the hardwood.

And the teacher of this class would allow us ten minutes of sports talk every Monday morning to recap the weekend in sports. And so naturally I love this class, my favorite class and the best experience of my entire high school education in terms of entertainment value. And why am I telling you all this because that teacher knew that I had dreams of being a sports writer from

day one, back in my adolescence. And on that day, we were lucky enough to screen The Longest Yard and the scene where they cut to the press box and one particular sports writer mumbles not bad Crew as in Paul Crew, Adam Sandler's character in that film, and my teacher yells out Wingfield, who is that? I said, man, Mr J, that's child's play. That's Pete King. That's what I said in my head. What I really said, it

was more of a bashful Peter King. You just don't try me on sports trivia or sports writer trivia, a lesson he learned that day. So we go back to Peter King for his mock draft, and I will dissect his mock from Miami here in just one moment. But I want to highlight a line that he wrote that I think is therapeutic. Is that the word that I want to use here. So here's the line, after he ponders the decision between the two quarterbacks that he believes are in play. Quote, I don't know if Herbert is

going to be Miami's pick. My pick is based on Miami choosing to go the conservative route and dead of trying to hit a triple in the gap by picking two a tongue of ioloa. Because the Dolphins have done a good job hiding their intentions, I won't be shocked either way. And so that tells you a good story about how the Dolphins have done well to conceal their draft plans from the national media. I mean, Peter King is the one that knows all this guy has insight

and plugs everywhere across the league. If he doesn't know, chances are most people do not know. So with that we get into his mock draft. He trades up from number five to three to select Justin Herbert, and I'd be curious to see the compensation on that trade going away from Miami to the Detroit Lions. Adam Schefter reported on Monday that despite some efforts from the Lions and the New York Giants, that neither has had much success generating much interest in those picks, the third and fourth

picks in this year's draft. And if that's the case, there's a good chance the second quarterback on the board, if you assume Joe Burrow goes number one, could be there at number five, and a near guarantee that QB three is on the board for you there at five. So in this case you have a choice of anyone besides Burrow and Young, and with Herbert that's the pick from Peter King. You have the most polished arm in this class. He can drive the ball from multiple platforms

and opens up unique plays in the playbook. The other guys simply cannot hit because he has the arm that really stands out among this entire draft class, and Oregan ran him out of the pistol and utilize some NFL play action concepts from that pistol, and that way it gets his back to the defense, It gets him a deeper drop, allows him more room to will survey the field and to deliver stepping up into the pocket or whether or not he wants to break outside the pocket.

And that's where he really excelled, breaking the pocket and making plays off script with the big arm, with the athletic ability. You watch just Colorado tape, he was aces doing just that, throwing from the far hash outside the numbers, threatening tight windows down the seam. That's the game you look at if you want to see Justin Herbert's absolute best.

I also liked the Wisconsin game a whole lot in the Rose Bowl for the way that he managed that how he made plays with his legs, designed runs with more straight line speed than anything shifty in a phone booth, but also how he bounced back from a pick that just wasn't his fault in that game. That to me rates highly because you have to manage situations, you have to have the short memory. That's all part of playing quarterback,

and he did that well that day in Pasadena. Pick eighteen, Peter King goes back to the defensive end position with a j Epanessa out of Iowa. And this is a player that I've been a big fan of since his freshman season of Iowa and I hearkened back to the team college football season. Wyoming was on the road in

Iowa for a j Epinessa's freshman game. I was trying to watch that game to get a good look at Josh Allen against the toughest test that Cowboys offense would face that season, and Epanessa just flashed right away from the first moment. He was the first five star recruit that program and had in several years. I forget how long it was, but he was their first five star. He fills out that length profile. He's physically imposing as

all get out. Man. He is huge, he's long, he's strong, he can rush, he can set the edge in the run game. He can condense inside and rush from that spot. He had some tapes that were just it just looked unfair out there. You watch him against Minnesota last year the Gophers game. Plug that tape on and you'll see

the best version of a j Epanessa. So King takes Epinessa with Christian Fulton, Justin Jefferson to l s U Tigers and Henry Ruggs going off the board in the next three picks, And I wonder if that might make for a potential trade situation or a trade offer that comes in with one of the three top perceived receivers on the board at pick eighteen, just thinking out loud, because you've got Minnesota with picks twenty two and twenty

five and no more Stefawn Digs. You've got the Eagles, who they're fan based, by the way, has been clamoring for a game breaking receiver, a speed receiver kind of like they had back into Sean Jackson back in his heyday. And you've got New Orleans who seems to need to find one more weapon for Breezes Swan Song or penultimate season this year. In some things to think about there as this board falls. And he also has a pair of offensive tackles on the board there pick eighteen with

both Austin Jackson and Josh Jones. And then he comes back at twenty and takes one of those tackles. Jones goes off the board earlier, but he comes back with Austin Jackson from USC. By now you probably know my thoughts on this player. Super athletic profile projects to have his best ball ahead of him. For that reason, he tested off the charts. He had a great interview at

the scouting combine. You know the story by now about him donating bone marrow in that bone marrow transfusion surgery that his sister had last offseason, which essentially robbed the entire offseason. He pretty much showed up on the start of the season without his regular offseason conditioning, so you have to imagine that his best ball could be ahead of him. And this guy is an absolute athletic freak.

You tear Gross Motto's Kenneth Murray Isaiah Wilson came off the board next a couple of guys to keep an eye on their y GM for his length and ability to condense inside at defensive ent Kenneth Murray is one of the best characters in this entire draft class. His background is very unique and very cool. Check out his story and Isaiah Wilson, the other Georgia tackle who's getting

some buzz along with Andrew Thomas. That a lot of folks think could come off the board in the first round like he does here for Peter King, and that guy can flat out move people off the ball, and Reese had the line of scrimmage in the running game. He is physical and strong as all get out. So that's Peter King's mock draft. We go next to the mock Draft Live on NFL Network and this aired on Sunday night before the Michael Jordan documentary, which, by the way,

how great was that show? You watch the way that guy competed. That man was just created to compete, and I think that's what makes him the greatest of all time. But I do believe that Lebron is the most talented basketball player of all time. Go ahead and send your flames my way, and let those flames continue into the Hall of Mike Gara. Folo and his mock draft. No

quarterback off the top. So I'm sure that gets greeted with some constern nation, but you have to consider the value he got each step of the way in this draft. He starts at pick number five with Mackay Beckton, the left tackle out of Louisville. He's played left, he's played right.

He could probably play inside at guard if you want to, although I'm not sure why you would, because you have a three hundred and seventy pound mountain of a man that can throw bodies around on the outside, and he has quick enough feat to help himself and get into his past sets, and then he can use that strength as he explodes once the pass rusher leans into him initially with the patient hands and the patient punch and the explosive punch that he offers. So he gets McKay

Beckton at pick number five. And most of these mock drafts have Joe Burrow Chase Young going one too, so unless I state otherwise, that's what it was. In this particular draft, Derek Brown of Auburn goes number three, Tristan Worst goes number four, so that leaves Miami with their

pick of twa or Herbert. But you'll hear about both those quarterbacks on other mock drafts in this exercise on this podcast, and that, to me is an interesting situation with Beckton, Thomas, Will's, Simmons, and Okuda all available on the board. Right there. We know about Beckton, talked about his game. Andrew Thomas is the physical mawel that can play left tackle, did it at Georgia for a few years. I think he probably could play guard inside as well.

Jeddrick Wills played right tackle Alabama, and he had probably some of the best tape all year consistently across the offensive line. And then Isaiah Simmons, who is just an absolute freak of nature, the ultimate chess piece on your defense, a position list defender who can play split safety, can play single high safety, can cover the slot, probably can cover out. Why is a cornerback, He can play linebacker, can play will sam, He can play pretty much anywhere

you want on that defense. So he gives you plenty of options there as well out of Clemson. And then also Jeff Acuta, who has the best feat among pretty much any quarterback I think most draft experts have seen going back several years now. That guy can flat out play no penalties last year, just a really clean prospect in Jeff Okuda. So all those guys on the board, Garret Folo goes kai becked him. He then comes back

at pick eighteen with Justin Herbert. Now, granted he did acknowledge on the show that he does not believe that Justin Herbert makes it that far down the board, but they were not allowed to trade in this mock aft and I think general consensus tells you that they agree with that. That Herbert being there on the board at eighteen seems unlikely because somebody probably pulls a trigger and

goes up on a trade for Herbert. In this particular scenario where the quarterbacks get out of the top ten, someone else could view that as an opportunity to go up and trade up and get their quarterback in that spot. But we already broke down Herbert as the third pick in Peter King's mock, so getting him an eighteen is obviously tremendous value. Trayvon digs A, j Terrell, Patrick Queen, and your tiar gross models all come off the board after that, some positions that Miami were very active with

in free agency. Then at Garafola comes back and gets the Michigan center in Caesar Ruise, So he knocks out the offensive line portion of this class pretty much out of the park, because Ruise is a damn fine center to go along with Mackay Beckton. Ruise is smart, tough, good communicator, and so so young. He'll be just twenty one years old on opening day. And his tape is full of good execution and a pure will to get the block done, regardless of the circumstance, regardless of the

ask from the coaching staff. I really like this player a whole lot. He took bruise with Jackson Epanessa and Isaiah Wilson on the board, and these marks give you an idea of how so many seem to be split on how this draft could go. We are certainly in for a treat on Thursday night, which, by the way, if you haven't done so already, go ahead and sign up for the Miami Dolphins Virtual Draft on Facebook. We'll have you covered on all things Dolphins draft, all things

NFL Draft on the Dolphins Facebook page. Pregame show at seven thirty. The draft, of course, kicks off at eight o'clock. Let's talk about Charles Davis's mock draft, who I think is the most underrated analyst and color commentator in the business, although perhaps the commentator spot is miscast now because he's been promoted to CBS. Is number two team with I N. Eagle for the secondary game on CBS, behind Tony Romeo and Jim Nance. So good for Charles Davis and congrats

on that promotion, Mr Davis. At five, he goes with two a tongue of Iloa, with both he and Justin Herbert on the board. Ward he has Simmons and Akuda going three four. So here you've got Derek Brown, who is not mocked to the Dolphins in any of these drafts. But you want to talk about an unblockable force, turn on the Auburn defensive tape and watch number five and how many blockers and how many bodies he commands in

the middle of that Auburn defense. He has the power and the explosive combination that just makes such a special player on the inside, can rush the passer, defend the run, and really commands attention from the entire offensive line. So he goes. He's on the board there, I should say, and each of those four tackles are available in that spot as well, with Beckton, Worth's, Wills and Thomas and who he all has going off the board in the eight to fourteen range. He comes back at pick number

eight team with Austin Jackson. We already broke down his game and Ross Blacklock, Trayvon Diggs, and Tee Higgins come off the board after that, pick of Austin Jackson. Then he comes back at pick six with DeAndre Swift, the first running back off the board here out of Georgia. And what you see with DeAndre Swifts game his suddenness, explosiveness and a versatility to play all three downs. He's not afraid to stick his face and the fan and

pass protection. Very smooth operator when it comes to transitioning from pass catcher into runner after the catch, he could get up field in a hurry. A quick, one cut slasher type of runner that can make some big time plays. Has the breakaway speed, has the home run ability, but also tough and physical between the tackles. Davis in the spot had your tear, Gross mottoes Kenneth Murray and Josh Jones as the next three picks off the board. There. Mel kiper Jr. The absolute o G of draft coverage.

I remember getting his blue books back in the day, and I'm always reminded of a joke a buddy told me one year about a potential surprise Dolphins pick. It might have been Brady Quinn over Ted Gain, but he said, I want to see the Dolphins pick player X, just so we can watch Kuiper's hair fall out and then immediately reform on his head. Hey man, I'd kill to have that head of hair. At Kuiper's current age, the

hair still looks flawless. Keiper and his mock drafts goes two rounds and at five he goes Justin Herbert with the exact same board we talked about for Charles Davis his mock draft, so no need to divulge there. He goes Herbert over to uh where Davis goes to over Herbert at pick number eight teen a player we haven't talked about much, Javon kin Law, and boy, if he's on the board there, this is a guy projected to go top ten by most pundits across the league, the

draft Network, ESPN, NFL dot com. They think Kim Law is a top ten player all day long, and if he's there at pick eight, team, that's a tough option to pass up. This guy is an absolute monster explosive, can reset the line of scrimmage in a hurry and

does it over and over again. Sets a tone on your defensive line because he plays multiple positions and can pretty much run anybody over that he wants functional strength at the next level, can play the past, can play the run, can cross face and run games upfront, can convert speed to power. You watch some of his tapes, the Clemson tape, for instance, playing against one of the best teams in the country. He made a number of

impact plays in that game alone. Picky six Kiper comes back with Antoine win Field Jr. And this safety can do everything out of Minnesota Antoine Winfield Senior's son Antoin Winfield Jr. He can play the split safety, the deep safety, and single high coverage. He can come down in the box.

He blitzes. Anytime you watch Minnesota's big games last year, when they had to have a play on defense, it was Antoine Winfield who made it the big takeaways, rushing the quarterback, running through a running back in past protection, defending the c gaps on either side, strong side or week side in the run game. He's a lot of fun to watch. The next three picks where Caesar, Ruise,

Patrick Queen and again get to your gross models. And I don't have ESPN Plus, so I cannot get you those second round picks up next here on our expert mock Draft roundup is NFL Networks Peter Schreger, who, by the way, joins the Drivetime Podcast on Thursday, so keep your ears to the ground for that final draft preview episode here on the Drivetime Podcast, part of the Miami

Dolphins podcast network. At number five, Schreeger goes Herbert over to a and the first of our mock draft round up here that has Josh Jones at pick number eighteen. I really like the game of Josh Jones out of Houston. He's an excellent left tackle prospect, played there almost exclusively

at Houston. Really good looking pass blocker. He had great improvement throughout the week at the Senior Bowl, and that shows you how coachable and how adaptable he is and how he can improve his game with a little bit of coaching type writer feet. I love that note about this guy. It helps him get into the vertical sets. It helps him win the edge in the run game or in the past game, helps him climb to the second level as a run blocker to wall off and

seal off those alleys he can get in space. This guy is a good looking player. Getting him an eight team would be good. Even better, obviously, he's got Murray Chason and Patrick Queen off the board. Next Chason is the one guy in that group we haven't talked about a whole lot. He can do multiple things as a two point stance linebacker off the football. He can come down off the edge and getting that two point stance

or go three four point stands rush the quarterback. Has a very strong upper body that helps him lock out the edge and diagnose from there. He can play coverage, he can rush the quarterback. And the thing you like most about him is that Chason looked super explosive last year, one year removed from a c L surgery, so you have to think that he gets even better this coming

season his rookie year in the National Football League. Not that he goes off the board in this mock draft, but he was the next pick after that for Peter Schreeger. Then it picked number twenty six. Schreeger comes back and takes DeAndre Swift. We broke down his game and the mock draft of Charles Davis again you tear gross models. The next pick a j. E. Panessa and Isaiah Wilson

out of Georgia. And finally, how about the goat of the game, Daniel Jeremiah, NFL Networks lead draft analyst, His last mock was April nine, so we don't want to go into that one. But he did chat with the venerable Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, and he gave Barry his ideal Dolphins draft and it goes like this off the top, number five to a tongue of Byloa. We talked about to his game a lot here on

this podcast, as we do all the quarterbacks. I just continue to watch the way he can handle the football in the r P O game, the short quick game, distributes to the football to the open man, The way he processes, the way he moves people with his eyes, with his feet, with his lower half position, the way he can convince linebackers and safeties to take the cheese and get them off their spot and then attack accordingly. He fed all four of those Alabama receivers last year,

Jalen Waddle, DeVonta Smith, Henry Ruggs and Jerry Judy. Kept them all fed, kept them all happy. That's not easy to do. He can make plays off script. He can manage the pocket very very well, erases free rushers, very good ball handler, and his fakes, his handoffs, the way he can kind of put the ball to one side to fake out a free rusher, move back the other way, reset and throw a strike over the middle down the

field to the outside. He really can do a lot of things for your offense and keeps multiple things open. Very good leader of men as well as you hear Trent Dilford, Kirk, Herb Street, Nick Saban, pretty much anyone that has an opinion about this player says how much his spirit and character means to that Alabama football program the last couple of years in Tuscaloosa. Picked for eighteen

for Jeremiah ideally is Henry Ruggs too. Was running mate there at wide receiver who took several of those slant routes to the house we talked about on the draft preview way back. I think at the scouting combine how Ruggs had twenty four touchdowns on one career touches at Alabama.

He is instant offense ran a four to eight forty, can take the top off the defense, can run routes from any split on the field plus split mina split, nasty split condensed inside, can play, the slot, can play, the X, can play the Z. Pretty much does everything as a receiver and He's not a one trick pony by any stretch of the imagination. He's a good looking route runner. Pick twenty six and Jeremiah's ideal mock for the Miami Dolphins is Austin Jackson. We broke his game

down the athletic profile. Figures to have a lot more growth in his game because of the fact he didn't have an off season last year ahead of USC twenty nineteen season. Super young player too, gonna be twenty one

years on opening Day. Then at pick number thirty nine, he has Marlon Davidson from Auburn, a player we haven't talked about a whole lot, but you watch the way Davidson had a very good Senior Bowl week, and a reason for that was because he can rush both inside and outside, and he can cross face, and he can win with speed and he can win with power. That Auburn defensive line just bullied teams last year and Derek

Brown was a big reason for that. But also Marlon Davidson the outside edge rusher and possible defensive tackle depending on your defensive alignment. Davidson can do multiple things up front. The ideal pick for Jeremiah at thirty nine at fifty six, he goes back to the offensive line and gets Lloyd Cushionberry from l s U. The angles he takes in

the running game. The leadership were the eight teen jersey at l s U, a distinction given to the top captain on the offensive and defensive side of the football for the way he exudes leadership both on and off the field. This guy can anchor and pass pro kind of low center of gravity, so he can really squat and anchor that thing against power rushes. Has the side decide agility to handle the stunt game, the twist game upfront,

and lateral agility of defensive lineman. So good luck and draft here for Jeremiah to a tule Byloa, Henry Rugs, Austin Jackson, Mark and Davidson and Lloyd Cushionberry. And that was a fun podcast. That's gonna be it for this podcast. We're gonna come back with you guys on Thursday with Peter Schreeger of NFL Network to get last minute updates on the NFL Draft. We are just two days away.

We have the pre draft show on Facebook at seven thirty Eastern Thursday night, then the Virtual Draft at five o'clock. We're gonna have a podcast every single night of the draft. Immediately after the draft. On Thursday, we're gonna have the in depth exploration of the film, the character, the articles up on Miami Dolphins dot com. We're gonna have Bang Bang, Bang, three of those all in one podcast. Then Friday morning, we'll go ahead and publish a podcast the interviews each

of the Dolphins picks. If there are three, if there's two, maybe there's four. However many picks we make on draft night, we're gonna interview each of those guys. So those podcasts come out the following morning, so you're gonna have two podcasts per day. That's six podcast for the Miami Dolphins

NFL Draft. Do not miss those. I also answered some of your questions on the mail bag and an article that I think is publishing tomorrow on Wednesday, and we'll have the write ups on the website after each player is drafted as well. Plenty of content to come. It's an exciting time of year. NFL Draft Week is here and as for today's episode, that is going to be

my time you all. Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple podcast on Spotify wherever you get your podcast from, go ahead and leave us a rating, leave us a review. Follow me on Twitter at Wingfield NFL. Follow the Dolphins at Miami Dolphins, check out the Fish Tank and the Audible podcast, and of course, Miami Dolphins dot com. Until next time, fins up,