NFL Draft Triple Take (Mock Draft 3.0), April 1, 2022

hit you with our third mock round one. And the beauty of this is, Hey, your n C Double A tournament bracket is no doubt busted by now, but mock drafts live on at least until the end of April. Everybody's got a winner if they're doing them. In St. Peter's they have a winning mock draft right about now. But Matt a bone to pick with you before we

kick off, or as we kick things off. This being our third mock draft, I wanted to color outside the lines a little bit and see what that would look like and kind of shake things up and go against conventional wisdom more than the consensus uh public door media. And you did the same thing. You stole my thunder mocking Malik Willis quarterback Liberty to the Detroit Lions on

the second round. Yeah, and part of me is kind of like what you mentioned, the overall right, right, and just kind of want to see what happens if it does go down that way. And I think Willis is obviously a massive talent. You know, we've talked about him in our quarterback triple takes. I mean obviously, you know, people around here are very familiar with his work. There's a lot there to work with. But if you're the Lions, it's actually not a bad landing spot. You know, golf

can hold down the fort. They built an offensive line, there's a lot of quarterback friendly options like Hawkinson and Swift and am St Brown, and they added d J. Chark. So if they can't get Hutchinson, I don't think it's crazy, but part of me thinks, hey, Willis could not even go in the top fifteen. You know what you could throw in the stability of a new staff that's just one year in and seemingly pretty popular with the fan base and ownership, some positive signs, and he is a

compliment to the existing guy, Jared Goff. He could be your third down guy, your bowline guy. You could get a little something. Yeah, I think it makes a great deal sense and as Dale is well aware, having been to Mobile, Alabama. Uh, Dan Campbell and Malik Willis were in close proximity during Senior Bowl week. Dale, do you buy into this craziness? Matt ny are talking Malik Willis second overall to the Lions. I could see it happening, guys. I I just don't know if he goes at two,

and I think that might be a little rich. I mean, I think when you're picking it to uh, you want to get a sure, sure fire home run. Um. You know, I I see that your point at your side of this, But I just don't think they go that direction. In fact, I have him taking Akawanu with Aidan Hutchinson gone. Um. I know they have a strong offensive line. They could play him at hard for a year. Uh. They're they're

starting left tackle whose name escapes me right now. Uh. Decker I believe will be a free agent after after this season. So you know, you could kind of help yourself out in that direction as well. And you can still resign Decker and you keep Kawanda eight guard, but you have options in well, let's uh, let's proceed here with mock three the way we did mock two, and that is, rather than go over every pick and and beat the horse until it's well past its expiration, Dake,

we'll kind of take it in third. So day we'll stick with you, uh, your top ten, A little choky, little little down the middle, anything jump out at you in your first tense selections here. Yeah, some of the some of the edge rushers are kind of getting moved up the board. In particular George Carl Loftus I had going at ten because because of the a Jabo injury. Um, I think that's gonna shuffle things quite a bit. Yeah, yeah, good pro day for him. Uh, the a job O injury. Uh,

you know, I think what's going to happen here. In fact, I know this is going to happen. I heard this when I was down at the owners meeting. Is a lot of the guys now aren't going to go through the drills and run at their pro days because of what happened to David Jabo. Um, you know you're talking about a guy who was, you know, uh, pretty much a first round pick and now he's probably gonna fall into the second round because of that achilles tendon injury. And I think that's going to cause a lot of

these other guys to not work out after this. It's also going to uh, it's also gonna benefit our guys like George Carl Loftus and maybe even like you know, Jermaine Johnson, guys with that that nature. Matt, Let's take a look at your top ten picks and uh, what the did you find intriguing beyond Malik Willis to Detroit its second overall kind of harp on what Dale said about these edge pass rushers getting pushed up. We mentioned I had Willis at two, but my other top four

we're all edge rushers. There. You have three edge rushers and Willis, and that could go a lot of different directions. Mean, predicting what Houston's gonna do with Koree is very difficulty. They could take anything, anything right. But then that played into Carolina, you know, sitting there with Evan neo verse quarterback too, I think that becomes an easy choice for

them to take the tackle. And then you know, harping on the quarterback thing at eight with Atlanta and nine with Seattle, I think that those two teams are extremely quarterback needy and Willis Pickett whomever could end up at eight or nine. But both those teams, to me, they both traded, you know, potential Hall of Fame quarterbacks this offseason. The status of their roster, I think it's built the

next time for next year's quarterback. I would not really be in the quarterback market if I were Seattle in Atlanta, I think those rosters are in bad shape right now. Yeah, I'm I'm gonna agree with you again. I've got it the same way I've got Atlanta taking Chris A Lava from the High State Conversity Garrett Wilson's to me, they're the same guy, I mean, another different player, but they're

both elite receivers. I happen to like a Lava a little better just just because just from watching games over the years. And I've got Seattle taken u e kuon Kwan you from NC State and Charles Cross. I emphasize the edge rusher is pretty good as well. My number one to Jacksonville as Trayvon Walker. I'm not sure it's gonna be. It's still not gonna be a tackle because

Cam Robinson has only brought back theoretically for the short term. Uh, And you can always draft your guy and play with guard this year and then moving to tackle next year. But I went Walker number one. I think he is the most intriguing. I think he's the Malik Willis of edge rushers. Uh not that he played at a lower level, but I want to look back five years from now and see who's done the most and who's had the

higher upside. I'm not convinced it's not Trayvon Walker. And I've also got Kenny Pickett going to Carolina at six. I think Willis gets people thinking about quarterbacks. And I think Matt Rule, you know, similar situation to atlant in Seattle. They got a guy, but is he the guy? Matt Rule once had Kenny Pickett agree to come play for him at Temple University, and uh it never worked out. But there's a history with those guys. So, as I said, I'm trying to shake it up a little bit and

see what this thing looks like that guys. The one thing that that's gonna change. We still have a month before the draft. Something's going to happen with a couple of these quarterback situations, one way or the other. I do believe that like something the Browns will do something with Baker Mayfield. Uh, you know, there's still a good chance. There's still a good chance that something happens with Garoppolo and that could shake up the quarterback market, as we've

seen already. And that's why we'll do a mock for That's why we'll do him again and was many times as we have to get there's two there's two selections you just mentioned there. I want to harp on a little bit because I almost put Walker at one. If you look at the the Jags GM going back to his Niners days, he drafts no short armed guys. You know, he wants Alden Smith and the only knock on Hutchinson's

he's got short arms. You mentioned the rule picket connection. Well, you happen to know where the Carolina Panthers owner went to college. He's a pit guy. There you go. This is a better and better we put our heads together, we're talking about we get it figured out day. Let's get back to you. Take me through eleven through twenty on your list. Uh, what what do you what do you like about it? What did you throw at the wall? You know, I James Jamison Williams to me is one

of the toughest guys to slot. He and Tyler linder Bomb are the two guys that I look at and go, Okay, they're both kind of first round talents, but the fit has to be right. I slow, I slotted linder Bomb right out of the first round. By the way, did you well, That's that's one way to do it. I had, I had. I got Jamison Williams going to the Commanders at eleven. Uh, and then I had linder Bomb going to the Vikings at twelve. And I know the Vikings

have uh, you know, Garrett Bradbury as center. Um, they can move him to guard. His contract is up after this year, I believe, So there's there's things that you can do there. And you know, I think, you know, you just look at the how he would fit in that offense? Uh would work because he's just starting. He doesn't fit in every offense. And you know, with Jamison Williams, you're probably gonna have to wait a little while to

get him on the field. But man, when you get him on the field, you probably have the best wide receiver in this draft. So uh, you know, And then after that, it was the receiver started coming off the board pretty quickly, Matt, just from your you know, scouting background and scouting experience, guys such as the one day I'll just mentioned Jamison Williams and um A Jabo And if there's any other injuries out there, can that status change between now and draft day or do they pretty

much make their decisions. Hey, this guy is probably not ready, so plan that way. Um Well, one thing I think we need to stress is there is another gathering in Indianapolis between now in the draft for just to select few medical re checks. And I'm sure both those young men will be there. And it's always good to get ahold of that list because when you you sit there when we're broadcasting Live with Dale and everybody, and somebody's there in the third round you thought was in the

first but oh he went to the medical recheck. Maybe there's something more wrong with him than we thought, or there was more concerning um that being said, though, like a guy like Williams, to me, I might be more a job Oh really, and I actually have a job o going at the end of the first round to the Lions because of the fifth year option. If I don't need him right away again, a job out the Lions.

They missed out on Hutchinson because it took Willis that I want that fifth year option because if I have to red shirt him and then only have three more, then it's not that attractive to me. But if I read shirt hum and I have four more when I'm apparently a better team, that's appealing to me. They couldn't have stated it any better. I also think they fixed knees now they do. Medicine's got a long way, Yeah,

especially for the especially for the lighter guys. I know a lot of Steeler fans will look at that go, well, you know Zack Banner, Well, he's a he's a heavier guy that you're talking here about. Uh. And Matt and I've talked about this on the Drive, where offensive players coming back off of something like that, they know where they're running. They're not in a read and react kind of situation, like they know where they're running, you would hope.

So they're supposed to know where they're running. So you know, a guy like Jamison Williams, you know, can get back on the field a little bit quicker, uh, you know, than than you know from an a C L with a job bo. It's a it's an Achilles. Um. You know we've seen guys come back from Achilles that same year. Um, you know that seems to be a very common injury. Now, I don't. I don't remember hearing that injury as much

twenty years ago, do you, Mike, I do not. But now it's suddenly it's become a more prevalent in the in the football game. And you know, I guess it's a quick twitch injury or a Mark Cabole injury. One of the two. Yeah, let's let's go with the former. Uh. To me, the fascinating part of the middle is Philadelphia because the Eagles are picking a shifteen sixteen and nineteen. I've got him going with the Carl Loftus from Perdue.

They love defensive lineman uh, and Philly particularly defensive ends. Uh. He's starting to move up, as we alluded to at the start of the broadcast here today, I've got the Eagles taking Jamison Williams at sixteen because I don't think they'll be able to resist and you get that, uh, Jalen Hurts Williams and the guy they took last year, and uh, they're in pretty good shape. Roll tiede and

uh at nineteen. I went cornerback Matt You've got him taking uh, Devin Lloyd, so we're both thinking defense, but different position there at pick nineteen. Yeah. I also went receiver edge with London and Jermaine Johnson at fifteen sixteen and then I went with them. So we're talking apples and apples, just kind of different apples for I did it backwards. I took Stingley first at them for fifteen,

then London and then Devin Lloyd. Stingley. Stingley another guy who maybe should be at that uh gathering in Indianapolis. That his his He said he's gonna work out of this pro day next week. L s u is next week. Again. We'll see if that now happens because of what happened to a Jobbo. But yeah, he's He's definitely a guy that people are gonna want to have back to check on that foot. Another one, uh, one of my favorite players in this draft, Jordan Davis, a defensive tackle from Georgia.

I've got him going to the Chargers because the Chargers had problems stopping the run. Draft him, now you don't have problems stopping the run. That's my theory. I think this kid's special and uh, I think he's gonna be an impact player sooner rather than later in the NFL. They all started one note. I'm sorry because I would just want to bring this up about linder Bomb. I had linder Bomb going fourteen to the Ravens, but only because there was a run in my mock of Jordan

Davis and corners falling left and right. If linder Bomb doesn't go to Baltimore, they kind of a whole enter right now. He could fall aways, you know, to Dale's point. Yeah, yeah, you had him drop it out. Yeah, see you tomorrow. Let's get Let's get to twenty and your Pittsburgh Steelers. Dale take the floor, police, I got him take getting them a leak. Willis in this scenario, Um, I just think that some of those other quarterback spots are gonna

get taken. Um you know, I know they want him potentially, uh you know, as a long term answer, Maybe that happens, maybe it doesn't. I think he would be tough to pass on. And they're really the only guy that I considered in that spot at twenty who was still available

in my draft was Trent McDuffie. Mike my cornerbacks fell a little bit farther, and then there was I had a run there in the mid twenties of of cornerbacks that went McDuffie, Andrew Booth and then Kyler Gordon and Cayer Elam all went in that bottom half of the first round. I mean, the quarters go and that's that's you know, they typically go in the first round. So

it would be a tough choice for the Steelers. I think, you know, between Malik Willis and a guy who I think is really talented, like Trent McDuffie that they could use as well. So that would be interesting. Matt. You've got a going wide receiver, which is again there are I don't think that there are any wrong answers here. Uh, there's just different interpretations of you know, priority of of whole filling. And I'm a big fan of Williams. I'm not too concerned about the injury thing. I take it,

Matt that you are not either. No, and a couple of names that were thrown out there. Willis was gone, Jordan Davis was gone, Trent McDuffie was gone, and Trevor Penning was gone. So not that this is a consolation prize, but I think Williams, if he's clean, is probably the best receiver in this draft. And I've been saying on the drive, if you give me four and a half years of Jamison Williams on a rookie contract, that's well worth. Yeah, it makes a lot of sense, particularly with the position

being in flow. I'm up with Devin Lloyd of Utah. Now in my scenario, Malik Willis is long gone and Jordan Davis UH goes to the Chargers as as I mentioned, you know, run stuffing, Uh instant run stuffing there for the l A Chargers. Those guys would be if I was doing the picking, I would rank them in that order Willis, Davis and then Lloyd would be third. If Lloyd for some reason wouldn't be there, than Matt I'd

be with you on that wide receiver train. There's a lot of receivers you get in day two too, so there's a lot of way there. And Matt will stick with you as we round it out picks uh through number thirty two. What do you got that stands out? One thing I think is now we're talking receivers. All of a sudden, these playoff teams, like I don't think they were happy. Then my mock that the Steelers took a wide out because the Patriots are right behind them.

And then Green Bay's now got two picks, but they don't have Davante Adams. Kansas City has two picks, but they don't have Tyreek Hill. So you know, I could see some of these receivers going pretty high, and I could see some of these playoff teams, maybe even Tennessee not being super thrilled about it. In my draft though, Kansas City ended up with Clark Carl loftus, I don't know if he can last that long. And Dotson from Penn State and the Packers ended up with a Lava

who certainly could go earlier than twenty two. And I also gave them Raymond the tackle from Central Michigan. Yeah, I was, I had the same slot there. Dale. Uh you mentioned, uh your run on corners gets well underway here, and uh, I fund it. Interesting. You know, this is the third time we've done this. For some reason, I've had John Dotson to the Chiefs and every every version of it, even though that even though they're goalpost a little bit, Uh, you've got the same thing. It just

looks like the Chief's receiver. To me, it has to be. I mean, it just does. Because they've lost some guys in free agency. You know, they traded Tyreek Hill. The only real addition has been Juju Smith Schuster. They need speed. Johan Dotson would bring that and I think that makes a lot of sense. And then you know, I had him taking Dax Hill the safety out of Michigan at thirty as well, um, because you know what's going on

with with Tyrara and math all on them. And even if they even if they resigned matth Ou, I mean they were starting. They were running Daniel Sorenson out there a lot last year. They could certainly use an upgrade and he would give him a lot of options. And Matt, I'm I'm with you on a job at thirty two. You know, the Lions have five picks in the top nineties seven and if they don't take Hutchinson up top, which in my scenario they would have that opportunity, or

they might not. They gotta get the other Michigan Wolverine and uh, you know, throw a little bone to the fans. And plus again, upside, this guy is in his infancy in terms of development. He's got the physical skills, He's obviously competitive enough. Uh he's a fast learner, and I think there's a lot to like there. Uh So if I'm if I'm Detroit, I'm gonna take him and again pending the medicals. But uh, what's what's the early guess is he's ready for camp or the season right around,

you know, sometime in that frame, probably in September. Yeah, And I looked at it this way, like, hey, hey, Lions fans, no offense, but you're probably not winning the Super Bowl this year. So if I only get four years of his five year contract, I'm still really happy. As opposed to taking him, you know, the second pick in the second round, I want that fifth year option for the injured guys. Well, here's what I here's what

I did with the Lions guys. I had the Lions taking Kenny Pickett at thirty two and then putting Jared Goff up for trade. Oh, I'm just going right to pick it, going right to pick it. They could get something for Jared Goff right now. I believe they could as well. That's an interesting scenario. I think that's possible. Hey, right now, anything is possible. That's the way it is.

It's April, baby, I'm gonna yeah. So of us had two quarterback is going in the first round, correct, I only had to Yeah, I had going in the first I had Corral going to the Saints until the until the Andy Dalton development, and uh, I took them off there. I had Willison to pick it at six and I think that's it. I had picked it to the Saints and that and that was before the Dalton news. So, uh, it seems unlikely that they would add three new quarterbacks

this year. Well, they did move the other one to a tight end, so that's true. That's gonna do it for Mark three. Hope you got to kick out of that, because we're certainly having a lot of fun, uh, throwing it back and forth and seeing where lands. I want to remind everybody that you can access all of these types of shows on all of the Steelers social media platforms. We'll be doing it again real soon. Until then, thank you for finding us this time, wherever and however you

found us. For Matt Williamson and Dye Lolly on Mike Pursuita. You've been listening to the NFL Draft Triple Take Mark three Baby, presented by U p m C