Notes below. Happy New Year!
Feel free to use this as an open thread for tonight’s two college football playoff games.
1. Cleveland Browns — Myles Garrett (EDGE, Texas A&M)
2. San Francisco 49ers — Mitch Trubisky (QB, North Carolina)
3. Chicago Bears — Jonathan Allen (DE, Alabama)
4. Jacksonville Jaguars — Jabrill Peppers (S, Michigan)
5. Tennessee Titans (via Rams) — Reuben Foster (LB, Alabama)
6. New York Jets — Leonard Fournette (RB, LSU)
7. San Diego Chargers — Jamal Adams (S, LSU)
8. Cincinnati Bengals — Solomon Thomas (DE, Stanford)
9. Carolina Panthers — Ryan Ramcyzk (T, Wisconsin)
10. Cleveland Browns (via Eagles) — Dalvin Cook (RB, Florida State)
11. Arizona Cardinals — Marlon Humphrey (CB, Alabama)
12. Buffalo Bills — O.J. Howard (TE, Alabama)
13. Indianapolis Colts — Tim Williams (EDGE, Alabama)
14. New Orleans Saints — Takkarist McKinley (EDGE, UCLA)
15. Philadelphia Eagles (via Vikings) — John Ross (WR, Washington)
16. Tennessee Titans — Sidney Jones (CB, Washington)
17. Baltimore Ravens — Demarcus Walker (DE, Florida State)
18. Tampa Bay Buccaneers — Quincy Wilson (CB, Florida)
19. Denver Broncos — Garett Bolles (T, Utah)
20. Washington Redskins — Zach Cunningham (LB, Vanderbilt)
21. Detroit Lions — Charles Harris (EDGE, Missouri)
22. Miami Dolphins — Adoree’ Jackson (CB, USC)
23. New York Giants — Budda Baker (S, Washington)
24. Kansas City Chiefs — Mike Williams (WR, Clemson)
25. Houston Texans — Taco Charlton (EDGE, Michigan)
26. Green Bay Packers — Derek Barnett (DE, Tennessee)
27. Pittsburgh Steelers — Deshaun Watson (QB, Clemson)
28. Seattle Seahawks — Haason Reddick (LB, Temple)
29. Atlanta Falcons — Jalen Tabor (CB, Florida)
30. Oakland Raiders — Christian McCaffrey (RB, Stanford)
31. New England Patriots — Obi Melifonwu (S, Connecticut)
32. Dallas Cowboys — Malik McDowell (DE, Michigan State)
The Seahawks take who?
Yes, after days of talking about the O-line, the running game and interior pass rush — in this mock the Seahawks take a linebacker in round one.
Here’s the thing. A lot of the guys we’ve talked about being possible targets for the Seahawks are rising up the board. Garett Bolles looks like being a top-20 lock. I’d love to continue to pair him with the Seahawks — but is it realistic?
Even if someone like Vita Vea declares — he’ll likely head straight into the top-20 because he might be Haloti Ngata.
I could’ve given them a different defensive lineman or D’Onta Foreman — but I need to see their combine workouts to fully understand if they’ll be targets or not.
Troy’s Antonio Garcia is said to be a big riser according to Tony Pauline. Yet there’s very little tape available online at the moment.
The one thing you can always fall back on with the Seahawks is they love grit, beating adversity, freaky athleticism and production.
Step forward Haason Reddick.
At his junior pro-day he reportedly ran a 4.47 at 6-1 and around 230lbs. He also supposedly had a 10-10 in the broad jump and a 36-inch vertical.
Let’s compare this to Bruce Irvin’s combine:
Forty: 4.50
Broad jump: 10-3
Vertical jump: 33.5 inches
We’ll have to see if Reddick can back up the numbers above — but there’s your comparison.
Now let’s compare the two statistically:
Bruce Irvin’s two years at West Virginia
— 29 TFL’s
— 22.5 sacks
— 5 forced fumbles
Haason Reddick final two years at Temple
— 35 TFL’s
— 15.5 sacks
— 4 forced fumbles
— one interception
Reddick’s a former walk-on at Temple. Here’s what I wrote about him earlier this month:
In High School, Reddick suffered a fractured femur and missed an entire season. Upon his return, he suffered a torn meniscus. With no tape to impress potential landing spots in college, he went to Temple University with the intention of becoming a regular student.
His father grew up in Camden with one of the Owls’ assistants — Francis Brown — and put in a good word for him. He was offered the chance to walk-on.
Even then it wasn’t plain sailing. He was told there was no place for him on the team. A change of coaching staff from Al Golden’s crew to Matt Rhule’s led to one last chance and he took it and eventually earned a scholarship.
The rest is history.
If they’re looking for an impact player with great athleticism that has battled adversity — Reddick could be a target. He’s accepted an invite to the Senior Bowl where he’ll have a chance to bolster his stock.
A few weeks ago we talked about being able to possibly draft Garett Bolles, Haason Reddick and Shalom Luani in the same draft class. They could all end up in the top-50 by the end of April.
I know this won’t be many people’s ideal scenario. That’s not the point though — we’re here to look at different options and possibilities.
Could they trade down?
With two quarterbacks (Trubisky, Watson) off the board there’d be every chance. Some teams will want a shot at Deshone Kizer.
What would this mean in terms of Seattle’s big needs?
They’d still have a second rounder to get an impact player — but if they’re picking someone like Reddick they likely would’ve filled some needs in free agency.
Were they able to land an interior disruptor like Calais Campbell? Some veteran help for the O-line? Add a physical running back?
It’d be a lot of work to do in free agency — but not impossible. And any one of these needs could still be addressed in rounds two or three. The Seahawks are expected to receive an extra third round compensatory pick.
Who might they target later on?
Depending on what they do in free agency, here are some suggestions:
Bradley Chubb (DE, NC State) — he’s 6-4 and 275lbs with the tools to be an inside/out type rusher. He had 21.5 TFL’s this year and 10 sacks. The 21.5 TFL’s are the second best in school history behind Mario Williams’ 27.5 in 2005. He’s the cousin of Georgia running back Nick Chubb. We know Chubb had an explosive performance at his Nike SPARQ Combine so there’s a chance Chubb will have an exciting physical profile too.
Shalom Luani (S, Washington State) — Exciting, underrated safety with the range to cover a lot of ground quickly and the physical toughness to play up at the LOS. His backstory is the definition of grit and he could easily be a fast riser into the earlier rounds. If the Seahawks want to tap into a strong safety class and get some quality depth for Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor, this could be their guy.
Forrest Lamp (T, Western Kentucky) — Probably more of a guard at the next level, Lamp came to prominence with a strong performance against Alabama earlier this year. The Seahawks want intelligent, explosive offensive linemen. We’ll see if Lamp has the physical profile at the combine — but his personality and character will be very attractive to teams.
Adam Bisnowaty (T, Pittsburgh) — He was a highly rated four-star recruit in High School with a wrestling background (something we know Tom Cable likes). He could compete at tackle or guard. He wears Evan Mathis’ #69 and there are some similarities in their style. Tony Pauline has compared Bisnowaty to Ricky Wagner — a free agent-to-be from Baltimore.
Dalvin Tomlinson (DT, Alabama) — Massive, athletic defensive tackle from a system we know the Seahawks appreciate. Great character, has battled some adversity. Talented musician and artist too. Not the best pass rusher but could forge a solid career as a Tony McDaniel type.
Chad Wheeler (T, USC) — At times really looks the part of a future pro tackle. Consistency isn’t always there and he has a tendency to lunge. If he can correct the technical issues he has a skill set worth monitoring. One to watch at the combine.
Elijah Qualls & Greg Gaines (DT’s, Washington) — Reports suggest Vita Vea won’t declare but it’s not clear what Qualls and Gaines intend to do. Both are really disruptive nose tackle types, capable of causing problems in the passing game and not just the run.
You could include others too. Dorian Johnson, Dan Feeney, Caleb Brantley, Chris Wormley, Dion Dawkins, Taylor Moton to name a few. The combine will reveal a lot as usual. We’ll have a better idea of the names to watch.
Derrick Nnadi announced after FSU’s Bowl victory yesterday he won’t be declaring for the draft.
Who moves up in the mock?
Solomon Thomas was outstanding in his Bowl game against North Carolina. He completely dominated throughout, making several splash plays including the game decider. On that evidence he’s going in the top-15. No doubt about it.
Taco Charlton was very productive against Florida State. Missouri’s Charles Harris hasn’t had much attention this year but teams will love his skill set and profile. Both will likely go in the top-25.
I prefer Garett Bolles to Ryan Ramcyzk but won’t ignore the noise that Ramcyzk is highly rated. Bolles’ age might be an issue for some teams (25 in May) but he should still crack the top-20.
Why aren’t you dropping Jabrill Peppers like everyone else?
Myles Garrett had 15 TFL’s in 2016. Guess how many TFL’s Jabrill Peppers (a safety/linebacker) had?
15.
He also had 3.5 sacks, seven QB hurries, an interception, a punt-return score and he averaged 6-yards per touch in the running game on offense.
Peppers was highly involved in virtually every Michigan game. He doesn’t have eight picks like Earl Thomas in his final year at Texas — but he still found a way to have a major impact.