Kgreene829's alternate timeline mock

[kgreene829]

I fucked up and did 14 picks of a mock before realizing the draft order I was using is very out of date. I am posting it anyways so here it is.

1-Arizona Cardinals: QB Travis Knebel, Baylor
WTEM: QB Travis Knebel, Baylor

We start things off with the Cardinals and get used to this because this pick will never change. Knebel is the top QB in the draft and the Cardinals after going winless need a QB badly. In real life I am very much of the mindset that you should try and build your team up at least a little bit before you bring in someone to be your franchise QB since if they don’t have help you are setting them up for failure. Now Knebel is not the best player in the draft and the Cardinals need to build up every part of their team, but with the way rookie QBs perform in the sim it’s best to get your QB early and let them develop as a starter as you build the team up in the next couple of years. Like I said Knebel is the top QB and is all but a lock to go 1.1 to the Cardinals so get used to shorter explanations for the Cardinals because as I make more mocks my explanation for this pick will get shorter and shorter. 

2-Houston Texans: DT Denver Litton, Wisconsin
WTEM: WR Donatello Scott, Texas

Ok now things get a little more interesting with the Texans who I had taking WR Donatello Scott out of Texas in my last mock. First off it turns out Scott is a bum and I hate him so the pick would be different on that alone. This is a pick that I think can go a lot of different ways and will have huge impacts on the rest of the draft based on who they chose. I had the Texans take a WR because they have Hiram Maronde at QB and with a weak WR room it makes sense for them to grab a weapon for the young signal caller. The Texans ran the power run offense last year but I think with Maronde being a scrambler the best offense for them is the spread option. This comes down to Maronde getting a scheme bonus in it, the scheme allowing for a good amount of option plays, a scheme fit for young RB Jeff Holley who is currently the most promising RB on the team, and a good amount of flexibility in personnel. Now getting back to the WR argument I think you can make a case for that and while I have a couple of guys neck and neck for WR1 in this class I think Jake Greenberg, route runner out of SMU would be the best fit for the Texans. With that said I no longer think WR is the best idea for the Texans. I have always pushed WRs a bit down the board because it is a position that usually has multiple top guys and a wealth of good options later in the draft. I think the Texans can get the most out of the 2nd pick by drafting a position that is a bit harder to get a top level guy later in the draft. Looking through the rest of the Texans roster I think the top needs are O-line, D-line, RB, TE… I think the Texans top needs are everything except QB and FS. I will knock out CB and RB because not only do they have a bit of talent there but those are deep positions this year. I think at the end of the day the Texans should go BPA and they would get bonus points for drafting a position that isn’t that deep in this draft. Let’s quickly go through the players that I have as the top guys at each position starting with O-line OG Frank Valdes-Scantling. Valdes-Scantling is a balanced O-lineman from Kansas State and while almost all of the Texans O-line talent is at OG I think he is the best O-lineman by a good margin. Valdes-Scantling is 23 which hurts a little but I don’t think it’s a huge deal as he would be a great player that improves both the passing and running game in Houston. I think this draft has a lot of talented D-linemen but two really stand out to me. First is DE Jalen Jones out of UNC as a speed rusher, he is a bad fit for the current scheme but the Texans don’t have enough talent on defense to pass on a guy like Jones when they can easily change schemes to one that he fits in. In the draft book Jones is the 9th highest rated DE and while the guys above him are probably more talented in certain skills Jones is a guy who does everything at a high level with A+’s across the board except for run defense which is an A. When you lack talent on defense like the Texans a guy who can do everything is so valuable because instead of being a part of the defense he can be the defense. The other guy is balanced DT Denver Litton out of Wisconsin for the same reasons as Jones. Litton has the same grades as Jones and thus my argument for him is the same. Now I don’t like any of the LBs or secondary players enough to have a team pick one of them at 2 so the pick comes down to the trenches. I think you can justify any of the 3 players I singled out here but because of DT being the worst of the 3 positions I have the Texans taking Denver Litton.

3-San Francisco 49ers: DE Jalen Jones, UNC
WTEM: RB Vonte Knebel, Stanford

Man it feels good to be back writing these again anyways next up we have the 49ers. A lot of people feel like the 49ers need to move on at QB and with the 3rd pick in this class that is loaded with QB talent, if they feel like that's the right move then they should do it now. I think that Andrew Solano is a great QB that can be their franchise guy so I am not going to have them take a QB. The 49ers need a lot of help and in my last mock I had them taking RB Vonte Knebel who I think would be a great fit and would be a great addition to the offense but let's look at the other positions they may need. The 49ers found a gem in the 4th round in last years draft with DT Dante Gates but they have big holes on both sides of him with a DE room that really could use a top player and while I think they could make good use of this pick by taking other positions on defense DE is by far the best use of this pick. While Knebel would be great, this looks to be a deep RB class and RB isn’t a huge need for them so I think it’s best for them to look elsewhere. I already talked about my top DE so I have them taking Jalen Jones out of UNC and while I can see why people would argue for taking a different DE I think we need to try and avoid being blinded by unreliable information. Jones was very clearly one of the top DEs in college football last year and even had the stats to back it and we need to remember that the draft book isn’t 100% accurate with overalls. In my last mock Jones was the first defensive player off the board with the 4th pick and I am sticking with my gut on him here.

4-New Orleans Saints: QB Julian Longacre, USC
WTEM (Chiefs): DE Jalen Jones, UNC

Now the Saints I think more than any team not from Arizona the Saints can really take any position and be happy so this pick is going to come down to BPA. In my last mock I had the Saints taking ILB Austin Rosario and I said that I think they would stick it out with Rivera a little longer but my opinion has changed. I think the Saints really could use a lot but there is no guarantee they will be in the position to draft a QB of this caliber again for a while. At the time of my last mock I had O'Koyea Landrum from Georgia Tech and Julian Longacre from USC as the best QBs after Knebel. Now I still feel Longacre is one of the top 3 QBs and would even be QB1 in other classes, my opinion on Landrum has soured and a player that I had not been as high on in Will Outman out of Georgia replaces him for me as a top 3 QB. Outman is a great QB and my eyes have been opened to his talent and his ability to push the ball downfield. I keep going back and forth on who I think is a better QB between Outman and Longacre so much so that I am choosing not to say which QB I think is better. I am having trouble writing this one because my opinion on which QB is better changes about every sentence and if I commit to one of them now I won’t be able to get that out of my mind for the rest of this mock and that will slow the process down. So since I can’t make this pick based on who I think is better I am going to have to figure this pick out in another way. Longacre is a pocket QB and Outman is balanced and while one being a scheme fit would be the deciding factor the Saints run the pistol which is a scheme fit for pocket and balanced QBs. I am going to say about half an hour later I think Outman is slightly better than Longacre but at the end of the day I feel safer about Longacre than Outman so the Saints take QB Julian Longacre out of USC. My opinion on him has changed a lot through his career but Longacre won a national championship with USC in 2023 and was seen as one of the top QBs in the nation as a junior. The fact that Longacre proved himself a little more during his college career and the hype he had around him in 2023 makes me feel like he’s a safer bet here. I will end this by adding a quote from some idiot who made a mock a little over a month ago that I even edited slightly to make it look worse. “The problem is I don’t really know why this is going to be my 3rd year doing mocks and while I like to think I have solid logic and reasoning for how I rank players most of the time sometimes I just have a gut feeling and right now I am confident that Landrum is the 2nd best QB in this class.” Haha what a dummy why would he even say that.

5-Kansas City Chiefs: DE, Omarius Beasley, Oklahoma
WTEM(Saints): ILB Austin Rosario, Texas

The Chiefs are a team that really needs defense and I had them making a big addition in my last mock with DE Jalen Jones out of UNC but he’s off the board. I will get to the defense soon but first I want to quickly touch on the offense. QB Theo Scribner isn’t amazing but I like him and I think he serves his purpose and they have 2 strong young RBs in Stacy Moton and Jhan Peters both being 24 and mid 60 overalls. Ronald Cimber is a talented WR and even though they need more talent at WR next to him this is something I think they can put off for now with them having 2 1sts, 2 2nds, and 3 3rds in this draft. On the O-line OT Jeffrey Theriot is a monster at 81 overall and OT Brad Adams could develop into a solid player but his bad run blocking is hurting him on a run first team. Center Noah Prater is also a young player that will be a great player in the future but like Adams his bad run blocking hurts him a bit. I think you can make an argument to draft an O-lineman which is something they haven’t been too shy about. OG Frank Valdes-Scantling would be a great addition. The Chiefs have a lot of mid 60’s guys at OG right now and while they have some more pressing needs I like the idea of adding a top O-lineman especially with the player I thought was the best fit for them is off the board which I will elaborate on later. CB is a position that needs to be addressed for the Chiefs with only 3 CBs rostered next year Benedict Deluna is locked up long term and is an 84 but the other CBs on the team are a 54 and a 59. I said this in my last mock but CB needs to be addressed in this draft but with the CB class being relatively deep, already having a star CB locked up, and with the wealth of picks this is something that they can and should do in the 2nd or 3rd round. The Chiefs are good at OLB but as of now have no ILBs on the roster for next year and are very weak at DE. I mentioned how the Chiefs have a lot of picks and that's good because they are going to need them. I think this pick comes down to DE, ILB, or if I feel like for whatever reason they can or should wait on both of those positions O-line. I already mentioned a Kansas State player as a potential fit here in Frank Valdes-Scantling but let’s add another one with DE Elfrid Putkonen. Similar to Jared Jones, Putkonen is not at the very top of the DE list but he is a do it all player that is very similar to Jones. Omarius Beasley out of Oklahoma is another DE I like a little bit better than Putkonen but they are pretty interchangeable. Last season on defense the Chiefs ran the 3-man spread stopper scheme for 3 games before changing to old school to make up for their lack of CBs but I don’t think it was really a great fit for them. Based on them running 3-man spread stopper to start the season and the Chiefs having a strong DT with no real great option at DT2 and a pass rush OLB I assume they would want to try and go back to that next season and by grabbing some CBs in this draft they should be able to. This means they only would have 1 ILB starting and that grabbing a great ILB here they can solve the position. It also means the majority of ILBs would have a scheme malus with run stopper, speed, and field general all getting maluses. I just don’t see any ILBs that I think would make sense for the Chiefs here and while I think Frank Valdes-Scantling would be an amazing addition DE is a more pressing need and I think it just makes more sense. So with that the Chiefs draft Omarius Beasley out of Oklahoma and add a game wrecker to their D-line that’s only major flaw is not being a great run defender.

6-Minnesota Vikings: DE Elfrid Putkonen, Kansas State
WTEM(Falcons): QB O'Koyea Landrum, Georgia Tech

The Vikings have the 6th pick and have to be feeling good about it. The Vikings are a team with a lot of talent especially on offense where they have their franchise QB Christian Sinnock, a good WR room lead by Alex Williams III, an O-line that is one player away from a complete unit of 70+ overalls. The Vikings are lacking at TE and despite having a solid RB with Milton Evans have been trying to upgrade at the position. Maybe they are tempted to take Vonte Knebel from Stanford who is an absolute beast at the RB position but they have some needs on defense that I think need to be addressed first. An extension hasn’t been reached with veteran CB Marcos Maldonado which will hurt the CB room but I think they still have a solid group at the position and don’t need to grab a CB here to replace him. The Vikings as of now haven’t extended Gordon Wilburn leaving a hole at ILB that really needs to be filled. I don’t like any of the options at ILB but this is a position that the Vikings will need to fill as the current ILB room is very weak.
The Vikings have a very strong DT room but could use a bit of help at DE but more than anything they need a FS. In my last mock I came to the same conclusion but couldn’t find any good FS so I instead gave them a SS and figured I could find a good FS to have them take when the draft class was released. It turns out the problem wasn’t with me not finding a great FS in this class the problem is this class doesn’t have a great FS. I have a couple guys I like at SS but I think this might be a bit high for them to go. I think the Vikings should try and find a FS in FA because I don’t see someone for them here. With the Vikings top need out of the conversation with this pick Knebel gets even more tempting but I think at the end of the day the Vikings just enjoy drafting mid RBs higher than they should and Knebel doesn’t quite fall into that category. I already mentioned a DE I like before and since he fits the Vikings defense well I have them taking DE Elfrid Putkonen out of Kansas State. At this point in my last mock I had 2 defensive players drafted but in this I have 4 D-linemen drafted (3 DEs and 1 DT) and 2 QBs which is a bit of a deviation. The Vikings get another weapon on their D-line and while they still have a hole at ILB and FS they improve a key position and with 2 2nds and 3 3rds coming up they could bring in guys at not just ILB and FS but also CB, TE, and the obligatory failed RB.

7-Seattle Seahawks: CB Bobby Gonzalez, Old Dominion
WTEM: TE Taylor Allen, UCLA

I think the Seahawks are better than they showed this past season and will continue to improve as QB Kemoko Allard    develops more and that means they have an amazing opportunity to add a player to this team that is better than they probably should have been able to. One thing that I feel I was a bit lenient on is the CB position, I feel like I said some teams that could use an upgrade didn’t need to worry too much. In the past I would have said the Seahawks don’t have to worry about CB and maybe they don’t, they ran 2 gap on defense for a bit this year which is a scheme that doesn’t use a lot of CBs and then changed to 3-man spread stopper which uses a normal amount of CBs. Brett Maxey and maybe even Reggie Ladendorf can develop into solid options at CB but as things stand they and the 2 other CBs Seattle has aren’t good enough to be a CB2 on a team. The Seahawks are negotiating with two DEs and if they can’t bring them back DE is a need but with offers out I don’t view it as a need. The Seahawks have two really great WRs but need to work on the depth of the room and prepare for Eric Palkovich to retire which is something they have been doing drafting Joe Edmunds in the 2nd last year and Austin Duvernay-Tardif in the 4th the year before. I think WR and CB are the two positions that make the most sense for the Seahawks here with CB being the bigger need of the two. I have the Seahawks taking CB Bobby Gonzalez out of Old Dominion and adding a monster to a defense that already is pretty scary. Bobby Gonzalez is a monster and very likely could be the Seahawks 2nd best CB on day 1 which makes this a great pick. I think Brett Maxey is better than his overall shows and if the Seahawks also think so they might not prioritize a CB as much so the other main positions I think they could use are TE where I think Taylor Allen out of UCLA is the best option and WR where I think Jake Greenberg out of SMU is the best option.

8-Buffalo Bills: OLB Chi Chi Colome, UNC
WTEM(Vikings): SS James Wilson, Old Dominion

Next up we have the Bills who in the past 3 drafts have drafted at least 7 O-linemen and while most of them are coming in the mid or late rounds it highlights the fact that the Bills always have the O-line on their mind. I think you can make the argument that the Bills don’t need any O-linemen this year but I wouldn’t be surprised if they grab one or two guys this year. I had them take an O-lineman in my last mock but I will admit part of that was me not liking any of the OLBs that I knew of. OLB is the Bills biggest need, I think Jourdan Conner is solid and is someone that makes sense to get snaps as he could be a good player if developed right but I feel like they should bring in an upgrade over Kyle Banjo on the other side. A lot of the top OLBs are pass rush guys which doesn’t fit the Bills scheme so that cuts down on their options a bit. Someone I liked a lot in my last mock was OLB Chi Chi Colome and even though he is showing up as a C+ in the draft book I still really like what he brings on paper. Colome is a bit of a do it all guy at OLB but his best attribute is his speed so I have the Bills drafted OLB in the 1st round in back to back years with Chi Chi Colome out of UNC. UNC gets their 2nd player picked in the top 10 in this mock solidifying them as the best team in SimCFB.

9-New England Patriots: ILB Quadree Weatherly, Virginia Tech
WTEM(Bills): OT Nathan Hungalu, Alabama

We now move onto one of the Bills division rivals in the Patriots who like the Bills are trying to compete with the Dolphins and Jets who both just made the playoffs. The Patriots have a really strong secondary, a strong DT room, and their franchise QB in Rashaan Lyons but outside of that are just mid everywhere else. I don’t think I would call many of their position groups bad but a lot of them are worse than what I see as average. I think the Patriots need other positions more but I really like the Patriots drafting RB Vontae Knebel out of Stanford. The Patriots run an air raid offense which would give Knebel a scheme fit bonus and I see Knebel as one of the best if not the best player available. As fun as that could be with Knebel joining the young promising offense the Patriots have, they need DE, OLB, and ILB more. With 3 DEs already drafted and us still being in the top 10 the position is getting a bit thin so this pick comes down to ILB or OLB. For ILBs I like a familiar player Quadree Weatherly out of Virginia Tech, Weatherly is a bit of a do it all guy who’s best attributes are his run defense and football IQ. At OLB the Patriots would have loved Chi Chi Colome but with him off the board Joshua Bacon is someone that stands out to me. Bacon is a coverage guy out of Missouri that is the best player in the draft according to the draft book which came as a surprise to a good amount of users with Commanders owner and fellow SEC coach Tsweezy saying “Who tf is Joshua Bacon”. I think Bacon could be a solid player but he wasn’t good in college and wasn’t someone I had on my radar at all and because of that I don’t feel comfortable having him be drafted this high at least until I have more time to look things over. I really love the fit with Knebel but I have the Patriots drafting Quadree Weatherly.

10-Atlanta Falcons: RB Vontae Knebel, Stanford
WTEM(Colts): RB Nick Suarez, Washington

In my last mock I had the Falcons take a QB and I still go back and forth on if it’s the best move for them. I think the Falcons are in a rough spot but Jose Padilla is an 81 overall right now on a contract that is pretty much untradable. As much as drafting a QB and trying to rebuild is appealing I feel like you have to stick with Padilla and see what you can squeeze out of him. As things stand because of the cap the Falcons are set to lose TE Jin Zhong, RB Wayne Ricketts, OG Morris Tye, DT Reyes Dzul, and DE Paul Munford. Those are 5 great players and with only 14.9 mil in cap space they can only bring back 1 if they are lucky enough with contracts 2. Realistically the Falcons let all of them walk and save the remaining cap space for the offseason to plug holes. With that said behind all those players leaving they at least have an ok answer. However this team has a lot of positives like a good WR room, OLB Karl Rosani, ILB Todd Bunch, FS Wade Hires, a good DT room, DE Ray Jackson, CB Gregory Williams, and C Todd Brumlow. I think it’s going to be a bit difficult but the Falcons can be competitive next year. The Falcons only have a 1st, a 2nd, and a 7th in this draft so they need to make sure they hit on a high impact player here if they want to try and salvage something out of this team. I think they need to change their defense to get Karl Rosani on the field more. I also would switch to a pistol offense to get a scheme fit bonus for Padilla. Now I think TE and RB are the two positions that drop off the most because of players you are losing. Now losing Ricketts hurts a lot and while you won’t be able to replace him you can bring in a player with a very similar game. I think Vontae Knebel would be a really good fit because he’s like a mini Ricketts. Also like I said before Knebel is one of the best if not the best player available. 

11-Indianapolis Colts: ILB Weston Shackelford, Alabama
WTEM(Patriots): ILB Quadree Weatherly, Virginia Tech

I am sure the Colts are really upset as ILB and RB are two positions they really could use and they see the top ILB and RB get picked in the 2 picks right before them. The Colts still need ILB and although I like Weatherly the most out of all the ILBs, Weston Shackelford from Alabama is on the board and I think he is a better fit for the Colts. As a speed guy he would get a scheme fit bonus in the defense the Colts ran last season and I think you can even make an argument that Shackelford is better than Weatherly. I think Shackelford is the best option for the Colts here but they can go a number of different directions. They have a solid CB room but they couldn’t extend Paul Clark leaving them without a true star CB so maybe they look to boost the secondary, maybe they plan to move to a scheme that uses OLBs more and are looking to grab one to fill the hole they have at that position, or maybe they want to make an upgrade at DE. The Colts need a few positions but I think ILB is the biggest need and they get a great player in Shackelford.

12-Tampa Bay Buccaneers: DE Malcom Kahnle, TCU
WTEM: OG Frank Valdes-Scantling, Kansas State

I think the Buccaneers could be a pretty competitive team next year with a couple key changes. I think they would be a great spread option team with Gregory Taphorn and their possession WRs especially if they bring RB Max Smith back. Then they bring back their DEs William May and Brian Yokum and their SS Christopher Lowe and then they are a team with no real glaring holes. They also have the 12th overall pick and I feel like they can go BPA here but if all that does happen I would give them an ILB. The Bucs have David Stowell who is an amazing young player and because of that they probably aren’t going to bring Patrick Cannady back. I think because of that adding an ILB to allow you to run 2 ILB sets makes sense especially since they ran a multiple defense last year. With that said those moves haven’t been made and as of now none of those guys are coming back. Losing two DEs is rough and even leaning into re-signing guys if you don’t re-sign Max Smith or Lowe they are gone with a bad replacement but with two DEs you can bring one back and let one walk if money is a problem. So I am going to give the Bucs a DE and I think the pick comes down to either Malcolm Kahnle out of TCU or Jon Walters out of Louisiana Lafayette. Kahnle and Walters are very similar players and I think the difference comes down to if you prefer your DE to have better strength or agility. I think Kahnle is a little bit better so the Bucs take him.

13-Jacksonville Jaguars: WR Jake Greenberg, SMU
WTEM(Ravens): ILB Weston Shackelford, Alabama

In the last mock I had the Jaguars one pick later taking DT Denver Litton but he became the 2nd player off the board. I think the Jaguars could really use a star CB but last year they took 2 CBs in the 1st, another early in the 2nd, and one in the 3rd the year before so they can wait for those guys to develop. CB is probably the worst position on the Jaguars roster as it stands now but they are not drafting more CBs. DT Richard Smith is on an expiring contract and him leaving would make DT the position they need to address the most. I think the dropoff after Litton is pretty big and none of the other DTs are worth picking at this point in the draft. Christopher Richardson is the best WR on the Jaguars and he also doesn’t have a contract for next season. While the WR room is pretty good it never hurts to improve it so I have the Jaguars taking WR Jake Greenberg out of SMU. Greenberg is a WR that has a great mix of route running and catching ability that should make him a great WR in the NFL.

14-Baltimore Ravens: SS Darius Mabry, Coastal Carolina
WTEM(Jaguars): DT Denver Litton, Wisconsin

Alright now we have the Ravens and it’s very difficult to get into the mind of the Ravens head of scouting but I am going to try my best here. The Ravens are a solid team that are a few pieces away from being a perennial playoff contender. The Ravens have done a good job at filling holes but as we prepare for the 4th draft in sim history they are now trying to fill what they see as the final 3 holes that they have had from the beginning. SS has by far been the position the Ravens have tried the hardest to fill in the draft but just never have been in the position to draft the few SS’s they have liked throughout the years. A SS has not been picked in this mock meaning if they want it the Ravens can have their pick of SS here and the decision would come down to two guys. First James Wilson out of Old Dominion a SS with elite zone coverage ability, good hands, and is even  great in run defense with great tackling ability. The other SS is Darius Mabry out of Coastal Carolina Mabry can’t tackle and defend the run like Wilson and isn’t as good in zone coverage but he makes up for it with his hands. The position they have tried the hardest to fill after that is ILB drafting Trevon Romero in the 4th round in the 2023 draft but he has struggled to see the field much and because of that hasn’t developed. ILB has not been a position with a ton of talent in the past drafts and while I think this ILB class has a good amount of talent my top two ILBs are off the board and both of them would have been great fits in Baltimore The final position is OLB which they recently failed to fill when they drafted Brett Lin in the 4th round in last years draft. The Ravens would have loved to get Chi Chi Colome with this pick but with him off the board the best fit I see is Adolphus Litton out of Arkansas. I think Litton is a good player that would fit into the Ravens defense well but the two options at SS are better. I don’t think Baltimore can go wrong with either one but I am going to give them Darius Mabry because while his coverage isn’t as good and he isn’t as good at stopping the run the Ravens have a strong D-line and have been good against the run. This is a huge get for a Ravens team that ranked in the top 5 for least yards allowed as they add a player who is really good in coverage but also can force turnovers which was a problem for the Ravens as they ranked in the bottom half of the league in interceptions and turnovers as a whole this past season.