Rey's Final Mock (with a trade down)

[Rey]

I'm going to trade back. I think either the Jets or Cardinals may want to trade up for the QB of their choice. For the purposes of my mock I'm going to trade a 1st and 7th for a high second and a third.

2) Da'Rick Rogers, WR

I think Rogers offers the most bang for our buck. Every receiver is going to have some issues, but Rogers issues aren't on the field. He has elite reciever potential and if he can come in and learn from Dre and the gang he could be a tremendous asset immediately and down the road

2) Cornelius Carradine, OLB

Nicknamed Tank, Carradine is a good looking athlete. Really good frame. Excellent explosion and power. Shows finesse and speed moves as well as bull rush While some will say that he can't play OLB, I see him in the Mario role. Mostly heading upfiled and occasionally doing other things. I think he's athletic enough and fluid enough to handle that. Will help immediately as a pass rusher, but will be groomed to be a starting OLB.

3) DJ Swearinger, S


I love Swearinger. He is pretty much what a safety is supposed to be. Fast, wreckless, and good in zone coverage. I think we'd be trying to find ways to get Swearinger on the field more.

3) Tyrann Mathieu, DB/KR


I'm not too fond of his man coverage, but the guy makes plays when he's on the field. Hopefully with better technique he could improve his coverage skills. Until that time he will help as a returner and as a reserve DB. Weed usage is a concern, but I'm rolling the dice on him due to his talent level.

 

[Rey]

3) David Quessenberry, OT


I like his pass protection. Good solid frame, moves well. Should immediately challenge for the swing position and possibly even the starting position. Good feet, good base. Plays with good balance.

4) Brandon Williams, NT

Big, Strong, bowling ball. Would for a good NT combo with Mitchell. I like his effort and the strength he plays with. Would start off as more of a run stopper, but should be able to move into a full time role if needed down the line.

5) Kenjon Barner, RB


3rd RB and another returner. Good change of pace guy. A different type of back from Foster and Tate. Good vision and deadly in the open field. Had a great career in Oregon.

6) Lawrence Okoye, DT/DE

Why not? It's a 6th round pick and this guy is a physical specimen. His rugby back ground intrigues me because he should be physical enough and he should have good enough leverage to play the position. If he can develop and learn, he and JJ Watt as DE's in the future would be pretty nice. At his size, he should also be able to play some DT.

6) Marvin Burdette, ILB

I think it was mussop that mentioned him in another thread. He is a little guy, but he plays with a lot of explosion. Buster Davis is not a good comparison because Buster Davis didn't take on blocks well at all. This guy does. He meets guard and Full backs in the hole with explosion and force. Good tackler. I see him as a special teams player and back up ILB.

 

[76Texan]

No complain from me.
I'd like to see how Carradine does at his work-out (April 20) though; just to make sure he has progressed nicely from the torn ACL; otherwise, it might affect his draft status.

 

[badboy]

Mathieu is only no for me. Not sure Williams drops to 4. Over all I can buy in to it.

 

[rmartin65]

No complaints here.

Rogers- I think he would be a great pick, should he pass the interviews. He certainly looks like he can be the best receiver in the league, but his off the field issues do worry me. Even this past year, where he supposedly behaved well, I read somewhere that he rubbed some of his coaches the wrong way.

Carradine- Dude can get after the QB, that is for sure. However if his knee checks out, I can see him off the board before the late second. Personally, I think he makes a better hand-in-the-dirt guy, but he should still be good playing standing up.

Swearinger- We are on the same page

Quessenberry- I dont know much about him, but I like what I do know.

Williams- If he is still on the board, then he is one heck of a steal. I would be surprised if he makes it out of the 3rd.

Barner- I like it. Adding wrinkle to the offense, nothing wrong with that.

Okoye- I have him in the 7th, but this late it is hard to guess where these guys will go. Absolutely no problem spending a 6th here, the payoff can be huge.

Burdette- I like Burdette, he should make the team as a backup/ST guy.

 

[Rey]

I went with Tyrann because I thought that he could play right away on special teams and as a reserve DB. I thought for 3rd round pick he offered pretty good value.

I understand the reservations about his man coverage and his character/drug habbit...I won't argue with that...

If he tested clean for his workouts though that shows me that he can put it aside if it's important enough. Lots of guys in the NFL smoke though, so if he can control it then he should be ok...if not, he'll be out of the league...

Williams in the fourth...He may not make it, but with all the DT's ahead of him I don't know. He's not there I'd probably go with Montori Hughes...

 

[SteveSlaton20]

My only complaint is no ILB until the 6th round... not a fan of that. Probably would draft an ILB over Mathieu. Other than that, it's one of my favorite mock.

 

[jppaul]

I would be ecstatic with that

 

[mussop]

My only complaint is no ILB until the 6th round... not a fan of that. Probably would draft an ILB over Mathieu. Other than that, it's one of my favorite mock.

Just depends on what kind of a ILB you want. If you want one that has good coverage skills and that can nrush the passer then I would get him before the third round was over. If all you want is a 2 down guy that can stuff the run there is a lot of them. You can get those type late all day.

 

[mussop]

By the way love the draft.

 

[Rey]

Thanks for the feedback everyone...

 

[Rey]

Mathieu is only no for me. Not sure Williams drops to 4. Over all I can buy in to it.

Thats understandable. A couple of months ago I was cold on him. But I rewatched some film and he'd be tough to pass up in the third. Dude has tons of talent and awesome instincts. He just plain makes things happen on the field.

But I can understand completely not wanting him.

 

[steelbtexan]

Love this mock, it has impact players in it. Swearinger/Rodgers/Carradine/Mathieu/Quessenberry/Williams would all be upgrades to the current roster.

Williams probably will be gone by the 4th. I've got him ranked late 2nd/early 3rd.

Need to add another WR/LB for depth purposes with the supp 6th and 7th rd pick.

 

[SteveSlaton20]

Just depends on what kind of a ILB you want. If you want one that has good coverage skills and that can nrush the passer then I would get him before the third round was over. If all you want is a 2 down guy that can stuff the run there is a lot of them. You can get those type late all day.

I want one that can do it all, but if I had to choose one, it'd be the one that can cover and blitz. Who knows how well Cushing will recover from his injury? If he doesn't play as well as he did in 2011, who can be the man to play his role? I certainly don't want Dobbins or Sharpton. Who else do we have besides them?

 

[mussop]

I want one that can do it all, but if I had to choose one, it'd be the one that can cover and blitz. Who knows how well Cushing will recover from his injury? If he doesn't play as well as he did in 2011, who can be the man to play his role? I certainly don't want Dobbins or Sharpton. Who else do we have besides them?

Don't think there is an ILB in this draft that can do it all. Even if there was one he would go way before 27.

 

[Rey]

I want one that can do it all, but if I had to choose one, it'd be the one that can cover and blitz. Who knows how well Cushing will recover from his injury? If he doesn't play as well as he did in 2011, who can be the man to play his role? I certainly don't want Dobbins or Sharpton. Who else do we have besides them?

That's understandable.

I will say this though....with the way guys are coming back from injuries these days, I'd be surprised if Cushing came back and looked bad. And let's be real here...he's probably taking something or doing some cutting edge technique to help him come back...

Plus he's more than likely working his ass off. Not saying that another versatile LB isn't needed, but just that I'm not super concerned about Cushing coming back as a shell of his former self.

 

[Playoffs]

Would be nice.

You'd be drafting Carradine first, if he falls out of the 1st round ( big "if", pending workout), then Swearinger.

 

[Hottoddie]

Really nice mock Rey. I'm torn between your's & Badboy's mock. Both would be great for the team. I do have a couple of reservations on two of your choices, but if the team decided they were the right players, I'd be cautiously optimistic about them.

3) Tyrann Mathieu, DB/KR

I just can't get beyond the pot smoking & the fact that the NFL does not take it lightly. That's an awfully high pick to take a chance with.

5) Kenjon Barner, RB

I too was enamored with Barner early on, but I chose to pass because he puts the ball on the turf too much & we all know how much Gary loves that .

What about taking Stepfan Taylor (RB) Stanford in place of Mathieu in the 3rd & Terry Hawthorne (CB/FS) Illinois in the 5th? I don't believe Hawthorne has ever played special teams, but with 4.31 speed, he's got potential.

 

[powda]

Overall I like it...especially the trade back which to me is probably best case scenario.

Couple of things standout for me based on the scouting reports i've read...

I dont like Caradine that early...he only got to play because of an injury. Lots of scouts question his lateral movement skills. One description I read from a scout said he moved like he had rickets. He's also described as having zero technique/plan and almost exclusively a bull rusher.

I'm ok with mathieu and would applaud the Texans for taking a gamble...but i'd rather do it in the 4th. This would be a joe marciano pick and an instant field position upgrade assuming mathieu doesn't smoke away his opportunity.

I love Brandon Williams but dont think theres a chance he last till our 4th round pick.

Love the swearinger pick...again not sure he lasts that long.

 

[TexansSeminole]

I dont like Caradine that early...he only got to play because of an injury. Lots of scouts question his lateral movement skills. One description I read from a scout said he moved like he had rickets. He's also described as having zero technique/plan and almost exclusively a bull rusher.

There are a ton of videos of Carradine on YouTube. Long videos of a bunch of snaps from various games in 2012, pretty much every game (Virginia Tech, Florida, Miami, Clemson, Wake Forest, South Florida, NC State, Duke). I think he is easily a second round player even after the knee injury. He would have been a first rounder if he had not been injured against Florida, in my opinion. I see Jason-Pierre Paul type of ceiling on this guy.

He has a huge wingspan and reminds me of ALOT of Jason-Pierre Paul. People may not remember that JPP was not dominate at South Florida and only had 6.5 sacks in his only year of football there. He was drafted on basically pure size and athletic ability. Carradine is similar in size and athletic ability but with more production in his one year of play. Both players are big defensive ends with long arms. They both were JUCO players that only got to play one season of big boy college football. Carradine actually played in 2011 quite a bit but wasn't a starter. Carradine compares pretty favorably to JPP as far as combine and pro day test numbers. JPP was 6'5 270, ran a 4.71 and lifted 19 times. Carradine was 6'4 274, didn't run because of the ACL injury and lifted 32 times at the pro day (28 at combine). Both have 34"+ arms.

You can watch the videos on youtube and see some pretty good lateral movement ability for a man of his size. As was the case with JPP at South Florida, Carradine was just stronger than almost everyone else he faced. That explains alot of the reason he used that bull-rush and his strength so often in 2012. Even still, he does get to the quarterback and get in the backfield in general in different ways. I project Carradine as a 4-3 DE. I suppose he could play OLB but I think a 4-3 team will covet him at one of their DE positions at a higher draft position, because that is really his natural fit.

 

[Rey]

There are a ton of videos of Carradine on YouTube. Long videos of a bunch of snaps from various games in 2012, pretty much every game (Virginia Tech, Florida, Miami, Clemson, Wake Forest, South Florida, NC State, Duke). I think he is easily a second round player even after the knee injury. He would have been a first rounder if he had not been injured against Florida, in my opinion. I see Jason-Pierre Paul type of ceiling on this guy.

He has a huge wingspan and reminds me of ALOT of Jason-Pierre Paul. People may not remember that JPP was not dominate at South Florida and only had 6.5 sacks in his only year of football there. He was drafted on basically pure size and athletic ability. Carradine is similar in size and athletic ability but with more production in his one year of play. Both players are big defensive ends with long arms. They both were JUCO players that only got to play one season of big boy college football. Carradine actually played in 2011 quite a bit but wasn't a starter. Carradine compares pretty favorably to JPP as far as combine and pro day test numbers. JPP was 6'5 270, ran a 4.71 and lifted 19 times. Carradine was 6'4 274, didn't run because of the ACL injury and lifted 32 times at the pro day (28 at combine). Both have 34"+ arms.

You can watch the videos on youtube and see some pretty good lateral movement ability for a man of his size. As was the case with JPP at South Florida, Carradine was just stronger than almost everyone else he faced. That explains alot of the reason he used that bull-rush and his strength so often in 2012. Even still, he does get to the quarterback and get in the backfield in general in different ways. I project Carradine as a 4-3 DE. I suppose he could play OLB but I think a 4-3 team will covet him at one of their DE positions at a higher draft position, because that is really his natural fit.

I agree.

I would not even be upset with Carradine in the first. I watched quite a bit of film on him before adding him to my mock and the guy is a really nice player.

I would put him in the same role Mario was in with us. To me he might even be a bit better than Mario in that role because he plays quicker and with more explosion. I think he'd give Olinemen all kinds of problems....Let a lone being matched up with TE's on occasion...

And he also plays the run pretty well...

 

[Playoffs]

FSU DE Cornellius Carradine ran a 4.75 forty during a workout for NFL teams, just 135 days after undergoing knee surgery.

As we have been saying, do not rule Carradine out of the top 15. Our own Josh Norris ranked Carradine as the second best defensive end in the class after Ezekiel Ansah. He needs some technical work, but Carradine is quick off the snap with strong hands and an aggressive mentality. 11 teams attended the workout including: the Chiefs, Lions, Browns, Saints, Bengals, Vikings, Colts, Broncos, Patriots, Falcons, and Niners.

http://www.rotoworld.com/headlines/cfb/24823/tank-carradine-runs-a-475-forty-for-11-teams

Dan Shonka ‏@Ourlads_Shonka 11m

#Carradine put up 225/28 times at the #Combine. Worked on his upper body while rehabbing his knee. He wants to be a pro

 

[Rey]

I actually like Carradine more than Ansah. I loved watching Carradine on film. I think he's going to be a really good front 7 player.

 

[powda]

I actually like Carradine more than Ansah. I loved watching Carradine on film. I think he's going to be a really good front 7 player.

I'd read a profootball weekly evaluation of Carradine and it was damning. You guys have pimped him pretty good and now more scouting resources are jumping on board. I could change my mind about him...but I still dont like using a 1 or 2 on a de.

 

[Playoffs]

2) Cornelius Carradine, OLB

Nicknamed Tank, Carradine is a good looking athlete. Really good frame. Excellent explosion and power. Shows finesse and speed moves as well as bull rush While some will say that he can't play OLB, I see him in the Mario role. Mostly heading upfiled and occasionally doing other things. I think he's athletic enough and fluid enough to handle that. Will help immediately as a pass rusher, but will be groomed to be a starting OLB.

His workout video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3o1HJ7YJXM&

 

[76Texan]

CBS Sports reported that he ran a 4.93 (citing a high-ranking league source), and not 4.75 as the Cincinnati Inquirer claimed earlier.

 

[TexansSeminole]

More confusion on 40 times. Carradine and Werner will both be stud DEs, I can almost guarantee it.

 

[Playoffs]

CBS Sports reported that he ran a 4.93 (citing a high-ranking league source), and not 4.75 as the Cincinnati Inquirer claimed earlier.

Sounds like the earlier time was a bit optimistic.

 

[mussop]

More confusion on 40 times. Carradine and Werner will both be stud DEs, I can almost guarantee it.

I agree. I like both of them. One thing not mentioned much is how good they are at defending the run at them. Werner has a knack for slipping off his blocker and making plays while tank stonewalls OL and makes plays. Both are very good.