First off, I have a strong theory about all the “information” that’s been disseminated into the world over the past week or so. We do this every year, and for the most part, I wonder how much the amount of clicks a post or article will get has to do with how a rumor is phrased.

“Nabers is excellent, teams like him” doesn’t hit the same as “Nabers over Harrison? A new top WR in the draft! Read why teams have the LSU product at the top of their board!!!” 

Nothing in life is guaranteed, and lordy, we’ve seen some front offices go in completely different directions than the tea leaves were reading, but for the most part, while the world’s collective attention turns to March Madness, the hot takes need to ramp up in a big way to turn them back (it’s funny that Nabers is MURDERING his pro day as I write this, but the point still stands).

You certainly can’t rule anything out, but this is the fun part; the draft is now four weeks away and the noise isn’t going to get any quieter.

Tightening up my mock is tricky. Coaches quotes, pro days, free agent signings, and new “info” are all piling in, as well as mocks from well-respected folks who do this much better than I.

Before I throw my 32 darts, a couple of things I liked this week:

Arjuns Front Office Draft Capital Allocation Chart

You still need the context of certain teams continuing to have certain needs over the years, but this goes back to 2011 and covers the top 100 picks for each year.

CLEVTA’s GM Draft Trends

Looking at the problem from a different point of view, another nice chart looks a little further into age, RAS score, and how often they went to a premium position.

Mock 2.0 - Now with more OL

Now with fewer notes since I’m trying to get this one done. I’ll add more notes when I turn it into an article later (have to think of a clickbait title first).

You are supposed to do something sensational to get folks excited, but for now, I still think the smart folks have the top four QBs in this order, and as good as Nabers is, I’m sticking with Marv as the non-QB in the top five.

Spoiler, I didn’t change my top nine picks.

Changes from mock 1.0 are in BOLD. I did spend some time digging into the prospects currently ranked 20-40 in the general consensus to see what I could find, so I got a little squirrely at the back end.

1. Chicago - Caleb Williams, QB, USC

2. Washington - Drake Maye, QB, UNC

3. New England - Jayden Daniels, QB, LSU

4. Arizona - Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Ohio State

5. Minnesota - J.J. McCarthy, QB, Michigan -TRADE

6. NY Giants - Malik Nabers, WR, LSU

7. Tennesse - Joe Alt, OT, Notre Dame

8. Atlanta - Dallas Turner, Edge, Bama

9. Chicago - Rome Odunze, WR, Washington

10. NY Jets - Olumuyiwa Fashanu, OT, Penn State

11. LA Chargers - Taliese Fuaga, OT, Oregon State

    Still struggling with this one if they indeed pull off a trade. WR is such a massive need, but this puts them in a spot where they almost certainly miss out on the top three in order to pick up some extra 1st rounders. So with a new GM and head coach, I’m just going to listen to Jim and draft

12. Denver - Quinyon Mitchell, CB Toledo
    Needs all over, but I’m fine with either D-Line or CB here. Personally, I think I’d look to trade back and start figuring out which QB to take in the 2nd round, this roster is very weird.

13. Las Vegas - Troy Fautanu, OT, Washington

14. New Orleans - Byron Murphy II, DL, Texas

    The Bowers pick from v1.0 was dumb, but man he has to go somewhere. Deficiencies in the trenches on both sides of the ball have to take priority though. Could reach for an OL and grab Latham or Mims here too.

15. Indianapolis - Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia

    A young core of skill players could be fun.

16. Seattle - Jared Verse, Edge, Florida State

17. Jacksonville - Terrion Arnold, CB, Bama

18. Cincinnati - JC Latham, OT, Alabama

19. LA Rams - Laiatu Latu, Edge, UCLA

    I will pivot off CB here after the Tre’Davious White signing.

20. Pittsburgh - Jackson Powers-Johnson, C, Oregon

21. Miami - Jer'Zhan Newton, DL, Illinois

22. Philadelphia - Nate Wiggins, CB, Clemson

23. LA Chargers - Brian Thomas Jr., WR, LSU (trade from Min)

24. Dallas - Amarius Mims, OT, Georgia

25. Green Bay - Graham Barton, OL, Duke

26. Tampa Bay - Chop Robinson, Edge, Penn State

27. Arizona - Cooper DeJean, CB, Iowa

28. Buffalo - Tyler Nubin, S, Minnesota

    Yeah, I know they signed Mike Edwards, but this was a weak position.

29. Detroit - Adonai Mitchell, WR, Texas

30. Baltimore - Tyler Guyton, OT, Oklahoma

31. San Francisco - Jordan Morgan, OT, Arizona

32. Kansas City - Chris Braswell, Edge, Bama

O-Line Ratings

Something I have been working on this year to help in the process is putting together a better list of positional rankings. I’m not a scout, nor do I plan on watching a bunch of college football film and attempting to come up with these myself based on my evaluations.

I’m relying on the brains of others and aggregating their expertise. I didn’t go strictly by these for the mock, but it’s not like the front offices all share a set of rankings either.

My dirty dozen, as it stands today:

1. Joe Alt, Notre Dame

2. Olu Fashanu, Penn State

3. Taliese Fuaga, Oregon State

4. JC Latham, Alabama

5. Troy Fautanu, Washington

6. Amarius Mims, Georgia

7. Tyler Guyton, Oklahoma

8. Jackson Powers-Johnson, Oregon

9. Graham Barton, Duke

10. Kingsley Suamataia, BYU

11. Zach Frazier, WVU

12. Jordan Morgan, Arizona

Last Call, North Carolina! The Panthers may not have a 1st round pick, but you should STILL take advantage of all the promos that the operators are rolling out now that sports betting is live and legal in the Tar Heel state.