We move on to the 30th pick in our 2015 Daily Norseman Community Mock Draft, and this selection belongs to the Green Bay Packers. Our selector for this pick was "CCHOF5yearstoolate," and he thought it would be best to help the Packers do something to shore up their special teams after how their season ended.
With the 30th pick in the 2015 Daily Norseman Community Mock Draft, the Green Bay Packers select. . .
J.K. Scott, punter, Alabama
Here's what he had to say about the selection. . .
Kind of like how the NHL and MLB Drafts work (definitely applies to the NFL, I'm pretty sure), Green Bay is going to want to lock up easily the best punter of the last 10 years. This would be a great pick without considering his fantastic game against the Ohio Buckeyes (GO BUCKS GO B1G WOOOOO PUNTING) in the National Championship game where he had 7 punts (lol) for 385 yards (!), 55 yards per punt (!!) and a long of 73 (!!1!!one!). In 2014 Scott averaged 48 yards per punt, good for NUMBAH ONE in the nation. That's right, he punted further than Aussie stud and Ray Guy Award winner Tom Hackett, as a freshman. That's pretty fresh, man. His longest punt was also good for 7th in the nation. That's a leg you want on your team.
Now, you might be asking yourself "Why pick a punter, even the best punter I'll likely ever see, when they have a perfectly serviceable punter in Tim Masthay?" Well, that's where the NHL part comes in. By the time JK comes to the NFL in 3 years Tim will be 31 and almost definitely in decline. So when he does inevitably decline ... BAM! You have the best punter of our generation ready to step in and control field position.
If I'm Ted Thompson, ultimate draft wizard of all time, this is my masterpiece. Introducing draft rights to the NFL brings the table up to my level, and clearly no one can compete with my draft skillz, or so I've been told.
And, if any Packer fans are still reading at this point, rest assured. . .we are officially screwing with you. Let's rewind. . .
With the 30th pick in the 2015 Daily Norseman Community Mock Draft, the Green Bay Packers select. . .
Eric Kendricks, linebacker, UCLA
Here's CCHOF5yearstoolate's actual commentary about the selection.
The clear top ILB prospect, the 2014 Butkus award winner can do it all. Outstanding in coverage, both man and zone, and his fantastic instincts for diagnosing plays makes up for his weak block shedding. A 3-down LB in any scheme, he is best projected as an ILB in a 3-4 scheme who is allowed to roam free (usually the Mike or WIll ILB, depending on who's running the defense) and just make plays. This would allow Clay Matthews to move back to OLB/Edge Rusher and immediately upgrade the Packers' weakest position, with Sam Barrington taking over fulltime ILB "thumper" duties.
I gave some thought to Stephone Anthony (ILB) and Michael Bennett (DT) but Anthony is far less polished and less instictive and though Michael Bennett would be a great 3-4 DE, ILB is just too much bigger of a need.
My Thoughts
This is another case in this draft where a team's biggest need marries up pretty well with the "big boards" of potential prospects at this point. The inside linebacker spot is the biggest weak spot on the Green Bay defense, and adding a player like Kendricks would suit them pretty well. They could also look at a cornerback at this spot, such as Wake Forest's Kevin Johnson, but as CCHOF5yearstoolate said in his commentary, this pick fills the Packers' biggest need, and this is right about the spot for Kendricks to be taken anyway.
What do you think of this pick, folks? (Yes, I know that the Packers' pick is probably going to get an "F" in the poll below regardless of who it is.)
Pick | Team | General Manager | Pick |
1 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | kwarren3 | Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon |
2 | Tennessee Titans | BVB fan | Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama |
3 | Jacksonville Jaguars | n s | Leonard Williams, DT, Southern Cal |
4 | Oakland Raiders | DrivableGuide9 | Dante Fowler, DE, Florida |
5 | Washington Redskins | tep4 | Vic Beasley, OLB, Clemson |
6 | New York Jets | cycloneallnightlong | Jameis Winston, QB, Florida State |
7 | Chicago Bears | lateefthetruthspeaker | Danny Shelton, DT, Washington |
8 | Atlanta Falcons | berg03 | Alvin Dupree, DE, Kentucky |
9 | New York Giants | thecraphead | Randy Gregory, DE, Nebraska |
10 | St. Louis Rams | VikesFanatic | La'el Collins, OL, LSU |
11 | Minnesota Vikings | e.vogel15 | Marcus Peters, CB, Washington |
12 | Cleveland Browns | Wayne Joseph | Todd Gurley, RB, Georgia |
13 | New Orleans Saints | Austin Blanch | Brandon Scherff, OT, Iowa |
14 | Miami Dolphins | SkolChad | DeVante Parker, WR, Louisville |
15 | San Francisco 49ers | Malte | Kevin White, WR, West Virginia |
16 | Houston Texans | Vikes4lyfe | Ereck Flowers, OT, Miami (FL) |
17 | San Diego Chargers | MDFDisc | D.J. Humphries, OL, Florida |
18 | Kansas City Chiefs | Christopher Gates | Dorial Green-Beckham, WR, Missouri |
19 | Cleveland Browns (from Buffalo) | Wayne Joseph | Maxx Williams, TE, Minnesota |
20 | Philadelphia Eagles | AVeazey24 | Landon Collins, S, Alabama |
21 | Cincinnati Bengals | misterloveSKOL | Shane Ray, DE, Missouri |
22 | Pittsburgh Steelers | Typically Lazy | Trae Waynes, CB, Michigan State |
23 | Detroit Lions | just_rob | Andrus Peat, OT, Stanford |
24 | Arizona Cardinals | Siberia101 | Jalen Collins, CB, LSU |
25 | Carolina Panthers | Christopher Gates | T.J. Clemmings, OT, Pittsburgh |
26 | Baltimore Ravens | lmoe12 | Breshad Perriman, WR, Central Florida |
27 | Dallas Cowboys | paulser21 | Malcom Brown, DT, Texas |
28 | Denver Broncos | SpencerN | Arik Armstead, DT, Oregon |
29 | Indianapolis Colts | CCNorseman | Eddie Goldman, DT, Florida State |
30 | Green Bay Packers | CCHOF5yearstoolate | Eric Kendricks, LB, UCLA |
31 | New Orleans Saints (from Seattle) | Austin Blanch | |
32 | New England Patriots | raging_cloner |