This is a recap of the Music City Miracles / Mocking The Draft Live Mock Draft this past weekend. There were 32 GMs, one for each team (although two teams did not have anyone who would do it). It started on Saturday at noon and 3 rounds were completed. On Sunday the last 4 rounds were completed. There was a 2 day pre-draft window to talk trades with other teams. They did allow some player trades as well but those had to be approved and were for special cases or fringe type players.
So, as the GM of the Vikings, I was trying to trade AP. I wanted to see how the other people representing other teams would respond in terms of trade offers. I also wanted to try out the mock after trading him. I had worked out deals with the Cowboys, Chargers, and Raiders.
The Cowboys GM would not give up his 1st round pick at all. We had agreed to this deal ...
Vikings send AP & the #45 pick for the Cowboys #27 pick, their 2016 3rd, Brandon Carr, and Joseph Randle.
The Chargers GM had two offers ...
Vikings send AP and Robert Blanton for the Chargers #83 pick, Eric Weddle, and a 2016 5th.
Vikings send AP and a 7th for the Chargers #48, #192, and a 2016 3rd
The Raiders GM had two offers ...
Vikings send AP & the #45 pick for the Raiders #35, #68, and 2016 3rd round picks.
Vikings send AP for the Chargers #35 and a 2016 5th round pick.
I sent the guys running the draft the deal from the Cowboys and the first deals from the Chargers and Raiders for their opinion. They responded saying they only would allow the Raiders deal.
Shortly thereafter they sent an email saying all player trades were no longer allowed because they were receiving too many ridiculous proposals that they did not feel were realistic and that did not have any rumors of happening. I responded that the Raiders deal was already submitted for their approval and included the other Raiders deal too for them to approve. But they were done.
It was disappointing but what can you do. It takes a lot of effort to run one of these things and some of the other people representing other teams apparently did not take it very seriously.
Here are the results of the draft ...
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1h0KSNJedPYR_c3x-z-9vTv4bYzlPk54ciI1mshcO9QQ/edit#gid=0
The 3 top receivers were gone. The players left were Scherff, Waynes, Shelton, Gregory, Dupree, and La'el Collins. Here was my pick ...
1.11.11 Todd Gurley RB Georgia
Now this pick through the draft for a bit of a loop. Not many people expected the Vikings to take Gurley. But I like him a lot and I think he is the top nonn QB in this draft. Many big boards have him very high as well.
http://walterfootball.com/draft2015bigboard.php
http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/draft/rankings/_/year/2015
http://www.nfl.com/top50
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000483102/article/baldinger-todd-gurley-most-talented-player-in-2015-nfl-draft
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/greg-cosell-s-nfl-draft-preview--todd-gurley-may-be-best-prospect-in-class-180456535.html
So I pretty much knew I wanted to go with Gurley and I still made the pick even having AP. I think it would be a fantastic move too. Gurley can take his time and get some possible 3rd down duties while spelling AP on occassion. Then, next year, he can probably take over if the Vikings decide not to pay AP that 15 mil he has coming which I think will be the case.
Also, if the Vikings really want to trade AP then taking Gurley sure does make those other teams needing a back get more desperate no? It is a win win situation for the Vikings because AP is not going to be here for too much longer and as long as the Vikings and AP do not agree to redo his deal that time is coming sooner rather than later.
In the 2nd round, I was trying to trade down a little but could not get any takers. Players available at that spot were Bernardrick McKinney, Shaq Thompson, Paul Dawson, PJ Williams, Jake Fisher, Jalen Strong, AJ Cann, and Preston Smith. Here was my pick ...
2.13.45 Maxx Williams TE Minnesota
Now this definitely could be criticized heavily but I just felt that getting the consensus best player at his position was too good to pass up. Plus, Rudolph is injured a little too much for my tastes. Ellison is nice in a Jeff Dugan kind of way and Ford is a Ford. Maxx Williams can help the offense and provides excellent insurance on Rudolph.
In the 3rd round, the players available were Denzel Perryman, Josh Shaw, Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, and Alex Carter. Here was my pick ...
3.12.76 Cedric Ogbueihi OT Texas A&M
I like Ogbuehi a lot. He was a top 10 player for most of the season and then fell off due to his ACL injury in the bowl game and modest struggles at left tackle. The kid played guard and then right tackle very well. He gets switched to left tackle this year and was having some troubles. I am not going to blame him. Kind of hard when they want you to be Mr. Everything. He was too talented to pass up even though he probably will not be really ready until mid-season. It is excellent insurance for Kalil or Loadholt.
So that was the end of the first day and I did not fill one "need". Obviously, I should have been fired on the spot.
After the first day any trades for the second day had to be submitted for approval prior to the noon start time on Sunday. I received an offer from the Patriots. They wanted to move down. They offered #101, #219, & #229 for #110 & #143. At first I said I did not think so but I wanted to get more picks. So I accepted the deal.
At the start of the 4th round there were plenty of good players available. Senquez Golson, Steven Nelson, Donovan Smith, Derron Smith, Henry Anderson, Rashad Greene, Jaquiski Tartt, Kwon Alexander, & Za'Darius Smith. Here was my pick ...
4.2.101 Chris Conley WR Georgia
I could not help taking this young man. He is a very good athlete and really did well at Georgia all things considered.
http://georgia.247sports.com/Article/NFL-Draft-Diary-Ex-UGA-WR-Chris-Conley-talks-Star-Wars-trailer-36840175
http://www.ganggreennation.com/2015/2/23/8089395/scouting-the-draft-chris-conley-wr-georgia
http://www.forbes.com/fdc/welcome_mjx.shtml
Yeah I think this kid has his best football in front of him and has way too much talent to pass.
At this point I was done until the 7th round. I had tried to trade for a 5th or 6th round pick but was rebuffed. As I said, most GMs did not want to trade away picks. These cats mainly wanted to make the picks which is cool. Here are the rest of my picks ...
7.2.219 Randall Evans CB Kansas State
http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=92911&draftyear=2015&genpos=CB
7.11.228 Christian Covington DT Rice
http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/christian-covington?id=2552602
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000481495/article/christian-covington-of-rice-boosts-his-draft-stock-at-pro-day
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/1892122/christian-covington
7.12.229 Corey Crawford DE Clemson
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/1737608/corey-crawford
http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/nfp-prospect-focus-clemson-defense/
http://profootball.scout.com/story/1529024-corey-crawford-player-evaluation
Reading all these reviews it may be considered questionable to make this pick. But he has the traits you want in a base left end. Good size, strength, and length. He just needs to have someone keep that fire lit. In comes Mike Zimmer. For a 7th round pick it really is not too bad.
7.15.232 Nick Marshall CB Auburn
http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/nick-marshall?id=2552575
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/2079873/nick-marshall
Here are the UDFAs I grabbed ...
UDFA
Cody Wichmann OG Fresno State
Eric Dargan S Oregon
Edmund Robinson LB Newberry
Junior Sylvestre LB Toledo
Kyle Loomis P Portland State
Justin Worley QB Tennessee
A different draft that would have went after the "needs" would probably have been ...
1.11.11 Brandon Scherff OT Iowa
2.13.45 Bernardrick McKinney LB Mississippi State
3.12.76 Ifo Ekpre-Olomu CB Oregon
4.2.101 Henry Anderson DE Stanford
7.2.219 Dres Anderson WR Utah
7.11.228 Christian Covington DT Rice
7.12.229 Kyle Emanuel OLB North Dakota State
7.15.232 Ray Drew DE Georgia
Another draft could have been ...
1.11.11 Randy Gregory DE Nebraska
2.13.45 Shaq Thompson LB Washington
3.12.76 Donovan Smith OT Penn State
4.2.101 Chris Conley WR Georgia
7.2.219 Bryce Hager LB Baylor
7.11.228 Christian Covington DT Rice
7.12.229 Kyle Emanuel OLB North Dakota State
7.15.232 Ray Drew DE Georgia
Maybe the last two are better? I almost took Donovan Smith in the 4th round in the original mock. It really does not cover any of the "needs" at all. No corner until the last round. No linebacker at all. What the heck was I thinking? Who knows really? I just wanted to try to get the best player available IMO. Crazy no? :)