FanPost

The 4 Yards & A Cloud of Dust Mock Draft

Mock 4 5 19

https://fanspeak.com/ontheclock/draft.php?d=jarpwo#/.XKePWhzekBE.mailto

In this run; J.Taylor is the only OL off the board before our pick at 18, leaving an enticing assortment of: J.Williams, A.Dillard, C.Ford, and G.Bradburry available. But sitting atop the board I chose are Kyler Murrey and Rashan Gary. Now I’m still thinking someone is going to gamble on Murrey well before our pick, and really, with our guaranteed contract to Cousins; and NEED to protect that investment and improve our RUN game…I just can’t do it despite the perceived value here. In this scenario, I’m desperate to trade down, but no offers are coming (and I’m too cheap for the upgrade). But seriously, look at the talent remaining, and you can see how teams may be willing to wait.

With all of those good bets to upgrade OL still on the board, I’m feeling like I can gamble that a good one will remain at 50. Yet, on the other side of the ball, we don’t really have a solid, surefire replacement for Richardson/Floyd. Sure, we have Shamar Stephen for early down Run Stopping work, and maybe JJ or J.Holmes will be ready to step up and deliver some pressure, but the fact neither played much last year should give us some indication of how ready they were then. And Richardson’s 47 pressures shouldn’t be easily dismissed.

Rashan Gary is a superfreak athlete who ran a 4.58 forty at 6’4" and 277 lbs. 26 reps on the press shows some serious strength, and his best attribute according to draftnetwork is his "hand technique." With that strength behind his long 34.5" arms, you have a very effective punch & pull combination already, and with plenty potential to improve under Patterson’s coaching. He should probably go early as a 3-4 DE, but I see a perfect fit with us as an early down, run stuffing DE, with pretty damn similar physical attributes to Griffen, who can also step inside and shine on passing downs…possibly a good fit given Shamar Stephens strengths & weaknesses. He gives us immediate high end depth to both ends and some insurance against Griffen not playing up to his big contract next year, but where I see him eventually is 3-tech.

He’s a little lean on that frame and a few years in a pro training regimen could give him some healthy mass as men his age tend to have some natural filling out to do anyway. And while he sometimes struggles with turning the corner or change of direction outside, his burst at the snap and punch at the POA could be disruptive as hell from the interior.

BUT! And I mean big butt like the fat lady singing in the back row be havin! A big run on the big uglies happened shortly after our pick, starting with SEA snagging Dillard at 21, Little to BAL, Williams in HOU, Risner to OAK and Ford to PHI at 25. OUCH! I had really hoped one of those guys would get close to our next pick. But we can, and maybe should roll with the OTs we have for one more year, and our interior was obviously the biggest problem…

In the second, McGary went 8th to BUF as the only OL taken in the top 14. But then Lindstrom and Bradburry went 15th & 16th, just before our pick in the second; yet still leaving me the choice of Erik McCoy or E.Jenkins at OC/OG. I think in this case I’d be trying like hell to move up for one of those two guys, and a couple of spots shouldn’t be too expensive, maybe next year’s 4th. Anyway, the big board I had up listed McCoy slightly ahead of EJ and while they both threw up 29 reps of 225 lbs, McCoy also ran a very impressive for his size 4.89 forty. Either guy gives us options inside where we need them most, and I think, a little more Power to mix in with good athleticism too. I’m OK with Jones, Elflein, and Kline, but I don’t think any one of them deserves to be penciled in as a starter without showing they can earn it and keep it. I think McCoy starts at C, and Elflein can battle for LG. Thing is, We Need not just improved starters, but improved depth behind them too! For crying out loud; when was the last time we went a whole year without multiple missed games due to injury on our OLine!? Perhaps, The 70s when DL guys were 220 lbs instead of 320!?!???

So in the 3rd frame, Michael Dieter. Yeah, I looked past a few intriguing chess pieces like Damien Harris at RB and Savage or Hooker at S; and looked pretty close at TEs Sternberger and Oliver too, but they all sounded like projects who need development, and I’m not sure either of them will beat out Morgan and/or Conklin. And we need backups, and most of our current starters are starting to look more like backups, which means…we need starters.

Dieter gives us a pretty good backup plan at either OG, and has also played C and LT. His RUN blocking comes strong from the scheme and reps at Wisconsin, and I think he just might beat out Jones and Elflein for LG, where he’s played the most. This also puts more pressure on Kline to perform, as Elf or Jones could slide over to RG as well. In this scenario we have 3 guys who can play C, and 5 guys fighting for 3 iOL starting spots; leaving us with 2 capable backups as well. Reiff stays at LT and O’Neill continues to develop at RT with Hill the swing backup. Not likely a top ten OLine in year 1; but I think it puts us back in the middle, and also provides the depth/insurance we need for the inevitable injury. Hell, if they’re serious about that O’Neill to LT/Reiff inside talk, I’d probably skip Gary and add Ford to this list for RT too. Which is probably the kind of depth we need to add to our blocking at this point. Think on this for a second: after spending big on OLine this year, we can likely go back to Rick’s late round dart on a developmental guy for several years and be just fine.

In the 4th I’m looking for some playmaker depth and in this mock there’s some pretty decent talent still available here depending on which way you want to go. Miles Boykin has first round physical gifts that could be dangerous at WR with development. Kaden Smith at TE could be a good piece to coach up too; but I’m believing for now that they do intend to keep Rudolf, we have 2 star WRs and some young guys who could step up in Bebbe, Zylstra etc…and losing Murrey at RB1b hurts us more than we want to admit due to Cook’s tendency so far to miss weeks of time. Holyfield is a throw-back grinder who works hard on and off the field. IF Zim-Zsu wants to play old school football, I think we need to give him some players who can provide that kind of I’m tougher than you effort. We don’t need big splash plays from home run hitters all the time. What Zim wants is to methodically stack up first downs and drive the field slowly, eating up clock and resting his Defense. Four yards and a cloud of dust isn’t such a bad thing if you think about it, because that gives us another 4 downs to go do it again. This also helps your OL look better because they get to attack a bit more and step back a bit less. And that of course also helps your expensive QB look better by taking some of the load off of him.

Here’s what it looks like:

18: R1P18

DL RASHAN GARY MICHIGAN

50: R2P18

C ERIK MCCOY TEXAS A&M

81: R3P17

G MICHAEL DEITER WISCONSIN

120: R4P18

RB ELIJAH HOLYFIELD GEORGIA

I’m convinced that improving the OL will also improve our Defense, where there are some pretty top notch players already in place. If we can just give them a little more rest, and a freakin lead once in a while, they can do what they do best and get after the QB, and throw off the opponents’ rhythm. IF our Run Blocking improves the way I’m aiming for, Cap’n Kirk doesn’t have to throw it 40 or 50 times per game, cuz we’re getting first downs on the ground. Can you imagine what Diggs & Thielen can do if our OL + RUN Game draws up the Safeties!?!??

SKOL VIKINGS!!!



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