The NFL Draft Isn’t Only About My Mock Draft

I think it’s clear by now that I love mock drafts and mock draft contests, and I view pretty much the entire draft season through the lens of “how can this help me win my mock draft contests?” What can I say? I’m very competitive, and when fantasy football is over, I need a game to scratch that itch.

But I also never want to lose that thing that got me into football in the first place; MY guys. The players who you pray will land on your favorite team, and you find yourself rooting for them even when they don’t. The guys who make football great, because I think I see something in them that everyone else is missing.

I write this article with my heart, but I mock with my brain. I’m not not going to mock these players higher than I think they’ll end up going, and this article isn’t going to win you any mock draft pools. By the way, if you aren’t in a mock draft pool yet, you’re missing out on everything.

Get the app. Join a mock draft pool or make one for you and your friends. Have a rooting interest in every pick.

Now please, allow me to introduce you to MY GUYS, and their best team fits.

The 5 Underrated Draft Prospects I Love More Than You

1) Will Grier, QB WVU

I know I am in the huge minority here, but I’m not seeing the accuracy/decision-making issues in Grier’s game that is giving everybody else problems with him. I have him as QB3 (behind Murray and Lock) and believe he is easily the top-QB in the draft at hitting the deep seam route, which is probably one of the more difficult throws to make. I also believe intangibles like “leadership” and “clutch factor” which get many analysts laughed out of the room by the analytics crowd, are real, if sometimes overstated. The problem is, they are subjective, and hard to measure. But sometimes you can just tell when someone has it (Baker) and when they don’t (Paxton Lynch). And Grier? He’s got it. He doesn’t sling the ball like Lock or have his ceiling, so I do still Grier behind him in my rankings, but I like Grier’s floor of eventually being an effective, mid-level starter in the pros.

Will Grier Team Fit:

2) Byron Murphy, CB Washington

I understand the hesitation NFL teams have when it comes to drafting undersized CBs without great deep speed. But I don’t agree with it. Speed is no good without awareness, and it doesn’t matter how fast you run in a straight line if it takes you forever to swivel your hips and point yourself in the right direction. Murphy makes up for his lack of straight line speed with incredible awareness and exceptional fluidity. I mocked Murphy as high as #2 in one mock draft, which shows how highly I think of him. I just don’t think the rest of the draft community agrees. If he does end up going in the top-10 (spoiler alert, my final mock draft might not even have him in the top-20) I would love the pick and applaud whoever gets him.

Byron Murphy Team Fit:

3) Dexter Lawrence, DT Clemson

Back in the preseason, the idea of a 2-down run-stuffing Nose Tackle not holding positional value made the rounds. And everyone applied this logic to Dexter Lawrence, and used it as an argument for why THEY were lower on Lawrence than everyone else. But then, everyone else jumped on the same train, and all of a sudden we had a massive overcorrection, without considering the actual player. Dexter Lawrence is not JUST a run-stuffer. Yes, he is excellent in that regard. But he also generates pressure on opposing QBs. Thanks to Aaron Donald, everyone seems to think the only way for a DT to get QB pressure is to shoot a gap. That’s one way. It’s great. But it’s not the only way. Lawrence creates pressure on a QB by using his strength and surprising burst to push the entire line of scrimmage backward, giving the QB no pocket to step into. Most view Lawrence as a mid-2nd round prospect, but I think he is a clear 1st rounder who will have a major impact, especially if he lands on a team that already has good pass rush options off the edge.

Dexter Lawrence Team Fit:

4) Parris Campbell, WR Ohio State

One major mistake I made this offseason was to post my Official WR Rankings before the combine. There are many players whose spots on my list would have changed dramatically, none more so than Parris Campbell. My concern with him at the time was the same concern everyone else is talking about now: he is incredibly limited in his routes, just taking short little passes and making something out of them with his athleticism. But then the combine rolled around, and I was absolutely amazed. He looked phenomenal in receiver drills, both in the gauntlet (when the ball is coming at him) and in deep, over-the-shoulder routes. The way he tracked balls over his shoulder and made easy, fluid catches without losing his footing, shows me that he has SO much more to offer a pro team than Ohio State asked of him.

Parris Campbell Team Fit:

5) Erik McCoy, C Texas A&M

One of my favorite sources for athletic data is 3sigmaathlete, which gives each prospect’s athletic profile a number. I think this is most useful when comparing two players who are close to each other in on-field performance, and need a tiebreaker. Though sometimes, we see insane athleticism and give those players a bit too much of a bump, or fail to properly rank players who deserve it. I think that’s what’s happening with McCoy. He didn’t even test poorly- athletically, he will fall in the 62nd percentile of NFL offensive linemen. For a Center, that’s really good. But he is being dramatically overshadowed by Bradbury and Lindstrom, who tested in the 97th and 96th percentile, respectively. Both are very good iOL players, and are 1st rounders in almost every mock out there, as they should be. But I think McCoy is a small step above both of them, but I don’t see him in nearly as many 1st round mocks as the other players.