Next in our series of all-college conference rosters is the Big 12 Conference. Take a look at what the 2017 roster looked like here, Big 12 NFL Roster 2017. With the talent at corner on defense, I decided to go with a base, 4 down nickel defense and in true Big 12 form, a 4-wide, Air Raid style base offense.

The Criteria

The criteria is very similar to last year with 3 main differences. The addition of a player on their 5th year extension, the spreading of rookie deals throughout different rounds of each draft, and making sure each college in the conference is represented.

The roster must be under the current salary cap of $177.2M

We use an even spread of rookie deals roughly based on league averages: 8 from 2017, 6 from 2016, 5 from 2015, and 1 player from the first round of the 2014 draft that is on their 5th year extension (where applicable)

These rookie deals will also be spread throughout different rounds of that years draft, to better simulate an actual roster

We will include one rookie from each round of the draft (were applicable)

Each college in the conference will be represented

We will have a well rounded roster that includes role players and special team

The Offense

Quarterbacks

QBs Patrick Mahomes Baker Mayfield Robert Griffin III KC CLE BAL $3.733M $5.942m $1.1M Texas Tech Oklahoma Baylor

Only a few weeks into the 2018 season and it’s easy to see who the best QB from the Big 12 is in the NFL this year, the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes. With all do respect to the Red Rifle, Mahomes is the perfect fit for this roster as he is currently sitting as the odds on favorite for league MVP costing sophomore year money. Backing him up is the 1st overall selection in the 2018 draft out of Oklahoma, Baker Mayfield. I know what you’re thinking, why would you take a first round QB with Mahomes as the starter? Turns out Baker Mayfield is the only player from the Big 12 that was drafted in the 1st round of this year’s draft. So to stick with our criteria, Mayfield gets to hold the clipboard for Mahomes. Rounding out the QB room is another former 1st round pick, Robert Griffin III. RG3 can provide some knowledge for these young 1st round picks of what to do (or more importantly, what not to do) when you are thrown into the spotlight.

3 roster spots filled, 50 left

$10.775M Spent | $166.425M Left

Running Backs

RBs Joe Mixon Adrian Peterson Darren Sproles CIN WAS PHI $1.239M $630K $1.434M Oklahoma Oklahoma Kansas State Chris Carson SEA $571K Oklahoma State

Getting the start for this Big 12 offense at running back is current Bengal Joe Mixon. Coming in as the change of pace back is the Redskins’ Adrian Peterson. Peterson has looked impressive so far for the Skins this season and could easily step into the starting role if needed. Playing the role of 3rd down back is the Eagles’ Darren Sproles. Sproles could also be spread out as a 4th or 5th WR in this air raid offense. Rounding out the running backs is current Seahawks starter Chris Carson.

4 roster spots filled, 46 left

$3.874M Spent | $162.551M Left

Wide Receivers

WRs Jordy Nelson Tyler Lockett Marquise Goodwin OAK SEA SF $7.369M $4.447M $6.275M Kansas State Kansas State Texas Josh Gordon Dede Westbrook Shelton Gibson NE JAX PHI $697K $724K $619K Baylor Oklahoma West Virginia

Leading the wide receivers will be veteran Jordy Nelson. We then have a couple of speedsters in the Seahawks’ Tyler Lockett and the 49ers’ Marquise Goodwin. Then we have the biggest variable on the offense, former Baylor Bear Josh Gordon (while he did transfer to Utah, he did not see the field with the Utes, so we are counting him in the Big 12). Gordon has looked impressive so far for the Patriots and could easier take over as the number 2 (or even number 1) receiver of this roster. With the Air Raid system, all 4 of these wide receivers would see the field and cause some match-up nightmares. Backing them up, and playing special teams, are a couple of 2017 draft picks, the Jaguars’ Dede Westbrook and our first Mountaineer of the roster, the Eagles’ Shelton Gibson.

6 roster spots filled, 40 left

$20.131M Spent | $142.42M Left

Tight Ends

TEs Geoff Swaim Mark Andrews Blake Jarwin DAL BAL DAL $719K $689K $563K Texas Oklahoma Oklahoma State Rico Gathers DAL $497K Baylor

Not a lot of great talent from the Big 12 at the TE position. Topping the depth chart at the position will be the Cowboys’ starting TE, Geoff Swaim. Backing him up will be 2 of his teammates in Dallas, Blake Jarwin and former Baylor basketball player Rico Gathers. Both of which will see the majority of their playing time on special teams. The one who could take control of this position is our 3rd round pick of this roster, Oklahoma’s Mark Andrews.

4 roster spots filled, 36 left

$2.468M Spent | $139.952M Left

Offensive Line

OL T Trent Williams T Lane Johnson G Lane Taylor WAS PHI GB $13.682M $4.982M $4.069M Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma State G Connor Williams C Cody Whitehair T Hal Vaitai DAL CHI PHI $998K $1.152M $686K Texas Kansas State TCU G Matt Pryor C BJ Finney PHI PIT $513K $630K TCU Kansas State

The bookends of this Big 12 offensive line are a pair of Pro Bowlers from the NFC East; the Redskins’ Trent Williams and the Eagles’ Lane Johnson. Backing them up will be Johnson’s teammate in Philly, Halapoulivaati Vaitai. Moving to the inside, we have Packers’ veteran Lane Taylor and our 2nd round pick out of Texas, Connor Williams. Backing them up will be our 6th round pick out of TCU, Matt Pryor. Starting at center will be the Bears’ 2nd round pick from 2016, Cody Whitehair. Backing him up will be fellow Wildcat BJ Finney.

8 roster spots filled, 28 left

$26.712M Spent | $113.24M Left

Offensive Spending Breakdown

The offense accounted for only 36.5% of the total team salary. The combination of a rookie QB and cheap veterans, like Adrian Peterson and Josh Gordon, kept the cost down for the offense. This opened things up for signing a top tier LT and the ability to stack the defense, especially the secondary.

The Defense

Defensive Line

DL Jerry Hughes Gerald McCoy Malcom Brown BUF TB NE $10.4M $12.75M $2.422M TCU Oklahoma Texas Bruce Irvin Dorance Armstrong Andrew Billings OAK DAL CIN $8.25M $647K $764K West Virginia Kansas Baylor Kerry Hyder Jordan Willis Vincent Taylor DET CIN MIA $555K $854K $594K Texas Tech Kansas State Oklahoma State

Thanks to the rookie contracts on offense, we have a veteran starting defensive line. We have a pair of defensive ends that can get after the quarterback, the Bills’ Jerry Hughes and the Raiders’ Bruce Irvin. Both of which have the ability the stand up and place in space, allowing for versatility of fronts. At the 3 technique we have the perennial Pro Bowler Gerald McCoy. Finishing out the starters we have our 1 technique, the Patriots’ Malcom Brown. We have a collection of young talent backing up this veteran group, all from different schools in the Big 12. One of the highlights being our 4th round pick of the roster, Dorance Armstrong.

9 roster spots filled, 19 left

$37.236M Spent | $76.004M Left

Linebackers

LBs Jordan Hicks AJ Klien Nick Kwiatkowski PHI NO CHI $2.07M $5.2M $774K Texas Iowa State West Virginia Emmanuel Lamur Najee Goode Devante Bond OAK IND TB $720K $630K $555K Kansas State West Virginia Oklahoma

Linebacker looks to be the weakest position of the Big 12 alums. At the top is the veteran of the group, and our only Cyclone of the roster, AJ Klien. He’ll step into the roll of Mike backer/playcaller. Playing next to him in our nickel defense will be current Eagles middle linebacker, Jordan Hicks. Backing up the 2 of them, and coming in as the Sam in 3 linebacker sets, is former Mountaineer Nick Kwiatkoski. Rounding out the linebackers are a pair of vets in the Colts’ Najee Goode and the Raiders Emmanuel Lamur, as well as a 6th round pick from 2017 getting a second chance with the Bucs, Devante Bond. All 3 will look to be big contributors on special teams.

6 roster spots filled, 13 left

$9.949M Spent | $66.055M Left

Cornerbacks

CBs Chris Harris Jr Aqib Talib Jason Verrett DEN LAR LAC $10.367M $11M $8.526M Kansas Kansas TCU Aaron Colvin Tyler Patmon HOU JAX $7.75M $705K Oklahoma Oklahoma State

Now we get to the real strength of this defense. The money we saved with strategic rookie contracts and cheap veterans have allowed us to stack up the secondary. Starting outside at corner, we bring back a pair of former teammates, Chris Harris Jr. and Aqib Talib. They would look to reignite the magic from their Super Bowl season in 2015 with Denver. Starting at the nickel will be our 1st round pick from 2014 on his 5th year extension, Jason Verrett. And backing up all 3 positions, and coming in on dime packages, will be current Texans starting corner Aaron Colvin. We then round out the corners with the Jaguars’ Tyler Patmon. Patmon helps provide depth and can contribute on special teams. Obviously there is some big money being spent here, but for a team that will look to have a high powered offense, it will be good to have a solid secondary to slow the opposition down.

5 roster spots filled, 8 left

$38.348M Spent | $27.707M Left

Safeties

Ss Earl Thomas Karl Joseph Quandre Diggs SEA OAK DET $10.4M $3.241M $1.936M Texas West Virginia Texas Colin Jones DJ Reed CAR SF $1.175M $558K TCU Kansas State

The high caliber secondary continues into the safeties. We start out with one of the best in the game, and current free agent*, Earl Thomas. Starting next to him at strong safety will be the Raiders’ 1st round pick from 2016, Karl Joseph. The Mountaineer has been considered a bust by some, but I think he could excel in this defense will the amount of talent around him. Backing up Joseph, but also playing the role of WS in 4-2-5 sets, will be the Lions’ Quandre Diggs. Diggs also has experience at corner, which adds depth to that position. Rounding out the safeties is veteran Colin Jones and our 5th round pick out of Kansas State, DJ Reed.

5 roster spots filled, 3 left

$17.31M Spent | $10.397M Left

Defensive Spending Breakdown

The defense accounted for 59.3% of the overall team salary. This is in large part due to the secondary, which accounts for 54.1% of the defensive budget and 32.1% of the overall team budget. The defense was also filled with a lot more vets than the offense, and only contain 2 of our 2018 draft picks.

Specialists and Head Coach

ST and HC K Justin Tucker P Michael Dickson LS Jon Weeks BAL SEA HOU $5.046M $553K $965K Texas Texas Baylor Head Coach Kyle Shanahan Texas

We obviously lead off the Big 12 special teams with the best kicker in the game, Justin Tucker. Moving over to the punter position, we have our last draft pick of the roster, Michael Dickson. We finish out the specialists with former Baylor Bear long snapper Jon Weeks.

Former Texas Longhorn wide receiver Kyle Shanahan will take the helm as head coach of this Big 12 team.

3 roster spots filled, 0 left

$6.564M Spent | $3.833M Left

The Starting 22

Due to the Big 12 headquarters location, I’ve named this team the Irving Steers.

Offense QB Patrick Mahomes RB Joe Mixon Z Jordy Nelson X Josh Gordon Y Marquise Goodwin H Tyler Lockett LT Trent Williams LG Lane Taylor C Cody Whitehair RG Connor Williams RT Lane Johnson

Defense DE Jerry Hughes NT Malcom Brown DT Gerald McCoy DE Bruce Irvin Mike AJ Klien Will Jordan Hicks CB Chris Harris Jr CB Aqib Talib CB Jason Verrett SS Karl Joseph FS Earl Thomas

2019 Draft

New for this year, we are including a mock draft for each team for the 2019 NFL Draft. Each player is within a round of where we have them projected as of the time of this post.