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SBN Mock Draft Recap

Well everybody, the 2013 SBN NFL Mock Draft is in the books. I'd like to lead off by saying a huge Thank You to: InvictusXI, ct17, DVGray, NewYork! and a late addition to the War Room, kata. You all were a huge help, and a big reason why the draft was a ton of fun.

Now, on to the draft.

Round 1 (#19):

Sheldon Richardson DT, Missouri - I think Invictus is still giddy over this pick, and I can't blame him. Richardson is a tad light in the pants, but he has a freakish first step, agility, and quickness. Rather than give my own scouting report, I refer you to IXI's Film Study. From my POV, he isn't a "complete" DT that can stuff the run while rushing the passer, but his upside as a penetrating 3-tech far outweighs any deficiencies he might have anchoring against the run. He's the type of DT that keeps OC's up at night. The kind that can blow up your play before it even gets a chance to develop.

(As a side note: I was really hoping Rorschach would pop in for the 1st round. 4 of the top 6 picks were OL, and the color commentary would have been hilarious)

Richardson was the top rated player on our board when we picked, and tied for the top rated in the entire draft with Luke Joeckle.

Round 2 (#49)

Darius Slay CB, Mississippi St. - Another high value pick at a position of need. Slay is a prototypical "Giants" DB with an exciting blend of Height (6'1"), Weight (200lbs), and Speed (4.28 was the low recorded). He also has long arms, decent size hands, and good instincts for disrupting passes. He's also physical and is a willing run defender. Also, his last name is "Slay".

We had him rated as a low 1st/high 2nd round pick.

Round 3 (#81)

Devin Taylor DE, South Carolina - Yes, this is "My" guy, but he also presents as much athletic upside as any player in this draft. Maybe the most. 6'7", 270lbs, with 36" arms. He has good straight line speed, great lower body explosion, and the movement skills of a DB 60 lbs lighter and 6 inches shorter. He falls to the 3rd because of declining tape, but I felt (and feel) that his tape was the result of being asked to play contain in the SEC, and across from Uber-Stud Jadeveon Clowney. He also has a reputation as stiff with inconsistent pad level, but I'm of the opinion that flexibility isn't the issue so much as how much of him there is.

Taylor was rated as a 3rd rounder.

Round 4 (#116)

Jon Bostic ILB, Florida - We got a LBaneezer! We were initially hoping that Sean Porter, Marcus Wheaton, Brian Winters, or Zavier Gooden would be there for our 4th round pick, but the first three went in the last 3 picks of the 3rd round and Gooden went 8 picks before ours in the 4th. We also tried to work a trade back with the Raiders and Rams, but neither was willing to give up what we felt was adequate value. So, we took Bostic. He's an ILB with very nice range and decent instincts. He's a tad "undersized" (what does that mean anymore? He's the same size as Te'o, Minter, Brown, Sio Moore, and Khas Greene). He's had some trouble disengaging from blockers, but I think he can be coached up and learn a lot from Dan Conner.

HERE's Jesse's scouting report

Bostic was rated as a mid-3rd round pick.

Round 5 (#152)

Cooper Taylor S, Richmond - This might be my favorite pick of the whole draft. Not simply because of who we got (a 6'5", 230lb S who runs a 4.5sec 40, can play the run with authoritah, cover like a 200lb DB, and takes coaching like the QB he used to be), but also because of the 20-some responses it got alternatively praising the pick and cursing us for it. Coop fell to the 5th due to playing for Richmond, and having a medical condition that put off some (its completely manageable and won't inconvenience his playing career).

We had Cooper Taylor graded right about where he was taken, but given his athletic upside, coachability, and the extreme versatility he offers the D, he could wind up being the steal of the draft.

Round 6 (#187)

Zac Stacy RB, Vanderbilt - Stacy is a bowling ball of a RB at 5'8" 220. He has good speed for his build (4.55s 40), quick feet with great agility, is very tough to tackle, is a decent pass protector, and reasonably soft hands. He might be the most underrated back in the draft. A good comparison would be Doug Martin from last year's draft.

We had Stacy rated as a mid-4th round pick.

Round 7 (#225)

Caleb Sturgis K, Florida - What do you do in the 7th? Draft a kicker of course. Despite being a kicker, Sturgis is the best player on the board at this point, and arguably the best kicker in college football. He has a huge leg with the ability to consistently make field goals from beyond 50yrds (6-8 over the last two years, 3-3 last year), and has had a consistently improving accuracy.

Sturgis wasn't rated on our board (IXI only ranked his top-150 players), I don't think anyone would have batted an eye if he went in the 6th, where Dustin Hopkins of FSU went, with possibly a raised eyebrow at the bottom of the 5th.

Round 7 (#253)

Jon Stewart ILB, Texas A&M - Took a flier on an ILB/SAM 'Backer that has been getting buzz as a late rounder. He has great size at 6'4", 245. He has played outside and inside and has racked up 80+ tackles each of the last 2 years.

For this draft we also got to pick 5 UDFA's after the draft was over. We picked:

Lucas Reed TE, Arizona - Fantastic athlete who was a Combine snub (sound familiar?) with a massive catch radius (6'6" with 35 inch arms) has experience catching and blocking, but needs to add mass to be a Giants TE (only 245 at the moment).

Byron Jerideau DT, South Carolina - He's a guy I've had my eye on all year. Conditioning might be an issue (can't tell, SC plays a very active DL rotation), but when he's fresh, I think he's a 3rd round talent. Short for a DT at 6'1", but massively thick at 330. He's exceptionally strong (one of the few DT's I've seen who can take Larry Warford 1-on-1) and surprisingly quick inside. He could be a boulder of a 1-tech but has some pass rushing upside.

Jon Major SLB, Colorado - Another LB to help out. He was on the other side of the coin flip at #253. Same size as Stewart. He has nice range and a great closing burst. Seems to be a very under the radar prospect.

Kenny Tate WLB/S, Maryland - Final LB brought in. Tate was a seeming star at S and has fallen off the map since converting to LB, but he really reminds me of JWill coming out. He plays a little light, but flies around the field. He could be find a home as a Nickel LB or Buffalo Nickel

Stansly Maponga DE, TCU - We picked entirely too many prospects with easily pronounceable names. That's where Maponga comes in. Also, he has 34in arms, plays with power, great hand usage, and decent pass rushing moves. He has a very inconsistent first step though, but that could just be evidence of poor anticipation when it comes to the snap count.

Final Thoughts

I know, I know. We didn't address the OL. There were OL up for consideration in every round, but they were also over-drafted in every round. We could have reached for one, but that would have involved leaving superior talent on the board, and I think that's the greater sin.

Overall, I'm very happy with how the draft turned out. We got solid to great value every round and added massive amounts of long, freaky, athleticism. Its entirely possible that this draft could yield 6 starters (Richardson, Slay, Bostic, Sturgis, and both Taylors).

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