2013 WRSU NFL Mock Draft
Last night, WRSU had the pleasure of running our 7th annual NFL Mock Draft – where members of the sports department splits up into teams, each having 4 NFL teams to “play GM” and make selections throughout the 1st Round of the NFL Draft.
These selections are judged by a group of WRSU alums, all whom have participated in previous Mock Drafts when they were WRSU members. This year’s group of judges were Jason Goldstein, Joe Nardi and Ryan Uhlich, all who are now 2 years removed from WRSU.
The Draft:
1. Kansas City – Luke Joeckel, OT, Texas A&M
2. Jacksonville – Dion Jordan, DE, Oregon
3. Oakland – Sharrif Floyd, DT, Florida
4. Philadelphia – Star Lotulelei, DT, Utah
5. Detroit – Lane Johnson, OT, Oklahoma
6. Miami (from Cleveland) – Eric Fisher, OT, Central Michigan
7. Arizona – D.J. Fluker, OT/G, Alabama
8. Tennessee (from Buffalo) – Dee Milliner, CB, Alabama
9. New York Jets – Barkevious Mingo, DE, LSU
10. Buffalo (from Tennessee) – Chance Warmack, OG, Alabama
11. San Diego Chargers – Jonathan Cooper, OG, North Carolina
12. Cleveland (from Miami) – Ziggy Ansah, DE, BYU
13. New York Jets – Tavon Austin, WR, West Virginia
14. Washington Redskins (from Carolina) – Xavier Rhodes, CB, Florida St.
15. New Orleans Saints – Jarvis Jones, LB, Georgia
16. St. Louis Rams – Kenny Vaccaro, S, Texas
17. Pittsburgh Steelers – Sheldon Richardson, DT, Missouri
18. Dallas Cowboys – Sylvester Williams, DT, North Carolina
19. New York Giants – Alec Ogletree, LB, Georgia
20. Minnesota (from Chicago) – Cordarrelle Patterson, WR, Tennessee
21. Cincinnati – Eric Reid, S, LSU
22. St. Louis Rams – DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Clemson
23. Chicago Bears (from Minnesota) – Tyler Eifert, TE, Notre Dame
24. San Francisco 49ers (from Indianapolis) – Bjoern Werner, DE, Florida St.
25. Houston Texans (from Carolina via Minnesota) – Robert Woods, WR, USC
26. Green Bay Packers – Keenan Allen, WR, California
27. Atlanta Falcons – (from Carolina via Houston) – Desmond Trufant, CB, Washington
28. Philadelphia Eagles (from Denver) – E.J. Manuel, QB, Florida St.
29. New England – Margus Hunt, DE, SMU
30. Carolina Panthers (from Atlanta) – Jonathan Cyprien, S, FIU
31. Indianapolis Colts (from San Francisco) – Arthur Brown, LB, Kansas St.
32. Oakland Raiders (from Baltimore) – Geno Smith, QB, West Virginia
The Results:
1st Place – Dominic DiLeo and Dylan Morton (Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, San Francisco)
Dominic and Dylan secured victory, with the judges applauding all 4 of their selections. They traded back with their Cleveland selection, gaining a 2nd and 3rd rounder in a deal with Miami, and getting an elite talent with Ezekiel Ansah at #12. Both the Pittsburgh and Cincinnati selections filled needs as well as added value with Shelden Richardson at #17 and Eric Reid at #21, respectively. The judges liked their decision to trade up with San Francisco to secure a pass-rusher in Bjoern Werner at #24, given San Francisco’s situation with an abundance of picks.
2nd Place – Benjamin Yavelberg and Dylan Mruczinski (Oakland, Tennessee, Chicago, New England)
Ben and Dylan almost upended Dominic and Dylan for the title. Oakland started off by selecting Florida DT Sharrif Floyd at #3, but won over judges by trading into the late 1st to select the speedy Geno Smith at #32. Tennessee gave up its 5th round pick to move up two spots from #10 to #8 for Dee Milliner, which the judges appreciated. Chicago earned an extra 2nd round selection from Minnesota by trading back 3 picks and still selecting Tyler Eifert, which the judges thought was a very shrewd move. The New England pick on the athletic freak Margus Hunt at #29, which Ryan, a Jets fan, hoped would not happen in the real draft. The judges viewed all of the picks favorably, but they could not compete with the value of Ziggy Ansah at #12. A solid 2nd place.
3rd Place – Mike Rivera and Brian Walsh (Arizona, Miami, Minnesota, Washington)
Mike and Brian started off with a Miami trade that worked out for them. They secured Eric Fisher at #6, who was ranked by some draft sites as the #1 overall prospect in the draft. They then went with another offensive lineman at #7, D.J. Fluker, with Arizona. Minnesota, which started off with 2 picks in the 1st Round, traded out with one, then moved up three spots to draft Cordarrelle Patterson with#20, who was ranked as the top receiver in the draft. The move to get Washington into the first round, a team that had no picks in the top 32 entering the draft, earned them a third place finish.
4th Place – Chris Morales (Buffalo, St. Louis, Denver, Seattle)
Chris did a solid job in his first draft according to the judges. He traded down with Buffalo and selected Chance Warmack at #10, and traded the Broncos out of the first round, which was rated highly by the judges. His two St. Louis picks, Kenny Vaccaro at #16, and and DeAndre Hopkins at #22, received different reactions from the judges, who liked the Vaccaro pick significantly more than the Hopkins selection. An overall decent draft by Chris, earning him 4th place.
5th Place – Ben Wolf (Detroit, San Diego, NY Giants, Atlanta)
The judges conceded that Ben had a very average draft, selecting offensive linemen Lane Johnson at #5 with Detroit and then Jonathan Cooper at #11 with San Diego. A lot of offensive linemen went early, and Miami trading up hurt San Diego’s chances at #11 of getting a good one. Both Alec Ogletree to the Giants at #19 and trading up 4 spots for a late-round pick to draft Marcus Trufant with Arizona were looked at as good moves.
6th Place/7th Place (tie) – James Stumper and Diane Quail (Jacksonville Jaguars, NY Jets, Houston, Tampa Bay)
James and Diane went with projected picks in their first 3 selections – Dion Jordan at #2 to Jacksonville, and Barkevious Mingo and Tavon Austin at #9 and #13 to the Jets. These were all received as average picks by the judges, but they stated that trading up for Robert Woods with the Texans at #25 was a reach.
6th Place/7th Place (tie) – Dylan MacKinnon (Philadelphia, Carolina, Indianapolis, Baltimore)
Dylan had a strategy that was clear with most of his teams – trade down. As many times as possible. Carolina traded down 3 times, gaining a few mid-to-late round picks and ending up with Jonathan Cyprien at #30. Indianapolis traded down for a 3rd and a 5th, taking Arthur Brown at #31. Baltimore traded out of the 1st round with an early Oakland 2nd rounder, gaining a 7th rounder. With the Eagles, Dylan impressed with his Lotulelei pick at #4, but earned a lot of head-scratches by trading up for E.J. Manuel at #28.
8th Place – Dave Servedio and Julio Prestol (Kansas City, New Orleans, Dallas, Green Bay)
The #1 pick is tough to make in the eyes of the judges, because it is pretty much a sure thing by the time the Mock Draft occurs. However, Dave and Julio did not help themselves with their other picks. Jarvis Jones was decent at #15, but Sylvester Williams at #18 to the Cowboys and Keenan Allen to Green Bay at #26 were rated as poor picks by the judges.
The 1st Round of the NFL Draft takes place tomorrow.
Do you agree with the judges decisions? Think someone else stole the show? Let us know how you would have ranked each team and why!
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