What if? NFL Draft edition

Aside from my love of everything American Football, I am a huge nerd, in particular a comic nerd. When I’m not watching Peyton Manning throwing wobbly passes, I’m reading through (catching up on), X-Men, or hitting the internet to make sure I caught all the easter eggs in the new Daredevil TV series (which is very good by the way). When I was a kid I was particularly enamoured with a Marvel Series called “What If?” So I thought now would be a perfect time to combine my 2 loves and do my 2 favourite NFL draft “What Ifs?”

What if the Bucs pick Leonard Williams in the draft?

Every war room has just gone silent. The Bucs have done the unthinkable. Not pick up a QB. So what happens next…

For starters every team that has done their homework and brought Jameis Winston in for a workout is feeling pretty good about the next move. The first stop would be the Titans. Winston would no doubt be a better fit for the Titans than Mariota, but it’s a team that has a QB they like and a ridiculous amount of holes in every other area. Ideally they’ll have moved down at this point and be picking multiple 1st round picks over a number of years. Even if they don’t move down, I would hope they choose to fill other needs rather than an area they already have a player, so I have them picking Dante Fowler Jr. So at this point in fantasy land neither the Bucs or Titans have picked a QB. The Jags at 3 don’t need a QB, so they’ll probably pick up Vic Beasley or Randy Gregory. The Raiders also have a QB but few weapons, so will probably be picking up Kevin White or Amari Cooper. This leaves Washington at 5 with a controversial decision. Washington has so far been pretty stone faced in their support of RG3 as their starter, so would they pass on Winston if he falls to 5? I don’t think so. I think Washington move around some funds release a QB and pick up Jameis Winston. This would then leave the Jets to pick up QB Mariota and the draft to continue as normal.

If Washington don’t pick him up however and the Jets pick up Mariota, who I believe they are in love with, Winston then drops past New York and Chicago have a chance at him. But as much interest as Chicago has shown in both QBs I think the amount of cash they have tied up in Cutler means they pass on him. The next 2 picks are the Falcons and the Giants, who both have quarterbacks, leaving the next on the board being the Rams, who I think want to see what they’ve got in Foles, so like the previous teams pass on him and pick up a much needed offensive lineman. At 11 is the Vikings who think they’ve found their QB in Teddy Bridgewater, so will then themselves more than likely pick up an offensive lineman. So at 12 we finally see a potential landing spot for Winston in Cleveland, who will be doing Cartwheels at this point, as they prep to take a wide receiver with their 2nd pick in the 1st rd.

There you have it. A potential, if n0t unlikely situation that sees Jameis Winston drop to 12.

Result: Winston goes at 5 to Washington or 12 to the Browns.

What if the Browns trade both 1st rd. picks for the no. 2 pick?

The Browns have just moved up to no. 2, giving away their 2 1st rd. picks at 12 and 19. So who do the Titans end up with? At 1 and 2 in this scenario we’ll probably see the 2 QBs off the board, which would probably see Leonard Williams go to the Jags, Amari Cooper to the Raiders, Dante Fowler Jr. to Washington and Vic Beasley to the Jets. At this point Chicago have a decision to make in whether they pick up wide receiver Kevin White, or nose tackle Danny Shelton. I happen to think that solidifying the centre of the defensive line is more important than adding another receiver so think they pick up Shelton. I’ve chopped and changed at 8 with the Falcons, but think that they trust in not getting as many offensive line injuries as last year and pick up a pass rusher in Shane Ray. At 9 would start a small run on offensive linemen with Scherff going to the Giants, Andrus Peat to the Rams, La’el Collins to the Vikings. This leaves the Titans with their newly acquired pick, which could see them go a number of ways. If the draft does go this way I could see them picking up Kevin White with this pick, who according to my draft will have taken a serious tumble down to 12.

So onto their 2nd pick. At 13 I can see the Saints in this m0ck draft picking up Randy Gregory after he drops out of the top 10. With the 14th pick I think the Dolphins will be popping the champagne as they pick up the best corner in the draft, Trae Waynes. The Niners can solidify a defensive front 7 that’s taken a big hit over the off season by taking either Arik Armstead or Bud Dupree, right now I’m leaning towards Armstead to give them some extra power on the line. At 16 I have the Texans taking the cornerback Marcus Peters and at 17 the Chargers taking a much needed running back after missing out on Marcus Mariota. At 18 I still have the Chiefs reaching for a much needed center in Cameron Erving. So that brings us back to the Titans again at 19. At this point Ereck Flowers is still on the board, so I see the Titans making the move to pick up a piece to replace the disappointing Michael Oher.

At this point I’ve got to think they’ve ended up in a better position than just picking the one player at no. 2.

Result: The Titans end up with Kevin White and Ereck Flowers

So what are your what ifs? Hit us up on twitter and we’ll read them out on the podcast.