NFL Mock Draft roundup

Submitted by oriental andrew on November 15th, 2023 at 11:32 AM

I'm sure I'll miss a few, but this is what I'm seeing for the top 5 picks, Michigan players, other players of interest (as determined by me), and the Lions. Saw JJ's draft prospects being discussed in another thread, thought I'd do a modicum of research here. 

CBS Sports - first round only

  • 1. Chicago - Caleb Williams
  • 2. NYG - Drake Maye
  • 3. New England - Olu Fashanu (OT, PSU)
  • 4. Arizona - Marvin Harrison Jr
  • 5. Chicago - Dallas Turner (DE, ALA)
  • 15. Indy - Keon Coleman (WR, FSU lolz)
  • 18. Cincy - Emeka Egbuka
  • 19. NO - Michael Penix Jr
  • 30. Detroit - Tyler Nubin (S, MIN)

Also from the B1G - Jer'zhan Newton (DE, ILL), JT Tuimoloau, Chop Robinson, Kalen King, Cooper Dejean. 

Sports Illustrated - 3 rounds

  • 1. Arizona - Marvin Harrison Jr
  • 2. Chicago - Drake Maye
  • 3. Chicago - Olu Fashanu (OT, PSU)
  • 4. NYG - Caleb Williams
  • 5. New England - JJ McCarthy (!!!)
  • 6. LAR - Shadeur Sanders
  • 13. Indy - Keon Coleman (WR, FSU lolz)

Also from the B1G - Jer'zhan Newton (DE, ILL), JT Tuimoloau, Chop Robinson, Kalen King, Cooper Dejean, Egbuka

2nd round

  • 39. TB - Penix Jr
  • 46. ATL - Quinn Ewers
  • 61. Detroit - Caelen Carson (CB, Wake Forest)

From the B1G - Denzel Burke (CB, osu), Tyler Nubin (S, MIN), Jack Sawyer (DE, osu)

3rd round

  • 65. Arizona - Zak Zinter
  • 77. Atlanta - Kris Jenkins
  • 84. Detroit - Antwane Well Jr (WR, SCar)
  • 92. Detroit - Tyler Davis (DL, Clempson)

Also from the B1G - Cade Stover, Michael Hall, Donovan Jackson, Tyliek Williams - all from osu

ESPN ($) - 1 round

  • 1. Chicago - Caleb Williams
  • 2. Arizona - Marvin Harrison Jr
  • 3. Denver - Drake Maye
  • 4. NYG - Olu Fashanu (OT, PSU)
  • 5. Chicago - Dallas Turner (DE, ALA)
  • 11. Indy - Keon Coleman (WR, FSU lolz)
  • 25. Detroit - JT Tuimoloau (DE, osu)
  • 28. Baltimore - Kris Jenkins

Also from the B1G - Jer'zhan Newton (DE, ILL), Chop Robinson, Kalen King, Cooper Dejean, Emeka Egbuka

Observations:

Basically, Caleb Williams, Marvin Harrison Jr, Olu Fashanu, and Dallas Turner are consensus top 5 picks. The SI guy has JJ in the top 5 ahead of Maye which seems optimistic, but who knows - if he crushes it for the next 5 games, it could happen. 

Otherwise, Newton, Robinson, King, Dejean, Egbuka, and Tuimoloau appear to be consensus first round picks. 

Kiper has JJ as the 6th rated QB on his big board, which probably puts him in the 2nd round. Behind Williams, Maye, Sanders, Nix, Penix. Ahead of Daniels, Ewers. 

I'm sure there are other reputable mock drafts (which should all just be taken with massive grains of salt anyway), but generally, I'm guessing folks are looking at JJ as a 2nd rounder right now, maybe a mid-late 1st rounder depending on how the season plays out. 

Also lulz at msu for consensus first round pick Keon Coleman. 

MGoBoard
Football

Imjesayin

November 15th, 2023 at 12:24 PM ^

Shedeur Sanders ahead of McCarthy?! What are they watching/smoking? His game is a mess. Who knows what he might become, but no NFL team is using a first or second round pick on him at this point, talent or not. This is the QB position, not some other position where pure talent is all that matters. If his name wasn’t Sanders, his name wouldn’t even be in the discussion. 

Joined: 08/23/2010

MGoPoints: 5047

nmwolverine

November 15th, 2023 at 12:27 PM ^

I would like to see JJ throw more lofting passes like the long pass to Donovan against Purdue.  He needs to show he can throw the soft looping pass in addition to Brady style rifle shots.

Joined: 01/22/2009

MGoPoints: 1111

lhglrkwg

November 15th, 2023 at 12:28 PM ^

Caleb Williams is starting to feel like a bust to me. Dude seems to have a poor attitude and poor leadership. Whenever I watch him play, he's just spinning around in the pocket for ten seconds before finding someone wide open. That doesn't sound like a franchise QB.

I don't know if JJ will be a franchise QB, but he's got the arm, the leadership/maturity, and his highlight aren't him just running in circles before finding a WR open by 20 yards. He's throwing some lasers into tight windows. I think JJ will have some of the same weakness you see in Josh Allen- lacks some touch and tries to just dart everything in

Joined: 07/03/2008

MGoPoints: 88033

m9tt

November 15th, 2023 at 3:53 PM ^

Dane Brugler said that Lincoln Reilly's offense is really good at scheming the #1 option wide open, but if it doesn't work, then the entire play breaks down... and with the supporting cast being much worse around Williams this season (especially with no Addison and a worse O-Line), you can feel Williams pressing too hard to make something happen.

If I were an NFL team, I'd be far more concerned about the number of fumbles Williams has than any sort of character flaws. 

Joined: 06/16/2015

MGoPoints: 3686

JR3410

November 15th, 2023 at 12:43 PM ^

Dane Brugler to me is far and away the best draft analyst out there, especially in the early stages of the draft process in identifying which players will eventually be drafted in the 1st round.  He is extremely good at this and the analyst that is most aligned with how nfl scouts see things.  He put up a Big Board in early November that had McCarthy 16th overall and the #3 QB on the board.  For comparison sake, he had Quinn Ewers 45th overall and then just a few days ago there were a lot of rumors that Ewers would be returning to Texas.  

Joined: 08/04/2018

MGoPoints: 2014

The Oracle 2

November 15th, 2023 at 1:06 PM ^

I think this is probably accurate. McCarthy has the arm and the mobility, and has improved his accuracy this year. He’s also almost three years younger than Penix, and has no injury history. He’ll probably add a little more weight by next year. I think he’ll end up somewhere in the top half of the 1st round. But if it ends up looking like he’d go in the second round or later, it probably would make some sense for him to come back for his senior year.

Joined: 02/25/2018

MGoPoints: 19223

JR3410

November 15th, 2023 at 1:23 PM ^

I cannot evaluate nfl talent and which guys will look good in the eyes of scouts by any means.  I just know Brugler is extremely good at this, and he is basically projecting JJ as a mid-first round pick.  As a Michigan fan I obviously want JJ to stay another year, but it would be foolish to think a player is going to pass up the nfl draft when they are likely to go first round.  It happened last year with Jared Verse and Olu Fashanu staying in college despite being projected as Top 10 picks in 2023, and maybe NIL changing that decision for JJ too, but I'm not banking on it.

Joined: 08/04/2018

MGoPoints: 2014

oriental andrew

November 15th, 2023 at 1:35 PM ^

Ok then, here is the latest mock from The Athletic (Oct 18) by Nick Baumgartner and Diante Lee. Left it out initially b/c I was trying to get most recent ones. 

  • 1. Chicago - Caleb Williams
  • 2. Arizona - Olu Fashanu
  • 3. Chicago - Marvin Harrison Jr
  • 4. Denver - Drake Maye
  • 5. NYG - Amarius Mims (OT, UGA)
  • 10. Minnesota - JJ McCarthy
  • 15. Atlanta - Quinn Ewers
  • 26. Detroit - Kamari Lassiter (CB, UGA)
  • 32. San Fran - Zak Zinter

And Dane's Big Board top 50 from Nov 1:

  • 1. Maye
  • 2. Harrison
  • 3. Williams
  • 4. Bowers
  • 5. Fashanu
  • 16. JJ McCarthy
  • 24. Shadeur Sanders
  • 43. Jayden Daniels
  • 45. Quinn Ewers
  • 50. Carson Beck

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 56475

turtleboy

November 15th, 2023 at 1:27 PM ^

I wouldn't be surprised if some team took Caleb Williams #1, I also won't be surprised when he crashes and burns. He's not the next Tom Brady, he's the next Johnny Manziel. 

Joined: 04/22/2011

MGoPoints: 35130

MightyMatt13

November 15th, 2023 at 1:45 PM ^

I can understand a wide array of opinions on JJ. To be honest, much of the scouting from this year is TBD. They're going to be studying tape of Penn St (when he even appears on it!), ohiost and Iowa above all else assuming we get to Indianapolis. Plus we'll likely match up with a strong defense or 2 in the CFP.

I could see anywhere from top 5 to he's absolutely coming back.

Joined: 02/26/2012

MGoPoints: 5791

bighouseinmate

November 15th, 2023 at 2:02 PM ^

The bears are going to get the first pick, either theirs of Carolina’s. If they are dumb enough to pick Williams #1 I just might revoke my bears fandom for good (I’ve been rooting for the lions on the down low this season anyways, lol). IMO, the bears would be better off trading the top pick again for more draft capital, especially if they could trade down to 2 or 3, get MHjr and then roll the dice on an early to mid 1st round qb to replace fields. 
 

I wouldn’t want JJ to go to the bears unless Harbaugh has had enough of the NCAA stupidity and goes to Chicago. Then I’d definitely want them to draft JJ. That’s more of a pipe dream IF Harbaugh is out at Michigan, but I’d rather see Harbaugh stay at Michigan for life as my Michigan fandom is much, much greater than anything the NFL and the bears can offer. 

Joined: 12/19/2008

MGoPoints: 5003

alum96

November 15th, 2023 at 3:15 PM ^

QBs always rise on draft day ahead of where they would if slotted as another position for rightful reasons - you just need to hit on one.  

If anyone thinks JJ won't kill it in the combine and in interviews and that's going to raise the interest of a select group of teams by a lot they are kidding themselves. 

2 QBs taken in the first 5 picks and then you have the entire back 85% of the first round for desperate teams to be looking for QB3-5 in the draft. 

Joined: 04/28/2012

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