Today’s tune on this final edition of the ‘24 NFL 1st Round Mock Draft season is Trophies by Drake. I remember the song’s beat was used as a promo for his 3rd studio album called Nothing Was The Same. It came out in September ‘13, in my 1st semester as a freshman at UAlbany. While it didn’t land on the album, this tune would land at #50 on the US Billboard Hot 100. As a sports fan, the week of the NFL Draft has always been one of my favorite weeks on the calendar so a Drake hype tune fits.
Drake opens up this tune by asking people if they heard his old music or if they were sleeping on his previous work. I’ve never stayed at an Intercontinental luxury hotel, but they look nice. I also don’t own much, but one thing I have 100% full ownership of is Week to Week Notes.
I’m still learning on the fly with Week to Week Notes. I can’t predict what the stock will be like, but I can control trying to come correct every day, on a week to week basis.
I always thought he said What’s the mood, but move also plays. Of course, I write for @YouTheReader, but I also genuinely enjoy trying to prove to myself that I can get better with sports insight as well as the craft of typing words on a laptop. I don’t have “people”, but plenty of you along the way have been very supportive and have said some very nice words of encouragement. I have no idea where Week to Week Notes will end up, but I’ll always be thankful and if there was ever anything I could do with this to help people out, of course, I’ll keep working at this writing bit to do so.
Well, I don’t have some fancy Ivy League resume or some journalism degree from one of these sports media schools so I don’t see any NY Times Best-Sellers or journalism accolades coming my way. That’s okay, I’ve kinda had to learn this on my own, and still have plenty more to do.
My mudder doesn’t like when I curse so gotta cross out Drake’s expletive. Also as a Swiftie, I mean no slight to Taylor, but she’s the baddest B in the music industry. Drake even said so on his Taylor Made Freestyle record on Friday night. Week to Week Notes ain’t a new wave, just a written sports media publication that comes from the perspective of someone under 30 years old (for not much longer sadly). Not that I expect much from advertising this post to all 32 teams’ home cities, but I might throw a whole $15 (it’s my lucky number) on this one for the craic.
Always try to post every Note with this in mind.
Sorry for rambling under the lyrics in the intro, on to the Mock Draft…
The Run on QBs
- Caleb Williams has been a lock at the #1 Overall Pick pretty much since he won the Heisman Trophy in ‘22 as a sophomore. Last year, he put up crazy stats and had some Patrick Mahomes-like highlights. In ‘23, it almost seemed like USC was trying to showcase his talent rather than win football games. Williams would make some absurd plays but also may have picked up on some bad habits that may not work in the NFL. As far as what color he paints his nails, look, I don’t get it, but also don’t see the issue in it either. A very talented player and he has every right to do him, but just being honest, he will face being labeled a bit mercurial when things go wrong. Chicago gets another crack at developing a franchise QB and it will be on them to do better with Williams than they did with Justin Fields.
- Drake Maye vs Jayden Daniels seems to still be a toss-up as the Washington Whatever You Want to Call Thems are still keeping their cards close to the vest. I go back and forth between which of these players has more upside. While of course, Jayden Daniels possesses elite scrambling and running ability, the Heisman Trophy winner also played this past season with 2 bonafide star WRs who will be taken in the 1st Round. Maye on the other hand, did not have the same NFL talent around him at UNC. As a freshman, his top target was Josh Downs (Colts 3rd Round WR in ‘23) and Maye won the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award. One element that may be getting overlooked here is that Jayden Daniels is almost 2 years older than Drake Maye. Not a big deal, but that could convince scouts that Maye may have more upside compared to Daniels than we’re giving him credit.
WR Duo
- Technically the last time 2 WRs went inside the Top 5 of an NFL Draft was in ‘03 when the Lions took Charles Rogers at #2 and the Texans took Andre Johnson at #3. You could make a case that 2 pass catchers were taken #4 & #5 in ‘21 with TE Kyle Pitts and WR Ja’Marr Chase. Anyway, Marvin Harrison Jr. is the obvious choice for Arizona who currently has Michael Wilson slated as their WR1. As for the San Diego and Malik Nabers, all things even, it will probably eat at Jim Harbaugh to take a WR here. That said, Nabers would give Justin Herbert a long-term best friend and I doubt they want to go into this season relying on Joshua Palmer or Quinton Johnston to be their top target.
Top 2 Tackles
- The New York Football Giants’ offensive line allowed an incredible 85 sacks last season. Only the Philadelphia Eagles in 1986 allowed more sacks with 104. The biggest issues for the Giants’ O-Line in ‘23 were that LT Andrew Thomas couldn’t stay healthy and PFF ranked RT Evan Neal the 80th best tackle out of the 81 that qualified. While I’m sure the Giants will hate the fact that they have to take a tackle in the Top 7 picks for the 3rd time in 5 years, Joe Alt didn’t miss a game at Notre Dame. They could also move Evan Neal into one of the guards’ spots where he may be a better fit as he mainly struggles in pass blocking. The Titans are sorta in a weird spot at #7. They have a new rookie HC in Brian Callahan (former CIN OC) so it wouldn’t be a total shocker if they looked to trade up for a new QB if he didn’t love Will Levis. In this scenario, we’ll say that Levis’ tape was part of the reason Callahan chose to take the job so fixing their O-Line, which gave up 64 sacks (5th most in ‘23), with Olu Fashanu would be a rock-solid pick.
Rounding Out Single Digits
- The Atlanta Falcons take the 1st defender in the draft. ATL ranked in the bottom 3rd in the NFL in sacks and no longer has their top 2 sack getters from a year ago with Bud Dupree or Calais Campbell (each only had 6.5). Dallas Turner was the SEC Player of the Year in ‘23 and had 22.5 sacks for Saban in 27 career starts. Da Bears take the Top WR left on the board to pair with Caleb Williams. Rome Odunze may not have the yards after catch (YAC) as some of the other guys in his class but has reliable hands, runs good routes, and has plenty of production leading CFB in receiving yards in ‘23 as an All-American at Washington.
J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets
- I’m a Jets fan so they get their own bullet, that’s just how we operate at Week to Week Notes. Brock Bowers would give Aaron Rodgers an elite weapon at the TE position. Surrounding Rodgers with more than enough playmakers this NFL Draft should be the goal. TE is a bit of a luxury pick in the 1st Round, but getting a guy with Kittle/Kelce upside would be way too tempting to pass on at #10.
11 to 15
- The Minnesota Vikings were in the bottom 3rd of the NFL in passing yards allowed in ‘23. Quinyon Mitchell is a small school product who will turn 23 years old before the start of the NFL season so he’s not a surefire Top CB1 like in most drafts. That said, he’s got the size at 6’ and speed running a 4.33 40-time. He also has the playmaking production with a career track record of 46 pass breakups in 3 years as a starter.
- Will this finally be the year that John Elway selects the right QB? JJ McCarthy may not be an All-Pro type of player but just seems to have all the intangibles that most successful QBs have out of college. Jim Harbaugh can coach up young QBs and the Big-Ten QB of the Year in ‘23 was excellent in the past 2 seasons with 44 TDs to 9 INTs with an accurate 69% completion percentage.
- While I’m not sure Las Vegas should be totally sold on AOC as their long-term QB, with Antonio Pierce at the helm I’d like to think they will try to have a defense-first mentality. CB isn’t necessarily a need, but Terrion Arnold could fill in for the team as a Day 1 starter opposite of Jack Jones. Arnold was an All-American with 5 INTs and 12 pass breakups in ‘23. The New Orleans Saints had the 4th least amount of team sacks in ‘23. Jared Verse has had 27.5 sacks in the past 3 years of CFB and would be a nice piece to have alongside Bryan Bresee for the next handful of seasons. Who knows if Cooper DeJean will turn out to be the 1st caucasian CB in decades or a safety but the guy can surely play football. DeJean played a bit of both in college racking up 7 INTs and 13 pass breakups the past 2 seasons while also being one of the nation’s most dangerous return men.
The Rest of the Teens
- The Seattle Seahawks are entering the ‘24 NFL season with former Jet Laken Tomlinson and two Day 3 ‘23 Draft picks for an interior O-Line. Jackson Powers-Johnson can snap the ball or play either of the guard spots, a much-needed addition to their interior. Jacksonville has now handed out 3 free-agent WR contracts that add up to $39 million on their cap between Christian Kirk, Gabe Davis, and Zay Jones. While they could draft a WR for Sunshine, JC Latham could be a long-term answer for Duval in protecting their franchise QB. Latham was 2nd Team All-American at RT in ‘23. The Jags are fairly set at most of their positional groups, including O-Line. They might look to add a CB, but keeping Lawrence upright should be their main objective.
- The Bengals could certainly go WR at #18 for leverage against Tee Higgins’ contract situation and after losing Tyler Boyd, but instead we’ll focus on how they allowed the 5th most passing yards in the NFL in ‘23. Nate Wiggins is a very clean prospect who ran a 4.28 40-time and has the size at 6’1” to match up against all types of WRs. Neither of their starting CBs DJ Turner nor Cam Taylor-Britt were at the same level of prospect as Wiggins coming out of college. Remarkably the LA Rams haven’t had a 1st Round Draft pick since ‘16, when they traded up for Jared Goff at #1. With the retirement of Aaron Donald, LA will need to make up for some of the pass rush production they’ve lost in one of the best DTs of all time. While Latu doesn’t play with knives in the offseason and is an outside pass rusher, the UCLA defender is tough as nails after returning to the gridiron after suffering a scary neck injury in ‘20. The Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year is already known in the LA area and is coming off a great ‘23 where he had 21.5 tackles for loss along with 13 sacks.
20 to 24
- The Pittsburgh Steelers have completely reshifted their QB room with the additions of Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. Amarius Mims out of Georgia isn’t as polished as a prospect compared to most of the linemen in this draft because he only had 8 career CFB starts. While he may not have seen the field as much as some of the other guys, he’s 6’8” and 340 lbs. He would have the potential to start on the opposite end at tackle with his former Bulldog teammate Broderick Jones. For Miami, Taliese Fuaga could step right into one of their guard spots and start right away. The 2nd Team All-American could also shift to tackle long-term.
- Philly already brought in a speedster WR in Parris Campbell to play alongside DeVonta Smith and AJ Brown, but Xavier Worthy at #22 is too tempting to not mock there. Worthy ran a blazing 4.21 40-time and despite his lack of weight, would add something similar to what Houston got out of Tank Dell last year. The other option would be for them to take a center to replace Jason Kelce, but that’s too obvious and not as fun. After Minnesota passes up on Michael Penix Jr. at #11, they decide he’s their guy at #23. In the real draft, if the Vikings think Penix is their guy, they wouldn’t pass up on him at #11. After a tremendous season at Washington, I figured Penix Jr. would have a shot to go higher, but when factoring in his age (he’ll be 24 in May), injury history, and the simple fact that he’s a lefty which sorta changes the offense, it makes sense why he’d slip a bit.
-With CeeDee Lamb likely to hold out for a contract and Brandin Cooks on the other side of 30 years old as the team’s WR2, Brian Thomas Jr. would be a vintage Jerry Jones exciting draft pick. His 17 receiving TDs in ‘23 led all of the land and at 6’3” with 4.33 40 speed, Thomas Jr. is almost like adding a 21-year-old Dez Bryant to the Dallas offense.
25 to 28
- The Green Bay Packers were middle of the pack in terms of sack production in ‘23. While Chop Robinson didn’t have eye-popping stats at Penn State, the 3rd Team All-American of ‘23 has all the hidden production and metrics that PFF College loves. He would be an interesting option for a young Packers team to add to their mix of pass rushers alongside Rashan Gary and Preston Smith. Tampa Bay’s OGs Ben Bredeson and Cody Mauch ranked 74th & 75th out of 79 OGs by PFF. Their center, Robert Hainsey, also ranked 32nd out of 36 centers. Graham Barton proved he can play all 5 O-Line positions from his days at Duke so I’m sure he could start for their interior.
- Kool-Aid McKinstry was viewed as the top CB in College Football entering the ‘23. This reputation may be why he never saw too much action as QBs looked elsewhere. He only had 2 INTs in his 3 years as a starter for Nick Saban, but showed he had playmaking ability as a punt returner. McKinstry and Marvin Harrison Jr. would be a nice iron-sharpens-iron duo at practice. After losing Gabe Davis to free agency and trading away Stefon Diggs, the Bills take a late 1st-round WR in Troy Franklin. The ‘23 2nd Team All-American scored 23 receiving TDs the past 2 seasons. As a player, Franklin is more of a Gabe Davis replacement with deep-threat size and speed (4.41 40-time) than he is Diggs, a get-open short-intermediate route runner.
The Finish
- Detroit currently has a starting CB group of Carlton Davis III and Emmanuel Moseley. Both are solid vets on 1-year deals. Mike Sainristil at one point only a few years ago just a depth WR for the Michigan Wolverines. In ‘22 he moved over to the other side of the ball and immediately became a playmaker at CB. Last season he was 2nd Team All-Big 10 as he came down with 6 INTs while taking 2 of them to the house. He still has WR hands and can also blitz from the slot (3 sacks the past 2 seasons). Sainristil would fit the Detroit Lions as an underdog type and being that he went to Michigan is a good storyline towards the end of Thursday night. I doubt a franchise like Baltimore that prides itself on building through the NFL Draft loves the idea of taking a 3rd late 1st Round WR in 4 years. They’d probably be the type of team to trade back to an early 2nd Round pick to take a pass catcher just for semantics. Keon Coleman would fit a team need that they likely were hoping to get out of OBJ last season. With Rashod Bateman not panning out, the Ravens could hope that Coleman can pair up with Zay Flowers. While Coleman lacks speed (4.61 40-time), he seems a bit more faster in pads on the football field. Sorta like a young Jarvis Landry.
- The NFC Champions of San Francisco are still stout pretty much everywhere on the depth chart. Troy Fautanu could be the team’s long-term option at LT once Trent Williams finally decides to hang them up. Fautanu could also compete for a starting role at LG with Aaron Brooks, the weakest starter on their O-Line. The back-to-back defending Super Bowl champions have plenty of avenues with the last pick of the 1st Round. Byron Murphy II is the top DT in the draft and would be a menace to pair next to Chris Jones in KC’s interior pass rush.
Sidenote: Do you think Travis is going to make Taylor watch the NFL Draft on Thursday night?