Show Me a Good Time | ‘23 NBA Draft Mock | ‘24 NFL Mock
Show Me a Good Time is the 5th song on Drake’s Thank Me Later album. While it is a celebratory song for Drake, I’d rather focus on showing @YouTheReader a good time.
How did I end up with @you_the_reader? Not quite sure, kinda got lucky I guess.
Yeah, hopefully, that part doesn’t get too annoying to read. Anyway, how about Succession? What a finale. Brilliant show. I don’t want to spoil it, but I was impressed and it sucks to see it’s over. 4 seasons and going out on top the way they did is class. Within the same year, Peaky Blinders and now Succession, what the hell am I going to watch besides sports? Great appointment TV shows are so much better than when a series gets thrown on a streaming service to binge all at once.
So far since we’ve made some adjustments to Mock Draft Mondays with Thank Me Later on in the background Justin Edwards, Anthony Black, Brandon Miller, Brock Bowers, Chop Robinson, Jared Verse, The Thompson Twins (Ausar and Amen), Jarace Walker, Keyonte George, Collin Oliver, Deion "Primetime's" son, Shedeur Sanders, Nick Smith Jr., GG Jackson, Olu Fashanu, and Jordan Hawkins have viewed the logo of Week to Week Notes on @You_The_Reader.
Dariq Whitehead is a local kid out of Newark, New Jersey. He had a foot that kept him out the first 4 games of the season and threw off the timing of the start of his college career. His jump shot is pure, he shot 43% from behind the arc. His only season at Duke may not have gone exactly how Whitehead had hoped, so I’m projecting that when fully healthy in the NBA, Whitehead has the talent to be a big-time scorer. Entering the ‘22 season, Whitehead was the #2 recruit in the country, the ‘22 Sports Illustrated, Naismith, & Gatorade High School Player of the Year, and also took home the McDonalds game MVP. At 13 years old, Whitehead moved to Florida to attend Montverde Academy. In his free time, Whitehead has volunteered as part of a fundraising campaign for pediatric cancer research and has donated his time as a basketball coach to special-needs children.
Brice Sensabaugh was named Big Ten 3rd Team and Big Ten All-Freshman Team in ‘23. Sensabaugh was the first OSU freshman to lead the team in scoring since D’Angelo Russell in ‘15 and ranked 3rd among freshmen nationally in scoring. He became the 3rd freshman Buckeye in the last 40 years to start their career with six consecutive double-figure games, the other two were Michael Redd 12 games in 1997, and Jimmy Jackson 10 games in 1989. He was also one of seven freshmen since 2003 to average 15 or more points and be an above-average shooter (50% on 2-pt FGs, 40% on 3-pt FGs, and 80% on FTs), joining Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Kyrie Irving, Ben McLemore, Lauri Markkanen and Mike Daum. At 6’6” with a bit of bowling ball element to him, Sensabaugh can bully defenders off the dribble to shoot over most guards and forwards. While that may make him susceptible to a few charge calls against him, I like his aggressiveness in that he is only a year removed from being a 4-star recruit who plays with a chip on his shoulder.
Kobe Bufkin is a crafty lefty with great range as a shooter and driving ability. Accoridng to Michigan, Bufkin is a gym rat, who sometimes three times a day and while quiet & reserved, was an emerging leader for the Wolverines. In ‘23, he was named All-Big Ten 3rd Team. Bufkin was in fact named after Kobe Bryant and he has a brother, Isiah, who was named after Isiah Thomas. A good defender who led Michigan in steals, Bufkin will hound guards defensively. All great lefties seem to appear unorthodox and Bufkin fits that billing.
Dereck Lively is a 7’1” outstanding rim protector who made the All ACC-Defensive Team and ACC All-Freshman Team. Entering the ‘22 season, Lively was ranked the #1 overall recruit. He struggled offensively but he can say he swatted away eight shots against North Carolina, the most by any Duke player against UNC, while also grabbing a career-high 14 rebounds. In Lively’s first March Madness game tourney debut, Dereck Lively had just the 49th ever 12 rebound/6 block game in NCAA Tournament history. He became the first Duke freshman and the third Duke player ever to do it. (Source: @BrotherhoodCBB) Although in-game, Lively’s high in scoring was 13 points, in his Pro Day workouts, Lively showcased his extremely athletic dunking ability and nice range as a shooter for a 7+ footer.
Kris Murray is the identical brother to Keegan Murray of the Sacramento Kings. Keegan is a righty who had a very solid rookie season for the Kings are developing his sophomore season at Iowa a bit further along than Kris did. Kris is left-handed and decided to stay in school for another year, where he turned into much more of an offensive force during his junior season. The AP named him to 3rd Team All-American while the Big Ten named him 1st Team unanimously. Last year, Murray was the only Division I player to average 20+ points, 7+ rebounds, 1+ block, and make 65+ 3-pointers in ‘23. He was the first Hawkeye in 45 years to total 30+ points and 20+ rebounds in a game (31 points & 20 rebounds vs. Georgia Tech). Kris Murray went from being a bench warmer his freshman season to a 6th Man off the bench his sophomore season. He capped off his career at Iowa by leading the team in points (20.2), rebounds (7.9), blocks (1.2), and 3-pointers made (66).
Johnny Wilson and all 6’7” of him transferred from Arizona State to Florida State in ‘22. He was 2nd Team All-ACC and named FSU Offensive Newcomer of the Year. Wilson led the ACC and ranked third in the country with 22 20-yard receptions, this ranked him 2nd in ACC and 5th nationally with an average of 20.86 yards per catch. Wilson’s stat line in ‘22 was 43 receptions for 897 yards and 5 touchdowns. You can’t teach 6’7” with the speed Wilson has. His potential is serious, we’re talking about Mike Evans (who is only 6’5”) level ceiling for Johnny Wilson.
JT Tuimoloau is one of the top defensive ends in all of college football. Last year Tuimoloau had 10.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, 6 pass deflections, and 2 INTs. He does a great job getting a hand on balls at the line of scrimmage. JT was named first-team all-Big Ten Conference in ‘23. His game against Penn State last year was the stuff of legends. Had one of the great defensive performances ever by a defensive lineman in the Buckeyes’ 44-31 win at Penn State with career-high six tackles, three TFLs, including two sacks, two interceptions, one PBU, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. In all, he helped force four takeaways vs. Penn State which directly led to 21 Ohio State points; included was a 14-yard fourth-quarter pick-6 to clinch the victory. At one point the nation’s No. 1-rated overall prospect.
Bralen Trice according to College Football PFF led all CFB in pressures with 67 last year. Trice was named ‘22 All-Pac-12 First Team. He led the Huskies in sacks with 9, the 3rd most in the Pac-12. Coming out of high school, Trice was the 447th ranked player in the 247 Spots Composite out of Glendale, Arizona. He redshirted in ‘19 and he opted out of the ‘20 during the COVID-shortened season. This means Trice will be entering the NFL a little older than most juniors, but his production and development should still make him a 1st Rounder. Bralen Trice plays EDGE with an edge & high motor standing at 6’4” and 270 lbs.
Cooper DeJean set the Iowa single-season record of interceptions returned for a TD with 3 of them in ‘22. All in all, as a sophomore, DeJean had a phenomenal season with 75 tackles, 3 TFLs, 5 INTs, 13 pass deflections, and the 3 Pick 6s. DeJean earned first-team All-Big Ten honors from league media and second-team recognition from coaches. Iowa awarded him with both the Reggie Roby Special Teams Award and Team Hustle Award. DeJean is extremely versatile and has started as a safety, cornerback, and outside linebacker - he is a football player with great coverage skills. Iowa knew they had something special in DeJean when they named him Next Man In Award in ‘21. As someone who DeJean tries to emulate his game after he mentioned, “I’ve always liked Tyrann Mathieu. Just the way he plays the game. The intensity. The way he flies to the ball. He was versatile in college.”
Michael Penix Jr enters the ‘23 season as a senior after winning the Associated Press Comeback Player of the Year in ‘22. Penix initially started his college career at Indiana University where he was team captain in ‘20 and ‘21 while going 12-5 as the starter. He suffered a 2nd season-ending ACL injury in ‘21 and transferred to Washington last year where he was voted team captain yet again. Penix Jr. finished the ‘22 season as the #1 passer in NCAA-FBS as the nation's leader in passing yards per game (357.0) and finished 2nd in passing yards, with 4,641, a new Huskies single-season record. Michael Penix Jr. has some mobility but is a pocket passer first and foremost. This might just be because he is a lefty but to me, he throws identically as Tua. Southpaw QBs are a rarity in the NFL, his age entering the NFL will be older than most teams love, and the 2 ACL injuries may make teams cautious so Penix will for sure need to build upon his stellar play in Washington, but he has shown to he can shine in the face of adversity before. Washington will enter the College Football season ranked #8, the expectations should put a spotlight on Penix and could really help his draft stock for ‘24.