Mock Draft Monday 9/2 '24
We Made It
We Made It
- NFL Mock Draft ‘25 1st Round
- YouTube Rabbithole
![Stream Drake - We Made It Feat. Soulja Boy [Instrumental] (Prod. By Purp Dogg) by obproducer | Listen online for free on SoundCloud](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0_Wo!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbbebd1a6-4b86-430a-9924-8b1ede28ab89_500x500.jpeg "Stream Drake - We Made It Feat. Soulja Boy [Instrumental] (Prod. By Purp Dogg) by obproducer | Listen online for free on SoundCloud")
Alright @YouTheReader,
Today’s tune at the start of the first week of the NFL season is We Made It. The song was released just a few days before New Years of ‘14. The beat was originally used for a Soulja Boy mixtape and then Drake put 2 verses to it. Now anytime Soulja Boy and Drake get mentioned together it’s a reminder of the funny Breakfast Club interview.
The opening intro to the song is Kenny Powers from the HBO show Eastbound & Down. Pretty funny scene and even funnier they used it out of context to start a song.
The 2nd interlude is another Kenny Powers quote from same scene. For anyone who hasn’t watched any of Eastbound & Down, it’s an overtly ridiculous comedy where Danny McBride plays a washed up former pitcher who gets kicked out of the MLB. It’s got some funny parts.
We Made It to the NFL season so here’s a way too early 2025 1st Round NFL Mock Draft…
The draft position was selected out of a hat randomly, I had nothing to do with where the teams are projected to select in the 1st Round.
- Not that I would ever project the New York Giants to end up with the #1 overall pick, again these teams were picked out of a hat, but Shedeur Sanders could certainly end up in New York. Deion Sanders hinted on the Million $ Worth of Game Podcast in the past that, “There’s certain cities that ain’t gonna happen… It’s gonna be an Eli.” When Eli Manning was drafted #1 in the ‘04 NFL Draft by the San Deigo Chargers, his father Archie Manning essentially forced a trade to the G-Men (who had the 4th pick and took Philip Rivers). After spending his whole career with the New Orleans Saints when they were nicknamed the Aints, Archie Manning wanted his son to land with a functioning franchise. It wasn’t an unprecedented move at the time as John Elway did something similar in the 80s with the Baltimore Colts by demanding a trade that ended up with him in Denver.
- On the field, Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter were excellent in their ‘24 debut. Sanders plays with an unflappable poise and consistently makes NFL throws. His top target, Travis Hunter, played both sides of the ball in Week 1 while scoring 2 TDs in Colorado’s win. The local team like Denver taking the 2-way star from Colorado makes sense. Quinn Ewers to the Titans would be replacing Will Levis and after the Patriots took a franchise QB in ‘24, here I have them going with James Pearce Jr., a pre-season All-American coming off an 8.5 sack sophomore campaign in ‘23.
- Benjamin Morrison going up against Justin Jefferson in practice would be iron sharpening iron, something Vikings in the olden days would know about. At the moment, Will Campbell looks to be the top offensive lineman of the class and Harold Perkins has added some weight (now up to 225 lbs) as he focuses on his move back to inside linebacker. Perkins can come off the edge as a pass rusher or be an elite blitzer, he’s already proven that with 13 career sacks during his freshman and sophomore seasons.
- Miami Hurricane QB Cam Ward had quite the debut for his new school. Ward led the Hurricanes to a blowout win over their in-state rivals as he threw for 385 passing yards to go with 3 TDs. The senior QB did throw an ugly interception and will need to cut down on the amount of times he throws behind him, back into the middle of the field. That said, Ward has an NFL arm, tremendous poise in the pocket, and can make throws from all angles. He plays QB sorta like a shortstop would. It’s just 1 game but I might be all-in on the Hurricanes this season.
- 5 minutes into Georgia vs Clemson during Week 1, I realized I had forgotten how physically dominant SEC Football can be. Mykel Williams is the Bulldogs’ top defender and the Commanders could use an edge defender after trading all theirs a year ago. The Packers currently have Rasheed Walker at LT, who played great for a former 7th-round pick last season. Adding Kelvin Banks Jr. to help protect their franchise QB would further add to the Cheeseheads’ investment they made in Jordan Love. The Raiders are entering the season with a Frat Star and AOC at QB, quite an odd coupling, so we’ll have them take Carson Beck as their long-term answer in the draft.
- It’s only been 1 week but Arizona WR Tetairoa McMillan has taken the top spot at WR on my draft board thanks to an insane performance in Week 1. The 6’5” junior WR caught 10 passes for 304 receiving yards and 4 TDs. That kind of production will surely land him with a WR-needy team like Carolina.
- Deone Walker and Mason Graham are both massive men in the middle of their respective defensive lines. The Kentucky DT has a bit more upside in the pass rushing category, but the Michigan Man DT wreaks havoc in the run games, plus isn’t bad at getting after the QB either. Mid-game Week 1, Jonah Savaiinaea moved over to play LT because their blindside starter got hurt, but he also has experience as a guard inside. Savaiinaea has positional versatility that could fit in at one of the OG spots in Miami.
- The Indy Colts haven’t drafted a TE in the 1st Round since Dallas Clark in ‘03. Colston Loveland got off to a nice Week 1 start with 8 catches for 87 yards and a score over Fresno State. He’s the Wolverines’ top playmaker and would add a reliable target to Anthony Richardson’s options.
- The Georgia Bulldogs will have quite a few players drafted next spring and for good reason. Nazir Stackhouse teaming up with Vita Vea would eat plenty of blockers and allow ‘23 1st Rounder Calijah Kancey to get one-on-one opportunities as an interior pass rusher. That would be a stout defensive front. Abdul Carter coming off the opposite edge of Montez Sweat would have plenty of potential in rebuilding Chicago’s defense. Jim Harbaugh would love to add to the Chargers trenches. Sliding Tate Ratledge next to Joe Alt would protect Justin Herbert’s blindside for the next decade.
- Malaki Starks made a sensational interception in Georgia’s beatdown of Clemson. After the game Georgia head coach Kirby Smart compared Starks to another former great Georgia defensive back, Champ Bailey. “That play he made was elite. I didn’t think he could get there and he found a way to contort his body and go up and get a ball. Unbelievable ball skills. Reminds me of Champ Bailey when Champ played.” Smart played alongside Bailey from 1996 to 1998. Bailey played CB and WR at Georgia, while Kirby Smart was a safety. Both were named to the 1st Team All-SEC Team in 1998. As for Starks, he’s already been named the Freshman of the Year in ‘22, and a First Team All-American in ‘23, so he’ll look to add the Bronko Nagurski Award (the nation’s top defensive player) to his resume this season.
- The Pittsburgh Steelers haven’t taken an edge rusher in the 1st Round since TJ Watt in ‘17. Nic Scourton played well in his Texas A&M debut against Notre Dame, finishing with 1.5 TFLs and a ball batted down. The Rams will enter ‘24 with 2nd-year starter Steve Avila moving from OG to Center. From his days at TCU, he has experience at both interior line positions but may be better suited at guard. Parker Brailsford would allow Avila to move back to OG.
- Luther Burden III scored his first TD of his ‘24 season on Saturday by making two guys miss. Burden is looking to become the 1st Missouri WR to be drafted in Round 1 since Jeremy Maclin in ‘09. The Cowboys could use a long-term sidekick alongside CeeDee Lamb. Emeka Egbuka just feels like a fit with the Bills’ current WR core, a good route runner with some sneaky YAC ability. The Buckeye WR has a shot at being the 4th Ohio State wideout to be taken in the 1st Round for the 4th consecutive year, joining Garrett Wilson ‘22, Jaxon Smith-Njigba ‘23, and Marvin Harrison Jr. ‘24.
- Earnest Greene III and Wyatt Milum are both offensive tackles with mean streaks. EG3 fits in with Baltimore’s toughness and would be a great lead blocker as a pulling guard or stout tackle. In Week 1, the Mountaineers’ LT went up against a pair of Penn State pass rushers, Abdul Carter and Dani Dennis-Sutton, while holding his own versus NFL talent.
- Both Jack Sawyer and Patrick Payton had non-descript opening games to start their season. However, both proven pass rushers still have 1st Round potential given their pedigree and previous seasons. Sawyer teaming up with Aiden Hutchinson might be bizarre enough to happen given that the Lions don’t have too many flaws or needs on their current roster. The Atlanta Falcons haven’t had a double-digit sack artist since Vic Beasley’s ‘16 campaign, so Payton fills a void.
- With San Francisco deciding to sign Brandon Aiyuk to a massive long-term extension, it likely means that Deebo Samuel will either get cut after this season or ‘25 (the last year of his current deal) will be his last year as a Niner. Tre Harris could be Samuel’s replacement. While RB is not necessarily a need for Kansas City with Isiah Pacheco in ‘25, that’s his last year under contract, and Ashton Jeanty could be his long-term replacement. Jeanty in Week 1 of CFB rushed 20 times for 267 rushing yards and 6 TDs vs. Georgia Southern. He’s off to an early start in the College Football rushing title. Iowa TE Lucke Lachey successfully made his return to the field after missing almost all of ‘23 as he caught 6 passes for 63 yards. While Dallas Goedert is still under contract through ‘25, Lachey could be Goedert’s successor drafted early sorta like how Goedert was for Zach Ertz.
