23rd Overall, New England Patriots: Jake Fromm, QB (Georgia)
I just can’t quite see the Pats going full rebuild, and while I don’t think they are out of the Cam Newton sweepstakes, I do think they may also be interested in finding a rookie with a chance to make an immediate impact – without the ability to move up (or down) in this mock, their best chance of doing that is Jake Fromm. Fromm is never going to have a huge NFL arm and there will be times when he misses throws that he should make, but he is excellent at operating an offense, is very accurate and can elevate the players around him, all things that the Pats have made the most of in the past with an aging Brady.
24th Overall, New Orleans Saints: Patrick Queen, LB (LSU)
The Saints once again have a pretty complete roster heading into the 2020 draft, but one area where they have consistently been a bit weak is at linebacker, and while Queen is still quite raw, he has excellent movement skills and would provide an immediate improvement in coverage while having the potential to develop more technical prowess with time. He does need to get better against the run, and he will need to show that he has the ball skills to capitalize on his athleticism, but this would be a great scenario for the Saints.
25th Overall, Minnesota Vikings: Yetur Gross-Matos, EDGE (Penn State)
With Weatherly coming to Carolina, and the Vikings’ current edge group beginning to age somewhat, they could do with an injection of youth – having addressed the offense with their first pick, they could now look to take a chance on a more developmental edge rusher. Gross-Matos does a number of nice things on tape, and flashes some nice pieces of hand usage to go with his athleticism, but does need to improve his pad level and continue to develop more variation as a pass rusher, but would be a useful rotational piece to begin with while having developmental upside.
26th Overall, Miami Dolphins: Xavier McKinney, S (Alabama)
Having traded Minkah Fitzpatrick away to start the season, the Dolphins now need to find his replacement – and while it is hard to argue that any safety in this class is as good as Fitzpatrick, McKinney is probably the best option to replace him. He is a pretty good run defender and moves well in space with good ball skills and instincts, allowing him to be a factor in the passing game whether working out of the slot or in deep zone coverage. He won’t be the centerpiece of the Dolphins defense, but is possibly the best player left on the board at this point.
27th Overall, Seattle Seahawks: AJ Terrell, CB (Clemson)
Seattle has a number of needs and could go a number of different directions with this pick – but they really need to shore up their secondary, which struggled last season. Terrell might not be the perfect option for many teams, but with his length, physicality, ball skills and instincts he would be an ideal fit in the Seahawks’ defense and would give them their best chance as a #1 corner since Sherman left for the 49ers. Terrell will likely struggle if asked to play consistent man coverage, but in a cover-3 scheme where he can use the boundary and look to go hunting for interceptions on the back end he would be a an excellent value pick.
28th Overall, Baltimore Ravens: Zack Baun, EDGE/LB (Wisconsin)
The Ravens are another team that can afford to pick based off value at this point in the draft, and while Baun might not be the easiest piece to fit into a defense, the fact that he could legitimately play both EDGE and drop-back linebacker is testament to his ability in both coverage and as a pass rusher. Baun wouldn’t necessarily start for the Ravens, but would be able to find the field on a situational basis and can offer either run support, pass rush or coverage ability based on the situation.
29th Overall, Tennessee Titans: Austin Jackson, OT (USC)
The Titans lost Jack Conklin in free agency – and their offensive line wasn’t exactly amazing to start with. While I think Jackson needs an awful lot of work from a technical perspective, I do think he has the raw tools to be a good NFL tackle with time. While the Titans are probably going to ideally want somebody more pro-ready, they might not have a ton of choice this late in the first, and having tried to bring the gang back together for one more year (aside from Conklin), they can’t afford to lose the season through not being willing to take a chance on a tackle in the first round
30th Overall, Green Bay Packers: Tee Higgins, WR (Clemson)
The Packers need to get better at receiver, and while I think they could well have a number of options to chose from at this stage in the draft, Higgins would give them both the size they seem to like on the outside as well as more of a route running option. Like a lot of receivers in this class, while he is very talented, he will need to continue to develop further in the NFL but has the size and ball skills to be a factor at the catch point while also flashing the route running to be more of a weapon underneath as well.
31st Overall, San Francisco 49ers: Trevon Diggs, CB (Alabama)
The 49ers don’t have a ton of needs and could go a number of ways here, but their secondary is an area where they could look to add more talent, especially given Sherman’s age – and this would also have the added benefit of taking a player at a position of need for their biggest rivals who pick one spot later. Diggs needs work in terms of his footwork, which lacks discipline, but he moves very well in space and has good ball skills, which they could make the most of with a year to get to grips with the speed of the NFL game.
32nd Overall, Kansas City Chiefs: Kristian Fulton, CB (LSU)
As already mentioned, the Chiefs could look to add some more talent to their secondary as they have managed to bring most of the rest of their roster back intact. Fulton might not be the best fit for every defense, but he should be a reasonable match for what the Chiefs look to do defensively and would probably be seen as too good of a value option to pass on at this point. There is a chance that with not many needs the Chiefs might look to bundle up for a higher pick for a wide receiver they love, but that isn’t allowed here – so they haven’t.
