CJD Mock Off Season Pre-Free Agency

[CJD]

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— Joe from Cincinnati (@JoeFromCinci) March 11, 2024

Round 1, Pick 18: Troy Fautanu, OT, Washington

Round 2, Pick 49: Trey Benson, RB, Florida State

Round 3, Pick 80: Ja'Tavion Sanders, TE, Texas

Round 4, Pick 114: McKinnley Jackson, DT, Texas A&M

Round 5, Pick 148: Tanor Bortellini, OC, Wisconsin

Round 6, Pick 193: Nehemiah Pritchett, CB, Auburn

Round 6, Pick 208: Brevyn Spann-Ford, TE, Minnesota

Round 6, Pick 213: Bub Means, WR, Pittsburgh

Round 7, Pick 237: Jackson Mitchell, LB, UConn


Full disclosure, Taliese Fuaga was there at 18 in this mock draft. In real life, I think he is likely the pick there, but I don't think Fuaga realistically falls to us. For that reason, I took my 2nd favorite OT in this class and someone who I think could step right in at RT on day 1, Troy Fautanu. He has Brett Kollman's endorsement, looked fantastic at the combine, has the production and experience. My only concern is he is a tad bit older than other prospects at 23, and he played primarily LT in college. I am worried about making a player transition from left to right (call it Carman PTSD), but I just have utmost confidence that a player with his athleticism and body of work will succeed anywhere you put him.

Trey Benson ran under 4.39 at the combine at 6'0", 216lbs and it shows on tape. He is the perfect complement to Brown. I was going to draft Ja'Tavion Sanders here, but then I saw Sinnott was still available, so I figured one of those two would likely be there in the 3rd round.

And I was right. I was honestly gearing up to take Sinnott, but when Ja'Tavion Sanders was still there, I happily took him as our new TE1.

Jackson is a run stopping DT in case Reader is not 100% to start the season.

Bortellini blew up the combine and comes from a notoriously effective OL factory in Wisconsin.

From the 6th round on, I just started taking players I recognized. Bub Means is a hot name out of the combine, as he ran 4.43 at 6'1" 212 lbs. Could you imagine if we replaced Tyler Boyd with another Pittsburgh WR?

Coming out of this draft, I don't believe our roster would have any glaring weaknesses, and it would have a fair number of significant strengths relative to 2023.

Let me know what you think!