NFL.com 1st round Mock

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(01-21-2023, 07:05 AM)Synric Wrote: Darnell Washington is the player every team needs but fans hate it when they are drafted. Washington is a weapon as a blocker he can do it inline blocking Defensive Ends  or out in space against Defensive Backs. Alot of the screens and end arounds you see for Georgia's other star TE Brock Bowsers are open and have a lane because Washongton is the lead blocker.

Washington is also a solid receiver don't expect many seam or corner routes but short routes where he can use his size length and body control to catch and get that big body moving. He can also be a dangerous red zone guy at 6'7.

Washington has a chance to rise or fall during the draft process. If he comes out and has a draft process like 6`7 270lb Jelani Woods from last offseason I can see him sneaking into the first but if he tests poorly like a 4.85 forty 7.4 3 cone I can see him falling to late day 2 early day 3.

Hate it when they are drafted in the first two rounds. You want a big road grading TE in the 4th or 6th who can do some dirty work? Hell yeah, more power to you. I've been banging the table every year for the Bengals to draft a true FB for like a decade, so I don't hate the unflashy-but-important picks. Not for the 1st round, though.

Chasing guys solely for height and assuming that'll make you good in the red zone just never works. The Colts had a 6'3 WR, 6'4 WR, 6'5 TE, and 6'7 TE and were 29th in Red Zone TD%. Tyler Boyd has actually turned a tiny % more of his targets into TDs in his career than Calvin Johnson and Travis Kelce. There's great red zone targets that were tall, but I think that's more that they were just great. I just remember talk about Auden Tate being potentially uncoverable in the red zone because he was 6'5.

Jelani Woods was a 3rd round pick. If the Bengals take Darnell Washington with the 32nd pick of the 3rd round, I wouldn't hate that.

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If Mayer is there, take him, and if he slips to the low 20s, consider trading up for him. Otherwise I would take someone like RB Zach Charbonnet, OT Ryan Hayes, or LB Jack Campbell as way-too-early possibilities.