CJD Mock Draft 2.0 (Post-Free Agency Starters)

[CJD]

March is coming to an end and, with it, the majority of free agency has calmed down and slowed to a crawl. There may be a time when we sign a back up DT or another guard to compete for with XSF and Spain, but I think our roster is mostly set for the draft. With that in mind, it's time to plug some holes!

Round 1, pick 8: Ja'Marr Chase WR LSU
The top 4 in the draft was Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Justin Fields and Kyle Pitts. I was tempted to just take Sewell here but I was given an opportunity to trade down by the Carolina Panthers. They wanted to trade up for Trey Lance. I figured "I'll ask for so much they'll decline, then I can draft Sewell," so I requested their 1st round pick, 2nd round pick and their 1st round pick next year. To my surprise, they accepted. They took Lance, Miami took Sewell, Detroit took Devonta Smith and Ja'Marr Chase was still there at 8. How could I say no to that? While I personally rank Sewell above Chase in my rankings, I rank Chase + a 2nd round pick + a 1st round pick above Sewell. At first, I thought about restarting the draft because this trade seemed to unrealistic but then I looked at what Miami got for, essentially, trading down from 3 to 6 (a 1st next year and a 3rd) and it started to look more realistic. So I went with it. It gave me consecutive picks in the 2nd round and a true #1 receiver.

Round 2, pick 38: Jaelan Phillips DE Miami (FL)
Phillips is the best pure pass rusher in this entire draft. Brett Kollman does a really good breakdown of him here. The only reason he's available this late in the draft is because he had some concussion issues earlier in his career from which he initially intended to retire before changing his mind. While it is scary to take an injury risk like that, getting a player this good in the 2nd round is just too good to pass up, especially since it was basically a "free" 2nd round pick because of the trade.

Round 2, pick 39: Walker Little OT, Stanford
I ended up playing this draft pretty risky. Little is a player that, like Phillips, is one of the best at his position in this draft from a talent standpoint. The problem is he was injured early in 2019 and then sat out 2020 due to the COVID exemption. So we haven't really seem him play since the 2018 season. The good news is that in 2018, as a true Sophomore, he was a first team all PAC-12 and was being talked about as a potential early entry in the 2020 draft and potential top 5 pick. He was also a freshman starter at LT, which is uncommon. Assuming he works out well and impresses coaches in interviews, he could be seen as a day 1 starter at LT or RT, which could allow us to move Reiff inside to RG. I don't think Little is a player you should move inside to guard because he's 6'7" and those guys tend to get demolished at guard due to underneath leverage from the DT (see Fred Johnson last year), so if the Bengals don't want to move Reiff or Williams inside, then this pick could be Wyatt Davis or Alex Leatherwood, both of whom were also available at this pick.

Round 3, pick 69: Kendrick Green OG, Illinois
We'll continue to bolster the line here and, while PFF only gave this selection a C+ (as they did for the Walker Little pick), I like the pick because he can play guard or center and has a nasty demeanor. There weren't any quality DTs that seemed good value here, so I went ahead with the depth pick that maybe makes an impact in year 1, but is not required, which is nice.

Round 4, pick 111: Milton Williams DT, Louisiana Tech
The Bengals have been following this player having attended his pro day. I like the match and think he could provide a pass rush from the DT position, something we sorely lacked last year with Atkins still recovering from an injury. With 19 TFL and 10.5 sacks in the last two years, Williams could learn under Ogunjobi and (if the rumors are true) Mike Daniels and make an impact in his 2nd year if Ogunjobi and/or Daniels leaves after 1 year. He's a bit undersized at 6'3" 284, but that's the kind of size that can really get under a guard's pads and push him into the QB. He had a phenomenal pro day with a vertical of 39 (99th percentile), a 6.87 3 cone (100th), a 4.25 short shuttle (97th)  and a 4.62 40 yard dash (99th). He even benched 225lb 34 times (91st). He's got the athleticism, size and production you want to see in a pass rushing DT.

Round 5, pick 149: Khalil Herbert RB, VT
With the majority of my needs and wants from this draft met (starting OT, starting WR, Pass Rushing Specialist, depth OG/C, depth DT) I decided to go BPA and Khalil Herbert fills a need while being a quality player, as PFF's 5th rated RB overall. He averaged 4.7 yards per attempt after contact and breaks a lot of tackles. He's short and thick and eclipsed 1000 yards with just 154 rushing attempts on the year. We may trade Gio or we may not sign him after this year, so this is a good depth signing behind Perine.

Round 6, pick 190: Chancey Gholston DE, Iowa
Gholston is the size we like at DE, 6'5" 270, and has had decent production over the last few years, with 6 sacks and 22 hurries in 8 games last year. He's got long arms (34 3/4) and could be a quality depth pick at DE.

Round 6, pick 202: Khyiris Tonga DT, BYU
Depth pick at DT. Tupou, Ogunjobi and perhaps Mike Daniels are on 1 year deals, so depth here helps. I don't know all that much about him other than that.

Round 7, pick 232: Tre' McKitty TE, Georgia
How could I turn down a guy with this name?


I was really happy with how the top of this draft turned out. Rounds 5 through 7 are typically more of a crap shoot as I become less and less familiar with the players, but I like the athletic profiles and size of many of these players. Overall, I got everything I wanted out of this draft on top of an additional first round pick from Carolina. Why did they do that trade? I don't know. But crazy things happen with QBs are up for grabs.