DraftCountdown's Full Mock

[BFritz21]

DraftCountdown posted a full mock for us, and they took Nolen in the first, so I was already on board.

I'm not sure how I feel about the rest of it.

1. Walter Nolen DT Ol' Miss- 'Nough said.

2. Kevin Winston Jr. S Penn State- not a huge fan of this pick because I think that this class is weak at safety and it would be a wasted pick when we could improve elsewhere.

Winston is great against the run, which is good in the division with the Raven being the top run yards p/g in the NFL and the Steelers being top ten, and in covering receivers/tight ends in the short to intermediate area, which isn't as big of a concern in the division anymore, but hopefully Burks and Golden can develop the rest of his game and improve his downfield coverage, making him a good pick.

3. Ashton Gillotte DE Louisville- hoping we trade Hendrickson, so this pick would be needed. I like Gillotte because he's so powerful that he calls for double teams and can disrupt offensive plays and blocking schemes. Gillotte does seem to be improving, but I think I'd rather have Sawyer out of Ohio State.

4. Charles Grant G W&M- big tackle that struggles in space and with speed rushers, so he'd be a great fit at guard being a good run blocker and able to handle pass rushers when he's not in space.

5. Kiser LB Notre Dame- Golden seems to love this guy (obviously) and I think he could be a steal for our defense.

6. Jalen Travis OT Iowa State- be our swing tackle and not a bad pick late.

I would rather us take another guard early and I think safety is a wasted pick early because it's a weak class, but Winston could be good if he develops.

Thoughts?

[Whatever]

Honestly, I don't like it. You have a major character risk in Nolen followed by a guy coming off a torn ACL in the 2nd. I don't like the extreme high risk early.

[*ochocincos*]

I don't really see Kevin Winston being much of an ideal FS center fielder replacement for Stone, but he would probably be ok as a replacement for Battle if team really didn't think Battle should be long-term SS.

Another DE is needed whether they keep Hendrickson or not, as Murphy hasn't proven anything after 2 years, and Ossai is only here this year. If he does well, he's going to be expecting a much larger contract. So Gillotte is good to add whether Hendrickson stays or not.

The Charles Grant selection makes me scratch my head some.
Dude has played 4 years straight at LT, nowhere else.
From what I have heard and seen of him, he MAY develop into a good OL with some coaching, but he's not ready to start this year anywhere.
If Bengals need an upgrade for 2025, Grant is not someone to count on. I'd be ok with him if he was a 2nd OL selected though.

Rd 5 and 6 are just depth pieces, so they're whatever.
Not a big deal if they hit or miss, and they're almost always either guys who need multiple years or development or solid performers in college who are pretty maxed out and will just be ST or limited snap contributors.

If this were the draft, I wouldn't see it being much of a difference maker for 2025 results, maybe not even 2026.