Laddie Morse
Armed with the (dangerous) knowledge we have now, with half the NFL offseason over, I’ve performed a five-round mock draft at ProFootballNetwork.com and included a trade backwards with the Chiefs first pick in the first round and added another pick. The Mock looks like this:
A Defensive Tackle from Texas
The Chiefs first choice comes at pick #35 with the 6-foot-1, 297 lbs. DT Byron Murphy II out of Texas. He’s still on the board so, the choice was easy. Yes, he’s a little bit under-sided, but he reminds me of Aaron Donald and paired with Chris Jones on rushing downs could be lethal. The trade backwards was done with the Arizona Cardinals and I was able to acquire pick #90 in this year’s draft.
Some say you should exclude the first three picks that are available to you when doing a mock. That sort of thinking gets you nowhere fast. Of course there will be mistakes when doing a mock, there’s no denying that. However, players are snubbed and players are taken and that reflects the real world. So, we go with this.
Byron Murphy II is ranked #29 by DrafTek and #15 by CBS Sports and #13 by PFF Prospects and DraftBuzz.com has Murphy as the second best IDL. My one big concern about Byron Murphy II is that he played next to the mammoth T’Vondre Sweat (6-foot-5, 366 lbs.), so he may need to be downgraded a bit because of it. On the other hand, he’d be playing next to the best IDL in the NFL right now in Chris Jones so he might work out just fine.
Xavier Legette has been on my radar for quite some time now. From the Chiefs standpoint, he may end up being the perfect wideout for them. He stands, 6-foot-1, weighs in at 221 lbs. and runs a 4.39 40-yard dash. DraftBuzz.com ranks Legette as the 8th best WR in this draft and says of him:
“Xavier Legette has insane measurables. His low 4.3 speed in the forty-yard dash along with the size height combination isn’t something we have seen since DK Metcalf. Legette excels in making contested catches and using his physicality to gain yards after the catch, making him a potential deep threat and red-zone target.”
If DK Metcalf is the comparable then I’m greatly interested and Brett Veach should be too. Legette knows how to go up and fight for the ball. They call that “making contested catches” and he’s very good at it. If there was a Hail Mary pass at the end of a game, I’d want him to be one of my WRs who was fighting for the ball. At the 10 second mark of the following clip Legette makes a great catch that he fights for. Check it out (4:08).
The Chiefs will need to make three high draft picks. One should be an IDL and one should be a WR and one should be an OL like… Dominick Puni out of Kansas come next.
Puni is anything but puny. He stand 6-foot-5 and goes 320 lbs.. Puni can not only move inside and take over for LG Joe Thuney when he decides to hang it up, but he’s big enough to play OT if need be. That’s a big part of the reason I chose him. His versatility. Puni started out playing his college ball at Central Missouri University (CMU) and then moved to Kansas where he has started the last two years. Puni is listed as an Interior Offensive Lineman by both DrafTek (#95) and CBS Sports (#89) but DraftBuzz.com lists him as an Offensive Tackle. Here’s Dominick Puni at the Senior Bowl practice lining up as an OC, and OG and an OT:
The next prospect selected is a Running Back, Will Shipley. Shipley runs a 4.39 40-yard dash (at least) and has been known to run faster.
“The 24-year-old ran the 40-yard dash with unofficial times of 4.35 and 4.38 seconds. As per reports, his official 40-time at the Clemson Pro Day was clocked in at 4.39 seconds. Shipley not only impressed fans and NFL scouts with his speed but also with his agility and strength.”
Shipley could play the McKinnon role as a speed guy. We’ll have to see if he knows how to block as well as Jerick McKinnon though. Having four selections in the top 95 picks is very attractive to me. I’m hoping Veach will consider a trade backwards to pick up more picks. The last three picks look like this:
Let me know wha you think.
Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne