The PFF Draft Daily will hit on a number of NFL Draft-related topics including recent news, scouting reports, PFF draft takes, and much more on a daily basis.
Strength of the draft
Tuesday we posted the first two rounds of our live seven-round mock draft, which featured 28 of our analysts acting as general manager for reach of the 32 teams (yours truly headed up the war rooms of Tennessee and Detroit). While there is still plenty of talent on the board as we run through Rounds 3-7 Wednesday, it was striking at how many defensive backs went off the board with the first 64 picks.
Jordan Plocher offered up the first surprise of the draft by claiming Ohio State CB Marshon Lattimore for Jacksonville at No. 4 overall, and the selections of safeties Malik Hooker and Jamal Adams to the Chargers and Bengals, respectively, made it three defensive backs in the top 10. While this by itself isn’t a huge shock considering the talent level of each player, it was certainly a sign of what was to come.
In all, seven defensive backs went in the first round, while a ridiculous 15 went in Round 2. Both of my teams have critical needs at both safety and CB, and I had to trade back into the second round just to hit the big run on cornerbacks with Tennessee (I selected Colorado CB Ahkello Witherspoon 41st overall), while selecting Michigan S Jabrill Peppers for Detroit with pick 57. Peppers was long thought to be a first-round lock, so the fact he was just the 18th defensive back off the board is a huge testament to our opinion of the depth at talent of this year’s defensive backs.
Of course, our mock draft is 28 different people offering their individual opinions based on our in-depth evaluations of every prospect. That said, don’t be surprised if there are close to 20 defensive backs taken in the first two rounds of the real draft next Thursday and Friday as well.
Take a look at our rankings of the top safeties and cornerbacks in the draft class to get an idea of the strength on that side:
PFF Podcast
Take a listen to the latest addition of the PFF Pro podcast, which this week features a special double-secret probation guest to discuss a brand-new scouting term of the week. Mike and Steve also discuss risers and fallers of the week, as well’s as Mike’s controversial mock draft from last week.
PFF Draft Board Update!
The PFF Draft Board is up to 250 and the latest version of PFF Draft Pass is ready to hit your inbox. Subscribers get full access PFF’s unique grades and stats, while all fans are free to read our 250 scouting reports on the website. Bookmark, click around, and enjoy the most detailed draft information around, the same data being used by NFL front offices and your favorite draft gurus.
© 2024 PFF - all rights reserved.