It's Officially Mock Madness Season
In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter, presented by Bud Light, we compare two of the latest mock drafts and how the first round is shaping up.
In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter, presented by Bud Light:
It's the last weekend of March, and you know what that means.
Madness.
Mock Madness, specifically.
We are now a little under a month away from the NFL draft and almost all the big free agency moves have already been made, so now is the time when the draftniks can really start to let the mocks fly.
With that in mind, we at Fantasy Life have published two mocks this week.
With that in mind, and given that every Saturday edition of the Fantasy Life Newsletter is now dedicated to the NFL draft, I want to use this space below to explore the similarities and differences between the two mocks.
Check out our Fantasy Life NFL Draft Hub for all of our draft content.
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These Guys WILL Go in Round 1
These are the 30 guys both Thor and I include in our mock drafts.
- QB: Cameron Ward (Miami), Shedeur Sanders (Colorado)
- RB: Ashton Jeanty (Boise State), Omarion Hampton (North Carolina)
- WR: Travis Hunter (Colorado), Tetairoa McMillan (Arizona), Matthew Golden (Texas)
- TE: Tyler Warren (Penn State), Colston Loveland (Michigan)
- OT: Armand Membou (Missouri), Will Campbell (LSU), Kelvin Banks (Texas), Josh Simmons (Ohio State), Grey Zabel (North Dakota State)
- OG: Tyler Booker (Alabama)
- EDGE: Abdul Carter (Penn State), Jalon Walker (Georgia), Shemar Stewart (Texas A&M), Mykel Williams (Georgia), Mike Green (Marshall), James Pearce (Tennessee)
- DT: Mason Graham (Michigan), Kenneth Grant (Michigan), Walter Nolen (Mississippi)
- LB: Jihaad Campbell (Alabama)
- CB: Will Johnson (LSU), Jahdae Barron (Texas), Maxwell Hairston (Kentucky)
- S: Malaki Starks (Georgia), Nick Emmanwori (South Carolina)
I'm not saying it's a lock that all these guys will go in the top 32, but whenever the sportsbooks release odds on players to go in Round 1, I'll be eyeing those intently.
Over the past six years (since I started submitting mocks in competitions), I’m the No. 2 mocker for accuracy, and I'm a lifetime 484-424 (+102.6 units) betting on the draft. Subscribe to our free Betting Life Newsletter for regular guidance, best bets, and more.
Skill-Position Symmetry
Thor and I have identical landing spots in our mocks for almost all the skill-position players we include.
- 1.01: Titans - QB Cam Ward (Miami)
- 1.02: Browns - QB Shedeur Sanders (Colorado)
- 1.03: Giants - WR/CB Travis Hunter (Colorado)
- 1.06: Raiders - RB Ashton Jeanty (Boise State)
- 1.12: Cowboys - WR Tetairoa McMillan (Arizona)
- 1.14: Colts - TE Colston Loveland (Michigan)
- 1.18: Seahawks - WR Matthew Golden (Texas)
- 1.20: Broncos - RB Omarion Hampton (North Carolina)
We differ on TE Tyler Warren (Penn State), whom I have going to the Jets at No. 7 and Thor has slated to the Saints at No. 9. Either way, we both view Warren as the No. 1 TE in the class and a top-10 prospect.
Assuming Warren lands with a team that plans to use him immediately as its starting TE and a full member of the passing attack, he could be a dominant force as a rookie, given that last year he had a team-best 104-1,233-8 receiving—and also 26-218-4 rushing.
I'm the highest on Warren in our Fantasy Life fantasy rankings, where I already have him as the No. 8 TE overall.
HOW DOES THOR RANK THE ROOKIE TEs?
Examining Emeka Egbuka
This might be the first mock in which I haven't included Egbuka, whom Thor slated to the Steelers at No. 21.
Here's some of what Thor has to say about him in the mock.
Egbuka doesn’t profile as a flashy alpha WR1, but as an ultra-reliable secondary option out of the slot—similar to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, his former Ohio State teammate. Egbuka is the best in this class at immediately denoting zone coverage and finding the open area. He’d fit in really well playing between George Pickens and DK Metcalf.
I get it. I've had Egbuka going to the Steelers in previous mocks.
But now I'm increasingly skeptical that we'll see Egbuka in Round 1, as he has been replaced in the WR hierarchy by Golden, who dominated the combine (4.29-second 40-yard dash at 5-11, 191 lbs.).
It's possible that Egbuka could see his draft stock rebound after his pro day, where he exhibited decent athleticism (4.48-second 40 at 6-1, 201 lbs., per ESPN's Jordan Reid).
But Egbuka is yet to prove that he can win consistently on the perimeter, and that limitation might make NFL decision makers wary of investing Round 1 capital into him.
FULL EMEKA EGBUKA SCOUTING REPORT
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