Walter Football’s Consensus Big Board was just updated again today. Walter ranks the top 36 players from the big boards of Mel Kiper (ESPN), Todd McShay (ESPN), Rob Rang (CBS), Scott Wright (DraftCountdown.com), Tony Pauline (Sports Illustrated), Wes Bunting’s (NFP) and Mike Mayock (NFL Network).
I thought it would be interesting to see which of the bottom end of those 36 players might be available to the Titans in the second round when they select at #39 overall.
According to 13 mock drafts I surveyed, 32 of the 36 players on Walter’s consensus big board are most likely to be drafted in the first round by a particular team. We’ll look at the other four players, after the jump.
OT Derek Sherrod, 26th on Walter’s Big Board – Although he wasn’t named most often as a first-round pick of any one team, nine of the 13 mocks had him going somewhere in the first round: 21st, 22nd (by two mocks), 23 (2), 26, 27 and 29 (2). Sherrod will hopefully be off the board at #39.
TE Kyle Rudolph, 28th on Walter’s Big Board – Not a single one of the 13 mocks had Rudolph being a first-round selection by any team. TE is another position that’s not an early need for the Titans, so the hope is that someone takes him before #39.
CB Brandon Harris, 30th on Walter’s Big Board – Five different mocks have Harris going somewhere in the first round, the highest at #23 to the Eagles. He should also be gone by #39.
WR Jonathan Baldwin, 35th on Walter’s Big Board – Two mocks have him being selected in the first round. Again, it’s a position that’s not a great need, so you hope he’ll be taken before #39, leaving someone else more to the Titans’ liking.
If you have some confidence in those seven big boards, it probably means none of the top 36 will probably be available at #39. At least, none at a position of need. One good question here is how closely the Titans’ own big board jives with the consensus of Walter’s seven selected boards.
More items of interest:
DE/OLB Justin Houston is not listed on Walter’s consensus big board, but 10 of the 13 mocks thought he’d be a first-round selection by somebody. He’s projected by those 10 mocks to go at #18, 20 (2), 24, 26, 27 (2) and 28 (3), which consist of both 4-3 and 3-4 teams. Though some project his best fit as a 3-4 OLB, he has the size at 270 pounds to be a 4-3 DE. Houston played at both positions at Georgia, as the Bulldogs switched to the 3-4 last season. An outstanding pass rusher from either position, Houston should be a good player for somebody. He’s one guy that could conceivably fall to #39 if enough NFL teams don’t regard him any higher than the seven big boards. Probably slim odds of that, though.
WR Leonard Hankerson, also not on the 36-player consensus big board, is good enough that four of the mocks predicted he’d be a first-round selection (21, 26, 27, 28.) Let’s just hope he’s selected in the top 38.
OLB Jabaal Sheard is another player not among the top 36 on the big board consensus, but three mock drafts think he has the talent to be a first-round pick (27, 30, 32.) He’s a 3-4 OLB, so the Titans won’t be interested but will hope someone else will be. Two teams in particular have a strong need at the position, if they don’t fill that need in the first round – New England at #33 and Arizona at #38. Buffalo at #34 is also a possibility.
Assuming that none of the projected first-rounders fall to #39, who might that leave for the Titans? Here are some possibilities.
DT Marvin Austin – Two of the mock drafts predicted he’d be selected in the first round but character concerns could very well cause him to fall to Round Two.
DT Drake Nevis – Considered by some to have first-round talent. I personally don’t believe he’d be a good fit or good value at 39, at least not for the Titans.
MLB Martez Wilson – Rated as the top prospect at his position and the Titans could lose Stephen Tulloch in free agency.
OLB Bruce Carter – Considered one of the top players in the country prior to an ACL injury last year. Medical opinions ought to be a major factor in determining who will take a chance on him and at which point in the draft.
G/T Orlando Franklin – Projects as a guard or a right tackle. He’s the type of run blocker who could be an upgrade over Leroy Harris, who could be leaving in free agency. However, unless the Titans have him graded higher than most, he could be a reach at #39.
DE/OLB Brooks Reed – Tweener who’s probably a better fit as a 3-4 OLB but will also be looked at as a 4-3 DE. If you believe Mike Reinfeldt’s statement that the Titans are looking for more bulk at DE, that would seem to eliminate the 263-pound Reed from consideration, though that’s just about the same size as Robert Quinn.
QBs Ryan Mallett, Colin Kaepernick, Andy Dalton, Christian Ponder – With so many quarterbacks likely to be available in the second round, this ought to be a very strong possibility for the Titans. We’ll have more on the quarterbacks here on Total Titans as the draft approaches.
Following are the most popular picks from my survey of the thirteen mock drafts.
1. CAR – QB Cam Newton
2. DEN – DT Marcell Dareus
3. BUF – QB Blaine Gabbert
4. CIN – WR A.J. Green
5. ARI – LB Von Miller
6. CLE – DE Robert Quinn
7. SF – CB Patrick Peterson
8. TEN – DT Nick Fairley
9. DAL – OT Tyron Smith
10. WAS – WR Julio Jones
11. HOU – DE J.J. Watt
12. MIN – DE Da’Quan Bowers
13. DET – CB Prince Amukamara
14. STL – DT Corey Liuget
15. MIA – RB Mark Ingram
16. JAC – DE Ryan Kerrigan
17. NE – C/G Mike Pouncey, DE Cameron Jordan (tie)
18. SD – DT Muhammad Wilkerson
19. NYG – OT Anthony Castanzo
20. TB – DE Aldon Smith, DE Adrian Clayborn (tie)
21. KC – DT Phil Taylor, OT Gabe Carimi (tie)
22. IND – OT Nate Solder
23. PHI – CB Jimmy Smith
24. NO – DE Cameron Heyward
25. SEA – QB Jake Locker
26. BAL – CB Jimmy Smith
27. ATL – WR Torrey Smith
28. NE – G Danny Watkins
29. CHI – DT Stephen Paea
30. NYJ – LB Akeem Ayers
31. PIT – CB Aaron Williams, G/T Ben Ijalana (tie)
32. GB – LB Akeem Ayers
Four mocks predicted the Patriots would select Pouncey, while four others believed they would take Jordan. Similar results occurred with the Buccaneers, Chiefs and Steelers. Another note of interest was that two players were selected twice. Jimmy Smith was named more often than any other player at #23 for the Eagles, and he was also named more often than anyone else as the Ravens’ pick at #26. Similarly, Ayers was the favorite to be the selection of both the Jets and Packers. Because of the ties and the double dips, 34 players in all are listed above. Will any of the 34 fall to #39?
Eight of the 13 mock drafts had Fairley going to the Titans. Elsewhere in the division, 11 of the 13 believed Kerrigan would be the Jaguars’ pick. It wasn’t as close with the Texans or Colts. Besides Watt, others predicted for the Texans were Amukamara and Jordan, while Solder, Castonzo, Carimi, Liuget and Sherrod were all popular Colts’ picks.
For the record, the 13 mocks I consulted were the latest by Optimum Scouting, Don Banks, Wes Bunting, Xtra Point Football, Walter Football, DraftTek, four CBS mocks (Rang, Reuter, Judge and Prisco), KFFL, Scott Wright and NFL Draft 101. I’ll also be very interested in Rick Gosselin’s mock draft when it’s released, as I value his mocks very highly.
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