Mock Offseason 3.0

[FAN_O_THE_ATL]

 

FA

 

Bruce Irvin SLB - the only pricey FA on the list but is a major upgrade at SLB, improves pass rush and brings some much needed nastiness

Sean Weatherspoon WLB/MLB  - can play both MLB and WLB and can serve as a stopgap if we plan to invest in our MLB of the future in this draft. Shouldn't break the bank. 

Mark Barron, SS - an upgrade at SS who will play the Chancelor role and can drop down to WLB if needed. Also shouldn't break the bank. 

Ben Jones, C - a veteran C to slot in and start. 

Coby Fleener, TE - should be an affordable option to compliment with Tamme

 

Draft

This draft is deep with DL and also has some talented LBs that fit our scheme. I think we see Myles Jack, Jaylon Smith, Derron Lee, and Reggie Ragland as major upgrades. At 17 Jack is off the board but the other three are still on. I have us trading down and picking up an extra 3rd round pick. In all honesty I hope we trade down 3 or 4 spots two or three times. I would be happy if we had to make our first pick in the high 20's or even the beginning of the 2nd round if that's what it takes to load up on additional 3rd, 4th, and 5th round picks. If a mock with a trade down is an issue for you then just disregard the second 3rd round pick. 

 

1. Jaylon Smith LB, Notre Dame

2. Carl Nassib DE, Penn St

3. Nick Martin C/OG, Notre Dame

3. Braxton Miller WR, Ohio St

4. Chris Jones DT, Mississippi St

7.  Jake McGee TE, Florida

 

 

Offensive Depth Chart:

QB: Ryan, Renfree

RB: Freeman, Coleman, Ward/UDFA

FB: DiMarco

WR: Jones, White, Miller, Hardy, Williams, Weems

TE: Tamme, Fleener, Toilolo or McGee

LT: Matthews, Long

LG: Martin, Person

C: Jones, Gradkowski

RG: Chester, Person

RT: Schraeder, Long

Defensive Depth Chart:

DE: Nassib, Clayborn

DT: Soliai, Hageman

DT: Jarrett, Jones

DE: Beasley, Scholfield

SLB: Irvin, Reed

MLB: Smith/Weatherspoon, Worrilow

WLB: Durant, Weatherspoon

CB: Trufant, Alford, Collins, Adams, King

FS: Allen, Therezie

SS:  Barron, Ishmael

Special Teams:

K: Graham/UDFA

P: Bosher

LS: Harris

[Macintez]

1. Braxton Miller won't fall to the 4th after his Senior Bowl performance. He may be a low first/high second round pick.

2. Spoon ain't coming back, sorry.

3. Fleener drops more passes than anyone I've ever seen, and Andrew Luck is his QB. Dude throws the most catchable ball in the league and he still drops them, FREQUENTLY! A thousand times no.

4. We won't trade down, that many times. Not a bad idea though, but I doubt Smith is available in the late 20's but if he is it will be for the wrong reasons. I seriously doubt if he's the same player after that injury.

5. Hive Sop Dap.

[Adam25]

It's okay, but I honestly feel like you didn't address LB, why ? Weatherspoon is most definitely going to miss time with an injury, Jaylon Smith while prolific, will miss time this season, there's no way he's back for week one with the type of injury he had. I like the signing's of Ben Jones, Bruce Irvin and Coby Fleener, the only thing with Fleener is that he's not much of a blocker. If at all possible I'd like to get his counterpart Dwayne Allen. I don't really like Mark Barron, I think we could go an alternative route their for SS. Barron played mostly LB this year, that's why he was so effective.

Now the draft, while I like it, it's incredibly unrealistic. Braxton Miller is a fringe first round pick and Nick Martin is a second round pick all day. If you swaped Nassib and Nick Martin that would likely be a better route.

[birdz4i]

this is going to be a long azz off season.

[Falcanuck]

4 hours ago, Macintez said:

1. Braxton Miller won't fall to the 4th after his Senior Bowl performance. He may be a low first/high second round pick.

2. Spoon ain't coming back, sorry.

3. Fleener drops more passes than anyone I've ever seen, and Andrew Luck is his QB. Dude throws the most catchable ball in the league and he still drops them, FREQUENTLY! A thousand times no.

4. We won't trade down, that many times. Not a bad idea though, but I doubt Smith is available in the late 20's but if he is it will be for the wrong reasons. I seriously doubt if he's the same player after that injury.

5. Hive Sop Dap.

Hive sop dap 4 lyfe

[Smiler11]

I'd be over the moon if this happened. I can take or leave Carl Nassib in the 2nd, but everything else I love and it's pretty close to what I would do.

[Rise]

Where are the "Fix the Pass-rush" Mock Offseasons and Drafts?

Panthers have Luke, and an OLB with 3-4 reconstructive surgeries, and one Pro Bowl DB in the secondary, and they look awesome as a defense because they continue to draft the best DEs and DTS in the top 3 rounds every draft..

Why are all of these 4-3 LB Mocks here?

 

They won't win by overpaying LBs...They need another couple of DLinemen who can jump the snap count.. LBS can't cover forever!! They have to stop the run as well.

I'm shocked... Good LBs can be had latter...

Can these LBS  turn-and run into coverage like Wagner does for The Seahawks--when Quinn was there? without the Seahawks pass-rush to help them?

 

[Sponge]

Thanks for the mock. I enjoy reading them during this time due to the lack of news for the Falcons. 

I think we would be lucky to see Smith @17, but trading down isn't an option and still picking him.

I have no problem with Spoon coming back as long as he accepts the "prove-it" deal he turned down last offseason.

I can live with the the rest.

 

[The Rock]

I would love that draft but I don't think it's realistic. Jack and Smith will likely be gone by 17. And Miller is going 2nd or 3rd round at the latest. But I enjoy mocks that are somewhere close to being considered realistic 

[OBXFalcon]

I love reading mock drafts/offseasons but I'm sorry this just doesn't seem realistic to me. Weatherspoon isn't coming back and he is like a wet paper bag anyway, Jaylon Smith will probably be gone before we pick and no way Braxton Miller falls to the 4th round.

[trubirdfan4life]

spoon?

[Knight of God]

Good stuff, hate the Spoon pick.

[FAN_O_THE_ATL]

19 hours ago, Adam25 said:

It's okay, but I honestly feel like you didn't address LB, why ? Weatherspoon is most definitely going to miss time with an injury, Jaylon Smith while prolific, will miss time this season, there's no way he's back for week one with the type of injury he had. I like the signing's of Ben Jones, Bruce Irvin and Coby Fleener, the only thing with Fleener is that he's not much of a blocker. If at all possible I'd like to get his counterpart Dwayne Allen. I don't really like Mark Barron, I think we could go an alternative route their for SS. Barron played mostly LB this year, that's why he was so effective.

Now the draft, while I like it, it's incredibly unrealistic. Braxton Miller is a fringe first round pick and Nick Martin is a second round pick all day. If you swaped Nassib and Nick Martin that would likely be a better route.

Actually I think I way over-addressed LB. Weatherspoon is meant to be a bridge to Smith returning at some point in the season. Worst case is Worrilow steps back in if Spoon gets hurt in the near term.

What SS route would you prefer instead of Barron?

As for the draft being realistic I used CBS rankings.  I had Braxton Miller in the 3rd.  The I did stretch Chris Jones to the 4th.  That said those ranking are fluid and I wouldn't be surprised to see some of these guys like Miller go higher than currently projected  

 

 

[FAN_O_THE_ATL]

8 hours ago, Rise said:

Where are the "Fix the Pass-rush" Mock Offseasons and Drafts?

Panthers have Luke, and an OLB with 3-4 reconstructive surgeries, and one Pro Bowl DB in the secondary, and they look awesome as a defense because they continue to draft the best DEs and DTS in the top 3 rounds every draft..

Why are all of these 4-3 LB Mocks here?

 

They won't win by overpaying LBs...They need another couple of DLinemen who can jump the snap count.. LBS can't cover forever!! They have to stop the run as well.

I'm shocked... Good LBs can be had latter...

Can these LBS  turn-and run into coverage like Wagner does for The Seahawks--when Quinn was there? without the Seahawks pass-rush to help them?

 

Agree that pass rush is a huge problem. Fix the pass rush was part of this mock draft.  Bruce Irvin in FA is an improvement, Nassib at DE is an improvement (even though he's not my favorite DE), Chris Jones' ability to push the pocket is an improvement, and Smith's ability to bring pressure from LB is an improvement. What would you have done differently?

[FAN_O_THE_ATL]

1 hour ago, Knight of God said:

Good stuff, hate the Spoon pick.

I don't love the Spoon pick but we'd need a short term upgrade if Smith were going to be our MLB of the future. I thought Spoon would be affordable, can be had on a 1-2 year deal, would be an upgrade at MLB (as bad as that sounds), and can also provide value at WLB. Other than injury risks I think he checks a lot of boxes. I'm open to other suggestions though???

[Knight of God]

25 minutes ago, FAN_O_THE_ATL said:

I don't love the Spoon pick but we'd need a short term upgrade if Smith were going to be our MLB of the future. I thought Spoon would be affordable, can be had on a 1-2 year deal, would be an upgrade at MLB (as bad as that sounds), and can also provide value at WLB. Other than injury risks I think he checks a lot of boxes. I'm open to other suggestions though???

Nah, this was good. You don't need suggestions.

[Adam25]

1 hour ago, FAN_O_THE_ATL said:

Actually I think I way over-addressed LB. Weatherspoon is meant to be a bridge to Smith returning at some point in the season. Worst case is Worrilow steps back in if Spoon gets hurt in the near term.

What SS route would you prefer instead of Barron?

As for the draft being realistic I used CBS rankings.  I had Braxton Miller in the 3rd.  The I did stretch Chris Jones to the 4th.  That said those ranking are fluid and I wouldn't be surprised to see some of these guys like Miller go higher than currently projected  

 

 

You didn't in the sense that two of the LB's likely won't be playing much this year so we'd still have a gaping hole at the core of the group. Also, Worrilow is a FA, so I'm assuming you signed him back ? I don't really know the details. Also, CBS is fine, but you also have to watch other things to see where players are going. I LOVE the idea of trading back in this draft, but Miller wouldn't be there.

Honestly, for SS I'd love to sign George Iloka, but that's a pipedream. Tashaun Gibson, Rashad Johnson, Reggie Nelson, Tyvon Branch Eric Weddle ? All options at S.

[FAN_O_THE_ATL]

13 hours ago, Adam25 said:

You didn't in the sense that two of the LB's likely won't be playing much this year so we'd still have a gaping hole at the core of the group. Also, Worrilow is a FA, so I'm assuming you signed him back ? I don't really know the details. Also, CBS is fine, but you also have to watch other things to see where players are going. I LOVE the idea of trading back in this draft, but Miller wouldn't be there.

Honestly, for SS I'd love to sign George Iloka, but that's a pipedream. Tashaun Gibson, Rashad Johnson, Reggie Nelson, Tyvon Branch Eric Weddle ? All options at S.

Fair point. Weatherspoon might not be the right guy in this scenario. His stats from last year were pretty bad. I think Worrilow is a RFA so I assume we keep him, but he can't be our starting MLB if we expect to improve. 

I like Iloka too as well as Weddle from that group. 

[Smiler11]

I don't see what is wrong with bringing Spoon in on a relatively low contract with limited guarantees. He can play will or mike in this defense at a relatively high level. If he catches the injury bug you can cut him penalty free.  

Its a low risk high reward pick up 

[ryanadonis]

6-10. The fact you have Weatherspoon as a free agent pick up is just wow.   Nothing was made to change the Pass Rush.  You think Bruce Irvin will save the pass rush?  He can't even dominate on a great defensive team like the Seahawks.  In fact, he is coming off the bench rather than starting for them.  Nothing changed, you got new linebackers, that is about it.  The team would be looking at a losing season. 

[FAN_O_THE_ATL]

5 hours ago, R_The_Great said:

6-10. The fact you have Weatherspoon as a free agent pick up is just wow.   Nothing was made to change the Pass Rush.  You think Bruce Irvin will save the pass rush?  He can't even dominate on a great defensive team like the Seahawks.  In fact, he is coming off the bench rather than starting for them.  Nothing changed, you got new linebackers, that is about it.  The team would be looking at a losing season. 

No one player is going to SAVE the pass rush. Who on our current roster was better than Irvin at rushing the passer last year?  It's called upgrading the roster.  Sadly Schoefield, who was definitely a backup with Seattle, was one of our best defenders this past yr. 

And to repeat...Fix the pass rush was part of this mock.  Bruce Irvin in FA is an improvement, Nassib at DE is an improvement (even though he's not my favorite DE), Chris Jones' ability to push the pocket is an improvement, and Smith's ability to bring pressure from LB is an improvement. 

Which player are you banking on to save the pass rush,

[kiwifalcon]

33 minutes ago, FAN_O_THE_ATL said:

No one player is going to SAVE the pass rush. Who on our current roster was better than Irvin at rushing the passer last year?  It's called upgrading the roster.  Sadly Schoefield, who was definitely a backup with Seattle, was one of our best defenders this past yr. 

And to repeat...Fix the pass rush was part of this mock.  Bruce Irvin in FA is an improvement, Nassib at DE is an improvement (even though he's not my favorite DE), Chris Jones' ability to push the pocket is an improvement, and Smith's ability to bring pressure from LB is an improvement. 

Which player are you banking on to save the pass rush,

Oliver Vernon or Mario Williams at LDE would go along way to fixing our pass rush. 

[Sobeit]

I like this a lot and I think the 3rd is a good spot for Miller. Though someone may get anxious in the 2nd if they are really needing a WR. In the 2nd I would probably go Bullard, Jonathan DT 6'2" 283 Florida who can play outside and inside. Then in the 4th I would probably look at Cajuste, Devon WR/TE 6'3"  Stanford or Williams, Bryce TE 6'5" 260 East Carolina. I would probably look at LBer in the 3rd the MLB from Kentucky should be there and I think he is a big time sleeper. Then I would consider trading up a round and grabbing the center of the future for the zone scheme in Blythe, Austin C 6'2" 291 Iowa.

Also the last good weight I can find on Cajuste is close to 230 it seems he expects to change positions in the pros.

Edited February 5, 2016 by Sobeit

[Atlfanstckndenver]

12 hours ago, kiwifalcon said:

Oliver Vernon or Mario Williams at LDE would go along way to fixing our pass rush. 

I agree but Vernon isn't leaving Miami.  Mario however would be very interesting to me.  He could even play Jackson's role in the base defense on top of playing as a nickel pass rusher. I view signing Williams kinda like what happened with the packers after the got Peppers. It would help stabilize the defense in a few ways,  while giving us time and flexibility to continue building through the draft. 

[kiwifalcon]

19 minutes ago, Atlfanstckndenver said:

I agree but Vernon isn't leaving Miami.  Mario however would be very interesting to me.  He could even play Jackson's role in the base defense on top of playing as a nickel pass rusher. I view signing Williams kinda like what happened with the packers after the got Peppers. It would help stabilize the defense in a few ways,  while giving us time and flexibility to continue building through the draft. 

Yep that how I see it also.

The only thing I have about signing Mario is how close is he if he hasn't already fallen off the cliff.

If he he still has gas left I see a 10 sack guy at LDE in this defense as that's how DQ will use him he'll pin his ears back in most situations and won't give up a lot against the run either.