Unlike the mock drafting madness from a few days ago, this is a single-shot at the thing. Still going with TDN for the simulator but the picks are mine and here are my thoughts as it unfolded.
Two of the five top-rated players are running backs. While I'm on the record that drafting a replacement should be considered at least as often as extending Running Backs is, I'm bypassing those two this time. The choice is made easier by the fact that the other three all fit major needs for the Purple. So the choice is between Grant Delpit, Josh Jones & Justin Jefferson. Maybe Jefferson will shock the Football world this year and be the best of the deep & talented group. But because receiver is so deep & talented, that position is getting a line through it for now. Likewise, as good as Delpit may prove to be in the pros, Winfield Jr. is also still available so I'm sitting back on Safety for the moment.
Delpit & the running backs remain on the board but Jefferson ended up with New England in this go. Another well-known name yet to be called is QB Jordan Love so I would vote for a trade-down, especially if it could include 30/31/32. That's not an option, so instead I reached slightly for Yetur Gross-Matos, DE Penn State.
Sitting back and letting the draft unfold instead of hyperventilating about players that are supposedly vastly superior worked out in my favor. With a pair of Safeties and a pair of Receivers who would potentially be drafted earlier in a different year all still up for grabs, my team has a terrific chance to get another quick impact player. In this case, with all due to respect to Ashtyn Davis, Kyler Dugger & Michael Pittman Jr., Laviska Shenault is my pick & it wasn't too difficult.
Now it's time to address the biggest need of the roster before it gets too late. Out of Notre Dame, Troy Pride Jr. gets pegged as the next Cornerback to enter the fold with the only other option be more of a Slot Corner, which needs to be addressed but not quite as desperately.
And once again the simulator works out for me with the aforehinted-at Slot Corner remaining available. As much as I would like to draft Ben Bartch or Thaddeus Moss with 105, Amik Robertson from Louisiana Tech is the pick to help make up for the delay in addressing CB.
Now is the time when I could either double-down on one of the positions that has already been addressed, add a potential depth guy or swing for the fences. With six picks remaining after this one, there will plenty more chances to add depth & readdress positions. So swing for the fences is it - QB James Morgan, FIU!
Now another gift falls in my lap. No, not a Bison player because Derrek Tuszka was just taken by Atlanta but from just down the road from both Fargo & Eagan, Tyler Johnson WR Minnesota will join the Purple to fill the talent void created by the guy who would rather have Josh Allen.
At 201 the choice comes down to Tanner Muse, S Clemson or Justin Herron, OL Wake Forest. Since Safety is still a need even if Anthony Harris suits up for us this, Muse gets the nod. Maybe the third try at DB from the orange Tigers will work.
And the beauty of that part of the draft comes through again as they return to the spotlight at 205. Herron is still available and he's the pick!
With the 219th pick in the 2020 draft, the Purple select Nevelle Clarke, CB UCF. Go the well late and often!
Which leaves the interiors of the lines still in need. With the second to last of their selections and a potential value pick still available, DT Benito Jones Mississippi will be the latest piece of clay to be brought into the laboratory.
In conclusion, Lavert Hill, Cornerback from Michigan and we'll all get to see whether the head coach still has his magic dust for the position!
Four Corners, two offensive linemen, two receivers, two defensive linemen, a quarterback & a safety. The points at which the positions are called starting tomorrow won't be the same but that would go a LOOOOOONG way in simultaneously addressing needs and appeasing the fanbase.
But enough mock drafts. Let's get on with this thing already!!