Road to the Draft – Part 13
April 13, 2021
By Noonefromtampa
Welcome to the latest edition of The Hog Sty’s mock draft tracker column.
The rumor this week around the Washington Football Team is that the coaching staff is in love with Trey Lance and the team is considering a trade up in order to draft him. Such a trade would take considerable draft capital, most likely over more than one year. A move like that seems out of character with the direction for the team that the front office has articulated in media press conferences.
There were no major moves made last week that impacted the overall draft . A lot of people mocking drafts have various teams trading up to grab a quarterback, with as many as five quarterbacks going in the first ten picks. Expect a wild first round on day one.
The Mocks
The number of mock drafts published went up significantly this week from 220 to 241. The position distribution is now:
| Position | Picked Count | Picked % | Last Week % | % Change |
| OT | 61 | 25.31% | 26.82% | -1.51% |
| LB | 55 | 22.82% | 20.45% | 2.37% |
| QB | 45 | 18.67% | 20.91% | -2.24% |
| WR | 33 | 13.69% | 14.09% | -0.40% |
| IOL | 32 | 13.28% | 10.91% | 2.37% |
| CB | 5 | 2.07% | 1.82% | 0.26% |
| S | 4 | 1.66% | 1.36% | 0.30% |
| Edge | 3 | 1.24% | 1.36% | -0.12% |
| TE | 2 | 0.83% | 1.36% | -0.53% |
| DT | 1 | 0.41% | 0.91% | -0.49% |
| Grand Total | 241 | 100% |
The impact of Washington’s free agency signings is still showing up in the mocks being posted. Linebacker and interior offensive line both moved up almost 2.4%. Quarterback was down 2.2% and offensive tackle was down 1.5%. The rest of the positions had minor fluctuations. My opinion is that the most likely positions Washington may pick in the first round are linebacker or offensive line. If I could figure out who, I would lay out some money in Las Vegas.
The players mock picked to WFT at nineteen in descending frequency are:
| Player | Position | School | Picked Count | Picked % |
| Christian Darrisaw | OT | Virginia Tech | 40 | 16.60% |
| Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah | LB | Notre Dame | 33 | 13.69% |
| Mac Jones | QB | Alabama | 32 | 13.28% |
| Rashod Bateman | WR | Minnesota | 17 | 7.05% |
| Alijah Vera-Tucker | IOL | USC | 14 | 5.81% |
| Teven Jenkins | IOL | Oklahoma State | 14 | 5.81% |
| Samuel Cosmi | OT | Texas | 13 | 5.39% |
| Zaven Collins | LB | Tulsa | 10 | 4.15% |
| Kadarius Toney | WR | Florida | 7 | 2.90% |
| Trey Lance | QB | North Dakota State | 6 | 2.49% |
| Micah Parsons | LB | Penn State | 6 | 2.49% |
| Jamin Davis | LB | Kentucky | 4 | 1.66% |
| Jaylen Waddle | WR | Alabama | 4 | 1.66% |
| Alex Leatherwood | IOL | Alabama | 4 | 1.66% |
| Trevon Moehrig-Woodard | S | TCU | 3 | 1.24% |
| Caleb Farley | CB | Virginia Tech | 2 | 0.83% |
| Justin Fields | QB | Ohio St | 2 | 0.83% |
| Kyle Trask | QB | Florida | 2 | 0.83% |
| Devonta Smith | WR | Alabama | 2 | 0.83% |
| Jaelan Phillips | Edge | Miami | 2 | 0.83% |
| Spencer Brown | OT | Northern Iowa | 2 | 0.83% |
| Rondale Moore | WR | Purdue | 2 | 0.83% |
| Kyle Pitts | TE | Florida | 2 | 0.83% |
| Dillon Radunz | OT | North Dakota State | 2 | 0.83% |
| Liam Eichenberg | OT | Notre Dame | 2 | 0.83% |
| Greg Newsome II | CB | Northwestern | 1 | 0.41% |
| Azeez Ojulari | Edge | Georgia | 1 | 0.41% |
| Jalen Mayfield | OT | Michigan | 1 | 0.41% |
| Nick Bolton | LB | Missouri | 1 | 0.41% |
| Tua Tagovailoa | QB | Player Trade | 1 | 0.41% |
| Jaycee Horn | CB | South Carolina | 1 | 0.41% |
| Kellon Mond | QB | Texas A&M | 1 | 0.41% |
| Christian Barmore | DT | Alabama | 1 | 0.41% |
| Zack Wilson | QB | BYU | 1 | 0.41% |
| Eric Stokes | CB | Georgia | 1 | 0.41% |
| Baron Browning | LB | Ohio St | 1 | 0.41% |
| Elijah Moore | WR | Mississippi | 1 | 0.41% |
| Rashawn Slater | OT | Northwestern | 1 | 0.41% |
| Jevon Holland | S | Oregon | 1 | 0.41% |
While Christian Darrisaw still leads the list, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah has overtaken Mac Jones for the second spot on the list. This is not unexpected since he is the leading linebacker candidate in the draft most likely to be available at pick 19. The most significant changes from last week are Owusu-Koramoah, who was up 2%, Davis (up 1.2%), Bateman (up 1%), Leatherwood (up 0.7%), Collins (up 0.5%), Cosmi (down 0.5%) and Parsons (down 1.1%).
This is the breakdown of the percentages of players picked within the position group for the top five positions:
- Quarterback – Mac Jones (71.1% of QB picks), Trey Lance (13.3%), Justin Fields (4.4%), Kyle Trask (4.4%), Kellen Mond (2.2%), Zack Wilson (2.2%)
- Offensive tackle – Christian Darrisaw (65.6% of OT picks), Samuel Cosmi (21.3%), Spenser Brown (3.3%), Dillon Radnuz (3.3%), Liam Eichenberg (3.3%)
- Wide receiver – Rashod Bateman (51.5% of WR picks), Kadarius Toney (21.2%), Jaylen Waddle (12.1%), Rondale Moore (6%), Devonta Smith (6%), Elijah Moore (3%)
- Linebacker – Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (60%), Zaven Collins (18.2%), Micah Parsons (10.9%), Jamin Davis (7.3%), Nick Bolton (1.8%), Baron Browning (1.8%)
- Interior Offensive Line – Alijah Vera-Tucker (43.8%), Teven Jenkins (43.8%), Alex Leatherwood (12.5%)
Seventeen mockers have WFT trading the #19 pick, with the most popular spots being up to #7-Detroit and #14-Minnesota for a quarterback either Mac Jones or Trey Lance. Two mocks now have us trading back for additional day 2 picks with either Indianapolis or Green Bay. The trade down scenario focuses on Washington taking a linebacker or offensive lineman.
I still feel that the direction of Washington is to add more talent and build for the long-term. Going with that thought, I don’t see WFT trading a lot of picks this year to move up in the draft for quarterback. Outside of the quarterback issue, the team still needs to address roster needs such as linebacker and free safety as well as depth needed at tight-end, offensive line and cornerback
If you have any draft questions, post them in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @noonefromtampa.
Source: nflmockdraftdatabase.com