Round 2 NFL Mock Draft

There are plenty of talents who could have gone on Thursday night. Plus, two more quarterbacks come off the board

One team I talked to this week had 15 first-round grades on its final board. Another had 16. A third team that doesn’t grade them quite that way said it had the equivalent of 26. And all three then were looking at a mishmash of similar grades from there. “You get from 20-45,” said a personnel executive from another AFC team, “and there are just good players there. So if you’re at the back end of that, you’ll be happy to have them.” So with this, our second-round mock, you’re going to see names you’ve seen in first-round mocks the last few weeks. Derrius Guice. Josh Jackson. James Daniels. Will Hernandez. All of them fell because there were so many guys clumped together, which is why so many wanted to use picks late on Thursday to get more capital for Friday. And with that, here’s our early-morning look at how Friday could go.

• BEST AVAILABLE PLAYERS: Follow along all Friday night and Saturday on our draft tracker.

33. Cleveland: Connor Williams, T/G, Texas
Opinions are split on Williams. But he has some potential to play left tackle, which is a big need for the Browns.

34. N.Y. Giants: James Daniels, G/C, Iowa
Dave Gettleman continues to build his offensive line with a player some think is better than the guard/centers that went at 20 (Frank Ragnow) and 21 (Billy Price).

35. Cleveland (from Houston): Nick Chubb, RB, Georgia
This is a hunch, and it would have surprised me yesterday at noon if you told me four backs would go before Guice.

• THE SIGNS FOR BAKER MAYFIELD WERE THERE ALL ALONG: If you looked hard enough you could see evidence that the fiery Oklahoma product was Cleveland’s preferred QB.

36. Indianapolis: Harold Landry, OLB/DE Boston College
GM Chris Ballard needs athletes, and Landry is a first-round talent poised to rebound from an off year.

37. Indianapolis (from N.Y. Jets): Donte Jackson, CB, LSU
Speaking on athletes, here’s one who can really run and pair with Quincy Wilson in the Colts secondary.

38. Tampa Bay: Josh Jackson, CB, Iowa
Look what Jason Licht found for his secondary in the second round … Jackson’s slow 40 = Tampa getting a gift.

• FIRST-ROUND GRADES: Andy Benoit analyzes the first 32 picks.

39. Chicago: Lorenzo Carter, OLB, Georgia
If this former blue-chip recruit can live up to his athletic testing numbers Vic Fangio gets a premier pressure player.

40. Denver: Will Hernandez, G, UTEP
Denver was considering Quenton Nelson at 5 until Bradley Chubb landed in their laps. They get a pretty good guard anyway.

41. Oakland: Mike Gesicki, TE, Penn State
Jon Gruden loves his tight ends, and Gesicki gives him a fun a chess piece to move around the board.

42. Miami: Derrius Guice, RB, LSU
Guice’s availability tells me I underrated the issues teams had with his immaturity coming into the process.

43. New England (from San Francisco): Justin Reid, S, Stanford
A heady, versatile safety makes sense for a New England team that values the position, and has some age there.

44. Washington: Dallas Goedert, TE, South Dakota State
Goedert very easily could have gone at the tail end of the first round, and will pair well with Jordan Reed.

45. Green Bay: Sam Hubbard, OLB, Ohio State
Packers GM Brian Gutekunst needed corners and pass rushers coming in, and takes care of both with his first two picks.

46. Cincinnati: Ronnie Harrison, S, Alabama
Good value here, with a bigger hybrid-type stepping into a defense that’s gotten a little bit older.

• BUFFALO, ARIZONA THRILLED TO TRADE UP: Peter King on the two teams that got aggressive to find their QBs of the future.

47. Arizona: Christian Kirk, WR, Texas A&M
Arizona needs to stock the receiver position for Sam Bradford now and Josh Rosen later.

48. L.A. Chargers: Harrison Phillips, DL, Stanford
Another tough guy for Gus Bradley’s menacing defensive line.

49. Indianapolis (from Seattle via N.Y. Jets): Courtland Sutton, WR, SMU
Indy could use a bigger target for its receiver group, and Sutton’s all of that, even if he may need some time to develop.

50. Kansas City (projected trade with Dallas): Isaiah Oliver, CB, Colorado
Rumor is the Chiefs, sans a first-rounder, could move up for a corner today. So let’s project a trade.

51. Detroit: Ronald Jones, RB, USC
Need meets value as Detroit continues to build a run game for Matthew Stafford.

52. Philadelphia (from Baltimore): Austin Corbett, G, Nevada
The balance of the Eagles roster gives them options, and the interior of their offensive line makes this logical.

• FOR LAMAR JACKSON AND RAVENS, IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT: The dynamic former Heisman winner saw 31 other players taken ahead of him—cheering each one—but didn’t have to wait until Friday.

53. Tampa Bay (from Buffalo): Tyrell Crosby, OT, Oregon
Demar Dotson is hurt and 32, and so tabbing a tackle who’s slipped a little here makes all the sense in the world.

54. Dallas (projected trade with Kansas City): Uchenna Nwosu, OLB, USC
Dallas adds another versatile weapon for its front seven after grabbing Leighton Vander Esch at 19.

55. Carolina: Brian O’Neil, OT, Pittsburgh
The Panthers need to start re-stocking the offensive line, and passed on doing that in the first round.

56. Tampa Bay (from L.A. Rams via Buffalo): Jessie Bates, S, Wake Forest
Tampa gets a second defensive back in the round, and a versatile coverage piece that fits Mike Smith’s defense.

57. Tennessee: Carlton Davis, CB, Auburn
Tennessee wants tough, edgy guys, and Davis is that kind of player.

58. Atlanta: B.J. Hill, DT, N.C. State
Another case of a team addressing a need that it considered filling in the first round.

59. San Francisco (from New Orleans): James Washington, WR, Oklahoma State
Good value for Kyle Shanahan’s offense with a player that can strike downfield.

60. Pittsburgh: Mason Rudolph, QB, Oklahoma State
I felt all along that teams might not value Rudolph the same way the public did, which is why he’s available this late.

61. Jacksonville: Anthony Miller, WR, Memphis
You’ll have to find a role for him, but he’s competitive and produced, and seems like Doug Marrone’s kind of guy.

62. Minnesota: Orlando Brown, OT, Oklahoma
Brown’s fate is unpredictable. And I was tempted by Michigan’s Maurice Hurst, whose heart issue has scared most teams off.

63. New England: Luke Falk, QB, Washington State
Rumblings that the Patriots are interested in Falk have been floating around for a few weeks now.

64. Cleveland (from Philadelphia): D.J. Chark, WR, LSU
If Chark or a player like him were to fall into John Dorsey’s lap, could former first-round pick Corey Coleman come available?

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