The 2023 Mock Draft Thread

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sg14 said:
I'd be fine with them picking Witherspoon but don't see that happening when they have the Jones crew. Why add another small CB. And is Witherspoon equal to two good additions, i.e trade down.

As for picking another highly ranked Georgia player, that would make me nervous considering our track record.
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BB trading down from 14 is what most everyone expects. OT, CB, S and WR are all in play for the Pats first 4 picks. Who and where depends how the board flows.
 
TommyD420 said:
Or Witherspoon could be as good as Witherspoon right now, and not have to wait a year, and he'll be even better next year.

in my mind, he's the only guy you take instead of a franchise left tackle at 14. You can get another corner in the later rounds, and they're not hurting for corners.
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chevss454 said:
TheAthletic mock draft

14. New England Patriots: Devon Witherspoon, CB, Illinois

Former Patriots assistant Bret Bielema had arguably the top defensive player in the Big Ten in Witherspoon, a corner who coaches and scouts can’t stop raving about. The 5 feet 11 1/2, 181-pound Florida native plays much bigger than his measurables. That’s why I think some team will pick Gonzalez ahead of Witherspoon, the Big Ten defensive back of the year. Coaches I spoke to at the combine loved him in their meetings, saying his demeanor and personality really shined. The Pats already have promising young corners Marcus Jones and Jack Jones, but Witherspoon is a notch above, and that matters in a division with Stefon Diggs, Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and Garrett Wilson.

The Coaching Intel

“His physicality is just different. Not many cornerbacks are as tough. He’s pretty special. I think he’s just got savvy about him. He really understands the game. He would just smoke people. He made you really leery of throwing the flats. I’m glad he’s gone!”

“He has great football IQ. He’s really physical at the line of scrimmage; really fits the run; loves to throw his body around. We put an ‘X’ (on our scouting report) to go away from him. We were scared to attack him.”

“The media talked a lot about Joey Porter Jr. and I get why, because he’s super long. They talked a lot about the kid at Iowa (Riley Moss), but this guy was by far the best corner in our league. His instincts are rare. His ability to trigger is special.”

theathletic.com

Bruce Feldman's 2023 NFL mock draft: Sources dish on Stroud, Carter, Anderson and more

Sources praise the deep talent pool of edges this year and weigh in on each quarterback with first-round potential.
theathletic.com theathletic.com
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I like Witherspoon a lot, BUT:

I also think that to some extent he was able to play the way he did - fearless, like a high wire act with no net - because he had, well, a net. With apologies to our boys in Tuscaloosa, Sydney Brown and Quan Martin may have been the best safety tandem in the BCS last year. They cover a ton of ground, and Martin especially can blanket a WR on handoffs. They cover up a lot of mistakes. Part of Witherspoon's reputation for throwing himself around came from playing without worrying about making mistakes. If you're running on pure confidence, instinct, and talent, how much survives the first time you get scorched by Tyreek Hill or Justin Jefferson, and your backup can't cover it up?

Just a nagging thought that's bugged me some about Witherspoon. I don't think he's massively overrated or anything, but I think our read on him is a little cloudier than we want to admit.
 
Flagg the Wanderer said:
I like Witherspoon a lot, BUT:

I also think that to some extent he was able to play the way he did - fearless, like a high wire act with no net - because he had, well, a net. With apologies to our boys in Tuscaloosa, Sydney Brown and Quan Martin may have been the best safety tandem in the BCS last year. They cover a ton of ground, and Martin especially can blanket a WR on handoffs. They cover up a lot of mistakes. Part of Witherspoon's reputation for throwing himself around came from playing without worrying about making mistakes. If you're running on pure confidence, instinct, and talent, how much survives the first time you get scorched by Tyreek Hill or Justin Jefferson, and your backup can't cover it up?

Just a nagging thought that's bugged me some about Witherspoon. I don't think he's massively overrated or anything, but I think our read on him is a little cloudier than we want to admit.
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I dunno, Patriots secondary is pretty damned good. Probably better than Illinois.
 
I keep wondering Bill will move up a few spots and go for Peter Skoronski. Bill might like his versatility as you can play him OG or OT. He's projected to go Top 10 though, so it might be a reach. If he is available, though, when the pick comes, he'll be a great addition.
 
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chevss454 said:
Witherspoon has better strength and he loves to make tackles. He's very physical in run fits. He plays man coverage better and well enough to cover all but the best WRs 1 on 1. I'll take Witherspoon all day long.
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Wetherspoons had 40 tackles and 3 Its in 22 Gonzalez had 50 tackles and 4Ints, Ringo even had 42 tackles and 2 Ints. I don't see his making tackles as that impressive.
 
Patriots-Lifer said:
Wetherspoons had 40 tackles and 3 Its in 22 Gonzalez had 50 tackles and 4Ints, Ringo even had 42 tackles and 2 Ints. I don't see his making tackles as that impressive.
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Gonzalez would be great but he'll be long gone before 14. We have no realistic chance to get Gonzalez.
 
chevss454 said:
TheAthletic mock draft

14. New England Patriots: Devon Witherspoon, CB, Illinois

Former Patriots assistant Bret Bielema had arguably the top defensive player in the Big Ten in Witherspoon, a corner who coaches and scouts can’t stop raving about. The 5 feet 11 1/2, 181-pound Florida native plays much bigger than his measurables. That’s why I think some team will pick Gonzalez ahead of Witherspoon, the Big Ten defensive back of the year. Coaches I spoke to at the combine loved him in their meetings, saying his demeanor and personality really shined. The Pats already have promising young corners Marcus Jones and Jack Jones, but Witherspoon is a notch above, and that matters in a division with Stefon Diggs, Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and Garrett Wilson.

The Coaching Intel

“His physicality is just different. Not many cornerbacks are as tough. He’s pretty special. I think he’s just got savvy about him. He really understands the game. He would just smoke people. He made you really leery of throwing the flats. I’m glad he’s gone!”

“He has great football IQ. He’s really physical at the line of scrimmage; really fits the run; loves to throw his body around. We put an ‘X’ (on our scouting report) to go away from him. We were scared to attack him.”

“The media talked a lot about Joey Porter Jr. and I get why, because he’s super long. They talked a lot about the kid at Iowa (Riley Moss), but this guy was by far the best corner in our league. His instincts are rare. His ability to trigger is special.”

theathletic.com

Bruce Feldman's 2023 NFL mock draft: Sources dish on Stroud, Carter, Anderson and more

Sources praise the deep talent pool of edges this year and weigh in on each quarterback with first-round potential.
theathletic.com theathletic.com
Click to expand...

I don't want to pay to subscribe to the Athletic, but I have to admit that their stuff tends to be good. Like SI back in the day.

The point about the AFC East receivers we will need to cover is not new, but worth reiterating. If we were to select Witherspoon then we could get better at 3 positions.

Corner, obviously, because that guy will probably take right over, Slot Corner, because Marcus could be the best in the business there AND it might allow him to catch his breath and play more on Offense because J. Jones is a highly capable slot guy.

I keep coming back to the way Defenses paid a lot of attention to Marcus after he showed that speed a couple of times. You could clearly see that they
were nervous when he went in motion and made him a priority. We haven't seen a whole lot of that in recent years and here is a kid with very limited touches on
Offense who got instant respect. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that if he is running a Jet motion then people are going to pay less attention the box to cover him, which
benefits 'Mondre gashing the middle. We absolutely have to force teams out of the heavy box we've been facing consistently for the last couple of years with speed and
better talent outside the hashes. Well, Marcus is already here.

I think this sort of thing, a pick that has potential multiple benefits to the overall team, is something that would appeal to both BB and BoB because it presents multiple
options.

Of course, if you decide that Marcus matches up particularly well with, say, Tyreek Hill, then you give him more snaps on D. Keeping that kid involved is always going
to be a balancing act because nobody can play every snap on all 3 phases even if they are capable of excelling at all. Taking a stud Corner can have a
positive ripple effect that might prevent me from going apeshit from the Pats skipping over my binky, Darnell Wright.
 
Hawg73 said:
We absolutely have to force teams out of the heavy box we've been facing consistently for the last couple of years with speed and
better talent outside the hashes. Well, Marcus is already here.
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PLEASE!!!!
 
Hawg73 said:
If we were to select Witherspoon then we could get better at 3 positions.

Corner, obviously, because that guy will probably take right over, Slot Corner, because Marcus could be the best in the business there AND it might allow him to catch his breath and play more on Offense because J. Jones is a highly capable slot guy.
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...and cover safety at least situationally, because Jon Jones can slide into that role when we're facing an opponent with lot of slippery team speed (like Miami) and we need someone who can cover more real estate than Mills can. Or when we want multiple ballhawks on the field at once because we need a takeaway.
 
Flagg the Wanderer said:
...and cover safety at least situationally, because Jon Jones can slide into that role when we're facing an opponent with lot of slippery team speed (like Miami) and we need someone who can cover more real estate than Mills can. Or when we want multiple ballhawks on the field at once because we need a takeaway.
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While this opinion is somewhat dependent on Jack Jones sticking with the program and staying out of the timeout chair, this backfield, especially with a nice, juicy addition, could be the best group in the league in terms of being able to adapt to just about anything from going big (really big) to being able to deploy an entire group that can handle man coverage against spreads. And, no, I'm not including Myles Bryant who I wish nothing but good things going forward. Somewhere else. If there has been a Patriot backfield that had this much sheer range and adaptability then I can't
think of when. Maybe the Gilmore group was better in certain respects, because of him, but this bunch is nothing to sneeze at if Mills can play the DMac role at a reasonable level. If he is the man back there then there is a lot riding on him.

You never know how it's going to play out with injuries and so forth, but adding the Joneses in the last draft was a coup for the cost, although few really seemed to notice. Maybe Bill just got really, really lucky since he doesn't have any idea what the fuck he is doing and sucks at drafting. According to some of the top minds around here.

It occurred to me that here we are debating which stud Corner we're going to draft forgetting Bill's fetish for 2nd round Safeties that are completely off everybody's radar. Therefore, we trade down to get Stradvarius Quimpole from the Adirondack State Prison team who was projected to be an XFL priority free agent once he gets out. Either him or Brian Branch.

:shrug-n:
 
Patriots-Lifer said:
I never thought we would.
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Then why compare Tier 1 Gonzalez to Tier 2 Witherspoon? Gonzalez's numbers should be better if he's the top of the class but that doesn't mean Witherspoon isn't a great player.
 
chevss454 said:
Then why compare Tier 1 Gonzalez to Tier 2 Witherspoon? Gonzalez's numbers should be better if he's the top of the class but that doesn't mean Witherspoon isn't a great player.
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You are missing my point by looking at it to literally. I am simply saying is that Witherspoon's liking to tackle is not a unique thing. As Gonzalez, Ringo, Forbes, and Mitchell have all shown that to be the case.
 
Think about it. How many games have you watched and focused soley on Witherspoon or Gonzalez??? C'mon, be honest.
Or have you been reading every Mock Drafter, media bulletin and Television show?

How about someone who's picked off 14 passes and broke up 17 more over three seasons as a starter for the Bulldogs. Six of those interceptions went back the other way for touchdowns! His performance improve by leaps and bounds every season, as he finished with a career-high 89.3 coverage grade this past fall.

And he's only a JUNIOR!!!!!!

Emmanual Forbes CB 6'2" 180. Mississippi State
 
BigKen said:
Think about it. How many games have you watched and focused soley on Witherspoon or Gonzalez??? C'mon, be honest.
Or have you been reading every Mock Drafter, media bulletin and Television show?

How about someone who's picked off 14 passes and broke up 17 more over three seasons as a starter for the Bulldogs. Six of those interceptions went back the other way for touchdowns! His performance improve by leaps and bounds every season, as he finished with a career-high 89.3 coverage grade this past fall.

And he's only a JUNIOR!!!!!!

Emmanual Forbes CB 6'2" 180. Mississippi State
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As it is hard to tell who you directed that post to. I will tell you that because I am basically home bound I do watch a lot of video. Yes Forbes has great instincts and vision the only thing I hear and see about him as a negative is that he is so light. and can be fooled by quick footed WRs at times. He does have the speed to make up for it most of the time.
 
Patriots-Lifer said:
As it is hard to tell who you directed that post to. I will tell you that because I am basically home bound I do watch a lot of video. Yes Forbes has great instincts and vision the only thing I hear and see about him as a negative is that he is so light. and can be fooled by quick footed WRs at times. He does have the speed to make up for it most of the time.
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As a Forbes backer, I'll add that he probably takes too many risks, which is easier to survive in college than in the NFL. He's more Diggs than Revis, more Prime Time than Ty Law.

But man, a DBackfield of CBs Jones/Jones/Forbes and safeties Dugger and Jon Jones would be a friggin' pick factory. So much instinct, trigger speed, and explosiveness in that group...it would be terrifying, especially with Judon/Uche/Barmore forcing quick decisions and Phillips and Peppers blurring the reads as LB hybrids.

All that said, Forbes' size should have him fall like crazy, even into the range of the pick at 46 or a small trade up. I wouldn't take him at 15, and his bust risk is definitely higher than Witherspoon, Gonzalez, and Porter. His wrists and ankles make Thornton's look like he's one of the American Gladiators. He looks like Chris Tucker in Friday, for crying out loud.
 
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