Tom Shane’s Draft Media Brain Worms 2024 Mock Draft

From the JetNation Forums, courtesy of TomShane.

So, I’ve gotten big into listening to podcasts at work to make the day go by and, predictably, it’s turned my brain into rock candy, and I thought I’d share with the group the fetid stew of information gleaned from these more reputable NFL podcasts, in mock draft form, for those whose lives are spent doing more fulfilling, normal things.

2024 Mock Draft

1. Bears: Caleb Williams

Pretty much a lock at this point. The smart QB draft guys have all coalesced around Williams being in that Luck/Trevor tier of prospect that they all love. I thought earlier on that Washington would make a push to trade up because Williams is from DC and his dad is a bit of a meddler. But, both Williams and the Bears are speaking openly about the inevitability of this pick.
2. Commanders: Jayden Daniels

A week ago, Vegas had this as a near-certainty to happen, but things have tightened considerably since. Rumors persist that Daniels prefers the Pats, and this week Daniels’ agent indicated Daniels was pissed about flying into DC for what he thought was a one on one interview, which turned into a pack of prospects—including the other top QBs—getting dragged to Top Golf for some whack sociological experiment to see how those prospects responded in that setting. Commanders GM Adam Peters is a Niners progeny, and head coach Dan Quinn is the ultimate vibes guy—does Daniels being a titty-baby scare them off this pick? Daniels responded by flying out to Minnesota for an interview with their higher-ups. Schefter has been pounding away on Daniels being the Commies’ guy, though he has recently suggested that things aren’t as locked up as they were pre-Top Golf. Personally, I would lose my sh*t if somebody made me go to Top Golf.

3. Patriots OR Vikings: Drake Maye

There is some thought that there exists a division at the top ranks of the Pats hierarchy. New Not-GM Eliot Wolf (he hasn’t been given the title officially) and head coach Jerod Mayo are ok with trading out of this pick because the offensive talent is threadbare and it’ll require a multi-year rebuild just to get to average, but Robert Kraft is old and wants to reassert himself into running the team after finally ridding himself of scumbag Bill Belichick, and he wants to kick off the new era by bringing in a fresh-faced new QB. There is some thought that Kraft would prefer JJ McCarthy because of the Michigan QB connection, but Maye is the more physically talented prospect, even though Maye’s game is getting absolutely savaged in most corners of the draft media spectrum. The Vikings are very clearly trying to come up for a QB and they can currently offer #11, #23, and future picks for #3, but there’s some debate as to which QB Minnesota prefers. They were heavily rumored to prefer McCarthy after the Combine (due to some allusions made by GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah), but the Vikings recently hired Josh McCown as their QB coach, and McCown was Maye’s coach in high school (h/t @derp). But if Daniels falls, he becomes the consensus top QB on the board here, at which point do the Pats just stick and take him? Big hinge point here, but the guess is that Kraft will put his foot down for Drake Maye.
4. Cardinals: Marvin Harrison Jr. 

Some thought that the Cardinals want to trade out of this pick (most commonly to the Vikings, for the reasons discussed above), but would they pass on pairing Marvin Harrison Jr with Kyler Murray? GM Monti Ossenfort manipulated several trades last year and looked like a genius in the end, but at some point, he’s going to have to win some games. The Cards have a lot of draft capital already, so unless they find a sucker team desperate to come up for McCarthy, the prevailing wisdom is that they just stick and pick their new Larry Fitzgerald.
5. Chargers or Vikings or Giants or Raiders or Denver: ?

Nobody knows what’s going to happen at this spot. It’s widely presumed the Chargers will sell this pick to the highest bidder for JJ McCarthy, but nobody really knows because Jim Harbaugh is a bit of a nutbag who might want to use this pick on JC Latham or whomever he determines is the most macho guy on the board. It’d seem to be a perfect landing spot for Joe Alt, but they already have Rashawn Slater at LT, and it’s unclear that Alt is the type of sh*tkicker that Harbaugh prefers at RT, which could leave an opening for a guy like Latham—whom the OL community loves-loves—or even Fuaga. Chargers could also go receiver here, but Harbaugh is weird about his receivers dating back to his time with the Niners (ended up drafting catastrophic first-round bust AJ Jenkins and trading for Anquan Boldin). BUT, Harbaugh has also signaled that the Chargers would be fine moving down, in which case the bidding war for McCarthy breaks out. Giants and Vikings are supposedly hot for McCarthy, but Denver is desperate, and the Raiders are the Raiders. The Broncos probably lack the draft capital to get it done, but Payton could throw Pat Surtain on the table if he really wants to go for it. (Broncos insider Ben Albright strongly denies that Surtain will be traded fwiw).
6. Giants: Rome Odunze OR Drake Maye

Daboll is allegedly in love with both Odunze and Nabers, so it could be a preference thing for them. Odunze is a big-bodied receiver the Giants currently lack, and he’s the perfect target vacuum for the Giants scattershot QBs in Daniel Jones and Drew Lock. There is some thought that the Giants could aggressively pursue McCarthy as a means to reset the clock on Daboll’s job security, but he probably doesn’t have that kind of time regardless. That said, what do the Giants do if Drake Maye slides to them? Joe Schoen was in Buffalo when they took a similar prospect in Josh Allen, and Daboll is the coach who’s largely credited with converting Allen from a running back (h/t @Jetsfan80 into an All Pro QB. Hard to see how they pass on that potential.
7. Titans: Joe Alt

This has been the scratch pick all along because the Titans OL has been terrible, and they currently have nothing at LT. In recent days, rumors have surfaced that the Titans are trying to move down because they have the best OL coach in the sport in Bill Callahan and don’t have to draft a ready-made tackle here. Seems unlikely because Alt is Callahan’s platonic ideal of an offensive lineman.

8. Jets or Denver or Bills or Bengals: Malik Nabers OR Brock Bowers

This is the Atlanta pick and they’re all but assured to trade out of it because they’ve picked in the top ten three straight years and they’ve taken offensive skills guys with each of those picks. No more. The Bills are desperate for a receiver and their window is rapidly closing. The Bengals are probably losing Tee Higgins next year (if they don’t trade him this week), and will need a replacement, and they could also use Bowers pretty effectively because Burrow throws to all areas of the field. And the Jets should move up for Nabers, but could they put together a package to move up two spots that’d make it worthwhile for the Falcons to move to ten? If the Falcons don’t see the need to stay at 8 to draft their favorite defensive player, what good does it do them to drop to ten? For what, a fourth and a future third? Eh. From the Jets perspective, you’d want the Colts or Bengals to come up for Bowers or OL help, which could drive Nabers down.
9. Bears: Malik Nabers

This is another pick that’s widely believed to be for sale at a relative discount but, as with the Falcons pick, it’s dependent on someone wanting Bowers or Nabers, which screws the Jets anyway. The Bears have limited draft capital beyond picks 1 and 9, so it’s widely believed they’d drop down for a package of 2024 picks, or they can just stick and pick another weapon for Caleb Williams. They just gave Cole Kmet a bunch of money and signed Gerald Everett in free agency, so TE probably isn’t a need, but they have Keenan Allen on a one-year deal, and little else beyond him and DJ Moore at receiver. Nabers would probably be the pick unless Nabers is too much of a head case for them.
10. Jets: Taliese Fuaga

Thank God we beat the Patriots and Commanders, baby. Initial thought—the Jets should go HAM and move up as far as they can for Odunze because Douglas is probably being served his last meal after this draft anyway. But, I think the competition and the price to move up to three or five will be pretty fierce because of all the QB traffic, and Douglas is going to get frozen out by the cost. Odunze is this year’s universally beloved prospect, so it’s highly unlikely he gets past six, which leaves the Jets hoping for a Nabers fall. Problem there is that both the Bears and Falcons are shopping for defense and will happily be shopping picks 8 and 9 in front of the Jets, making ten all but worthless as a trade chip. That said, Fuaga is a great prospect and could be a long-time stalwart right tackle for the Jets and that’s nice. If you wanted to be vindictive about this selection, you could say that we had to use ten on Fuaga because 1. Douglas took Becton and his weed habit because Tristan Wirfs was supposedly RT-only and 2. He sat on his ass and get cucked by Belichick last year, letting the Steelers trade up for Broderick Jones in front of his face. You could further be petty about this pick by suggesting that you’re drafting Fuaga as insurance for two older tackles whom you’re praying stay healthy for ~13 games when you could just go sign Bakhtiari or Donovan Smith on the cheap after the draft to fill the same role, only more capably in the short term. Alternative pick would be Troy Fautanu because of his versatility, but you don’t want to use top ten picks on a guy because he’s versatile, you want him to be dominant. You get “versatile” OL in the fourth.