Former Ravens scout Daniel Jeremiah is always one of the best analysts when it comes to the draft, and he held another marathon session with the media on Thursday, and he dropped a lot of draft nuggets. Some of the more interesting information, including what the Patriots might do, followed by mock draft updates and what DeVante Parker had to say about Mac Jones:
Corners later in the first round...
"There will be some big corners to choose from. The two they'll probably be staring at -- actually I would say three. Andrew Booth from Clemson. He's coming off an injury. Had hernia surgery. Probably would be gone by now if he'd be able to stay healthy through the whole process. But that would be the first name I would keep an eye on.
Kyler Gordon from Washington would be the next, who I know he ran in the low 4.5s, but he plays so much faster than that and can really find and play the ball. That would be the second one.
And then Kaiir Elam from Florida would be the third.
I think those three corners -- maybe all three of them are there. I think there's a good chance two of them are, and I think there's a lot of upside with all three of those guys that would be good fits there and good picks for the Chiefs.
The unpredictability of this draft...
"Even more so than the top. I talk to teams, and the great example is somebody like a DE George Karlaftis in this draft from Purdue. There are teams that think he's one of the top 15 players, and then there are teams that think he's not worth a first- or second-round pick. That's how all over the board teams are on some of these guys.
On the Patriots and where they stand
"Yeah, I mean, look, this is a team in my opinion that's got a really solid foundation. Obviously it's a championship foundation for a long time. But I just feel like the way the division is going, the way the conference is going and the way the league is going, that they've got to get some more dynamic players, some more difference-making players. That to me is kind of their challenge in this draft and being more explosive offensively. Obviously Jameson Williams would be a home run pick. That would be somebody they would have great info on with Nick's connection there to Bill. That to me would be a fun one.
"I think you look on the defensive side of the ball, if you want to talk about a real playmaker on defense, I know linebacker, off-the-ball linebacker has been a little bit undervalued recently. But, man, Devin Lloyd, for all the different things he can do, he kind of just feels like a Patriot type player with the size, the length, the versatility, the intelligence, the leadership. All that stuff kind of screams Patriot to me. Those are kind of a couple examples, but I just think, again, faster, more dynamic, more explosive has got to be an area they've got to look at in this draft.
On Cardinals pick at 23, which is two spots behind New England ...
"For me, it's easier to answer what I would do. I would have George Karlaftis. He's my 18th player amongst that group. He's a polarizing player, and I said earlier, some people are really down on him. He's not super, super twitched up and bendy, but he just is a real rugged player who can power through and he can really kind of get on half of a man as we like to say and kind of work that edge and just be very disruptive. So I know his sack numbers aren't huge, but to me I just think he's a rock-solid player. He would be my first choice.
WR Treylon Burks would be shortly thereafter. I think he would be fun in that offense because you get the ball in his hands and let him go, make those corners try and tackle him, 225 plus pounds out there in space. He's a great scheme fit in my opinion. I would love to see in that fit, in that offense.
And then the corners to me would be a little bit behind that. Edge Boye Mafe you mentioned, as well. Mafe would be behind Burks for me, and then you start getting into Booth and Gordon would be kind of those groups of corners.
But Karlaftis just for me would have the highest grade. In terms of for them, you'd have to try and figure out what they feel is their priority right now. Christian Kirk goes out the door, you bring A.J. Green back but you don't think he's going to be there for a long period of time, you could make the case for the wide out there.
You don't have Chandler Jones, either, so you could make a case either way in terms of what they're going to do, but I would think Karlaftis or Treylon Burks would be two good options.
Odds and ends from Jeremiah
• To me, CB Trent McDuffie is a red star (gotta-have-him players for Ravens). He's a red star guy. Just everything about him, the way he plays, everything I hear about him from an intangibles standpoint. I would think he would be a good match. They've got bigger corners that they've had over the years, but I think he's kind of a DNA match for how they play.
The other one to me, DT Jordan Davis, I just can't see (the Ravens) passing on him if he were to get there, because just they collect these guys, these big, big, physical line of scrimmage players on the offensive and defensive line, the rare ones, especially it's easy to sell SEC guys in that room. That would be one that would kind of make sense to me."
• More on Davis: "Jordan Davis, a lot has been made about the play time and not playing on 3rd downs, but when you really dig in and look at all the numbers, when you see him and Devonte Wyatt, they've got a player in Jalen Carter who's probably going to be a top-5, top-10 pick next year, these guys just kind of all roll through. They had a bunch of guys that they could play in there, Travon Walker among them. I don't really care about that. I just know that Jordan Davis, he's a freak. To be that big and that athletic and to make that many plays on the other side of the line of scrimmage is impressive. Devonte Wyatt is even a little bit more explosive."
• On receivers depth: "I don't think the depth into like the fourth round and beyond is as good as some of the others we've seen, but I think up until that point it's pretty good.
• LB Chad Muma (a Patriots mock favorite): "Muma is one of my favorites to watch. I've had an interesting discussion with a bunch of scouting buddies about kind of stacking a few of these linebackers, and Muma is kind of riding in that conversation with Troy Anderson from Montana State as kind of these big, rangy, athletic, off-the-ball linebackers.
"So for me, he's got incredible instincts. He ran 4.63; Troy Anderson ran 4.42. You would give Anderson the edge being a little bit faster, but Muma is so quick to see things, to kind of key in and diagnose as we like to say. He's just always around the football. He trusts his eyes. There's no hesitation to his game. He's got timing and bursts as a blitzer. Outstanding in coverage with his instincts. There's a lot of similarities there with Logan Wilson, obviously same school. I think he's going to go probably in the 30s, 40s is probably when he comes off the board. I think he's going to be a great player."
• On UConn NT Travis Jones (Patriots mock favorite): "I was talking to a team that just had him in and we were discussing him. Yeah, because the tape was good from the fall. It wasn't as good as he was at the Senior Bowl. He put on a show down there. It's hard to find guys that are that big and that powerful and that athletic. He followed that up with an outstanding combine. He's probably helped himself through the process as much as anybody has. To me, if you go back again and just go back to the tape, you'd probably be a little bit disappointed, want him a little bit more, want him to dominate a little bit more, but you know it's all there, it's all in his body. I think he's probably going to come off the board -- maybe he sneaks under the bottom of one, but probably somebody that goes in that early second round when it's all said and done.
• Players in late second, early third rounds: "CB Roger McCreary is a fun one out of Auburn. I like him a lot, but he's not real big. He's got short arms. But just a really, really good player, smooth. He can really compete, which is my favorite quality about him, especially you watch him against Penn State, against Jahan Dotson, you watch him against a Burks at Arkansas. Just a really tough, kind of gritty player. That could be one I could see potentially being there. If you wanted to kind of continue to add to that defensive front, you look at some interior defensive linemen that could slide down there in that range.
"DT Perrion Winfrey would be a name I would keep an eye on from Oklahoma. He's 49th, but that's reasonable. DeMarvin Leal from A&M is another one who has that inside-outside versatility. Those guys would kind of be in that range if you're looking for interior players.
"And then if you're looking for an edge rusher in that range, Nik Bonitto would be a home run. He actually -- he's not Von Miller but he kind of plays like Von, like a poor man's Von. He can really bend at the top of his rush and can do some nice things off the edge. So he's my 43rd player. I think I'm a little higher on him than the rest of the league, and I'm okay with that, but that would be a heck of a pick."
• Brown/Andover QB E.J. Perry: "Yeah, I compared him to Colt McCoy. That's who he reminded me of. A lot is going to be made about the hands. He's got small hands. But this guy is a playmaker. He can really run. I thought he played with poise. The East-West game he was good, did some good things down there. To me he's kind of that -- we used to call him kind of a change-of-pace backup. You used to have the pocket passer starter and maybe you want a little more athletic backup that could get you out of a game, keep you competitive if he had to start and play a couple weeks. But now we're seeing a lot of starters that can really move around like that, as well. But he's a fun player to watch. You've got to be highly intelligent going to Brown, so those guys usually make really good backup quarterbacks."
• WR Chris Olave: "Yeah, he's a fun player to study. I think the reason why you see him married with so many different teams in all these mock drafts is that he fits. He's a silky smooth route runner who can do so many different things. He tracks the ball really, really well. He's incredibly smart. Their coaches down there rave about him. They love him. He just needs to get a little bit stronger. That's kind of the one knock on Chris. But he's been doing it since he got there, whether it was blocking a punt against Michigan as a freshman. He's always found a way to make plays.
"Everybody is kind of wide receiver-obsessed this off-season, I think, so you can make a strong case with some of the movement that we've had that a lot of these teams are in the wide out market, whether they're trying to support a young quarterback or replace somebody who left. There's a lot of teams in the wide out market, so that's why you're seeing a bunch of these guys mixed in there, and Chris to me, he has a little bit of size to him, he's got outstanding speed. I don't know a team that wouldn't want to have him, that he wouldn't fit. I think that's why you see him kind of mocked in a lot of different areas."
• Second-round receivers: "Yeah, so when you go to the receiver group, you can go to North Dakota State, and somebody that we've talked a lot about, I feel like we talk about him every day on TV, but Christian Watson is right in that range. He's my 45th player. George Pickens from Georgia has got a ton of ability. He's missed time with a knee injury. I'd want to see a little more consistency there, but he's a fun one. John Metchie, if you were saying, okay, who's the closest thing to Jarvis Landry, as he's moved on, I think John Metchie would probably be that guy from Alabama."
• Jameson Williams' injury situation: "I think Jameson William has had a lot of time between that injury and now which helps with the evaluation with your doctors and all those things. I really don't think his draft stock is going to be greatly impacted at all. Everything I talked to from scouts that were at the Bama pro day, obviously he didn't do anything, but just in visiting with him and seeing him move around and everything they got from the combine, the medical and the recheck, he's going to be fine. I don't think it impacts him. I wouldn't be shocked if he ended up being the first wide receiver off the board, I wouldn't be totally floored. I know some teams have him there. I don't think it has as much of an impact on him."
• Off-the-ball linebacker depth: "I love this group of off-the-ball linebackers in that range. This is a group right here, let me give you some names. So Devin Lloyd is going to be gone (by second round), Nakobe Dean is going to be gone, even though he's probably going to drop a little bit in this draft. Coy Walker from Georgia is going to be gone, so take those guys out of the mix.
"This next group here is all going to factor in that range in the draft. They're going to go on Day 2, and it's Christian Harris from Alabama; it's Troy Anderson from Montana State; it's Muma from Wyoming; it's Leo Chenal from Wisconsin; it's Channing Tindall from Georgia. Those five guys -- and I could even go a little bit deeper than that with Brian Asamoah from Oklahoma and D'Marco Jackson from App State. These guys can all run. These guys are all 4.6 or better. The ones that would probably intrigue me the most are Anderson and Muma, just because Anderson is 6'3½", Muma is almost 6'3", just under 6'3"; Anderson is a 4.42 guy, Muma 4.63. They have tremendous range and length.
"When you look at kind of what teams are looking for in a modern linebacker, the two examples that everybody points to are Darius Leonard and Fred Warner. They're both really, really long. They're really rangy. They can blitz. They can cover. That's what teams are trying to find.
You think of length, I think people think about getting off blocks and using your length that way. It's also just you're crowding throwing lanes. If you think about the NBA and just how they went through that transition, what, probably 15 years ago, I'm dating myself, but just became length obsessed. You just want to get as many long athletes on the field as you can, and those are some intriguing linebackers from that standpoint."
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Some mock draft updates...
Kiper/McShay, ESPN.com
McShay's pick: Nakobe Dean, ILB, Georgia
If you've read my other mock drafts this spring, you know I love this fit. Dean has some unbelievable tape, and coach Bill Belichick would get him involved on defense in a number of ways.
BEDARD: Really good player and I wouldn't be opposed to it, but there's small, and there's really small, and that's Dean at 5-11 and 229 pounds. Darius Leonard, who the Patriots passed on in 2018, was 6-2 and 234. Bill Belichick would have to be making a big departure from his defensive roots to make a pick like this. Clemson CB Andrew Booth was still on the board with this pick. I would have gone there.
Peter Schrager, NFL.com
Pick: Trent McDuffie, CB, Washington
The Patriots didn't re-sign J.C. Jackson and are looking at Jalen Mills and Malcolm Butler as the likely starting corners. Neither is the long-term answer at CB1. McDuffie has a lot of fans around the league.
BEDARD: Very good player and I'd be excited if he was the pick, but I don't think there's much of a chance he's still on the board at 21. Dax Hill, Devonte Wyatt and Kenyon Green all more likely options under his mock.
Bucky Brooks, NFL.com
Pick: Andrew Booth, CB, Clemson
The more you watch him on tape, the more you like what you see. The Pats have lost Stephon Gilmore and J.C. Jackson over the last two years, so this Clemson Tiger will be drafted to play right now.
BEDARD: Definitely in favor of this pick. Very competitive, long and agile player. Green, Johnson and Trevor Penning also available.
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New Patriots receiver DeVante Parker spoke to the New England media on Thursday and while not the most loquacious guy (who cares, catch TDs), he was obviously high on Mac Jones and his fit in the offense overall.
"My impression of Mac is he's got a nice arm on him, a little zip on it," Parker said. "Just a great, great workout for all of us. It's good for me to come down and start throwing with him early, as soon as I can to get the timing down.
"Mac's a good quarterback. Just the way he throws the ball, it's not like tough ... it's a catchable ball. It's something that I'm looking forward to this season."
Parker confirmed he did wish to be traded to the Patriots.
"Yeah, that was true," he said. "Because the Patriots have a great, great organization and the fans here are outstanding. I know from experience coming in here, and how their fans work, it's something I want to be a part of.
"It means a lot to me. I chose to get traded here and I'm looking forward to it. The guys I already met are great guys, brought me in like family. It's something that love already and I'm just looking forward to, to get working with them."