Tag Archives: 2020 NFL Draft

NFL Offseason, NFL Predictions

Breakout candidates for 2020 – Offense edition:

After going through the rosters of all 32 teams and talking about their biggest remaining need, I now want to talk about some young players around the league, who I think will take the next step in their development this upcoming season. Specifically I’m looking at second- and third-year players who haven’t been a Pro Bowl selection, reached a major milestone (1000 yard season, double-digit sacks, etc.) or are just looked at generally as one of the better players at the position already. I also didn’t want to talk about guys I already had on my list last year, like Kemoko Turay for Indianapolis or Justin Reid for Houston – who I believe already is one of the best young safeties in the game – and I ended up with only one former top ten pick, since the few I considered mostly haven’t broken out because they simply haven’t been on the field enough. At the same time I made it a requirement to have played at a least a little. So that excludes guy like Bengals offensive tackle Jonah Williams and a receiver I really liked, who is now on the Cardinals named Hakeem Butler.

For this exercise I considered what my evaluation of them was coming out of college, in terms of the development they still needed to make to be effective at the next level, situations they are now, whether it’s a change of scheme on their team or veterans that were let go in order to allow them to take on a bigger role, or just how high I was on them as draft prospects. I’m going to analyze their skill-set, how they fit with their respective teams and why I believe they are bound to break out in 2020.

In this version, we are looking at eight offensive players:

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NFL Draft, NFL Free Agency, NFL Offseason

Undrafted free agents from 2020 who could make an early impact:

Like I mentioned in my big draft recap last week – this was a very unique version of the NFL draft with its positives and negatives. So much talent fell down the board and several prospects I really liked didn’t even hear the name called at all. That includes six of my top 120 overall players available. A lot of that was certainly due to the circumstances, where teams weren’t able to conduct personal meetings or let their doctors take a look at these athletes. Some prospects may have fallen for good reason, which we aren’t necessarily aware of, but every year there are a bunch of guys who didn’t get selected, but turn out to make an impact with the teams they sign with shortly after.

Those are the type of names I want to point out in this article. Since I don’t have information on all the medical reports or off-field concerns, this is purely based on my evaluations of these prospects and the situations they find themselves in.

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NFL Draft

Recapping the 2020 NFL Draft:

What a unique and interesting draft this really was. It might not have felt like you were right in the middle of the action as fans gather around an actual stage, but it definitely was a more intimate experience as you saw all the coaches and general managers working from home. As I do every year, I wanted to give an extensive recap of what happened over those three days.

However, I don’t like handing out grades, because they don’t encapsulate the real value of a pick in my opinion. You have to consider the fit and needs for a team, but at the same time we don’t fully understand the role a player will have with his new team and the whole thing is just too complex to define with just a one-letter grade.

Instead I wanted to identify some of the biggest winners and losers, steals and reaches coming out of the draft. That means looking at the prospects selected compared to where I have them in my overall rankings, analyzing how teams worked the board, how they positioned themselves and how it made their team better. Yet, I didn’t only look at the different clubs, but I also included certain players and how it affected them. Just as a side note – I didn’t want to talk about too many prospects who mostly fell due to injury concerns among my steals.

You can check out my positional rankings and big board to read up more in depth about these prospects and see how they stack up for me. This breakdown is also available in video format right here.

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NFL Draft

NFL Mock Draft 2020:

All prospects have been evaluated, the rankings have been put out and we are just three days away from the draft. Now it’s time to have some fun!

I have been gathering information in the background and thinking about how Thursday could look like, but this is my one and only mock draft for 2020. To make myself clear – this is what I think will happen, not what I would do.

For every pick, I give a quick analysis on why I think it will happen and how I would grade them, in comparison to my big board.

Here we go:

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NFL Draft

Big Board for the 2020 NFL Draft:

Now that all the film has been watched and I have broken down over 350 draft prospects, it is time to reveal my top 100 players heading into the draft. You can check out my in-depth analyses and positional rankings right here and on Youtube for the explanation to why I have them where I do.

Number one has been the same the entire draft process, but after watching hundreds of hours of tape, a lot has changed further down the list. The top 20 is as good as it has been in any draft recently, but at some positions there could be multiple day-one starters available on day three.

If there are any players you can’t find here or among my positional breakdowns, you can simply ask me about my opinion on them in the comments or by sending me a text on one of my social media channels linked above.

Here is my list:

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NFL Draft

Top 10 quarterbacks in the 2020 NFL Draft:

We have reached the final version of my positional draft rankings with the long-awaited and much-discussed quarterback class. Check out all my other breakdowns and come back for my top 100 big board later on this week, before I release my one and only mock draft for 2020!

I think a lot of people look at this group completely wrong. I don’t see a top four, but rather two top ten prospects and then a second tier of two QBs that I don’t even have first-round grades on. Then after that there are only four more guys I would even consider on day two, with very little after it. However, there are a few guys I think have a skill-set to be considered developmental prospects and a couple of players I haven’t heard anybody talk about.

You can also check out my video breakdown on Youtube.

Here is the list:

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NFL Draft

Top 10 safeties in the 2020 NFL Draft:

On the final version of my positional rankings for the defensive side of the ball, we are taking a look at the safety class. I already put out my top tight-ends earlier this week and now it’s just the quarterback that are missing – so check out those other articles and my video breakdown is already on Youtube.

Watching this group of safeties was very interesting. I think there is a pretty clear top three, but everyone of them has some obvious question marks. After that there is a lot of disagreement about who is next and I feel like I differentiate myself more so than at any position maybe. You can find a lot of notable mentions at the end, because I really wanted to be thorough and found a bunch of prospects worth considering.

Here is the list:

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NFL Draft

Top 10 tight-ends in the 2020 NFL Draft:

We have reached the final three position groups of my draft breakdowns! This is the last offensive class before we finish up with the quarterbacks next week.

This class of tight-ends lacks a true alpha or that top tier of guys, which we have had in recent years. However, there are a bunch of prospects I have day two grades on and some interesting players that haven’t been exposed to a lot of casual fans on the national stage. Those prospects either played for smaller schools or didn’t get the opportunity to show off their skill-set due to the offense they were in. Either way, there is definitely some untapped potential. Nevertheless, the one thing that stands out is how slow this group was at the combine, outside of one guy in my top five.

You can also check out my new Youtube channel if you are interested!

With that in mind, here is my list:

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NFL Draft

Top 10 cornerbacks in the 2020 NFL Draft:

After talking about the loaded wide receiver class earlier this week, we now take a look at the guys who will be covering them at the next level. In this category of cornerbacks, I have included both outside and slot corners, while mentioning which type of schemes or roles they could fit best.

This class of cover-guys features one elite prospect, who will most likely be a top six pick, and I think the next three names have kind of separated themselves a little from the rest. Still, there should be several starters from day two and even after that I see a bunch of undersized prospects, who may be overlooked but could easily start at nickel their rookie season.

By the way, you can also find some of my breakdowns on Youtube now!

Here is the list:

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NFL Draft

Top 10 wide receivers in the 2020 NFL Draft:

We have already done three weeks of positional rankings for this upcoming draft, including running backs and linebackers, interior offensive and defensive linemen, offensive tackles and edge rushers. Now we move further outside and put the wide receivers in the spotlight.

This might the best and deepest wide receiver class we have seen in a long time. There are six names I have first-round grades on and my entire top ten will end up among the 50 best prospects for me. But even beyond that, there are a bunch of intriguing options and to me it’s the variety this class presents, that excites me the most. You can find those big-bodied targets, deep threats, advanced route-runners and YAC specialists. I would not be shocked if we ended up seeing close to 20 receivers selected within the first two days of the draft.

By the way, you can also find me on Youtube now, where I already have breakdowns of this class and a few other position groups.

Here is the list:

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