2023 NFL Mock Draft 4.0: C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young, Anthony Richardson All Selected Within Top 5!
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Draft season is here, and we are on to our second mock draft of the year. In this draft, we will not be mocking any trades yet. This is a straightforward 31 picks as currently slated. We will begin adding trades moving forward once we get into April.
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1 Carolina Panthers
QB C.J. Stroud, Ohio State
We are convinced that Stroud will be the first pick and we will need some concrete evidence to believe that the Panthers will go in a different direction.
2 Houston Texans
QB Bryce Young, Alabama
Young’s size is scary, but he’s just so much better than Richardson. In the end that should win out.
3 Arizona Cardinals
EDGE Will Anderson, Alabama
The Cardinals help on defense and Anderson is now universally the first defensive player off the board.
4 Indianapolis Colts
QB Anthony Richardson, Florida
Someone is going to make the mistake of taking Richardson in the top five. As of now, we have the Colts making that mistake.
5 Seattle Seahawks
DL Jalen Carter, Georgia
We dropped Carter this week due to off-the-field issues and if reports continue to come out this may become a Laremy Tunsil situation or even much worse. Carter could end up free-falling. It’s been reported that multiple teams have removed him from their board completely.
6 Detroit Lions
CB Christian Gonzalez Oregon
There are legitimately four or five corners that could be the first off the board. We still believe Gonzalez will go first after having a great offseason.
7 Las Vegas Raiders
OT Paris Johnson Jr, Ohio State
The Raiders have plenty of holes. However, they just signed a QB with a long injury history and are going to have to protect him.
8 Atlanta Falcons
OT Peter Skoronski, Northwestern
The Falcons are looking to build their team the right way from the inside out. It will be a process, but they are going to continue to build in the trenches.
9 Chicago Bears
EDGE Tyree Wilson, Texas Tech
The Bears have added talent all over their defense the past two offseasons, but they are still lacking in the pass rush department.
10 Philadelphia Eagles
RB Bijan Robinson, Texas
Usually, a running back shouldn’t go this high, nonetheless, the Eagles are good enough to do whatever they want here with this extra luxury pick.
11 Tennessee Titans
WR Quentin Johnston, TCU
Johnston is in our opinion the top WR in this draft and Tennessee loves big wideouts. This was a tough call between him and WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
12 Houston Texans
DL Siaki Ika, Baylor
Ika is a huge tackle to help the middle of their defense stop the run. It’s their biggest need and he’s quite literally their biggest answer.
13 New York Jets
OL O’Cyrus Torrence, Florida
We are still assuming that Aaron Rodgers will end up in New York and if they keep this pick they will have to bulk up their offensive line to protect him.
14 New England Patriots
WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Ohio State
The Pats have been searching for a true playmaking wide receiver for years. JSN is just that and he’s the best wideout left on the board. It’s hard to see them going in a different direction here.
15 Green Bay Packers
EDGE Myles Murphy, Clemson
The Packers have lost a bunch of key pass rushers over the past few seasons and desperately need to build that part of their defense back up.
16 Washington Commanders
CB Devon Witherspoon, Illinois
If you told us Witherspoon ended up going in the top five we wouldn’t tell you it was a bad pick. This CB class is tremendous and Washington needs to grab one of them.
17 Pittsburgh Steelers
CB Joey Porter Jr, Penn State
No competitive team needs a corner more than the Steelers. Who better than Joey Porter Jr. There is reason to believe he’d fit right in.
18 Detroit Lions
DL Bryan Bresee, Clemson
The Lions continue to build up their defense this time on the inside. They already drafted help against the pass now they add a piece to stop the run.
19 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
CB Cam Smith, South Carolina
The Bucs need to fill a lot of holes and it was a tough call between offensive line and corner here, but this is a draft where if you need DB help there is too much talent to pass on in the first.
20 Seattle Seahawks
WR Rashee Rice, SMU
We have Rice ranked as the WR3 in this class and now we have the league catching up with us and drafting him as such.
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21 Los Angeles Chargers
LB Trenton Simpson, Clemson
The Chargers have lost key pieces in their LB corps over the past two offseasons and love to rotate players at the position. Simpson could become a rare every-down linebacker for them in the near future.
22 Baltimore Ravens
DB Brian Branch, Alabama
Branch feels like the perfect fit for the Ravens’ defense that is in need of help in the secondary. They have been declining in recent years and have gotten worse so far this winter.
23 Minnesota Vikings
EDGE Nolan Smith, Georgia
There were a few directions we could go in for the Vikings, however, an edge rusher seems to be their most pressing need and Smith could be a great one.
24 Jacksonville Jaguars
OT Broderick Jones, Georgia
Trevor Lawrence took a huge step last season but also took some brutal hits. They have to continue to invest to protect their franchise QB.
25 New York Giants
WR Jalin Hyatt, Tennessee
The Giants have a bunch of wideouts, but the group isn’t very good. They went out and paid Daniel Jones now it’s time to give him legitimate weapons.
26 Dallas Cowboys
S Antonio Johnson, Texas A&M
Dallas needs an excellent safety if they are going to continue their defense that loves to feature three-safety sets. Johnson is exactly that.
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27 Buffalo Bills
LB Drew Sanders, Arkansas
The Bills lost Tremaine Edmunds and can’t afford to invest a ton of money into the position so the draft is the obvious answer.
28 Cincinnati Bengals
CB Deonte Banks, Maryland
This is an absolute steal for Ciny who gets two great players in the first round to address their two greatest needs. Banks has the talent to be in the first half of the round.
29 New Orleans Saints
OT Anton Harrison, Oklahoma
The Saints offensive line struggled last season after losing Terron Armstead. They need to bring in a strong young tackle that they hope can fill the void.
30 Philadelphia Eagles
EDGE Lukas Van Ness, Iowa
The Eagles don’t have many glaring needs, but they do love to draft pass rushers to rotate in and out. As other edge rushers leave he will be there to fill the void.
31 Kansas City Chiefs
WR Zay Flowers, Boston College
The Chiefs WR room is awful. There isn’t a stud wideout still on the board so Andy Reid is going to grab himself a weapon he can get creative with and have a lot of fun.
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