Post Senior Bowl entire first round 2020 NFL mock draft
Pick #26 Miami Dolphins: A.J. Epenesa, DE, Iowa
Alot of mock drafts project the Dolphins to select a running back in the first round. With all due respect, I don’t think those people have watched many Dolphins games. No running back will make an immediate impact behind the current offensive line.
While the team needs help everywhere, a good place to start is stopping the run and rushing the passer. At 6’6″ and 280 pounds, Epenesa has shown an ability to do both well. He doesn’t provide the sack potential of a player like Chaisson (selected at #16) but he’s got a higher ‘floor’. With help around him, I project that Epenesa will be an 8-12 sack guy each year.
Pick #27 Seattle Seahawks: Yetur Gross-Matos, DE, Penn State
The Seahawks need major help rushing the passer. Ezekiel Ansah can’t be trusted to stay healthy and there’s no guarantee that Jadeveon Clowney will resign with the team. Gross-Matos seemed to get better every year during his time at Penn State. It wouldn’t surprise me if he came in and led the team in sacks as a rookie.
Pick #28 Baltimore Ravens: Curtis Weaver, DE, Boise State
A possible surprise pick to some as Weaver doesn’t pop up in many first round mock drafts. The reason he makes it into the first round here is specifically due to the Ravens needs. He projects to a 4-3 DE but could also play that position in the Ravens 3-4 as well.
Pick #29 Tennessee Titans: Julian Okwara, DE, Notre Dame
Despite an amazing run in the 2019 NFL playoffs, the Titans do have some holes to fill entering the 2020 season. Among those is the need to get younger at defensive end. 37-year old Cameron Wake isn’t the long-term answer at the position so the team needs someone to play opposite Harold Landry who had a breakout season this year. Okwara had a down year in 2019 but has all the tools to become a good pass rusher in the NFL.
Pick #30 Green Bay Packers: Justin Jefferson, WR, LSU
The Packers need a second target on the outside for QB Aaron Rodgers. It was a toss-up between Jefferson and Colorado WR Laviska Shenault Jr. In the end, the nod went to the dynamic Jefferson; who had 111 receptions for 1540 yards and 18 TDs last season.
(These last two picks are interchangeable and not a prediction of who will win the Super Bowl.)
Pick #31 Kansas City Chiefs: Bryce Hall, CB, Virginia
Seeing as they are in the Super Bowl, it goes without saying that the Chiefs don’t have many major needs; especially on offense. I almost pulled the trigger on one of the top running backs but decided to look at the defense. Hall is coming off a major injury but, when healthy, he was considered the top corner in the class. Even if he doesn’t play much, or at all, in 2020 the Chiefs will reap the benefits of this pick for years to come.
Pick #32 San Francisco 49ers: Josh Jones, T, Houston
Like Kansas City, the Niners have the luxury of picking for the long-term as opposed to strictly short-term needs. Unlike the Chiefs, the Niners are set on defense and could use the help on the offensive side of the ball. Jones is not a finished product but he has the athletic tools needed to play left tackle in the NFL and could be in the upper echelon at the position as soon as 2021.