Re: Burner's Burning Questions: Free Agency, Mocks, Camps, OTAs, Roster Predictions,
Burner's Burning Questions: Free Agency, Mocks, Camps, OTAs, Roster Predictions, 2019
Greetings from BBQ to everyone in BGO land and guests from social media – we hope you become a member here.
The ride to the 2019 NFL draft is over and it has been quite the experience. Ten new draftees will now begin their NFL careers as they put on the burgundy and gold. All of them will not only try to make the final roster of fifty-three, but will seek to carve out their roles with the team.
Today is the day when BBQ does a self-evaluation of the mocking process. We began this process just after the conclusion of the 2018 season and it was a huge task. The mocking process for BBQ generally begins in mid-October and increases exponentially in early winter. There were many players to evaluate and it started to feel like cramming for finals or hurriedly meeting a critical deadline for that business proposal. But we made it work and the results – well, take a look in the next paragraph and the grades below.
BBQ had had a challenging mocking process and some of it was good and some of it was not so good. We listed fourth round prospects in recent weeks in anticipation of acquiring a fourth round selection and that happened – times two. Day three players selected by the Redskins received little to no attention from BBQ, but it wasn't a total whiff.
We wanted to have a better success story, but getting information on players for the members of BGO is what's important. It feels good to provide everyone here with the kind of service you expect from BBQ and we hope to do better next year.
So here comes the self-grading process. We will also have a final overall grade.
Without any further delays, let's take a look.
Round One: Dwayne Haskins, QB, Ohio St. and Montez Sweat, Edge/OLB, Mississippi St.
BBQ had Sweat mocked to the Redskins on numerous occasions and Haskins was mocked once in the final week when some reports started to leak of team interest. BBQ had trade possibilities in the first round quite often, but it was always a trade down, not up. That is not a hit in our book. Sweat was a pretty good hit, but only after a trade up. Haskins was a slight hit.
BBQ Grade: B
Round Two: Trade
We emphasized trading in either round one or two quite often. We also had a fixation on wide receiver. A trade did happen, but it was not a trade down as we had anticipated. Even with a trade down, we still had the Redskins picking in round two. A trade – yes, but not what we were thinking. This was something of a miss.
BBQ Grade: C-
Round Three: Terry McLaurin, WR, Ohio St.
BBQ focused on tight end, inside linebacker, offensive line, quarterback, wide receiver, and free safety in the third round – so that is a small hit. We had McLaurin mocked in the fourth and fifth rounds at times in April – a very slight hit. We also predicted a trade down with the additional third round pick at times (mostly for a fourth rounder and more) and that did happen.
BBQ Grade: B-
Round Four: Bryce Love, RB, Stanford and Wes Martin, OG, Indiana
BBQ predicted a trade down, but only picking up one fourth rounder, not two. The focus in round four was offensive line and wide receiver. Bryce Love was mocked on occasion, but only in the later rounds. Martin was never a focus, but prognosticating for this round was fairly good.
BBQ Grade: B
Round Five: Ross Pierschbacher, OG/C, Alabama and Cole Holcomb, ILB, North Carolina
BBQ rarely predicted a trade in round five and one did not materialize. We focused on offensive line, inside linebacker (both are hits, but neither player was listed by BBQ), running back (Love went a round earlier), wide receiver, tight end, edge, and quarterback. Not too bad, but nothing to brag about.
BBQ Grade: C+
Round Six: Kelvin Harmon, WR, North Carolina St.
Ok, BBQ did mock Harmon on occasion, but let's be honest. That was way back in the second round. We did have a receiver as a choice for quite a while in the sixth, but that was changed to inside linebacker in the final weeks. Not really much of a hit here, but not a total debacle either.
BBQ Grade: C-
Round Seven: Jimmy Moreland, CB, James Madison and Jordan Brailford, Edge/OLB, Oklahoma St.
Cornerback and edge were not a focus for BBQ in the seventh round. We looked at inside linebacker, wide receiver, tight end (missed on tight ends in various rounds), offensive line, quarterback, and running back.
BBQ Grade: F
Overall Grade
BBQ started doing mocks in 2011 – 2010 if you count the BGO contest that year. We've had some good years and some not so good years. 2018 was quite good, but 2019 obviously falls short of last year. I was going to score this mocking season as a “B-“. However, the final two rounds knocked it down a notch. BBQ will try to do better next year.
Overall BBQ Grade: C+
In Conclusion
In the coming weeks, we will have reports, analyses, roster predictions, coverage of the various camps/OTAs, the remainder of free agency, and any Redskins news. See you as we go along.
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