by • The “everyone wants to bail” murmurs have manifested in phone calls in the last couple of days with teams picking from Nos. 6 through 11—the Panthers, Giants, Falcons, Seahawks, Jets and Commanders—all exploring moves down, in the event the draft board falls a certain way (and a couple want to move down regardless). What will teams come up for? As we said earlier Monday (now below): corners, edge rushers, and potentially receivers.
• One team we’ve mentioned consistently as a move-up possibility is Chicago White Sox Jersey the Chiefs. My sense is that it could happen if a player they like (a receiver, edge rusher or corner) falls into a certain range. And barring a major discount, the Chiefs’ move would probably be, at most, into the teens. They’ve told multiple clubs in the top 15 that going up in the first round’s upper reaches is probably going to be too rich for their blood.
• The Eagles are another team that could move up, and I could see them jumping all the way up to No. 6. For what? Most rival teams believe it’d be for a corner, Sauce Gardner or Derek Stingley Jr. And I think edge rusher/defensive line could be on the radar too—we’d mentioned Philly potentially making a shorter move up for those positions earlier in the week.
• Two specific players I’d watch in trades up would be Stingley and Jordan Davis. The thought out there is that getting Stingley, for another team, would mean jumping in front of Seattle. The Seahawks have done a ton of work on the LSU star. And in Davis’s case, he’s been connected to the Ravens at 14, Eagles at 15 and Saints at 16, and I’ve heard the Commanders could consider him, too, if the receivers they like are gone. Earlier in the day, I’d heard, for Washington, that could be in a trade-down scenario. Now, I’m thinking they might be able to go down far if they want him. And for what it’s worth, the Ravens have had talks on a move up—which could be for Davis.
• A couple of teams that could move around a little in the 20s: the Packers and Titans.
• And this is the time of year we connect players with teams, so one Cincinnati Bengals Jerseys connection I’ve heard this week that I haven’t brought up yet is Arizona and Purdue pass rusher George Karlaftis. If Karlaftis, a polarizing prospect, doesn’t go at No. 23 to the Cardinals (I mocked Jahan Dotson to them on Tuesday), I could see him falling out of the first round altogether. I’ve talked to teams with third- and fourth-round grades on Karlaftis.
• As usual, what’ll likely lead to trades tonight is when the draft approaches where the cliff is at certain positions. And a lot of my conversations over the last 24 hours have centered on that, in discussing what teams might move up for. Three positions have stood out—corner, pass rusher and receiver. So here’s a look at where the pressure points for those spots might be …
Corner: The first two, in some order, will likely be Cincinnati’s Sauce Gardner and LSU’s Derek Stingley Jr. There’s a drop-off after that, then comes Washington’s Trent McDuffie. Then, maybe a bigger drop-off before the next group (Florida’s Kaiir Elam, Washington’s Kyler Gordon, Clemson’s Andrew Booth). So I’d think if someone’s going to take a swing, it might be to get in front of the Seahawks, if Stingley’s still there in the Nos. 6–8 range.
Pass rusher: Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson, Georgia’s Travon Walker, Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux and Florida State’s Jermaine Johnson II constitute the first group. And there’s a significant drop-off after that. If you want one of them, it’d seem getting in front of the Jets at No. 10 might be the play—presuming Walker and Hutchinson are, in some order, Nos. 1 and 2.
Receiver: The first four are USC’s Drake London, Alabama’s Jameson Williams, and Ohio State’s Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson. Again, the drop-off is considered significant San Francisco 49ers Jerseys to the next group (Penn State’s Jahan Dotson, Arkansas’s Treylon Burks, etc.). I’d think the first group will comes off the board between Nos. 7 and 16, and teams wanting to have their pick of the crop would have to get in front of the Falcons at No. 8.
You can throw the offensive linemen in there too, though it seems like the first three are probably going to go—and probably without trades—in the first six or so picks. But, to be sure, there’s definitely seen to be a drop-off after the first three guys at tackle, too.
