The Winner of the GGN NFL Mock 2019 Draft

I know many of you were sitting on pins and needles waiting for the results of the GGN Mock Draft. I know, I know you would like for the Jets to be victorious but we left that decision up to our peers at GGN.

And the Winner is: The New York Jets with 54% of the vote.

MacGregor Wells, you can take a bow for doing such a wonderful job and leading the Jets to the precipice of a dynasty. Bravo, good show, and well done are in order.

He did this amazingly by only using two draft picks, both defensive players DT Jerry Tillery and edge rusher Chase Winovich (who dated Madonna’s daughter, so maybe we see Madonna at some Jet home games). Of course the Pie’ce de re’sistance is the procurement of six (yes count them, six) 2020 1st round picks, as well as a 3rd, 6th and 7th (that Macc will definitely trade away) along with players Fabian Moreau CB, Trey Hendrickson Edgem and with the pure theft of George Kittle away from San Francisco (whose GM will remain nameless). Herndon and Kittle are now the best TE tandem in the NFL.

Second place also resides in East Rutherford as the New York Giants came in a distant 2nd with 13% of the vote. That GM will also remain nameless as no one in the Jet land cares about the NY Giants.

They did secure a whole new offensive talent level with Kyler Murray as the QB and a new receiving corp of Hakeem Butler, Hollywood Brown, Greg Jennings and Golden Tate with TE Evan Engram; size and speed to burn all around.

They also secured the offensive line with Max Scharping at RT and Michael Jordan at C to work with LT Nate Solder, LG Will Hernandez and new RG Kevin Zeitler.

They brought in backup RB in Trayveon Williams, and the highlight of the Draft was selecting TE Trevon Wesco to secure dominance of the NFC East.

The defense got tougher with free safety Darnell Savage (1st rd pick Green Bay), SS Will Harris, DE Joe Jackson who was a steal in the 4th round, and CB’s David Long and Sean Bunting. The defensive line got a nice rotational piece in Daylon Mack.

They added CB Duke Dawson (the 3rd CB of this draft) and OG Ted Karras and completed the haul with a 2020 2nd and 3rd round picks to keep the rebuild going into 2020.

Third Place was a tie between the team from Washington (shiff71) and Atlanta (Strong_Island_Jets_NY) with 5% of the vote apiece.

Washington traded up in the first round to secure their QB of the future in Dwayne Haskins and added Justin Layne CB, a great long cover corner, and Antoine Wesley a tall, long, playmaker with elite ball skills. Washington hopes it stabilized its QB position for the next 15 years while adding a key component to both sides of the ball. All three picks could be day one starters. They also added Darron Lee which may or may not be a positive.

Atlanta literally stole Ed Oliver with the 14th pick, and he will combine with Grady Jarrett to form one of if not the best DT tandem in the NFL. These two penetrating disrupters will be tough to run on and bring impressive pressure up the middle which will definitely help the secondary in coverage.They also picked one of the best CB’s in the Draft to help that endeavour in Rock Ya-Sin, This was another steal at pick #45 (he went 34th to the Colts with the Jets original pick)

Looking to the future, they picked another theft in QB Daniel Jones at #57 (he went 6th overall) to groom for a few years and backup Matty Ice.

They then replaced a plateaued Tevin Coleman with a downhill runner in Benny Snell; a power runner Atlanta has lacked in recent years. They then grabbed a LT of the future in Trey Pipkins who is raw but with undeniable talent. They finished the Draft with a interior line mauler in Ross Pierschbacher who was underrated by many and will bring toughness to the O-line.

Congratulation to both teams for a job well done.

Also I would be remiss if I did not personally thank (from all the drafters) the hard work of MacGregor Wells for his tireless efforts in bringing this draft together. Without him this would never have happened. Remember this Draft started in mid-March and ran until the end of the real Draft. MacGregor Wells had to monitor the draft constantly while keeping the board up to date, posting trades (which there were 46 of) and make sure everything was correct. Numerous times players tried to trade picks and players they no longer had. It was a 6 week marathon that he did flawlessly.

Thank you!

Personal notes

Some of the players who I was also impressed by:

Ponti- Arizona

He added nothing but quality to his team with Nick Bosa, Dalton Risner (who is going to be really solid), Terry McLaurin (an underrated speedster), Isaiah Johnson (an under the radar CB who will be good), Mike Edwards (a quality safety prospect), and he stole Trysten Hill at #179 who has superior talent (drafted at #58 in the real Draft)

Oh yeah, he also added a 2nd and 3rd round pick next year to help continue the rebuild.

Njb45- Denver

In a total overhaul he traded an aging and banged up Derek Wolfe and Emmanuel Sanders and brought in DT Leonard Williams, LB Kiko Alonso, C Daniel Kilgore. He stole TE Zack Ertz and took a chance on WR Zay Jones and CB Jalen Collins.

He helped the defense with a monster in the middle in Dexter Lawrence and solidified the interior of his offensive line with a OG Michael Dieter who will be solid.

Jeremy J. Jackson- Jacksonville

Jeremy did not do any wheeling and dealing but still came away with a haul for the Jags. He took care of the RT position for a decade with Jawaan Taylor (who Jacksonville actually drafted) and grabbed the edge rusher we all hope is going to be great in Jachai Polite. He stole a speedster in Parris Campbell at pick #69, added a solid changeup back in David Montgomery, picked a great blocking and plus athlete in TE Dawson Knox, and took a solid OG in Ryan Bates from Penn State.

Many others did an outstanding job but as well.

What really happened

A lot of speculation came up after the Draft and I am here to set the record straight.

This must have been fun being the Jets. (6 2020 1st round picks).

I can only assume everybody dealing with them was in on it.

I think there was a secret pact for everyone to feed 2020 first rounders to the Jets.

I can assure you there was no collusion to get the Jets 1st round picks. Everyone and I mean everyone did the best job they could to help their teams. Riverside the Great (Miami) had only 3 picks in the first four rounds and traded enough that he made 12 draft picks, received CB Trae Waynes, and still had a few picks left in the Draft.

No one really wanted to trade their 1st round picks, but it seemed to make sense to them.

Most of the Jets 1st round picks look like playoffs teams

Be advised there were huge number of smaller trades for picks I am not going to list. Also remember that you know now where every player went in the Draft. When we were doing this Draft most of the pro days hadn’t even happened yet. All the info was not in on most of the prospects.

The way it happened went like this:

The Jets traded down from #3 to #15 and got #46, #96, #153, and Washington’s 2020 1st. Washington wanted to trade up for its franchise QB. It was definitely a equitable trade and probably a better deal then the Jets received for trading three 2nd round picks to move up three spots and secure Sam Darnold.

The Jets then traded their own pick #68 to San Francisco for George Kittle which was a mistake; even acknowledged by the player who traded him. It was a rushed trade that was not thought through.

Remember these trades are not done in some war room. They are done during a person’s busy life, at home taking care of a baby, at work trying to do six things at once, or a thousand other reasons. But many times it’s a hurried affair so have some sympathy.

From there the Jets traded out of the first round by trading #15 for #41, #53 and #57 which is not a bad trade for Philly who wanted their LT of the future in Andre Dillard (a player they actually traded up for in the real Draft).

Now you have to figure what a 2020 1st round pick is worth in 2019. Most teams feel a 2020 1st round pick is worth a 2nd in 2019. Now if you are a strong Playoff team what is a low (25th or lower) 2020 1st round pick worth in 2019; especially if you think there is a player who is at least a 2nd round talent you can really use this year.

The Jets traded #53 and two 2020 5th round picks for the Ravens 2020 1st and a 2020 6th. The Ravens turned this into a LB to replace some Mosley guy who was a free agent. It is not a bad trade considering the Ravens feel they can take the division.

The Jets had pick #41 and in need of a center; Bradbury went at #23 to the Rams. The Jets were in line to get a center, and then SionaBaaaoooha picked Erik McCoy for the Buccaneers at #39. It was followed by Mazoki taking Elgton Jenkins for the Bills at #40. With no center worth the #41 pick the Jets went best value and took DT Jerry Tillery who went in the real draft at #28.

The Jets traded #46 to the Patriots for #134, 246 ,252 and a 2020 1st round pick. The Patriots were flush with picks and wouldn’t be able to add a high number of players to their roster. They trade a 4th and two 7ths plus a 2020 1st for a high end safety prospect who can be weaned into their system this year and take over for Devin McCourty retires after this year; he almost retired this year. It was a reasonable trade.

The Giants had traded for the for the Eagles’ 2020 1st round pick earlier and then traded that pick to the Jets for picks #57 and #93. A low 2nd and low 3rd for a probable low 2020 1st seems reasonable, in fact you could make the argument the Jets lost on that trade.

The Jets traded picks #86 and #96 to the Chargers for the Chargers’ 2020 1st round pick. The Chargers were a deep Playoff team last year and feel if they improve they can be a Super Bowl treat in 2020. They added a CB and fast receiver (two 3rd round picks) for a pick in the 28 to 32 range in 2020. If it helps them to their goal then it was a great trade if not it was still an in the ballpark type trade.

Remember, the Jets also gave up Leonard Williams, Darron Lee. Elijah McGuire, Jordan Leggett, a 2020 3rd, 5th, 6th and 7th round picks. The Jets got back five 2020 1st round picks (plus their own to make 6 total) plus a 2020 3rd, 6th and 7th.

So you can see there was no collusion to get the Jets picks just a whole lot of wheeling and dealing plus some shrewd trades by MacGregor Wells. That was a immense amount of work while taking care of the entire draft for about 6 weeks.

Plus if you think about it you really can’t draft 6 players in the first round anyway. Any first round player you would think would be a starter on a rebuilding team like the Jets. Is it wise to have at least 27% of your starters rookies? It would also cost you about $15 to 20 million in cap space to sign them, and all those contracts are fully guaranteed. It might be tough to trade them for fair value because teams know you really want to trade. Besides Macc doesn’t have a real good track record on trades involving picks.

But I guess it is a nice problem to have.

Again congratulations to MacGregor Wells on his long and hard fought victory that was done completely by the book.

I also want to thank all the people who participated and were great GMs for their teams. I really think almost everybody did a great job, it made it a lot of fun.

Please everyone who participated should add their own take on the Draft. I’m sure every person has a unique story to tell that others will find interesting.

Let’s do it again next year but this time we will finish the draft completely.

What do you think?