Road to the Draft – Part 8
March 9, 2021
By Noonefromtampa
Welcome to the latest edition of The Hog Sty’s mock draft tracker column.
The Washington Football Team released Alex Smith, saving an $14M in cap space and increasing the likelihood that the team makes some sort of move at the quarterback position either in free agency or the draft.
The Mocks
This week, the number of mock drafts published went from 146 to 161 as more analysts published their new or revised mocks. The position distribution is now as follows:
| Position | Picked Count | Picked % |
| QB | 52 | 32.30% |
| OT | 35 | 21.74% |
| WR | 28 | 17.39% |
| LB | 16 | 9.94% |
| IOL | 15 | 9.32% |
| CB | 8 | 4.97% |
| TE | 4 | 2.48% |
| S | 2 | 1.24% |
| DT | 1 | 0.62% |
| Grand Total | 161 | 100.00% |
The percentages of mocks which predicted the selection of quarterback by Washington pick at 19 increased over 2% this week to 32.3%. Offensive tackle was down about 2.2%, wide receiver was up nearly 2%, interior offensive line was down 1%, and linebacker was down just slightly.
The players mock picked to WFT at nineteen in descending frequency are:
| Player | Position | School | Picked Count | Picked % |
| Mac Jones | QB | Alabama | 36 | 22.36% |
| Christian Darrisaw | OT | Virginia Tech | 20 | 12.42% |
| Trey Lance | QB | North Dakota State | 12 | 7.45% |
| Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah | LB | Notre Dame | 12 | 7.45% |
| Alijah Vera-Tucker | IOL | USC | 11 | 6.83% |
| Samuel Cosmi | OT | Texas | 10 | 6.21% |
| Kadarius Toney | WR | Florida | 9 | 5.59% |
| Rashod Bateman | WR | Minnesota | 8 | 4.97% |
| Kyle Pitts | TE | Florida | 4 | 2.48% |
| Teven Jenkins | IOL | Oklahoma State | 4 | 2.48% |
| Jaylen Waddle | WR | Alabama | 4 | 2.48% |
| Jaycee Horn | CB | South Carolina | 4 | 2.48% |
| Micah Parsons | LB | Penn State | 2 | 1.24% |
| Tyson Campbell | CB | Georgia | 2 | 1.24% |
| Rondale Moore | WR | Purdue | 2 | 1.24% |
| Alex Leatherwood | OT | Alabama | 2 | 1.24% |
| Devonta Smith | WR | Alabama | 2 | 1.24% |
| Terrace Marshall Jr | WR | LSU | 2 | 1.24% |
| Kyle Trask | QB | Florida | 2 | 1.24% |
| Nick Bolton | LB | Missouri | 1 | 0.62% |
| Christian Barmore | DT | Alabama | 1 | 0.62% |
| Zaven Collins | LB | Tulsa | 1 | 0.62% |
| Elijah Moore | WR | Mississippi | 1 | 0.62% |
| Tua Tagovailoa | QB | Player Trade | 1 | 0.62% |
| Eric Stokes | CB | Georgia | 1 | 0.62% |
| Jaylen Mayfield | OT | Michigan | 1 | 0.62% |
| Patrick Surtain II | CB | Alabama | 1 | 0.62% |
| Andre Cisco | S | Syracuse | 1 | 0.62% |
| Zack Wilson | QB | BYU | 1 | 0.62% |
| Liam Eichenberg | OT | Notre Dame | 1 | 0.62% |
| Jevon Holland | S | Oregon | 1 | 0.62% |
| Dillon Radunz | OT | North Dakota State | 1 | 0.62% |
The news of the impending Smith release seemed to have some impact on the draft choices for Washington this week. Mac Jones was up 2% and Trey Lance was up 1.3%. The other top selections were all down slightly: Christian Darrisaw (0.6%), Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (0.8%), Rashod Bateman (0.55%), with the largest being Alijah Vera-Tucker (1.4%).
Breaking down the percentage picked within the position group for the top five positions:
- Quarterback – Mac Jones (69.2% of QB picks), Trey Lance (23.1%), Kyle Trask (3.9%)
- Offensive tackle – Christian Darrisaw (57.1% of OT picks), Samuel Cosmi (28.6%), Alex Leatherwood (5.7%)
- Wide receiver – Kadarius Toney (32.1% of WR picks), Rashod Bateman (28.6%), Jaylen Waddle (14.3%), Terrace Marshall Jr. (7.1%), Rondale Moore (7.1%), Devonta Smith (7.1%)
- Linebacker – Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (75%), Micah Parsons (12.5%), Zaven Collins (6.3%), Nick Bolton (6.3%)
- Interior Offensive Line – Alijah Vera-Tucker (73%), Teven Jenkins (27%)
Within the position groupings, Kadarius Toney and Micah Parsons moved up the most within their respective positions. Among the newer mocks, Toney is becoming something of a hot pick among mockers. On Parsons, I think some mockers are projecting him to fall based on various negative news stories surrounding activities he was involved with at Penn State.
The most common trades showing up in the mocks are trade ups for a quarterback with the most popular spots being #7-Detroit, #13-San Diego, #14-Minnesota and #15-New England.
My award for worst mocker goes to the person who picked WFT picking Christian Barmore, defensive tackle from Alabama. Unless we trade Jonathan Allen and Deron Payne for a quarterback, that pick makes no sense to me.
If you have any draft questions, post them in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @noonefromtampa.
Source: nflmockdraftdatabase.com