You hear it every year when it comes to risers and fallers in the draft: This particular phenomenon is just a matter of the media catching up to NFL teams and their evaluations, which have been in the can for a while now. This may be true to a point from the scouting perspective; area scouts have funneled their reports up the ladder, and the guys in charge in the building have all that sorted in 50 different ways.
But think of it from a coaching perspective: If you’re Sean McVay, your entire focus has been on going to, and winning, the Super Bowl. Your process didn’t end until early February, maybe you took a week off with your family, and you’re then right into the draft mix. Only then are you able to take the thought of draft prospects on at a molecular level, and that’s true for every assistant coach on your staff. Your general manager is now involved, and everybody has to get on the same page.
Generally speaking, your scouts are looking for the most upside, especially on later-day prospects who may not be immediate NFL starters, but have a skill or two that really stand out. Now, you have to try and discern if the stuff that needs coaching is actually coachable.
On the other hand, coaches don’t want upside noise — they want consistency. They want guys who won’t embarrass them on the field, and if there’s a prospect who does this or that thing well, that’s great, but those attributes had better stand out to the point where the player can be a situational asset in the short term.
The point of all this is to say that there are still prospects rising up and falling down boards in NFL facilities, just as there are in the mock drafts we yahoos in the media do all the time.
In this particular mock, I have edge defenders going with the first three picks, and I’m going with ceiling over floor with the top selection. The Travon Walker pick fits with Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke’s history of athletic traits above all. The second pick,…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Football | Gators Wire…