When NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah releases a mock draft, it’s something you need to pay attention to. He was the first to mock left tackle Mekhi Becton in the first round, sending him at four to the New York Giants in January of 2020. He ended up going 10 to the New York Jets.
When his first mock draft comes out, it usually includes quite a few noteworthy items in there. Here are the four main takeaways from his mock draft.
No Quentin Johnston in the first round
This was a quite a surprise as a lot of analysts, including myself, have him as the top wide receiver in the class. In fact, Jeremiah only had two receivers going in round one with Jordan Addison to the New York Giants at 25 and Jaxon Smith-Njigba to the Philadelphia Eagles at 31. He had three tight ends going in the first round as well with Michael Mayer going at 24 to the Jacksonville Jaguars at 24 and Dalton Kincaid going at 21 to the Los Angeles Chargers.
That could be a sign that the NFL isn’t very high on the wide receiver class. Dane Brugler tweeted out something similar.
Several NFL teams feel the value at WR this year will come after round one. They'll be comfortable waiting until day 2.
There isn't a WR in this class considered a lock top-20 pick, but Addison has a chance. https://t.co/GqpHdSDgCT
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) January 20, 2023
Lukas Van Ness in the top-10
The Iowa defense is one of the best units in college football and Van Ness was the best player on that unit. His inclusion in the first round isn’t a surprise, but at eighth overall was somewhat of a surprise. When you put on the tape, he is a very complete player that is reminiscent of both Rashan Gary and Justin Smith. His inclusion this high will be more common moving forward.
Five cornerbacks in the first round, but no Kelee Ringo
Cornerback is going to be a deep position this year. What will be fascinating is seeing how these guys come off the board. Jeremiah had Devon Witherspoon, Joey Porter Jr. and Christian Gonzalez as his top-three cornerbacks off the board. That isn’t a surprise, but who did and didn’t come off the board in the last two spots is the surprise.
Jeremiah had Mississippi State’s Emmanuel Forbes and Miami FL’s Tyrique Stevenson going but didn’t have Georgia’s Kelee Ringo. Prior to the season, Ringo was the consensus CB1 in this class and he has the skills to thrive in the NFL, but his stiffness and disappointing tape this season could force him to round two.
Anthony Richardson to the Ravens
The quarterback position will likely have four quarterbacks go in the first round but where Jeremiah had Anthony Richardson going was quite interesting.
The Baltimore Ravens currently have Lamar Jackson under team control and will likely franchise tag him this offseason. With his status up in the air, it’s a smart move to fortify the position. The worst case scenario is that you lose Jackson and Richardson busts and best case scenario is both are starting caliber quarterbacks and you get to choose who to keep.
How does this impact the Vikings?
Based on the first mock draft of Jeremiah, it impacts the Vikings in two ways. One, the cornerback position will likely have some talented players available at cornerback if they stay at 23. Second, if they want a receiver, they can probably have their pick with a move back to the second round. The Vikings currently have limited draft capital but are poised to maneuver the draft board and maximize the talent that they bring in.
