We are nearing in the home stretch, NFL Draft devotees.
With the calendar flipped to March, we are officially under two months out from the 2016 NFL Draft. The Scouting Combine wrapped up Monday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, with Ohio State providing a multitude of highlights.
Whether it be Urban Meyer taking a selfie on the field with Mickey Marotti and Ezekiel Elliott, Darron Lee and Eli Apple destroying their combine workouts or Cardale Jones regrettably pulling his hamstring on his second 40-yard dash attempt and as a result not being able to throw, Buckeyes were everywhere.
In what shouldn't be a surprise, they're present in NFL Draft analysts latest mock drafts as well.
ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. hasn't updated his mock after the scouting combine, but a host of other analysts did. We will highlight those here. This is the fourth time we've done a mock draft roundup. Here are versions one, two and three.
Along with Kiper and Todd McShay from ESPN, we gathered information from Will Brinson, Rob Rang, Pete Prisco and Dane Brugler of CBS Sports, Daniel Jeremiah of NFL.com, Josh Norris of rotoworld.com, Nate Davis of USA Today and Matt Miller of Bleacher Report. We'll add updated slates from Kiper and McShay later. Miller threw in his second round projections, so we'll add those too just for fun. The number in parenthesis is where each analyst had the player in a previous mock.
| Prospect | BRINSON | DAVIS | Rang | Brugler | Kiper | PRISCO | McShay | MILLER | Jeremiah | Norris |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JOEY BOSA, DE | 3 | 4 (4) | 5 (5) | 4 (4) | 6 (1) | 4 | 4 (1) | 6 | 4 (5) | 2 (5) |
| EZEKIEL ELLIOTT, RB | 22 | 8 (8) | 10 (10) | 22 (18) | 22 (17) | 22 | 10 (15) | 18 | 20 (14) | 18 (18) |
| TAYLOR DECKER, OT | NR | 18 (31) | 23 (26) | 18 (16) | 31 (20) | 26 | 16 (22) | 14 | 18 (22) | 23 (23) |
| ELI APPLE, CB | NR | 23 (15) | 25 (25) | 14 (25) | 14 (24) | 11 | 14 (18) | 25 | 30 (30) | NR (12) |
| DARRON LEE, LB | NR | 10 (17) | 12 (23) | 11 (17) | NR (NR) | 10 | 17 (23) | 11 | 21 (11) | 11 (17) |
| BRAXTON MILLER, WR | NR | NR (NR) | NR (NR) | NR (24) | NR (NR) | NR | NR (NR) | 24 | NR (NR) | NR (NR) |
| VONN BELL, S | NR | NR (NR) | NR (NR) | NR (28) | NR (NR) | NR | 23 (NR) | 55 | NR (NR) | NR (NR) |
| MICHAEL THOMAS, WR | NR | NR (NR) | NR (NR) | NR (NR) | NR (NR) | NR | NR (NR) | 12 | NR (NR) | 17 (NR) |
| JOSHUA PERRY, LB | NR | NR (NR) | NR (NR) | NR (NR) | NR (NR) | NR | NR (NR) | 63 | NR (NR) | NR (NR) |
2016 NFL Draft order:
- 1. Tennessee Titans
- 2. Cleveland Browns
- 3. San Diego Chargers
- 4. Dallas Cowboys
- 5. Jacksonville Jaguars
- 6. Baltimore Ravens
- 7. San Francisco 49ers
- 8. Miami Dolphins
- 9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- 10. New York Giants
- 11. Chicago Bears
- 12. New Orleans Saints
- 13. Philadelphia Eagles
- 14. Oakland Raiders
- 15. Los Angeles Rams
- 16. Detroit Lions
- 17. Atlanta Falcons
- 18. Indianapolis Colts
- 19. Buffalo Bills
- 20. New York Jets
- 21. Washington Redskins
- 22. Houston Texans
- 23. Minnesota Vikings
- 24. Cincinnati Bengals
- 25. Pittsburgh Steelers
- 26. Seattle Seahawks
- 27. Green Bay Packers
- 28. Kansas City Chiefs
- 29. Arizona Cardinals
- 30. Carolina Panthers
- 31. Denver Broncos
*Note: There are only 31 picks in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft. New England forfeited its first round selection.
The biggest takeaway is obviously the drop in stock for wide receiver Braxton Miller. Coming out of the Senior Bowl in late January, Miller was all the talk of the draft because of his special athleticism and speed. His combine 40-yard dash time was a bit surprising, but he performed well in other drills.
However, the fact Miller isn't even a year in to playing a brand new position sheds light on why he's fallen out of most first round projections. NFL Network's Mike Mayock said heading into the combine he thought Miller was a second round pick and feels the same way after watching him workout.
Vonn Bell's stock also fell due to his inability to run at the combine because of a tender hamstring. He blipped up into some mock first rounds before descending on Indianapolis, but missed an opportunity to show what he could do because of the injury. Ohio State's Pro Day March 11 is huge for his future, just like it is for Cardale Jones.
Jones' hamstring pull in his second 40-yard dash attempt at the combine kept him out of throwing workouts at Lucas Oil Stadium. For a guy that only played in 11 games in college, that is unfortunate. It also puts a major emphasis on his Pro Day. Jones was not projected as a first round pick anyway, but he needs to show what he can do in Columbus next Friday.
The biggest moves in the positive direction in this mock draft roundup are easily Eli Apple and Darron Lee. Both ran and performed well in drill work at the combine, showing elite athleticism and speed to go with it. They caught the eye of NFL brass.
A lot can change in the 57 days between now and the first round of the NFL Draft on April 28 in Chicago, but as it stands it does not look like the Buckeyes will break Miami's record of six players from the same school going among the first 31 selections, at least if you go by the projections of the analysts shown above.
The draft runs through April 30.
