FanPost

My way too early Mock Draft with Free Agency

Anyone that remembers me from the podcast may remember me saying one thing. I am always in draft mode. It is part of what I want to do as soon as I finish my degree in Sports Management, and one of my favorite hobbies when I am bored. The funny thing is, I have always wanted to do it. But enough about the boring stuff, lets get to the meat and potatoes of the post shall we?

OUR FREE AGENCY One can not look at free agency without looking at what we are looking to get and get rid of, as well as keep. We currently have several pending free agents, and despite having 40 plus million to play with, decisions have to be made.

So here goes: Anthony Fasano: Keep. In a solid roundabout way, Fasano becomes more important a mainstay than even Jake Long. His presence puts him as the leading scorer through the air.

Jake Long: Walk. Quite frankly, as nice as I would like to keep him, I cannot justify spending almost 30% of our budget on this guy.

Randy Starks: Keep. I do not think I need to explain this one.

Sean Smith: Keep. I really think he takes a slight discount, roughly about 800k less than what we are paying Marshall.

Reggie Bush: Walk. This guy will earn a big payday somewhere, unless he takes one for the team, I think the drafting of Lamar Miller plays a big part in this.

Matt Moore: Walk. I want to keep him, but will he settle for being what would surely be a career backup?

Chris Clemons: Keep. Do we NEED an upgrade? Sure. Will there BE an upgrade? probably not this year.

Brian Hartline: Keep. This is a no brainer. That being said, it is officially time to see our Free agency acquisitions.

FREE AGENCY As much as I hate to say it, this is an important Free Agency. As much as I want to keep everyone, we have other needs to address. Here is how and who I think we get to fix this.

Greg Jennings: Ross said a key is finding a number one. Jennings home is in Green Bay, but he has said that he is resigned to play elsewhere due to the needs of Green Bay and depth at WR. Miami just makes too much sense with both his former Head coach and offensive coordinator here.

Andre Smith: Ties to our Defensive coordinator, this Bengal would make for a much cheaper alternative to Jake Long.

Fred Davis: A talented seam threat, injuries and his inability to mesh with RG3's skill set makes for him wanting to find a home elsewhere. A solid compliment to Fasano, and a way to ensure that Egnew and Clay get more time to develop.

Micheal Johnson: Another Kevin Coyle familiar, his ability to play outside, inside on our LB corps is a selling point, another one is that he is solid covering tight ends.

Now for our final section, and the moment we have all been skimming through the rest of this post.... THE DRAFT

I expect a mid round pick set here, round one possibly around 15 to 18. BUT.... I do not think that is where we stay. Easy answer? We move down to about the 26-28th pick, which means you guys are going to hate my first round pick, but we make up for it by picking up an extra second rounder, as well as one for next year, and a fifth this year.

Onto the draft: RD 1: Jonathan Cooper OG, UNC. I know what you are thinking.... Another oline first rounder. Before you go grabbing your pitchforks, it is paramount you understand that while we have other needs, this guy is the key to UNCs offense, his blocking has contributed to 0 sacks on the season, and plenty of room to keep the ground game moving.

RD 2A: David Amerson CB, NCST. This is an awesome draft for corners and DL.The fact that this is the fourth ranked corner in this draft and yet is still a viable option to start is amazing.

RD 2B: Tavon Austin WR, WVU. Extremely small, but plays big. He is every bit of what we lack in our game. Imagine Ted Ginn with heart, and no family baggage, His 4.38 speed is solidly showcased as both a WR and RB.If Ted Ginn and CJ Spiller had a kid, this is what would come out.

RD 2C: Kevin Minter LB, LSU. Outside, Inside, flexibility, all words that describe this Tiger. He alone makes me happy we traded down.

RD 3A: Desmond Trufant CB, Washington. Younger brother of Marcus Trufant, his bloodline is too good to pass up in the third round.

RD 3B: Justin Pugh OT, Syracuse. An upper body injury has this guy falling, but he is a remarkable first round talent when healthy. His name is picking up steam though, so I wouldn't risk waiting any longer.

RD 4: Marquess Wilson WR, Washington St. The reason we obtained an extra fifth, we use one to move up a few spots to acquire this big bodied receiver. Reminds me a bit of James Jones.

RD 5: Zach Sudfeld TE, Nevada. Ireland loves his small school finds, A poor mans Fasano, he has already amassed 6 touchdowns on the season.

RD 6: Ryan Swope WR, TAMU. Our last pick we trade up to make. The other leading receiver for Tannehills offense when Fuller went down, his stock has been falling fast this season after losing both Tannehill and his head coach, I think we get him here in a Lamar Miller scenario.

Well if you made it through, congratulations. This is my scenario for the off-season, I am sorry it is so long, but there was a lot to go through. I appreciate you taking the time to read this, and would even more so appreciate the feedback and criticisms of my peers.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of The Phinsider's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of The Phinsider writers or editors.