Todd McShay NFL Mock Draft 2016: Notable Picks from ESPN Guru's 3-Round Mock

ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay released his three-round "Grade: A" mock draft Tuesday, essentially playing general manager for each team and making a selection for them based on his board and perception of their team needs. 

It's important to note this won't be a critique of McShay's mock draft. He has his own draft grades and his own justifications for his selections, which you can read here. Again, McShay noted he isn't projecting or predicting picks here but rather playing general manager.

So instead, let's take a look at some of the more interesting aspects of his mock and discuss the repercussions and justifications of those possible picks: 

Pick	Team	Position	Player	School
Pick	Team	Position	Player	School
Pick	Team	Position	Player	School
1	Tennessee	OT	Laremy Tunsil	Mississippi
2	Cleveland	QB	Carson Wentz	North Dakota State
3	San Diego	DE	DeForest Buckner	Oregon
4	Dallas	QB	Jared Goff	Cal
5	Jacksonville	OLB	Myles Jack	UCLA
6	Baltimore	DE	Joey Bosa	Ohio State
7	San Francisco	CB	Jalen Ramsey	Florida State
8	Philadelphia	RB	Ezekiel Elliott	Ohio State
9	Tampa Bay	OT	Jack Conklin	Michigan State
10	NY Giants	OT	Ronnie Stanley	Notre Dame
11	Chicago	OLB	Leonard Floyd	Georgia
12	New Orleans	DT	Sheldon Rankins	Louisville
13	Miami	DE	Shaq Lawson	Clemson
14	Oakland	DT	Chris Jones	Mississippi State
15	Los Angeles	WR	Laquon Treadwell	Mississippi
16	Detroit	OT	Taylor Decker	Ohio State
17	Atlanta	OLB	Darron Lee	Ohio State
18	Indianapolis	S	Karl Joseph	West Virginia
19	Buffalo	ILB	Reggie Ragland	Alabama
20	NY Jets	CB	Vernon Hargreaves III	Florida
21	Washington	DT	Jarran Reed	Alabama
22	Houston	WR	Josh Doctson	TCU
23	Minnesota	WR	Will Fuller	Notre Dame
24	Cincinnati	WR	Corey Coleman	Baylor
25	Pittsburgh	CB	William Jackson III	Houston
26	Seattle	DT	Andrew Billings	Baylor
27	Green Bay	DT	Vernon Butler	Louisiana Tech
28	Kansas City	DT	A'Shawn Robinson	Alabama
29	Arizona	C	Ryan Kelly	Alabama
30	Carolina	OT	Germain Ifedi	Texas A&M
31	Denver	QB	Connor Cook	Michigan State
Round 2
32	Cleveland	WR	Michael Thomas	Ohio State
33	Tennessee	CB	Eli Apple	Ohio State
34	Dallas	DE	Kevin Dodd	Clemson
35	San Diego	S	Vonn Bell	Ohio State
36	Baltimore	CB	Artie Burns	Miami (FL)
37	San Francisco	QB	Paxton Lynch	Memphis
38	Jacksonville	S	Keanu Neal	Florida
39	Tampa Bay	WR	Chris Moore	Cincinnati
40	NY Giants	OLB	Kamalei Correa	Boise State
41	Chicago	OT	Jason Spriggs	Indiana
42	Miami	CB	Kendall Fuller	Virginia Tech
43	Los Angeles	QB	Christian Hackenberg	Penn State
44	Oakland	CB	Mackensie Alexander	Clemson
45	Los Angeles	C	Nick Martin	Notre Dame
46	Detroit	DT	Robert Nkemdiche	Mississippi
47	New Orleans	G	Joshua Garnett	Stanford
48	Indianapolis	G/C	Cody Whitehair	Kansas State
49	Buffalo	DE	Jonathan Bullard	Florida
50	Atlanta	TE	Hunter Henry	Arkansas
51	NY Jets	OLB	Noah Spence	Eastern Kentucky
52	Houston	TE	Jerell Adams	South Carolina
53	Washington	DE	Jihad Ward	Illinois
54	Minnesota	OLB	Deion Jones	LSU
55	Cincinnati	DT	Kenny Clark	UCLA
56	Seattle	RB	Derrick Henry	Alabama
57	Green Bay	TE	Nick Vannett	Ohio State
58	Pittsburgh	S	Darian Thompson	Boise State
59	Kansas City	WR	Braxton Miller	Ohio State
60	New England	WR	Tyler Boyd	Pittsburgh
61	New England	CB	Cyrus Jones	Alabama
62	Carolina	DT	Austin Johnson	Penn State
63	Denver	DT	Sheldon Day	Notre Dame
Round 3
64	Tennessee	G	Christian Westerman	Arizona State
65	Cleveland	DT	Willie Henry	Michigan
66	San Diego	TE	Austin Hooper	Stanford
67	Dallas	WR	Sterling Shepard	Oklahoma
68	San Francisco	WR	Leonte Carroo	Rutgers
69	Jacksonville	DE	Emmanuel Ogbah	Oklahoma State
70	Baltimore	ILB	Nick Kwiatkoski	West Virginia
71	NY Giants	WR	Pharoh Cooper	South Carolina
72	Chicago	DT	Hassan Ridgeway	Texas
73	Miami	RB	Kenneth Dixon	Louisiana Tech
74	Tampa Bay	DE	Shilique Calhoun	Michigan State
75	Oakland	RB	Devontae Booker	Utah
76	Los Angeles	CB	Daryl Worley	West Virginia
77	Philadelphia	CB	Xavien Howard	Baylor
78	New Orleans	OLB	Jaylon Smith	Notre Dame
79	Philadelphia	OT	Shon Coleman	Auburn
80	Buffalo	CB	KeiVarae Russell	Notre Dame
81	Atlanta	DE	Carl Nassib	Penn State
82	Indianapolis	OT	Jerald Hawkins	LSU
83	NY Jets	ILB	Joshua Perry	Ohio State
84	Washington	WR	Jordan Payton	UCLA
85	Houston	S	Su'a Cravens	USC
86	Minnesota	DT	Adolphus Washington	Ohio State
87	Cincinnati	S	Jeremy Cash	Duke
88	Green Bay	ILB	B.J. Goodson	Clemson
89	Pittsburgh	DE	Adam Gotsis	Georgia Tech
90	Seattle	OT	Le'Raven Clark	Texas Tech
91	New England	DT	Javon Hargrave	South Carolina State
92	Arizona	QB	Jacoby Brissett	North Carolina State
93	Carolina	S	Justin Simmons	Boston College
94	Denver	RB	Jordan Howard	Indiana
95	Detroit	CB	Will Redmond	Mississippi State
96	New England	RB	C.J. Prosise	Notre Dame
97	Seattle	CB	Briean Boddy-Calhoun	Minnesota
98	Denver	G	Connor McGovern	Missouri

Dallas Cowboys Select QB Jared Goff

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

The Dallas Cowboys, at No. 4, will be the most intriguing selection in this draft. Think about the teams in front of them for a moment:

• The Tennessee Titans are either going to trade the pick or draft offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil to protect franchise quarterback Marcus Mariota. Those are simply the most logical options for the team.
• The Cleveland Browns are going to select a quarterback. It's the most important position in the NFL, and the Browns haven't had a legit option at the position since Bernie Kosar. Either Carson Wentz or Jared Goff are viable options. But the Browns will almost assuredly select one of the two.
• The San Diego Chargers have enough needs to select any of a number of players, or they could trade the pick to a team interested in selecting a quarterback. They cannot really go wrong at No. 3.

But that leaves the Cowboys, who have to make the important decision of either selecting a player who will contribute immediately—on McShay's board, that would mean a player like Joey Bosa, Jalen Ramsey, Myles Jack or even Ezekiel Elliott—or selecting a future quarterback. It's a fascinating choice.

Here's what McShay said about his choice to have the team select Goff:

"

And now it gets interesting. Tony Romo turns 36 on April 21, and he's coming off a season in which he played just four games after suffering two collarbone injuries. It's time for the Cowboys to start planning for their future at QB. Yes, they need a pass-rusher—which I took care of in Round 2 with [Kevin] Dodd—but you can't just ignore the game's most important position, especially a season after seeing the true value of having a competent backup in place. It'd be the perfect situation for Goff, too. He'd get time to transition to the pro game after playing in a spread system at Cal, while also getting to learn from Romo and head coach Jason Garrett.

"

You cannot argue with that logic. Selecting Goff potentially addresses the quarterback position for the next decade. In the NFL, you simply don't know when you'll get the chance to add a potential franchise quarterback. 

Jason Cole of Bleacher Report says the buzz is growing that the Cowboys will select a quarterback with their No. 4 pick:

On the other hand, the Cowboys—with a healthy Romo—have a playoff-caliber roster and are built to win now. While you could argue that Goff would upgrade the backup quarterback position, Bosa, Ramsey, Jack or Elliott would almost assuredly have a much, much bigger impact in their rookie seasons. 

The NFC East is wide open, with no clear favorites in the division, so Dallas could easily go from first to worst this season. That is certainly something the team has to consider.

So for Dallas, it's the classic conundrum: draft for the future or draft for right now? McShay believes the team will go for the former. Much of the draft will be dictated by the team's decision.

Jalen Ramsey, Vernon Hargreaves III Drop Down Board

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

This is surprising. Ramsey, for one, has received buzz as a potential top overall pick. Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com noted "Ramsey is under consideration for the top spot."

The defensive back met with the team Monday, and he spoke about what he hoped to accomplish in that meeting, per Wyatt:

"

I feel like this is one of the last impressions that I’ll be able to make on them. I feel like I’ve done everything in my power leading up to now, and I just have to finish it off strong and that is what I am here to do. I don’t feel like I have to really sell them on anything. It’s just the person I am, the player I am. I am an open book. Any questions they have, I can answer them.

"

Then, he pitched himself to the Titans:

"

They are going to get the best player in this draft class. They are going to get the hardest worker in this draft class. They are going to get a corner, they are going to get a safety, they are going to get a nickel, and they are going to get a special teams player. They are going to get a leader, they are going to get a guy who gives them longevity. They are going to get the total package.

"

Most scouts and front office personnel would likely agree with that assessment.

So why did Ramsey drop to No. 7 on McShay's board? Especially after he named Ramsey the best player on his board?

Perhaps it's due in part because Ramsey "doesn't have elite ball skills," per the ESPN analyst. Surely, it's in part because he has two quarterbacks going in the top four picks. More than likely, he felt the team needs didn't match up for Ramsey to go higher than No. 7. 

Ramsey shouldn't drop out of the top seven picks. But if he does, a team like the San Francisco 49ers is going to be very, very happy. 

Hargreaves' drop to No. 20 was surprising as well, particularly because he'll be a possibility for the Philadelphia Eagles at No. 8 (even though the team could go with Elliott if he's available, as he's the perfect fit for Doug Pederson's offense). 

Hargreaves' size could drop him out of the top 10 picks, but it would be shocking if he dropped down to No. 20, simply because he's such a well-rounded corner with excellent feet, acceleration and ball skills. 

It would be surprising if he dropped past the Miami Dolphins at No. 13.

Several Big Names Fall Out of 1st Round

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

McShay simply doesn't have a first-round grade on Paxton Lynch and has him falling to the second round—where the 49ers select him with the 37th overall pick in his mock, a great fit for what head coach Chip Kelly wants to do—so that drop isn't shocking.

It's interesting that McShay has the Denver Broncos selecting Connor Cook in the first round over Lynch, however. It's certainly justifiable from the perspective that Cook is much more of a plug-and-play starter than Lynch, who has big upside but lacks polish. For a team like the Broncos that wants to compete for another Super Bowl next year, Cook would seemingly be the logical pick.

And boy, if the draft plays out with the Niners landing Ramsey and Lynch with their first two picks, they might shut down the city for the ensuing party. 

Robert Nkemdiche might be the most difficult player to project in this year's draft, and McShay has him falling out of the first round. Peter King of MMQB.com broke down the Nkemdiche enigma:

"

One guy put it best about the Ole Miss defensive tackle with top-five talent and top-five off-field issues: “There’s not that much special talent in this draft. He’s special, potentially. Coaches with security will take a chance on a guy like this with such good tools.” I heard like things from a couple of others—namely, that Nkemdiche is a very likely first-round pick, though it may be late. Maybe a Pete Carroll (Seattle picks 26th) or Bruce Arians (Arizona picks 29th) will feel confident enough, with the kind of strong locker room each has, to put Nkemdiche in the mix. He’s articulate, he’s an artist, he plays the saxophone. He’s a tough riddle.

"

It won't be surprising if Nkemdiche falls out of the first round. It won't be surprising if his talent makes him a top-20 pick, either. 

Noah Spence is another intriguing talent who has off-field concerns that may drop him down the board. McShay certainly believes those concerns will keep Spence out of the first round. One AFC scouting director spoke to Eric Edholm of Yahoo Sports about Spence and tends to agree:

"

Good player. Those tackles [at the Senior Bowl] likely were glad when that week was over. He got in a few of their heads I think. The kid from Harvard [Cole Toner] still hasn't gotten out of his stance yet. But [Spence] was too light at his pro day, and he didn't interview well with us. I'll still go to bat for him, but he's a second-rounder all day.

"

If Spence wasn't a bit of a 'tweener as an edge-rusher, he might sneak into the first round. And there is always the possibility of a team drafting him for his explosiveness on Day 1. But Spence seems to be trending as a second-rounder more and more, which jibes with McShay's board. 

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