The biggest thing I realised with Day 3 is what a positive difference it makes if you are watching the draft live and can make changes to your picks depending on what is flying off the board at that given moment. Compared to that, on Day 1 and 2 I simply made lists of who I wanted to go where and then left it and decided afterwards – which isn’t the real draft experience, but had to be done due to the time difference.

The big situation where this made a difference to my draft was with the 2nd pick on day 3. One guard went before my first pick so I took Safety (2 taken prior to my pick), Haynes was still planned in as my 4th pick. Then in a short time before my 2nd pick at 124, 2 more guards went off the board: my only other OLineman besides Haynes, Hjalte Froholdt at 118 and then one pick before mine at 123 Ben Powers went to the Ravens so I was worried that I wouldn’t get my second lineman and pulled the trigger.

To explain the decision in a bit more detail, there had only been 2 WRs taken of the board, meaning that players like Riley Ridley were still available – who I thought teams probably had rated higher than Renfrow. I also had 3 WRs who I though were interesting and wouldn’t mind drafting earlier if needs be. At QB I already had my main guy and players like Gardner Minshew were still on the board – again with a higher pro-readiness than Jackson who was a favorite of mine but as a developmental prospect. This, combined with the fact that I only had to wait 8 spots for my next pick made me optimistic about taking Haynes.

While I was writing his name on my own sheet during the draft it came up that the Seahawks pick was in. A couple of minutes later then my draft highlight: the Seahawks picked the same player that I would have drafted for them at exactly the same position.

All of the picks following that went perfectly, because I was able to get exactly the guys I wanted.

4th – 7th Round picks

Round 4 – No. 115 overall – Sheldrick Redwine (S)

I picked Gardner Johnson at the end of Day 2, but just wasn’t willing to wait any longer on one of my favourite players in the draft. Good job I didn’t, because he ended up going less than 10 picks later to the Browns.

Round 4 – No. 124 overall – Phil Haynes (OL)

I have highlighted my draft experience with him above. Some players you don’t have to say a lot about, my final assessment was: beasty bouncer in the Fluker mold. I like his movement and size. He could be a great late round addition to the Seahawks in the 4th or 5th round

Round 4 – No. TBC* (132 overall) – Hunter Renfrow (WR)

So by now WR was the only area of mid-need that I had not addressed at all, after missing out on Isabella on day 2 and opting to pull the trigger on Gardner Johnson rather than a WR with my last pick in round 3. I was sitting on hot coals a little after pushing this selection down and selecting Haynes, but was super happy to be able to get my favourite WR in the draft. One word to describe him: clutch.

Round 5 – No. 159 overall – Tyree Jackson (QB)

So Tyree Jackson ended up going undrafted to the Bills, and I took him in the 5th round when someone like Daylon Mack (DT) would have still been available. But I think that long term he has huge upside and even if he doesn’t end up on the pitch much, he could become an interesting trade piece down the line. I have no problem picking him in that capacity either, because he seems like such a positive guy. I did briefly consider taking Minshew, who I was a lot higher on than a lot of other ‘experts’, but in the end I stuck with the unusual talent. I think that Minshew could end up doing really well and that the Jags are a great fit.

Round 6 – No. TBC* (209 overall) – Jimmy Moreland (CB)

When he was still available here I was super excited, because I think that he is a special talent, similar to – but not quite as good – as was Wallace last year. It also meant that I was able to pick up all of my top 5 Day 2 guys.

Round 7 – No. 255 overall – Alec Ingold (FB)

I was torn here between Ingold and Alex Barnes as a 3rd down guy. In the end I went for the specialist who I think is pro ready and I have noone on the team like. Kahzin Daniels was the other guy who I was contemplating here, but I had 6 DEs so it was less of a priority than potentially missing out on Ingold in FA.

Summary

No misses on this draft day made me extremely happy. If I were to be really picky I could have let Jackson fall and then picked up Daylon Mack to make my defensive interior even more beastly, but after picking up my top 2 guys on day 2 I just didn’t want to risk missing out on Jackson (3rd QB) over a 5th DT.

Some interesting guys were still available in Free Agency and I did a post about that – including my priorities – straight after the draft, you can find that here:

2019 NFL UDFAs – Projection

I will do several articles summarising Free Agency and the overall draft this week, so keep an eye out for that.

Reality

Round 4 • Pick 18 (120) • WR Gary Jennings

Jennings is interesting in that he is very similar to Darboh in many of his measurables. He was also catching passes from my – initially – first pick at QB: Will Grier. The good thing about that is that he is used to taking the top off defenses, and I feel like the way they played over there had some similarities to the Seahawks.

Round 4 • Pick 22 (124) • G Phil Haynes

Round 4 • Pick 30 (132) • FS Ugo Amadi

He was on my extended list of cornerbacks until quite close to the end of writing the article. He would have actually been in the extras that I mention at the end of my articles, but I didn’t have time to do it for the cornerbacks. It will be interesting to see how he does, because he didn’t make it into my final selection.

Round 5 • Pick 4 (142) • LB Ben Burr-Kirven

Another one of my picks so very happy with this addition.

Round 6 • Pick 32 (204) • RB Travis Homer

I like that he is explosive, deceptively fast, does these gliding cuts on all three levels, finishes hard, fights his way through the middle even though he is smaller, doesn’t go down easy, basically there is a lot to like. The question is whether we needed to spend a pick on a RB with Carson and Penny on the roster.

Round 6 • Pick 37 (209) • DT Demarcus Christmas

He is built broad in the hips, can get into the backfield and make plays there. He doesn’t really seem explosive but he moves the OLinemen infront of him around and gets past them. We will see what he can do at the next level.

Round 7 • Pick 22 (236) • WR John Ursua

Well he led college receivers in TDs. So that’s a good start. Watching his tape he seems like a tough player who makes clutch catches. He works out of the slot and has similar movements to  Baldwin. I find him more exciting than Jennings.

Overall I think that Day 3 is where you make your money in the draft. The Seahawks picks are interesting, I wonder if Daylon Mack (DT) might have been a better pick than maybe Amadi. I wonder whether it made sense to get 2 WRs on day 3, and whether these were the right two. I still maintain that Renfrow was a great pick on my part and he is clutch like Baldwin. Just an example, in Clemson they called it 3rd and Renfrow. I think the picks of Jennings, Amadi, Homer and Christmas could have been invested better – of course I would be very happy if they prove me wrong.