Mike Mayock Draft Chat and Top 5 Lists

Mike Mayock released his final Top 5 position rankings for the NFL Draft this week, and also hosted a conference call with reporters from around the league yesterday.  Mayock is one of the more respected analysts in the business.  He has a few changes in his positional rankings this month, and also answered two Redskins related questions on the conference call.

You can read Mayock's final rankings here, last month's rankings here and his original rankings here.  You can also view the full results and measurement from the Combine here.

Top 5 Tight Ends:

Tight End
Rank	2/17/2014	3/3/2014	4/28/2014
1	Eric Ebron, North Carolina	Eric Ebron, North Carolina	Eric Ebron, North Carolina
2	Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Washington	Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Washington	Jace Amaro, Texas Tech
3	Jace Amaro, Texas Tech	Jace Amaro, Texas Tech	Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Washington
4	Troy Niklas, Notre Dame	Troy Niklas, Notre Dame	Troy Niklas, Notre Dame
5	C.J. Fiedorowicz, Iowa	C.J. Fiedorowicz, Iowa	C.J. Fiedorowicz, Iowa

There is speculation that Gruden will want another Tight End to complement Jordan Reed, and possibly replace an expensive Logan Paulsen.  Eric Ebron and Jace Amaro could both be off the board, but ASJ, Niklas, and Fiedorowicz could be available at 34 and 66.

Top 5 Cornerbacks:

Cornerback
Rank	2/17/2014	3/3/2014	4/28/2014
1	Darqueze Dennard, Michigan State	Darqueze Dennard, Michigan State	Kyle Fuller, Virginia Tech
2	Justin Gilbert, Oklahoma State	Justin Gilbert, Oklahoma State	Darqueze Dennard, Michigan State
3	Kyle Fuller, Virginia Tech	Kyle Fuller, Virginia Tech	Justin Gilbert, Oklahoma State
4	Jason Verrett, TCU	Bradley Roby, Ohio State	Bradley Roby, Ohio State
5	Bradley Roby, Ohio State	Jason Verrett, TCU	Jason Verrett, TCU

The same 5 cornerbacks have been in all of Mayock's positional updates, just in a different order every month.  There is expected to be a run on Cornerbacks in the first round, but Roby or possibly Verrett could be available at the top of the 2nd.  The Redskins went Cornerback in the 2nd last year, will they go there again this year or wait until later in the draft?

Top 5 Safeties:

Safety
Rank	2/17/2014	3/3/2014	4/28/2014
1	Calvin Pryor, Lousiville	Calvin Pryor, Lousiville	Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Alabama
2	Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Alabama	Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Alabama	Calvin Pryor, Lousiville
3	Lamarcus Joyner, FSU	Jimmie Ward, Northern Illinois	Jimmie Ward, Northern Illinois
4	Jimmie Ward, Northern Illinois	Deonne Bucannon, Washington St	Deonne Bucannon, Washington St
5	Deonne Bucannon, Washington St	Lamarcus Joyner, FSU	Lamarcus Joyner, FSU

Again there are no new names in the top 5 safeties, and the top two at the position have remained the same.  Mayock has finally put Haha above Calvin Pryor, and Pryor has been falling on a lot of boards as the draft gets closer.  Ward, Bucannon, and Joyner are all in the 2nd tier of Safeties, but Ward and Bucannon have been rated higher than Pryor in some rankings.  Jimmie Ward could be a strong possibility if the Redskins decide to go safety early.

Top 5 Offensive Tackles:

Offensive Tackle
Rank	2/17/2014	3/3/2014	4/28/2014
1	Jake Matthews, Texas A&M	Greg Robinson, Auburn	Greg Robinson, Auburn
2	Greg Robinson, Auburn	Jake Matthews, Texas A&M	Jake Matthews, Texas A&M
3	Taylor Lewan, Michigan	Taylor Lewan, Michigan	Taylor Lewan, Michigan
4	Zack Martin, Notre Dame	Zack Martin, Notre Dame	Zack Martin, Notre Dame
t5	Cyrus Koundjio, Alabama	Joel Bitonio, Nevada	Joel Bitonio, Nevada
t5			Cyrus Koundjio, Alabama

Right tackle was one need that the Redskins weren't able to fix in free agency this year.  Bruce Campbell was signed, but failed his medical check.  Donald Penn was pursued but he signed with Oakland to play left tackle for more money than the Skins were willing to pay.  The top four OTs will be long gone by the time the Skins pick, but Bitonio, Kouandjio and Morgan Moses could all be available.

Top 5 Outside Linebackers:

Outside Linebackers
Rank	4/28/2014
1	Khalil Mack, Buffalo
2	Anthony Barr, UCLA
3	Ryan Shazier, Ohio State
4	Demarcus Lawrence, Boise St.
5	Kyle Van Noy, BYU

Mayock finally separated inside and outside linebackers in his rankings.  Two names on this list have visited the Redskins, Lawrence and Van Noy, and could be possibilities in the 2nd round.  The Brian Orakpo situation makes this a very interesting pick if they choose to draft another OLB with their first pick of the draft.  The Redskins need to make a decision on Ryan Kerrigan's 5th year option by tomorrow, and whether they will be keeping both of the their current starters at OLB long term soon.

Top 5 Centers:

Center
Rank	2/17/2014	3/3/2014	4/28/2014
1	Marcus Martin, USC	Marcus Martin, USC	Marcus Martin, USC
2	Weston Richburg, Colorado St	Weston Richburg, Colorado St	Weston Richburg, Colorado St
3	Travis Swanson, Arkansas	Travis Swanson, Arkansas	Travis Swanson, Arkansas
4	Bryan Stork, FSU	Bryan Stork, FSU	Bryan Stork, FSU
5	Gabe Ikard, Oklahoma	Gabe Ikard, Oklahoma	Gabe Ikard, Oklahoma

The Redskins aren't likely to draft a Center in the 2nd round, but they might have to if they want to get one of the top 3 guys this year.  The current plan is to move Kory Lichtensteiger over to Center, and Mike McGlynn will be the depth behind him.  This doesn't make many people feel good about the position going into the 2014 season, but will they draft a guy to develop later.  Is the Licht to Center plan set in stone, or if the right guy is there in the 3rd will Bruce Allen draft him?

Audio of Mike Mayock's Call
Transcript of Mayock's Call

Question: What is your best guess on what the Redskins will do with their first pick in the second round and where do you think Logan Thomas best fits?

MIKE MAYOCK: As far as the Redskins picking first pick at number 34, boy, O-line and D-line to me is pretty important. I don't think there's a safety there. There could be a corner that makes sense for them. But with Jay Gruden, knowing Jay pretty well, Jay loves the offensive side of the ball. Again, they were number 30 in points allowed. I really believe they've got to pick the top-rated defensive player on their board unless a wide receiver is sitting there.

Question: I know you touched on the Redskins earlier, but could you talk a little bit about maybe a right tackle who could fit them? Some have talked about Cyrus Kouandjio and Morgan Moses.

MIKE MAYOCK: Yeah, when you're talking about number 34, they're the two most logical guys. I happen to think Kouandjio is going to be gone. Moses could be. He's extremely long. At first I didn't like him because he's got very average feet. What I've learned is sometimes those really big, huge, long right tackles with average feet end up being pretty good football players. The Vikings have one at right tackle named Phil Loadholt. That's a little bit what this kid is like. He's so darn long, he's difficult to get around.

A guy that nobody is talking about that I love is Joel Bitonio from Nevada. Most people assume he's a guard. I watched him handle Anthony Barr from UCLA. I watched him against Florida State. I watched him against Boise who has a good edge kid in Demarcus Lawrence. I think Bitonio will start day one at right tackle and I think he'll be there at 34.