#MockOne: Second Round

Read the First Round post for details on how MockOne works.  Without further ado, here we go:

As the second round started, the "fallers" from the first round went VERY quickly.  Justin Houston, Adrian Clayborn, Derek Sherrod, Akeem Ayers...these guys all went with the first four picks of the round.  I had my eye on one player that I thought would be a great fit at pick 49:  Jabaal Sheard, DE, Pittsburgh.  To my dismay, New England grabbed Sheard with the 41st overall pick of the round, forcing me to re-prioritize my second round options.

As my pick approached, I had narrowed my board down to Rahim Moore, Martez Wilson, and Christian Ballard at pick 49.  With my pick on deck, I was approached by Baltimore, who wanted to trade for pick 49.  They held pick 58 in the second round and wanted to move up.  I had players I liked on the board, but his offer was picks 2.26, 3.26, and 6.26 for pick 2.17.  It was a clear win for me on the trade chart, but a player I liked was going to be there at 49.  This was not an easy decision.

I decided to take the deal, figuring that the value was great, and I could move down to the next tier of prospects and get a guy from there, while also adding two additional picks.  Baltimore picked Torrey Smith, and the round continued to progress toward pick 58.  Unfortunately, the player I wanted most, Rahim Moore, was grabbed by - you guessed it - New England at pick 53 (New England stealing guys I wanted will be a common theme during this draft...very realistic!).  With my pick on deck, Martez Wilson and Christian Ballard were both still on the board, and I was again approached to deal out of the 2nd round in exchange for two 3rd-round picks and a later pick.  I declined, stating that I was going to get a guy I wanted. However, Seattle stated they were shopping their pick.  I was afraid they were trying to deal it to someone to grab Wilson.  Wanting both players, I offered both of my later 3rd-round picks (3.25 and 3.26) for pick 2.25 to try to grab both.  Seattle ignored my offer, but didn't make a deal at all; instead they picked Colin Kaepernick, and I was on the clock.  I took Martez Wilson, LB, Illinois with pick 58.

The next pick was held by Atlanta, who took Dontay Moch.  Houston was next, and the Houston GM put his pick on the block.  My personal draft board had a rather large gap between Christian Ballard and the next group of prospects, so I felt this was an opportunity I had to capitalize on.  I offered Houston picks 3.26 (the second of my back-to-back picks) and pick 4.07 (from Philadelphia in the earlier trade) for his pick 2.28.  Houston accepted, and I "sprinted to the podium" to pick Christian Ballard, DE/DT, Iowa.

I feel like I made a mistake trading down in the second round, despite the fact that it eventually worked out.  Rahim Moore was the highest player remaining on my board, and he also filled a great need.  Though I got outstanding value to move down in the round, I risked losing the three players I liked the most.  If all three guys had been gone at pick 2.26 my likely pick would have been Allen Bailey, DE, Miami or Kelvin Sheppard, LB, LSU.  It absolutely worked out well, but in hindsight I should have kept my pick, taken Rahim Moore, and then tried to move back into the second later for Wilson or Ballard using my extra 3rd and Philly's 2012 3rd.  Nevertheless, I'm not going to complain too much, as I ended the second round with Ponder, Martez Wilson, and Christian Ballard, and in addition to the picks I started the draft with I had also gained a 2012 3rd, pick 6.26, and moved from pick 4.24 to pick 3.25.  I entered the third round very excited with my draft so far, and hoped the trade fever wouldn't sabotage me.

 

 

Note:  The risk in something like this is screwing up the picks, and I ended up getting screwed out of a 7th-round pick.  In my initial trade down with San Diego, I was given their 7th-round pick; however, San Diego does not have their own 2011 7th-round pick.  There's nothing I can do about it now, but it's the kind of thing that can fall through the cracks when you have so many trades in a mock draft.