First 2025 Mock Draft

[SunsetBengal]

(01-07-2025, 03:51 PM)CJD Wrote: Yea, Nolen is great too. It's just a different position. NT vs 3T. Whether they prioritize a guy like Nolen or a guy like Grant will depend entirely on how they view the two DTs they drafted this past off season.

Jackson has the size of a NT, but do they think he can hold up in the run game?

Do they think Jenkins can turn into a dominant pass rusher from the DT position (if they didn't, I don't know why they would draft him, but we had that discussion last off season haha).

I think our defense missed Reader's presence immensely in the run game, as safeties spent a lot more time in the box this year (or, at least, they appeared to), so I'm leaning towards Grant.

The good news is that, while Grant wasn't a huge sack artist, he was disruptive in the passing game. He has 22 hurries this season, with the 3 sacks, 1 QB hit and 5 PD. Last season he had 15 hurries, 5 sacks, 3 QB hits and 3 PD. 

Compared to Nolen's last two seasons per PFF:
Grant:
950 snaps
8 sacks (I believe PFF doesn't penalize players for sharing a sack with teammates)
4 QB hits
37 hurries
8 PD

Nolen:
952 snaps
13 sacks
4 QB hits
33 hurries
3 PD

I think Nolen has higher potential as a pass rusher, but he isn't blowing Grant out of the water in terms of production.

As far as pass rush from the NT position goes, those are head turning numbers.