Draftageddon: The Penultimatum

Four_Horsemen_by_MarkWilkinson1

Better settle in. We are reaching the end of our Players of the Big Ten Preview to the Death.

Previously on Draftageddon:

Rounds 1-2: A Heisman candidate QB and the reigning Thorpe winner go after two members of Michigan's secondary. (M players: Peppers, Lewis, Butt)
Rounds 3-4: An underwhelming first swing through receivers, and lots of linemen. (Chesson, Cole, Wormley, Glasgow)
Rounds 5-6: A Michigan second-teamer goes before Purdue J.J. Watt. (Charlton, Hurst)
Rounds 7-8: Hodor. (Mone, Darboh)
Rounds 9-11: We go on a mini Iowa binge, and Brian takes a true freshman (YTTF).
Rounds 12-14: A grueling three-rounder with safeties, RBs, and MSU legacies flexing. (O'Korn, Braden).
Rounds 15-16: We break out laughing at Tommy Armstrong. (Dymonte, Kenny Allen)
Rounds 17-18: Cheese and tackles. (Magnuson, Delano Hill)
Rounds 19-20: Tight ends, a boring Iowa safety, and Brian finally believes a Michigan coach quote over his own eyes. (Stribling)
Rounds 21-22: Slot Receivers (but no Grant Perry sorry)

How Things Stand:

We have four more rounds, and a few big needs. For example the guy who kept questioning why drafting interior offensive linemen is important just looked at what's remaining among interior OL and realized he's really going to need a…

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ACE: Round 23, Pick 1: Cameron Johnston, punter, Ohio State

[Draftageddon 2015, Draftageddon 2014]

OFFENSE: QB CJ Beathard (IA), RB Saquon Barkley (PSU), WR Jehu Chesson (M), WR Noah Brown (OSU), SLOT Curtis Samuel (OSU), SLOT Mitchell Paige (IU), TE George Kittle (IA), OT Nick Gates (NE), OT Kodi Kieler (MSU), OG Jacob Bailey (IU), C Michael Dieter (UW), WEAPON Jabrill Peppers (M)

DEFENSE: NT Ryan Glasgow (M), DT Jake Replogle (PU), DE Sam Hubbard (OSU), DE Demetrius Cooper (MSU), MLB Josey Jewell (IA), OLB Brandon Bell (PSU), OLB/NICKEL Jabrill Peppers (M), CB Jalen Myrick (MN), CB Vayante Copeland (MSU), S Nate Gerry (NE), S Malik Hooker (OSU)
SPECIAL TEAMS: P Cameron Johnston (OSU), KR Jabrill Peppers (M), PR Jabrill Peppers (M)

While it’s tradition around here to forego a real punter selection in order to hoard an extra roster spot, having someone who can reliably flip field position is valuable enough to merit a selection—Michigan fans saw that first-hand last year with Blake O’Neill.

Johnston is an Aussie import who’s been good enough over the last few years that he needed to clarify he wouldn’t join the horde of Buckeyes entering the NFL Draft early. In 2015, 22 of his 58 punts pinned opponents inside the 20 against only seven touchbacks, and he forced 21 fair catches; he was even better as a sophomore, putting opponents inside the 20 on 26 of his 48 boots with only five touchbacks. He’ll be in contention for Ray Guy honors for the third straight year.

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Seth: Also tradition:

[After the JUMP: lots of picks, and some people in the comments who hate everything]

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ADAM: Round 23, Pick 2: Jeremy Clark, CB, Michigan

[Bryan Fuller]

OFFENSE: C Pat Elflein (OSU), OG Dan Feeney (IU), WR Amara Darboh (M), RB Justin Jackson (NW), WR Brandon Reilly (NEB), QB John O'Korn (M), OG Ben Braden (M), OT Erik Magnuson (M), OT Jamarco Jones (OSU), TE Josiah Price (MSU), WR Janarion Grant (RU)

DEFENSE: CB Jourdan Lewis (M), DE Dawuane Smoot (ILL), DE Taco Charlton (M), DT Maurice Hurst (M), OLB Vince Biegel (UW), CB Matthew Harris (NW), ILB Hardy Nickerson Jr. (ILL), S Marcus Allen (PSU), S Damarius Travis (MN), ILB Jason Cabinda (PSU), NT Azubuike Ukandu (MD), CB Jeremy Clark (M)

SPECIAL TEAMS: PR Janarion Grant (RU), KR Janarion Grant (RU)

Stribling's supposedly going to start, but there's no way Clark isn't on the field early and often in 2016. Unless the back-shoulder corner route becomes a thing. Damn you, Mitch Leidner and all those wobbly passes you throw off your back foot.

The coaching staff moved Clark from safety to corner in the time before Harbaugh had a proper skinny M hat to wear, and there were nine or so months where that remained an eyebrow-raising decision (or brow-furrowing, depending on your go-to befuddled face). Then the season started and Clark was a 6'4 receiver blanket with a nose for the ball, picking off three passes and breaking up three more. He was victimized here and there by some dead-on throws--some of which were even on purpose--but 1.) his coverage in those instances was nearly flawless and 2.) that makes those incredibly unlikely to be replicated year-over-year (see: Lewis, Jourdan).

A guy as tall as Clark is shouldn't be able to turn and run like he can, yet he's agile enough to play press coverage and fast enough to make up a step when he loses one. I, like Michigan, need a third corner, and I'm far more comfortable with the 6'4 fifth-year senior who's an athletic freak than the other guys around the conference who have experience and are 5'8 or 5'9.

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SETH: Round 23, Pick 3: Jaleel Johnson, NT, Iowa

Screen cap from "Jaleel Johnson, plugging up the middle" on KCRG Cedar Rapids

OFFENSE: QB J.T. Barrett (OSU), RB Corey Clement (WI), WR Chris Godwin (PSU), WR Simmie Cobbs (IN), WR Ricky Jones (IN), TE Brandon Lingen (MN), OC Mason Cole (M), RG Sean Welsh (IA), LG Billy Price (OSU), LT Ryan Ramczyk (WI), RT Michael Dunn (MD)

DEFENSE: NT Jaleel Johnson (IA), DT Bryan Mone (M), SDE Darius Hamilton (RU), WLB Nyeem Wartman-White (PSU), MLB Riley Bullough (MSU), SAM Marcus Newby (NEB), HSP Delano Hill (M), SS Godwin Igwebuike (NW), FS Dymonte Thomas (M), FCB Desmond King (IA) BCB Greg Mabin (IA)

SPECIAL TEAMS: KR/PR Desmond King, K/P Ryan Santoso (MN)

Last year Brian took this onetime Michigan recruiting target with praisable pad level exactly one pick later than he's going now based on recruiting profile, next-shark-tooth status, and some (at the time) rare optimism from BHGP. After a season that saw zero drop-off from Carl Davis, that pick looks like a steal.

The 6'3/310 Johnson was solid all year but became a PFF fave-rave after a Northwestern pasting that made 12-0 virtually inevitable. On that performance:

Linemen Jaleel Johnson (+5.1) and Nate Meier (+2.7) have been particularly good this season, and both graded well on Saturday after combining for eight defensive stops and eight pressures.

On why they're 13th in the country:

Defensively, led by defensive tackle Jaleel Johnson (+16.6), they have been stout against the run.

On how the hell is this happening:

The line is led by DT Jaleel Johnson (+16.8) and DE Nate Meier (+15.7). Both bring above-average consistency (Meier has eight games ranging from +1.1 to +3.3) and play sound gap defense.

He finished with 45 tackles, 3.5 sacks, and 5.5 TFLs. Helpfully, there's a Draft Breakdown every-snap video of Johnson floating around out there, but unhelpfully it's against Purdue. It does show a guy who demands doubles, keeps his linebackers clean, and ably two-gapped on passing downs to make sure quarterbacks had no escape. Also in things that require skepticism but still look good, CBS Sports has him the third DT in next year's draft.

Jaleel gives me more beef up the middle where all the strength in this conference is concentrated, and lets me slide Hamilton and Mone to 3-4 end positions where their strength, burst and athleticism can cause all sorts of havoc. I don't know if Johnson is the "right" nose tackle but he's a really good one.

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Ace: Seth, are you retroactively furious that Adam took Vince Biegel?

Brian: It is insane that Johnson lasted this long.

Ace: This draft would make more sense if he and Mone flipped spots.

Seth: Yes I'm furious! There are only two edges to rush from, Adam.

Brian: Turay still on the board man.

Seth: For the second year in a row you guys were grabbing all the pass rushers early while I made sure my offense wouldn't have any major holes. So I have to get a bit creative. And by creative I of course mean "drafted a guy who got more TFLs than Joey Bosa in Round 21."

Ace: This is another reason why the early run on interior OL was insaaaaaaane. There are perfectly fine OGs still on the board and two teams are piecing together Franken-defenses.

Seth: Just about every draft analysis pegs Darius Hamilton as a 3-4 DE in the NFL, and he played his last season at 265 lbs. And Bryan Mone is 6'4/320; the best 3-4 DE in the country last year was A'Shawn Robinson, who was...6'4/320. Bryan Mone isn't A'Shawn Robinson, but he's a 4-star version of A'Shawn Robinson. Those guys in a 3-4 is hardly crazy. Crazy awesome more like.

Adam: If there's one thing reading about Don Brown's defense has taught me it's that you ran rush from anywhere. Sowing chaos is fun.

Ace: Sorry, Adam, but I don’t really get your setup either.

Adam: When it came to Biegel, it was sort of a "pick him now, worry about fit later" situation.

Seth: I'm equally cheesed at Ace taking Bell as...a WLB? You have PEPPERS.

Ace: Bell lined up inside plenty last year and he’s just flat-out better than a lot of the other linebackers out there. I also didn’t expect everyone to take, like, five ILBs.

Seth: There are still like five ILBs left. If you're going to dog me for a pick, it's NWW, since that pick was all about "I'm a huge fan of this player Adam is going to take if I don't" and awful strategy.

Except he's pretty versatile, but so are most of these LBs.

Ace: Oh, yeah, I’m fully aware there are some options out there. I wanted to grab Bell in part so I have a base defense that could stay on the field against just about anything. Having Peppers plus a walkout linebacker who can also play inside accomplishes that.

Seth: Having Peppers and access to Michigan's cloning technology means every pick you make that isn't an offensive lineman is probably a downgrade.

Ace: He’s definitely getting mentioned whenever anyone tries to nitpick my skill position group.

Seth: As a fellow member of the Drafted Peppers Alumni Association, I recommend keeping Patrick Barron's dancing TD photo handy at all times. In fact let's pause and post that photo again just for the hell of it.

Random Peppers for the hell of it. [Patrick Barron]

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BRIAN: Round 23, Pick 4: Chris Muller, OG, Rutgers

[Scout.com]

OFFENSE: QB Tommy Armstrong (NEB), RB LJ Scott(MSU), TE Jake Butt(M), WR Jordan Westerkamp (NEB), WR Rob Wheelwright(UW), WR Matt VandeBerg(IA), OL Cole Croston(IA), OL Brian Allen(MSU), OL Dan Voltz (UW), OL Andrew Nelson(PSU), OL Chris Muller(RU)

DEFENSE: DE Tyquan Lewis(OSU), DE Rashan Gary(M), DT Chris Wormley(M), DT Malik McDowell(MSU). LB Raekwon McMillan (OSU), LB Anthony Walker (NW), LB Jermaine Carter(MD), CB Gareon Conley(OSU), CB Will Likely (MD), CB Channing Stribling(M), S Miles Taylor (IA).

ST: Kenny Allen(K/P), Likely(PR/KR)

Muller has started every game at right guard for Rutgers since coming off his redshirt, and he was a big part of a surprisingly good Scarlet Knights line last year. Rutgers was around 40th or better in almost all of Bill Connelly's line stats and 28th at the "power success rate" stat that seems like the best of the S&P+ stats for guessing at how good the interior OL.

PFF rated him Rutgers's second-best player against Michigan at +2.0, and let's think about Michigan's interior DL last year pre-Glasgow injury. Yeah. Not bad. The locals think he might move out to left tackle this year because he's the best available guy on a line that, again, was pretty good last year and returns four starters. He's draftable. He won't be super-scrutinized by UFR like Kyle Kalis to expose all his flaws.

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BRIAN: Round 24, Pick 1: Taylor Barton, S, Illinois

[Michael Hickey/Getty]

ST: Kenny Allen(K/P), Likely(PR/KR)

Taylor Barton was a member of the Big Ten's sneakiest great position group a year ago. With a hat tip to Dawuane Smoot, Illinois finished 2015 16th in pass defense S&P+. Three of those starters are gone; Barton returns. His four interceptions led the team. Like Muller he's been a starter since his redshirt freshman season, picking up honorable mention ABT both of the last two years. Athlon has him fourth-team ABT in this preseason.

I'm a little leery of this pick because if the guys who surround Barton are a big dropoff he might look a lot worse through no fault of his own, but on the other hand he isn't Montae Nicholson. Very important, that trait.

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SETH: Round 24, Pick 2: Jack Cichy, linebacker, Wisconsin

DEFENSE: NT Jaleel Johnson (IA), DT Bryan Mone (M), SDE Darius Hamilton (RU), OLB Jack Cichy (WI), OLB Marcus Newby (NEB), MLB Riley Bullough (MSU), WLB Nyeem Wartman-White (PSU), HSP Delano Hill (M), SS Godwin Igwebuike (NW), FS Dymonte Thomas (M), FCB Desmond King (IA) BCB Greg Mabin (IA)

SPECIAL TEAMS: KR/PR Desmond King, K/P Ryan Santoso (MN)

So I had just posted a writeup taking Freshman All-American T.J. Edwards here when this hit my twitter feed:

So that sucks—Edwards was the best returning coverage linebacker in the country to PFF—but it does open the door for another breakout Wisconsin LB who probably fits me better. That is the legendary Three-Sack Jack.

There's a caveat: USC's interior OL wasn't very good at pass protection (122nd in passing down sack rate). And the outburst clipped above only upped Cichy's total sacks on the year to 5, his TFLs to 8, and his total tackles to 60. He also had 4 PBUs, matching the afore mentioned Edwards.

Those numbers would be merely a pretty good season, except they were accumulated in half of one. Cichy was serving as Biegel's (boundary OLB) backup until an injury to James Ross-ian freshman Chris Orr opened up the second interior spot. As a starter Cichy had 8, 10, and 11 tackles, and three before the targeting ejection. He finished that half versus USC with 9 and the game MVP.

Despite a crowded linebacker corps—everyone but Schobert is back and the next Watt clone is supposedly ready—Cichy, who can play outside or inside, was expected to win a job, the question being if that would be at the expense of Orr or Watt (i.e. WLB or boundary OLB; Biegel is moving to Schobert's field OLB role). With the Edwards injury, Cichy is a lock to start somewhere, and likely to appear anywhere as his coaches utilize his versatility. I went back and forth on whether to take Cichy or Watt here, but ultimately decided one ridiculous half plus a very solid half a season is actually even easier to defend than "this guy's name is Watt, he's waited his turn, and he's getting Biegel's old job."

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ADAM: Round 24, Pick 3: De'Veon Smith, RB, Michigan

SPECIAL TEAMS: PR Janarion Grant (RU), KR Janarion Grant (RU)

First of all, Justin Jackson ran the ball 312 times last season, and looking at NW's offense (namely the receivers) he's gonna get a boatload of carries again this year. Grabbing some insurance seems wise. De'Veon's a pretty good backup option, as he rushed for 4.2 YPC on a 30.9% opportunity rate and 4.3 highlight yards/opportunity (basically the number of extra yards he eeked out on runs where he got past the yards credited to the o-line) in 2015. He's only going to break away from guys every once in a while--and even then he might have to teleport to do it--but he keeps the offense in good down-and-distance situations.

The really tantalizing thing about De'Veon's development is what we saw in the bowl game and the circumstantial evidence from the spring. Over and over again he read where the pile of bodies would be and cut away from it to greener pastures, which was in stark contrast to the "maybe I'll just run through these eight gentlemen" strategy that he used most of the year. PFF gushed about his Citrus Bowl performance:

RB De’Veon Smith (+2.4) was ridiculous, notching 109 yards on 25 carries. But it was his incredible 11 missed tackles forced that led to his big grade.

Well, I guess he can shake guys now, too. This keeps getting better! The coaching staff must be seeing the improvement from Smith consistently in practice, because he was granted the "wrap him in bubblewrap and store him on the sideline" status granted to only the clearest-cut of starters, including Darboh and Butt.

The downside is that Smith's going to have to fight for carries all year what with the talent behind him in Isaac, Johnson, Walker et al. In my offense, however, there's room to run with the idea of playing De'Veon at fullback, an idea that floated around these parts in the middle of winter until Harbaugh and Wheatley talked up Smith's spring. His pass protection improved a ton as the season went on, and while pass pro =/= actual blocking his apparently improved vision should allow him to pick a gap and at least get in the way when he's not carrying the ball. I'm happy to take a flier on a powerback who still has some upside as a senior.

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ACE: Round 24, Pick 4: Grant Haley, cornerback, Penn State

Penn State’s pass defense undoubtedly got a lot of help from the nation’s top pass rush last year, but the secondary also played their role in getting them up to #10 against the pass by S&P+. While youngster John Reid is a breakout candidate this year, Haley was easily PSU’s top corner in 2015, breaking up seven passes to go along with two picks. He had a strong outing against Michigan’s excellent receivers; Michigan mostly attacked the side of the field Haley wasn’t defending or went over the middle in that game. As you can see in flashes of the above video, Haley isn’t afraid to get involved against the run, either. Adding him provides some Vayante Copeland insurance and also allowed Jalen Myrick to slide into the slot—a familiar role for him—against spread-to-pass offenses.

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ACE: Round 25, Pick 1: Griffin Oakes, kicker, Indiana

DEFENSE: NT Ryan Glasgow (M), DT Jake Replogle (PU), DE Sam Hubbard (OSU), DE Demetrius Cooper (MSU), MLB Josey Jewell (IA), OLB Brandon Bell (PSU), OLB/NICKEL Jabrill Peppers (M), CB Jalen Myrick (MN), CB Vayante Copeland (MSU), CB Grant Haley (PSU), S Nate Gerry (NE), S Malik Hooker (OSU)

SPECIAL TEAMS: K Griffin Oakes (IU), P Cameron Johnston (OSU), KR Jabrill Peppers (M), PR Jabrill Peppers (M)

A kicker highlight video! For real!

If anyone in the Big Ten deserves one, it’s Griffin Oakes, the rare college kicker who’s reliable and has a huge leg. Oakes hit a long of 58 yards last year and knocked through six of his nine attempts from beyond 40 yards while going 18/20 inside that distance. He’s also one of the better kickoff specialists in the country; 52 of his 91 kickoffs last year went for touchbacks.

I’m out of things to say about kickers.

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Round 25, Pick 2: Wilton Speight, QB/"P," (Michigan)

[Eric Upchurch]

SPECIAL TEAMS: PR Janarion Grant (RU), KR Janarion Grant (RU), "P"/QB Wilton Speight (M)

Behold, in the grand Draftageddon tradition, a quarterback who punts! Or "punts." Whatever. At least this year my starting quarterback won't sit on the bench for seven weeks.

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Seth: What if Brandon Peters is the starter?

Adam: Still room on my roster for a "kicker"

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SETH: Round 25, Pick 3: Mike Weber, running back, Ohio State

OFFENSE: QB J.T. Barrett (OSU), RB Corey Clement (WI), RB Mike Weber (OSU), WR Chris Godwin (PSU), WR Simmie Cobbs (IN), WR Ricky Jones (IN), TE Brandon Lingen (MN), OC Mason Cole (M), RG Sean Welsh (IA), LG Billy Price (OSU), LT Ryan Ramczyk (WI), RT Michael Dunn (MD)

SPECIAL TEAMS: KR/PR Desmond King, K/P Ryan Santoso (MN)

We all remember. Weber was committed to Hoke and went to bed on Feb. 2 thinking he'd play for Harbaugh, but then the surprise Higdon commitment nudged the needle back to red just in time for Weber to sign with the Buckeyes. The next day OSU RB coach Stan Drayton took the Bears job. Weber asked out of his LOI, and Meyer was like "lol nope!"

"It was really upsetting. It just felt like I wasn't satisfied," Weber told Northeast Ohio Media Group on Friday. "It just felt like I couldn't trust anything or anybody. I had to realize that this is a business, a part of the game. It woke me up a lot. I am at Ohio State now, and hopefully these three or four years (will be great) and make it to the NFL."

REMEMBER KIDS, DON'T SIGN AN LOI!

Business was due to begin last year—Weber had climbed to #2 on the depth chart by August 18--until a knee injury forced a redshirt. Now with Briont'e Dunn kicked off the team the path is clear for the back Urban Meyer wanted so badly he was willing to burn his new bridge to Cass Tech. This spring Weber looked like he might be worth it.

Weber started with the Scarlet (1st string) team in the Spring Game, and carried the ball 8 times for 38 yards and two TDs despite Price and Elflein sitting it out. Weber also caught a few swing passes. The tape showed good vision, great acceleration, plenty of elusiveness, smooth routes, and powerful running. The only thing we didn't get to see was his blocking; the coaches said his pass protection is alright but there's been no evidence yet that Weber will be the kind of game-breaking lead blocker that Elliott was.

His teammates call him "Baby 'Los," referring to Carlos Hyde, so you can bet however many carries he gets as Ohio State's #1 back, it won't be enough for Eleven Warriors.

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BRIAN: Round 25, Pick 4: Richard Lagow, QB, Indiana

Lagow is a 6'6", 240-pound JUCO transfer who most expect will lock down Indiana's starting QB job this fall. His competition consists of Zander Diamont and a dude who was behind Zander Diamont last year so... yeah, he's the dude, dude. He got the most snaps in the IU spring game, going 9 of 15 for 123 yards. He sounds pretty good per scout:

Playing well at the junior college level he has the size and arm of some of the very best. He has the strength to make all of the throws and has a pretty quick release for a quarterback who is so big. Phillips Riversesque in the way he will adapt his motion at times to make plays.

Lagow completed 66% of his passes last year at Cisco at 8.6 yards a pop. A 21/10 TD-INT ratio is a little less than ideal, and the competition level is questionable. But you can do a lot worse than a huge dude Kevin Wilson is going to ride or die with, especially with three IU receivers and two OL already off the board.

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BRIAN: Round 26, Pick 1: Trace McSorley, QB, Penn State

OFFENSE: QB Tommy Armstrong (NEB), QB Richard Lagow(IN), QB Trace McSorley(PSU), RB LJ Scott(MSU), TE Jake Butt(M), WR Jordan Westerkamp (NEB), WR Rob Wheelwright(UW), WR Matt VandeBerg(IA), OL Cole Croston(IA), OL Brian Allen(MSU), OL Dan Voltz (UW), OL Andrew Nelson(PSU), OL Chris Muller(RU)

ST: Kenny Allen(K/P), Likely(PR/KR)

McSorley was a redshirt freshman cooling his heels behind Christian Hackenberg when he was thrust into the lineup against Georgia in PSU's bowl game. He was meh, completing 14 of 27 passes for 5.3 YPA. He did have a couple touchdowns and showed a Forcier-like ability to move and thrown on the run. This spring he was 23 of 27 in the PSU spring game and seems to have a solid hold on the job.

PSU is moving to a new offensive system imported from Fordham that's heavy on spread elements, RPOs, moving pockets, and QB runs, all of which fit McSorley's skills well. If PFF was right about Hackenberg being a big part of the protection issues, PSU's offense could surge forward. They've got Barkley, some dudes at WR, and return almost their entire line. McSorley won't drop dimes like Hackenberg did but neither will he go three quarters between downfield completions.
Cumong quantity over quality.

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SETH: Round 26, Pick 2: Corey Smith, WR, Ohio State

OFFENSE: QB J.T. Barrett (OSU), RB Corey Clement (WI), RB Mike Weber (OSU), WR Chris Godwin (PSU), WR Simmie Cobbs (IN), WR Ricky Jones (IN), WR Corey Smith (OSU), TE Brandon Lingen (MN), OC Mason Cole (M), RG Sean Welsh (IA), LG Billy Price (OSU), LT Ryan Ramczyk (WI), RT Michael Dunn (MD)

SPECIAL TEAMS: KR/PR Desmond King, K/P Ryan Santoso (MN)

I went back and forth and around several times with what to do with this pick, all the while my quarterback was begging me to take the security blanket the NCAA will let him keep one more year:

"Everybody talks about who is the receiver that we're going to talk about," he said. "Corey Smith has the ability as a receiver to find windows and find holes and able to tempo himself when he's running routes. He makes you look right when you're actually a little behind him, he can slow his tempo down and catch the ball."

I ribbed Ace earlier for taking a stab at the other OSU receiver coming off a leg injury. That bites me too, since a pair of major freshmen lurk one spot down the depth chart: the redshirted Torrance Gibson is a David Terrell-ian beast, while people in Columbus were lining up their semis with spring hype for early enrollee Austin Mack.
Smith, well, you kinda have to watch him. CFB Film Room helpfully put together a tape against us in 2014:

Corey Smith may only have 25 catches (that's better than one) since transferring to Ohio State as a JUCO in 2014, but he didn't really come on until late in 2014, his increase in playing time coinciding with the late surge. He missed the VT game last year for that weed suspension that nailed Bosa, then broke his leg early in the Big Ten opener.
What makes this particular playmaker a fave-rave of Buckeye fans is a flair for dramatic timing. Of his 33 targets in 2014, 14 were on passing downs, and 9 of those moved the chains. He punctuated his top-notch run blocking with a few bone-shattering [ ] comeback shots. As a special teams gunner Smith twice forced Alabama to start a drive in the shadow of their goalpost.

He's 6'0/190 so he can play inside or out, his speed is one of the best on the team, and his career 60.6% catch rate and 7.7 YPT are inline with the receivers we've chosen. FWIW, CBS has him the 5th receiver drafted next year so he's very draftable. Some other guys I could have taken might make my team look better; Smith just makes my team better.

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Round 26, Pick 3: Drew Brown, K, Nebraska

SPECIAL TEAMS: KR/PR Janarion Grant (RU), "P"/QB Wilton Speight (M), K Drew Brown (NEB)

First of all, my condolences to the Nebraska football program and all those associated with it on the loss of Sam Foltz. You won't be reading this for a bit but I'm writing this the day after, and it only felt right to lead with that.
Drew Brown is a weird kicker. He made six of seven attempts from 20-29 yards and two of three from 30-39. That's fine. He missed his first two kicks from 40-49 yards, then nailed the next 12 to finish the season. From 50+, he made one of three. There's a lovable quirkiness to a guy whose groove seems to be questionably long field goals; he was asked to attempt more from 40-49 yards out than 0-39 yards and 50+ combined. He should be close to automatic this year, and he's certainly as close as anyone left on the board.

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ACE: Round 26, Pick 4: Kyle Kalis, guard, Michigan

[Bryan Fuller]

DEFENSE: NT Ryan Glasgow (M), DT Jake Replogle (PU), DE Sam Hubbard (OSU), DE Demetrius Cooper (MSU), MLB Josey Jewell (IA), OLB Brandon Bell (PSU), OLB/NICKEL Jabrill Peppers (M), CB Jalen Myrick (MN), CB Vayante Copeland (MSU), CB Grant Haley (PSU), S Nate Gerry (NE), S Malik Hooker (OSU)

SPECIAL TEAMS: K Griffin Oakes (IU), P Cameron Johnston (OSU), KR Jabrill Peppers (M), PR Jabrill Peppers (M)

I took forever to make this pick as I scoured Big Ten rosters for a viable lineman who won’t get nitpicked to death by this very site. We’ve mentioned the dearth of tackles already, however, and I didn’t like much of what I was available at guard, either.

This isn’t a ringing endorsement for Kyle Kalis, who hasn’t come close to fulfilling the five-star hype that accompanied his arrival. His issues—namely, too many instances of targeting the wrong guy—are well-documented here, but it’s worth pointing out there aren’t many (read: any) other team-specific sites out there grading every play from every game and making that data publicly available. In a world without MGoBlog, we’d probably be buying in to Kalis’s preseason all-conference hype.

So, yes, Kalis occasionally screws up plays. He’s also a fifth-year senior regarded as an NFL prospect (#9 among senior guards on CBS) with Tim Drevno giving him instruction. While time is running out, there’s still some hope that the proverbial light comes on; if it does, Kalis has all the physical ability to be an excellent player, and if it doesn’t he’ll still be solid, if flawed.

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Seth: So now do you get our offensive line drafting strategy?

Ace: Still don’t. Guys went way too early. Kalis isn’t bad for the final pick in the entire draft, and I knew that was the floor. The writeup is defensive/conservative because this site is this site.

Seth: Also because we just had an entire Draftageddon of trashing each other.

Ace: As is tradition.

Ace: I did learn that Minnesota’s and Rutgers’s ginormous right tackles were both terrrrrrrible last year. Going RT was my other thought with Kieler sliding inside.

Seth: Pirsig the Turnstile made that Athlon list I think--that was an "Indiana safety made pre-season 2nd team" threat level claxon about the conference's depth at tackle. Ace: He did. third-team, too. And Denman is now listed at second-string on RU’s depth chart. It’s bleak out there.

Seth: My personal goal was to be finished with my OL before Kieler went. I had to jump into a pool of sconnie dreams to get there, but I got there.

Anyway Ace you can still hang your hat on the fact that you probably for the second year in a row walked away with the conference's best left tackle after Brian took a left tackle.

Ace: It’s probably too close to call, but yeah, I was happy getting Gates where I did.

Seth: I did say probably. Croston though earned most of his PFF points against crap competition and got perhaps the worst score I've ever seen for the Rose Bowl:

It was a miserable performance all-around by the Iowa offensive line (six different lineman played at least 26 snaps, and those six combined for a -26.1 overall grade), with LT Cole Croston (-10.1) leading the unit in futility. Croston’s -3.3 run-blocking grade indicates that it wasn’t a good night for him in the run game, but where he really hurt the Hawkeyes was in pass protection, where he earned a -7.1 grade thanks to allowing nine total pressures (one sack, one hit, seven hurries).
(edited)

Ace: Oh, wow. I had not seen that. Though given the unit-wide failure some of that is maybe on coaching?

Seth: I would never discount that when a GERG is nearby. Still, left tackle pressures are usually pretty straightforward.

Ace: Yeah, I’m sure that’s ugly game film regardless.

Brian: His body clock was misaligned. Like Stanford Northwestern except inverted.

BiSB: Projecting based on that body clock curve, Hawaii's linemen are in a moderate amount of trouble. Like, Breaking Madden-level trouble

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/end Draftageddon.

Next week: What we learned.

The week after: Hawaii 'gon die.

Previously on Draftageddon:

How Things Stand:

ACE: Round 23, Pick 1: Cameron Johnston, punter, Ohio State

ADAM: Round 23, Pick 2: Jeremy Clark, CB, Michigan

SETH: Round 23, Pick 3: Jaleel Johnson, NT, Iowa

BRIAN: Round 23, Pick 4: Chris Muller, OG, Rutgers

BRIAN: Round 24, Pick 1: Taylor Barton, S, Illinois

SETH: Round 24, Pick 2: Jack Cichy, linebacker, Wisconsin

ADAM: Round 24, Pick 3: De'Veon Smith, RB, Michigan

ACE: Round 24, Pick 4: Grant Haley, cornerback, Penn State

ACE: Round 25, Pick 1: Griffin Oakes, kicker, Indiana

Round 25, Pick 2: Wilton Speight, QB/"P," (Michigan)

SETH: Round 25, Pick 3: Mike Weber, running back, Ohio State

BRIAN: Round 25, Pick 4: Richard Lagow, QB, Indiana

BRIAN: Round 26, Pick 1: Trace McSorley, QB, Penn State

SETH: Round 26, Pick 2: Corey Smith, WR, Ohio State

Round 26, Pick 3: Drew Brown, K, Nebraska

ACE: Round 26, Pick 4: Kyle Kalis, guard, Michigan

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