Mock NFL Draft – Where and when will Kyle Pitts, Kadarius Toney and Marco Wilson go in the draft?

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The NFL Draft is coming up Thursday through Saturday. Plenty of Gators are planning on hearing their names called by Roger Goodell, and he’ll be back to giving his famous hugs after the selections instead of announcing picks from his basement this year.

Anytime you have an SEC squad that makes it to the SEC Championship Game, you have a bunch of players who are going to get drafted. You know how we know this? Because the SEC dominates the NFL Draft in much the same way it dominates the college football landscape.

It’s NFL Draft Week!

Most Players Drafted by Conference:

2020: SEC
2019: SEC
2018: SEC
2017: SEC
2016: SEC
2015: SEC
2014: SEC
2013: SEC
2012: SEC
2011: SEC
2010: SEC
2009: SEC
2008: SEC
2007: SEC

Is that good?

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) April 26, 2021

So the question isn’t who from Florida is going to get drafted, but where they’re going to get drafted and by whom. That’s what I’m trying to guess here, as Florida’s stars from 2020 live their dreams and find out where they’re going to spend the next few years of their career.

Day One

The NFL Draft now divides things up with the first round on Thursday, the second and third rounds on Friday and rounds four through seven on Saturday.

I think I’m an outlier here, but I only expect one Gator to be drafted in the first round. Obviously that player is one of the best players to put on a Gators uniform: tight end Kyle Pitts.

I know there’s some noise that Pitts might go to Atlanta, but recent rumors have come out about the Falcons shopping Julio Jones over the last couple of days which at least means they are considering rebuilding. If that’s the case, there’s no reason to bring in Pitts.

Lots of Gators fans probably want to see Pitts go to the Dolphins at 6, but I don’t think he lasts that long. Instead, doesn’t Jerry Jones seem like the kind of guy who would trade up to get the player that he thinks is the missing piece to his offense?

After all, he just signed Dak Prescott to a big deal. He drafted CeeDee Lamb last year to supplement the trade for Amari Cooper. And Dallas knows what an elite tight end can do after having Jason Witten at the position for so many years as Tony Romo’s security blanket.

Never mind that Dallas – for all of its injuries on offense last year – was 28th in the league in points allowed. Defense isn’t what sells tickets to Jerry World.

So I say that Dallas makes the first big play in the draft, trading with the Falcons to move up to the 4th pick to take Pitts.

Pitts to Cowboys, 1^st round, 4^th pick overall

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Day Two

The reason I think Florida only has one player drafted day one is that there will be a flurry of players selected on the second day.

The first player to go off the board is going to go early. Every year, the first round ends with players ranked with first round grades and the haggling carries on overnight as teams try to move up to get those guys.

In the case of Kadarius Toney, I think that will happen as the Green Bay Packers trade back out of the first round on day one to take Toney on day two. It’s a risk to not take him at pick 29 where the Packers currently sit, but I think it’s one they can probably get away with.

With all the talk of Toney going in the first round, I think there are going to be teams scared away by his size (or lack thereof). That means Green Bay has an opportunity to grab some extra picks in exchange for moving back to get a weapon who is perfect for their offense.

Aaron Rodgers just won an MVP with Davante Adams as his leading receiver with 149 targets. No other player had more than 63. Think perhaps Green Bay would have wanted a guy with Toney’s change of direction on the goal line against the Buccaneers when they settled for a field goal famous enough that it made it onto Jeopardy?

Toney to Packers, 2^nd round, Pick 34

Toney isn’t the only Gator to get selected in the second round of my draft. The Washington Football Team has the 51st selection and a glaring hole at QB.

While Kyle Trask isn’t being considered amongst the QBs who will undoubtedly go early in the first round, the drafting of all of those players will allow the WFT to select the player who they think fits their program and scheme the best.

That player is Trask, who will have no problem not starting right away and putting in the work necessary to make sure he is prepared. That is a skill that Washington is undoubtedly going to value after the Dwayne Haskins debacle of last season.

Haskins is gone. Alex Smith is retired. Tayler Heinicke isn’t a long-term solution.

The reality is that beyond Trevor Lawrence, I’m not sure anybody knows what they’re doing as they select a QB. Washington needs some stability and professionalism at that position, even if that means bypassing physical skills.

Trask showed last season that his floor is a very good NFL backup. But one thing that I think people are missing is that his performance in 2020 was leaps and bounds better than 2019. It’s easy to forget, but 2019 was Trask’s first time starting since middle school.

Imagine what he’ll do when given a situation where he has some time to develop and that monster defensive line in Washington.

Trask to Washington, 2^nd round, Pick 51  

Trask and Toney aren’t the only Gators going in the second round. Despite his struggles, Marco Wilson’s pro day impressed a bunch of people.

Regardless of what you think of Wilson, you can’t have things both ways as a Gators fan. Either he’s an extremely physically gifted player who was utilized poorly by coaches who were either let go after the season or a defensive coordinator who is on extremely thin ice, or he’s a guy who was taught to do things correctly and wasn’t able to execute.

I tend to believe the former, as Wilson clearly has the physical skills to excel as a corner. The entire Florida defense was terrible last year, and Wilson was certainly a part of that, but there is going to be a team that salivates at his measurables.

Who is that team? Well, what team would believe that they could take a physically gifted corner who clearly plays with some attitude and mold him into a guy who could become really good? Who has a head coach who specializes in – and takes extreme pride in – the play of his defensive backs? What team had one of the worst pass defenses in 2020 and would be looking to bring in youth and skill to compete with its corners?

That’s right. Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks pull the trigger and draft Wilson in round two, confident that they’ll be able to channel his physical skills into becoming a solid contributor in a secondary that needs to be rebuilt.

Wilson to Seahawks, 2^nd round, Pick 56

We’re not done yet with Day 2, as the Gators will have one more player drafted in round 3. That player is Trevon Grimes.

Grimes was a solid contributor in Gainesville for three straight years. We kept waiting for him to break through and have a huge year, but that just never happened. But believe me, NFL scouts took notice when he mossed Patrick Surtain in the SEC Championship Game and high-pointed the touchdown over Georgia’s Tyson Campbell to essentially put that game away before the half.

The problem isn’t that Grimes was unable to make those plays. The problem is that those “wow” moments weren’t offset with the more mundane catches that you would think would have come his way with Toney and Pitts running wild last year.

But if you have a guy with Grimes’ physical skills, he’s worth a shot in the third round. He’s also an excellent blocker – as all of Dan Mullen’s receivers usually are – which means that he’s going to bring value with more than just route running and big-time catches.

The thing that would worry me as a team drafting him is that he did not show a lot on special teams, so I have to be sure that I think he has the ability to be a solid receiver at the next level if I’m spending a pick this high on him.

I live in Philadelphia. The Eagles receivers were awful last year. There’s a lot of talk the they may take a receiver in the first round and that may be true. But the Eagles problem wasn’t just that they were missing top-end talent at receiver but that they were missing depth as well.

Grimes adds that depth with an upside that he could turn into a solid number two receiver. I don’t think he becomes a start at the next level, but could definitely see him turning into what T.J. Houshmandzadeh was to Chad Ochocinco if the Eagles can get a true number one guy.

Regardless, just like I predicted for Marco Wilson, Grimes physical skills and size will be tough for teams to pass up at this point.

Grimes to Eagles, 3^rd round, Pick 84

Day Three

That leaves a bunch of Gators likely to be drafted on Saturday. These are the kind of picks that don’t get a lot of fanfare, but when you look back at a Super Bowl champion, they’re almost always picks that the team hit on.

I’m not going to go as in-depth with each player as I did above, but will give a prediction about where they’ll be drafted and a little bit about their skill set.

Stone Forsythe to Bengals, 5^th round, Pick 149

Forsythe turned himself into a very good college tackle in 2020, offsetting some of the deficiencies in the Gators offensive line at other positions. But I can’t ignore that Florida couldn’t run the ball last season, even when they tried to do so behind Forsythe, which is why I have him here.

But if he’s drafted by the Bengals, Forsythe is going to a situation where he’s going to get quite a bit of playing time. The Bengals are likely going to take an offensive tackle in the first round. Forsythe helps provide depth and perhaps the ability to start at right tackle and help protect Joe Burrow. That’s clearly going to be a priority for the Bengals after Burrow suffered a season-ending injury a year ago.

Tedarrell Slaton to Patriots, 6^th round, Pick 188

Slaton has a ton of raw physical ability. It’s easy to forget that he was actually recruited to Florida as an offensive lineman who then converted to defensive line. While he showed flashes at time, he just wasn’t able to consistently deliver for Florida up-front.

While he didn’t perform at the same level as teammate Kyree Campbell, Slaton’s upside is such that a guy like Bill Belichick is going to think it’s worth a late pick to see if he can goad more out of that talent than the Gators were able to get. At this point in the draft, you’re just looking for solid contributors and I think Slaton has the potential to provide that to a Patriots defense that needs some help at defensive tackle.

Brett Heggie to Buccaneers, 7^th round, Pick 251

What do you do when you’re trying to repeat as Super Bowl Champs and have a 44-year old QB? Bulk up on the offensive line.

The Bucs have picks 251 and 259 in this draft and so it makes sense to bring in a guy who started extensively at guard and then shifted over to center after an injury to Ethan White forced that move.

Heggie isn’t the most physical player in the run game, but that’s not what Tampa is looking for. They need someone who can be a backup guard, is versatile in case of injury and is good in pass protection. While he was aided by Kyle Trask typically getting rid of the ball quickly, Heggie was good in pass protection in 2020. That will serve him well as he is brought in for depth on a team trying to repeat.

Undrafted Free Agents

• Evan McPherson – Chicago Bears
• Shawn Davis – Buffalo Bills
• Kyree Campbell – Carolina Panthers