You know it’s draft week when Peter King of NBC Sports releases his mock draft through his column, “Football Morning in America.”
King’s mock draft is based on a lot of what he heard, but even he admits he doesn’t know. It’s smokescreen season for all 32 NFL teams.
In King’s mock draft, he has some moves we haven’t yet seen. Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson rarely makes it out of the top five in most mock drafts, almost never out of the top 10.
However, King has the raw but super-talented Richardson falling to No. 23, where the Minnesota Vikings select him as the heir apparent to Kirk Cousins.
King has Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker going in the first round. That’s not a surprise. It’s how high King has Hooker going, which is No. 12 to the Houston Texans, who passed on a quarterback with the No. 2 overall pick.
Those moves would make for a really chaotic Thursday night. It would be interesting to see what the Washington Commanders would do if Richardson falls to them at No. 16.
In King’s mock, the Commanders pass on Richardson and add help for their secondary in Alabama defensive back Brian Branch.
The Commanders could eschew a front-seven player like edge rusher Lukas Van Ness, or the best receiver in the class in Jaxon Smith-Njigba, because their needs are not pronounced in either spot. A safety in the middle of the first round doesn’t seem logical, but this safety will be the kind of versatile player a defense needs on all three downs.
Washington does like Branch, but picking him at No. 16 with other needs on the roster feels like a bit of a reach. But with how much head coach Ron Rivera speaks on “position flex,” you shouldn’t count Branch out as a real possibility at No. 16 overall.
