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Community BPA Mock Draft Scenario

BPA mock draft scenario - what do you do if choosing between actual BPA and a lesser player at position of need?

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

A few weeks back I put together a Best Player Available mock draft at positions of need. This better reflects how a draft is likely to go than a standard mock draft in my opinion.

I built it using two key data sources:

Jeremiah has been updating the team needs and prospects board, which has allowed me to revisit this. When he finishes I'll put up a brand new one.

In the meantime though, I keep coming up with the same predicament: C.J. Mosley is routinely available at 17.

Now, the need for ILB is not high in the slightest. That's even assuming Rolando McClain never plays for the Ravens. However, he's always BPA. There aren't many teams in front of us likely to need him, given the devalued nature of ILB. Some teams may like the value (PIT for instance) but by the rules I set out in this BPA/Need draft, no one takes him.

So, I thought I would pose this pick to the community and see how you would respond.

The BPA draft, as I do it, has a few ground rules: Teams must choose the best player player at a position of one of its 3-4 listed needs unless none exists, then simply BPA. No reaching for a player past 10 spots - if no player fills a need they take the BPA instead.

Teams are allowed to forgo the literal BPA (for instance Greg Robinson to Jacksonville who has a LT already) at a need to acquire a more pressing need (like quarterback) as long as they are within 10 slots of the pick. But they cannot forgo a need for one that isn't unless they would have to reach beyond 10 places. This preserves both BPA and need.

Players do fall (think Sharrif Floyd last year), but it's unlikely that Mosley falls 20 spots to Denver for example. Teams do reach, especially for QBs, but we're trying to maintain some integrity here.

Here are the picks through 16 rounds:

PICK TEAM NEEDS SELECTION POSITION RANK VALUE
1 Houston QB, RT, OLB, TE Clowney, Jadeveon DE 1 0
2 St Louis OT, S, CB, WR Watkins, Sammy WR 2 0
3 Jacksonville QB, RB, OT, OL Bridgewater, Teddy QB 11 -8
4 Cleveland QB, WR, OL, ILB Manziel, Johnny QB 12 -8
5 Oakland QB, OL, WR Robinson, Greg OT 3 2
6 Atlanta OLB, OT, TE, S Mack, Khalil OLB 4 2
7 Tampa Bay OT, OG, CB Matthews, Jake OT 5 2
8 Minnesota QB, OG, S Pryor, Calvin FS 15 -7
9 Buffalo RT, LB, WR Evans, Mike WR 7 2
10 Detroit S, CB, OT Gilbert, Justin CB 8 2
11 Tennessee QB, CB, RB Bortles, Blake QB 19 -8
12 NY Giants LT, TE, WR, DT Lewan, Taylor OT 10 2
13 St Louis OT, S, CB, WR Clinton-Dix, Ha Ha FS 16 -3
14 Chicago S, CB, DT Donald, Aaron DT 14 0
15 Pittsburgh CB, WR, DL, OL Beckham, Odell WR 17 -2
16 Dallas S, DE, OG, OT Barr, Anthony OLB 6 10
17 Baltimore OT, C, S, REC #N/A #N/A #N/A


And here's the board with the remaining players (up to prospect #23):


Name Pos College Rank (4/1) SELECTED?
Clowney, Jadeveon DE South Carolina 1 YES
Watkins, Sammy WR Clemson 2 YES
Robinson, Greg OT Auburn 3 YES
Mack, Khalil OLB Buffalo 4 YES
Matthews, Jake OT Texas A&M 5 YES
Barr, Anthony OLB UCLA 6 YES
Evans, Mike WR Texas A&M 7 YES
Gilbert, Justin CB Oklahoma St. 8 YES
Mosley, C.J. ILB Alabama 9
Lewan, Taylor OT Michigan 10 YES
Bridgewater, Teddy QB Louisville 11 YES
Manziel, Johnny QB Texas A&M 12 YES
Ebron, Eric TE North Carolina 13
Donald, Aaron DT Pittsburgh 14 YES
Pryor, Calvin FS Louisville 15 YES
Clinton-Dix, Ha Ha FS Alabama 16 YES
Beckham, Odell WR LSU 17 YES
Jernigan, Timmy DT Florida St. 18
Bortles, Blake QB Central Florida 19 YES
Dennard, Darqueze CB Michigan St. 20
Cooks, Brandin WR Oregon St. 21
Martin, Zack OT Notre Dame 22
Lee, Marqise WR USC 23


So as you see Mosley is the BPA guy here. But he's not a position of need per this draft construct. In reality, the Ravens don't need an ILB at all. So our pick here SHOULD be Eric Ebron, since a pass catcher (REC) is a need.

So I put it to the community: If this were a real-life decision faced by the Ravens, what should they do?