College football season is nowhere near starting. Rookie minicamps aren’t in session, and it isn’t event a week since the NFL draft has concluded.
But that doesn’t mean that it is too early for a mock draft. Because it’s never too early for a mock draft.
Several mock drafts have already been rolled out for 2018 in the days following the recently completed 2017 draft. As can be expected, they are all over the place for the local teams. But the one common theme is that the New York Jets are terrible and finally get their marquee quarterback.
Picking first, the Sporting News mocks that the Jets go after USC quarterback Sam Darnold. The Jets haven’t had a franchise quarterback since, well, Joe Namath and the consensus seems to be that the team is caving in for a top quarterback next season.
Darnold, the Sporting News says, impressed at the Rose Bowl in a win over Penn State and “has already won over NFL decision makers.”
Keep in mind that the Jets took a quarterback in the first round not too long ago when they selected Mark Sanchez with the No. 6 pick in 2009.
The Jets also take a quarterback in 2018 according to Walter Camp, who has UCLA’s Sam Rosen going to Gang Green with the No. 2 overall pick.
In their assessment, the site writes that:
“Josh Rosen was once the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, but he’s been passed by Sam Darnold. It also must be noted that NFL coaches and owners are wary of the sort of things Rosen has discussed to the media. However, he’s young and could improve his thinking.”
“Mocking the Draft” on SB Nation pegs the Jets at No. 3 and taking Wyoming’s Josh Allen who is, yup, another quarterback. The same site has the Giants at No. 22 (wild card, hooray!) and going after running back Mike Weber from Ohio State.
Walter Camp has the Giants picking at No. 18 which means that they’ll miss the playoffs in 2018 in their projections. Interestingly enough, the site has the Giants going defensive end, taking Ohio State’s Sam Hubbard, who will be a junior in 2018.
The pick is a bit perplexing as the Giants really don’t need a defensive end … then again they didn’t really need a tight end in the first round this year either and that didn’t stop the decision makers from going that route.
According to the Sporting News, the Giants again sit at No. 23, which means a wild card loss. With this pick, they have the Giants going after Alabama running back Bo Scarborough.
