The NFL Draft is now just one day away. The wait is finally over and the endless hours of scouting and evaluating will now be put to good use. As always, the NFL Draft is an imperfect science and there are bound to be surprises from the very beginning.
With that said, here are my five bold predictions for the 2023 NFL Draft.
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Will Levis stuns the world at the NFL Draft
The recent Will Levis buzz is confusing but incredibly interesting. He was never regarded as a premier QB in this class, but the Kentucky gunslinger has surged up the NFL Draft Odds to now being just +400 be taken first overall. While I don’t think the Panthers are going to be the ones taking him with the first pick of the 2023 NFL Draft, there is going to be one team that pulls the trigger.
We don’t know if the Texans are going to pull the trigger on a quarterback yet and the Cardinals are another team who could be in line to trade back. Seattle and Indy could be in line to draft quarterbacks,a and teams like the Raiders & Titans may well push to trade up.
When all is said and done, I think the rankings will go back to reality once the Panthers make their pick. If it’s Bryce Young, then C.J Stroud and Anthony Richardson will likely be the next quarterbacks taken.
I do think that the Colts are a great fit for Levis and he should comfortably fall into their laps barring a shocking trade or two. Indy loves big-arm QB’s who can grow over a 5-year period and a lot of people tend to turn to Josh Allen’s Wyoming stats when defending Levis. He might not have the same ceiling, but if the Colts can get a strong and moldable arm then they’re bound to pull the trigger.
The Eagles make a trade at 10
Howie Roseman has a history of trading up when it comes to securing the prospect he really wants. Jordan Davis, DeVonta Smith, Andre Dillard, and even Carson Wentz, have all been players that Roseman has shuffled up the order to snatch them from other potential suitors. In fact, Roseman has made 42 draft-day trades during his tenure as GM so the odds say he’ll probably find a 43rd.
If we follow Roseman’s run of form, he seems to favor trading up as opposed to trading back and that makes total sense. It all depends on who’s available, but we know that the Jalen Carter train is only picking up steam as the draft nears, and trading up into the 6-8 range would make a lot of sense.
I do think the Eagles trade up, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they moved to 8 just to take an offensive lineman and stop the Bears from snagging one. Peter Skoronski is the name on everyone’s lips due to his agile play and versatile nature and it would not surprise me to see the Eagles make a push here.
Darnell Washington falls to…the Eagles?
Darnell Washington is a very interesting TE prospect. A freak athlete who has monstrous size, Washington has all the makings of a dominant pass-catcher at the next level.
A recent report from Charle Campbell of Walter Football hints that he could well slip down the draft order, however.
Along with the medical, some team sources said there are some minor character concerns. If Washington slides on the second day of the 2023 NFL Draft, the medical and the character will be the reasons why.
This is worth noting. We’ve seen prospects surprisingly slide down the draft order without reason before. Just look at Nakobe Dean last season, and it was the Eagles who did their extra due diligence before taking the risk – one that ultimately paid off.
The team needs a viable TE2 option and the ceiling Washington has is truly mesmerizing. They would likely be all over Washington if he somehow dropped to the back of the second round of the NFL Draft.
Bijan Robinson spreads his wings at the NFL Draft
There has been a lot of love for Bijan Robinson during this pre-draft process and he has formally met with the Atlanta Falcons. I do think that if the Eagles were serious about drafting him, they’d have to trade up above Atlanta, and I just don’t see that happening. The Falcons feel like a snug fit for Robinson, with that offense beginning to take its final form as the most dangerous in the NFC South…provided they can get the most out of Desmond Ridder.
Jalen Carter slides out of the top 15 NFL Draft picks
Jalen Carter is perhaps the most polarizing prospect in this entire Draft class. His disappointing pro-day performance and underwhelming measurables paled in comparison to the off-field incident that saw him plead no contest for a pair of misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and racing that resulted in the loss of life.
He may well be a dominant pass-rushing talent, but we’re not only talking about a maturity issue here. The pro-day performance alone would’ve been enough for scouts to turn elsewhere and teams in that range won’t want to mortgage a top-10 pick on a conditional maybe. A top-10 selection has to be a home-run hit, and there is nothing guaranteed about Jalen Carter’s development.
What are your bold NFL Draft predictions? Let us know in the comments!
Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire
