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We worked on it all week with you, the fans. We gave the opportunities for trade downs, we worked every angle for every team, and now, we present the results of the mock draft we performed that was one-hundred percent determined by you, the fans!
Every selection was a part of one Twitter thread, so if you want to see the specific voting results, check out this tweet and the thread attached to it, but here are the results!
Alright #Bears fans, we are going to try to do an interactive mock draft at least up to 9 and see how it goes. Picks determined by you. Published at @WCGridiron. I'll make a thread so you can find the next pick.
— Bill Zimmerman (@ZimmermanSXM) March 26, 2023
Let's begin:
With the first pick, the Carolina #Panthers select:
1. Carolina Panthers- CJ Stroud, Ohio State Quarterback
This was one of the more lopsided results of the draft. It’s obvious the Panthers are going to select a quarterback at first overall. While the Panthers are adamant they haven’t made up their mind at quarterback yet, the betting favorite is CJ Stroud over Bryce Young. It would be highly unlikely the Panthers would give up this kind of capital (with DJ Moore) to grab Will Levis or Anthony Richardson, but you, the fans seem confident that Stroud is going to be the pick here.
2. Houston Texans- Bryce Young, Alabama Quarterback
Just about everyone assumes the Texans have their eyes on a QB, and most assume it’s Bryce Young. If that’s the case, they’ll certainly be sweating out the first overall pick thanks to Lovie Smith’s week 18 victory. But the fans felt most confident in this selection (94%) out of any of the picks in the top ten. Fans feel that Young will be the move here and that the draft will have two quarterbacks taken with the top two picks.
3. Arizona Cardinals- Will Anderson, Alabama Edge
This was probably the pick I was most intrigued by (other than the Bears) during this exercise. The Cardinals are a hot suggestion to trade down so that a team can move up to take a quarterback in front of the Colts. Many fans definitely thought that could be the case with 37% predicting a trade down for Arizona, but in the end, 60% of fans felt the Cardinals stay put to take Anderson here, who many draft experts feel is the best prospect in the draft.
4. Indianapolis Colts- Anthony Richardson, Florida Quarterback
If the draft plays out like this, you have to figure Chris Ballard will be one happy man. He definitely needs a quarterback in the draft, and after the Bears made a move with the Carolina Panthers and the Texans stay put to take the second QB, Ballard would have to be concerned that someone would jump up to three to take another QB. But the fans felt the Cardinals stay put so Ballard gets to grab a quarterback with a lot of great tools and see if he pans out after several failed attempts with veteran QBs. Richardson grabbed 45% of the vote while Will Levis earned 33% of the vote as the top two vote getters. We also gave the fans a chance for Ballard to trade this pick for Lamar Jackson, but only 18% selected that option. This will be Ballard’s last shot to get QB right in Indianapolis, if Richardson fails at this level, Ballard will be out of a job.
5. Seattle Seahawks- Jalen Carter, Georgia Defensive Tackle
I was surprised fans jumped at the chance to get Carter on a roster. Most experts are concerned Carter falls further down in the top ten, perhaps out of the top ten, but fans feel his talent far outweighs his off the field concerns. Carter received 46% of the vote, while Tyree Wilson gained 36% of the vote. Fans were confident the Seahawks would go defense, but they felt Pete Carroll would be confident in moving forward with Carter with the fifth overall pick.
6. Detroit Lions- Christian Gonzalez, Oregon Cornerback
Some experts feel Illinois’ Devon Witherspoon may be the best defensive back in the draft, but most feel that title belongs to Oregon’s Christian Gonzalez, and the fans agree. We gave them the chance between both corners and Tyree Wilson (Will Levis as well) and the fans agree, although they were certainly split. In what was the second-lowest winning percentage of any of the selections, Gonzalez goes to Detroit with 39% of the vote. Wilson carried 32% and Witherspoon finished third with 18%.
7. Las Vegas Raiders- Will Levis- Kentucky Quarterback
Some Raiders fans found this mock draft and were none too pleased with this selection. Some chimed in the comments and said if Levis is the pick, they’d rather trade down, but fans in our mock felt that with Levis still on the board, the Raiders would grab a young quarterback. Levis nabbed 46% of the vote from the fans, with Wilson at 26% and Witherspoon at 21%. After moving on from Derek Carr, the Raiders have to give their fans a QB other than Jimmy Garoppolo, and fans agree, Levis heads to Vegas.
8. Atlanta Falcons- Tyree Wilson, Texas Tech Edge
I thought Wilson would probably go off the board to the Seahawks at five in this draft, but the fans took Carter with that selection. With Wilson still on the board, the fans feel the Falcons jump at landing Wilson here and they are confident about it. With four straight selections with the winning percentage being below 50%, the fans said Wilson goes to the Falcons with a 68% clip and Witherspoon finishes second with just 18%. Wilson was the third highest winning percentage in the top ten.
9. Chicago Bears- Paris Johnson, Ohio State Tackle
This one we had some fun with. With Bears fans having so many different hopes with what they can do with the ninth pick, we decided to do two semifinals to make sure Bears fans could really dive into this pick. The eight semifinalists were Paris Johnson, Broderick Jones, Peter Skoronski, Devon Witherspoon, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Lukas Van Ness, Bijan Robinson and the option to trade back.
Johnson, Jones, JSN and trade back won the semifinals and fans had those four to choose from in the final. Johnson won the poll with a shade under 50% of the vote, but I was surprised that trade back pulled in one-third of the votes. I figured Johnson would be the pick, but I expected Jones to finish second. Not only did trade back finish second, but JSN finished third with 11% of the vote, and Jones finished a distant fourth with 6%.
10. Philadelphia Eagles- Bijan Robinson, Texas Running Back
We wrap up the fan mock finishing up the top ten. The Eagles lost some talent off last year’s NFC Championship team, losing running back Miles Sanders as well as Isaac Semumalo on the offensive line and seemingly everyone on defense. Fans thought the idea of pairing Jalen Hurts with Bijan Robinson was just too tantalizing, and that’s the route they chose. Robinson grabs 37% of the vote, and Skoronski finishes with 26% of the vote. Van Ness finishes third with 22%, and we gave Myles Murphy as the fourth selection, and he earned about 15%. Some fans wrote in that Witherspoon should have been the other selection over Murphy but with Slay returning, we went Murphy. Either way, the fans think Robinson is the selection to round out the top ten.
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