Last time out I used Bleacher Report’s 7 round mock to create my IFL Rookie Mock Draft but whilst I’ve been searching for a new industry mock to base the new IFL mock draft on, I thought it worth putting some notes together before we start on how certain factors will clearly dictate the fantasy future of some of these rookies.

I rank players on landing spot, team fit, talent and of course, position value in the IFL scoring system

Landing spots are crucial to dictating the value of defensive lineman and edge rushers and I will breakdown that position in more detail. So if you dont see Josh Allen going in the IFL first or second rounds and think, ‘wow New England Mark is stupid’, he’s not that stupid, it’s just he’s assuming Allen gets the dreaded OLB designation in MFL.

If you are planning on taking an OLB in rounds one or two of the IFL draft then crack on, the other GMs in your conference will thank you for doing so! Here’s some of the burning questions IFL owners should be aware of as we look at the landing spots for our new crop of rookie talent.

Will Josh Allen end up on the Jets?

This has been all the talk recently and if the Jets do make the wise choice and select Allen, then it kills his value. Allen will line up as an OLB in their 3-4 defence, despite journeyman DC and (4-3 scheme believer) Gregg  Williams joining, the talk is the franchise is sticking with their system. Should Allen somehow end up at the Raiders then that would be become very intriguing. They’re in dire need of a pass rusher and their 4-3 base could mean Allen ends up with the DE designation.

However, if he goes to the Jets then it’s another Bradley Chubb scenario, boom bust week in and week out, not something you should be spending a high pick on.

Will Nick Bosa be drafted 1.01 by the Arizona Cardinals?

Whether or not the Kyler Murray chat is in fact a smokescreen or not, many mocks still predict the Cardinals to stick with Rosen (for now) and take the draft’s no.1 prospect, Nick Bosa.

Much like Allen, this would see a young potential stud edge rusher become a second thought come draft day as he also would slot into an OLB role, opposite the recently changed, Chandler Jones. IFL GMs will be praying Kyler goes 1.01 and Bosa ends up opposite Dee Ford in the 49ers 4-3 defence.

If we see the 49ers trade back, I’m looking at the Giants making a move for Haskins. Then Mike Mayock, should, I repeat should, do a little dance, make a little love and get Bosa on draft night. This would be a fantastic result for IFL GMs.

However, with John Gruden peering over his shoulder the whole time, lets hope he doesn’t reach for a DK Metcalf type prospect. If that does play out and the Jets are on the clock then we could be faced with the prospect of Bosa at OLB, which would not be good!

Is there a Baby Donald in the draft class?

Unlike the outlandish comparison the creator of the ‘Baby Watt’ nickname had for a soon to be 28 year old defensive end with just 10 career sacks to his name, there are some actual comparables between Ed Oliver and Aaron Donald.

However, my comparison here is not talent but more importantly, scheme fit. Donald lines up for the Rams as a DE in the 3-4, which could be the perfect role for the undersized Ed Oliver. If a 3-4 team takes him then he could see a rise in value if he gets the DE designation due to his pass rush capability.

As a DT he would be useful but DEs are in short supply. There are a couple of other prospects this could also effect which I touch upon later in the article.

Who takes DK?

The guy making the Combine Hall of Fame was certainly DK Metcalf. The hype around him went into overdrive after some, not all, of his testing was comparable to Julio Jones.

That’s definitely vaulted him into top 15 consideration and highly likely, top 10. However, there are some dangerous spots in that top 10. The Giants at 1.06 and Bills at 1.09 are particularly scary to IFL owners. The dream would be the Packers at the 1.12 pairing him up with Aaron Rodgers. However, plenty of teams have to pass on the physical specimen for him to reach the Packers. How far could he drop? Well in the absolute worst case scenario for Metcalf I don’t see him getting past the Ravens if he gets that far but I doubt he does.

In recent drafts we’ve also seen wide receivers go higher than anticipated and so it will be interesting to see where N’Keal Harry, AJ Brown, Marquise Brown, Hakeem Butler and Parris Campbell land. I’d be VERY surprised if they all make it into the first round but Metcalf, Harry and I’d bet one of the Browns should all go in the first round with Butler a sneaky pick to go right at the back end of the first round. I didn’t forget about Kelvin Harmon, I just think the Combine hurt his draft stock to the extent there’s no way he gets into the first round of the NFL Draft.

Are there only two top linebackers this year?

The 2018 linebacker class was a bonanza of talent but as it stands, after the Devins the inside linebacker position looks very shallow. Prospects like Mack Wilson and Tre Lamar have seen their stock fall in recent weeks but should still retain decent landing spots based of recent mock drafts.

Mack Wilson dropped in my mock which was based on the Bleacher Report mock draft and the reason for this was his landing spot. As these guys’ draft stock drops, the chances of them ending up playing second fiddle to an established LB increases.

The previous mock was a good example of this as it predicted Wilson ending up at the Packers with Blake Martinez, which really depreciates his value. The higher the LBs go in the draft, the more likely they are to be drafted into a defence where they are meant to be the dominant LB in the scheme. The player will still have value but not remotely close to the value of landing with a team like the Ravens.

However, what is clear is there’s nothing on the talent level that we saw from last year and this could really push the Devins up the IFL draft board. We could easily see both go in the top eight as a result of the shallow talent pool.

Just how many top tier defensive lineman are in this draft?

The 2019 draft class could be to the DE position what the 2018 class was to the LB position. Beyond Bosa, Allen and Oliver (assuming he goes to a 3-4 defence) there’s still a plethora of talent at defensive end that could usher in a changing of the guard at the position.

The incoming rookies that could potentially get the DE designation, which people will be keeping a close eye on are: Rashan Gary, Brian Burns, Montez Sweat, Clelin Ferrell, Zach Allen, Jachai Polite, Jaylon Ferguson, Chase Winovich and Oshane Ximines. As it stands I dont see any of these players making it past the first half of the second round of the NFL Draft.

That is an awful lot of potential talent. Now, of course there will be some franchises that draft these guys to play OLB in a 3-4 defence, which will spoil our fun. A move to an OLB will kill the value of any of the above prospects so IFL GMs will be hoping as many of these prospects as possible go to a 4-3 scheme and they line up as a DE in the franchise’s base defence.

Now the flip side of this is if a franchise takes a big bodied defensive lineman with pass rush ability for a 3-4 scheme. In this scenario that player could potentially see a big increase in their value. There’s only a handful of players with this ability and the two prospects I’d be paying particular attention to is Quinnen Williams and Christian Wilkins.

Both of these players have the physical attributes and skillset to play inside and outside across the line. If they can somehow end up as a DE in a 3-4, we could see them really fly up draft boards. The best IFL example of this type of player was the way 300lb+ defensive lineman, Chris Jones put up 283 fantasy points in the 2018 season as a DE in Kansas City’s 3-4 defence.

There’s a new mock draft in the works but hopefully you liked this article. I wanted it to write it so you had some insight into my thinking effecting the potential IFL draft picks and why landing spots, especially for IDP, will be even more key this year!