Jayson Oweh had to be thinking it was an April Fool’s Day prank if he decided to check out Todd McShay’s latest mock draft for ESPN on Thursday.
But it wasn’t a prank.
McShay has Oweh falling and falling and falling in the draft — all the way down to the 58th overall pick by the Baltimore Ravens near the end of the second round.
Whoa.
Three days ago, Sports Illustrated’s site, NFL Draft Bible, projected Oweh to be selected with the No. 10 overall pick in the first round, by the Dallas Cowboys.
Hang on a second here. So, one of the leading draft analysts in the country has the PSU defensive end going with the 58th pick, while another prominent mock has him at No. 10?
What the what?
Look, mock drafts are all one giant guessing game. We know this. But this kind of disparity with Oweh is staggering.
Keep in mind, both of these mock drafts came out AFTER Oweh put up extremely impressive numbers at Penn State’s Pro Day last week (see photo above, or watch this video from PSU).
Oweh's Pro Day = off the charts. 📈👀 @JaysonOweh #PSUProDay #WeAre pic.twitter.com/i6LgTyRBre
— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) March 28, 2021
This is what McShay wrote about Oweh in his mock draft, with no mention of why he has dropped the edge rusher so far down:
“The Ravens need to add pass-rush help after Matthew Judon and Yannick Ngakoue signed elsewhere, and Oweh is my top-ranked edge rusher still available. After posting five sacks in 2019, he didn’t tally any in 2020, but he has the tools to produce at the next level.”
Obviously, the fact that Oweh had no sacks for Penn State last season keeps coming up over and over again. But exactly how much will that matter to NFL teams, especially once they see his sheer physical gifts and potential?
The answer could be worth millions and millions of dollars.
The No. 10 pick in last year’s draft, tackle Jedrick Wills Jr., received a contact worth $19.7 million from the Cleveland Browns, with a signing bonus of $11.9 million.
The No. 32 pick, or last pick of the first round, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, got a $10.8 million contract from the Kansas City Chiefs, with a signing bonus of $5.4 million.
The No. 58 pick last year, tackle Ezra Cleveland, got a $5.54 million contract from the Minnesota Vikings, with a signing bonus of $1.58 million.
So, as mentioned before, Oweh can only hope that McShay’s prediction amounts to an April Fool’s Day joke, because falling that far would be no laughing matter in his bank account.
Here, by the way, is a good graph of Oweh’s draft stock over time from Mock Draft Database:
Other PSU players
McShay has LB Micah Parsons going with the No. 12 pick to the Philadelphia Eagles. He has TE Pat Freiermuth going 45th overall (second round) to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Click for more Nittany Sports Now coverage
