A Last-Minute Oregon State 2023 NFL Mock Draft
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It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Another NFL Draft Weekend is upon us and this one could showcase a healthy amount of Oregon State flavor.
Here’s where I have the Beaver NFL hopefuls going in a full, somewhat admittedly optimistic, seven-round mock draft.
31. Kansas City Chiefs — Luke Musgrave, Tight End
The jewel of this year’s Oregon State draft class is of course a player who missed almost all of last season. Luke Musgrave may have not seen the field for more than two games of his final season in Corvallis, but his performance through this year’s draft process has been drawing rave reviews from savants and sickos alike.
Musgrave is one of the most intriguing prospects at the tight end position to come through the draft in quite some time. He possesses a rare blend of talent, physical gifts and all-world potential that makes him the player with the highest ceiling in this position group. Musgrave dazzled scouts at the Senior Bowl and backed it up with an impressive performance at the NFL Combine. There’s a chance for the former Beaver from Bend to be the highest drafted Beaver ever not named Terry Baker.
There are only a couple reasons why he could fall. 1) Due to last season’s knee injury, Musgrave only has two games worth of tape from the 2022 season on file with NFL Scouts, and 2) This year’s tight end class is stacked. Don’t get me wrong, I have your boy as the No. 1 ranked tight end this year and so do many writers who aren’t looking at the draft through orange and black tinted glasses, but the sheer depth of talent at the tight end pool may convince one or more of the TE-needy teams to wait to address the position later in the draft.
Later in the draft is also when tight ends traditionally hear their names called. In the last 10 drafts, only nine tight ends have been selected in the first round, and not a single one went on Day one in the 2022, 2020, 2016, and 2015 drafts.
I could see a tight end going as early as No. 11 to the Titans in this year’s draft, and there are a few teams after them who could make Musgrave the second highest drafted Beaver of all time if he’s selected before the No. 20 spot where the Saints took Brandin Cooks in 2014, but that’s on the optimistic side of things.
As it stands, I have Musgrave waiting until the last pick on the first day to hear his name called, which is coincidentally also the best place he could hope to land.
The Kansas City Chiefs are coming off their second title of the Patrick Mahomes era and get even richer with this pick. Travis Kelce is one of the best tight ends in the history of the game (Pro Football Reference’s HOF Meter has him as the sixth best ever behind Tony Gonzalez, Rob Gronkowski, Shannon Sharpe, Antonio Gates, and Dave Casper) and is still playing at an incredibly high level. The chance to snag Kelce’s heir apparent and have him learn from the legend himself for the next two seasons is too good of an opportunity to pass up.
Musgrave ends up with the Chiefs where he’ll have an opportunity to compete for Super Bowls and will likely win a lot of people fantasy league titles starting in 2025.
99. San Francisco 49ers — Rejzohn Wright, Cornerback
The next two Beavers off the board will almost certainly be cornerbacks Rejzohn Wright and Alex Austin. The only mystery is in what order and at what pick?
Mocking East Palo Alto’s finest back to the Bay with San Francisco’s first pick in the draft may be overly optimistic, but I think it makes too much sense for the Niners. I’ve seen Wright ranked well within the top one hundred of this year’s draft class, but most mocks have him waiting until the seventh round and several don’t have him getting picked at all. He’s a tough prospect to project, but when the dust settles I have him going at the exact same pick where the Cowboys picked his older brother Nahshon in 2021.
I think both Wright and Austin project to quality corners in the NFL. While I said on our latest podcast episode that I believe Austin is the player with the higher ceiling, Wright has the higher floor (though they both have high ceilings and high floors) and it's his ability to step in and contribute right away that makes him the higher pick.
At 6’2” Wright already has the size and speed of an NFL corner and he looked like one more often than not in 2022, especially against USC and likely first-round wide receiver Jordan Addison.
The Last Chance U alum was one of the most essential pieces of Oregon State’s ascent the last two seasons and it wouldn’t surprise me if he turned out to be a Day One contributor in the NFL. The Niners, making their first pick at 99, need to replace cornerback Emmanuel Moseley who signed with Detroit in free agency, get an important piece to help them contend for the NFC crown by bringing Wright back home.
119. Minnesota Vikings — Alex Austin, Cornerback
Nothing this weekend could make me happier than the Minnesota Vikings drafting Alex Austin. At this point, you may be asking yourself if I did this mock with my head or my heart and I can’t blame you for doing so. However, the answer is I did it with both and I’m here to explain how.
Let’s start with heart. Austin is one of my favorite Beavers ever and the Vikings are my favorite team. I am absolutely attempting to manifest the universe to make this fantasy a reality. Austin is a swaggy and rangey corner who I have loved watching the last four years at Oregon State and I could make the argument he’s been the best cornerback on the west coast since the second half of the USC game at the Coliseum in 2021.
Okay now let’s go with the head. The Minnesota Vikings brought in new defensive coordinator and cornerback whisperer Brian Flores to overhaul the defense. Minnesota’s cornerback room is currently depleted and I’m guessing will be addressed more than once this weekend.
Austin has elite length, elite tape, elite versatility, and elite shit talking to a degree that will make Brian Flores fall even more head over heels in love with him than I am.
I’ve seen Austin mocked to this stage of the draft with more consistency than Wright, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s the first Beaver corner to hear his name called.
176. Indianapolis Colts — Brandon Kipper, Guard
Back in the early days of Draft SZN, there wasn’t a ton of love out there for Big Kip. Then he had an excellent week at the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, where he reportedly met with as many as 20 teams, and his name has slowly risen in the draft sickos world from likely undrafted free agent to potentially hearing his name called on Day Three.
I have the Colts using their No. 4 overall pick on Florida QB starlet Anthony Richardson. Richardson will need time, patience, and above all, protection to develop into the next level star Indy hopes he can be.
Kipper provides that in spades and could be a boom for the Colts’ offensive line room. While it would be a pipe dream to imagine him as a starter out of training camp, Kipper brings a ton of experience and position flexibility to the table. He’s also a team leader and one of the greatest sound bites of any player who ever made their way through Corvallis. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn he absolutely wowed NFL team personnel in every interview he’s done throughout this process.
The Colts are playing the long game. Kipper, who arrived in Corvallis in 2018 and was as essential as anyone to Oregon State’s rebuild in the Jonathan Smith era, is unquestionably a player you can build with for the long haul.
192. New England Patriots — Jack Colletto, Football Player
No player has ever been more built to play football for Bill Belichick more so than the Jackhammer. Since the Patriots own every single pick in the sixth round (they actually own four), it’s easy to imagine Belichick reaching for another Swiss Army Knife to add to his collection.
New England has loved players who can play on both sides for as long as Belichick has been in charge. Colletto also had a fantastic week at the East West Shrine Bowl, where he was coached by the Pats’ coaching staff, but specifically Troy Brown, the wide receivers and kick returners coach for the team he played both wide receiver and cornerback for during his 15-year playing career.
Colletto is playable right away on special teams and at the fullback position. I don’t see him as much of a pass-catcher or inside linebacker at the next level, but that doesn’t mean New England won’t find occasions to use him as such. This is the same coach who called multiple offensive pass plays resulting in touchdowns thrown to linebacker Mike Vrabel in multiple Super Bowls.
The temptation to add Colletto to the cupboard is simply too great for Belichick. It’s hard to imagine a better destination for Jackhammer, who would be a massive fan favorite in New England by day one of training camp.
Undrafted Free Agents
I would love to see more than five Oregon State players' names come across the crawl on ESPN and NFL Network this weekend, but there has been absolutely no smoke for anyone other than the five players mentioned above. That of course doesn’t mean the likes of Jaydon Grant, Tre’Shaun Harrison, Tyjon Lindsey, and Kyrei Fisher-Morris won’t get drafted. It’s important to remember this time of year that the whole league is lying to each other, for sure lying to reporters, and no one actually knows anything. Still, there’s usually at least some indication a player will be selected before the weekend starts and these four Beaver heroes appear to be on the outside looking in.
Of the four of them, I have the most optimism for Grant landing with and sticking with an NFL team. Grant deserves a statue outside of Reser Stadium for everything he’s done for the program. I’m the most flummoxed by the lack of perceived interest in Grant than I am by any other development in the 2023 NFL Draft so far. I doubt he gets picked, but someone will give him a chance and come training camp he’ll start turning heads and become the next great player to slip through the draft’s fingers.
At least he will in my version of events.
Lock in, baby! The 2023 NFL Draft is on the clock!
