Retrospective: FTRS 2020 Mock Draft, Six Years Later

Yahoo Sports3h ago16 min readOriginal source →

TL;DR

The FTRS staff reflects on their 2020 mock draft, analyzing how the selected players have performed over the past six years. Key highlights include standout picks like Justin Jefferson and Antoine Winfield Jr., alongside disappointing selections such as Isaiah Simmons.

Key points

FTRS staff conducted a mock draft every year since 2020
2020 mock draft analyzed players' performance over six years
Justin Jefferson and Antoine Winfield Jr. were standout selections
Isaiah Simmons was noted as a disappointing pick
Overall assessment shows a mix of successes and failures

Minnesota VikingsArizona Cardinals

GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN - APRIL 24: Wide Receiver/Cornerback Travis Hunter of Colorado poses with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell after being selected second overall pick by the Jacksonville Jaguar during the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft at Lambeau Field on April 24, 2025 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) | Getty Images After 362 agonizing days of nothing but mocks and projections and desperate attempts to convince us that utterly underwhelming college QBs will be surefire top-10 picks… it’s once again time for our annual three-day celebration of 32 billion-dollar businesses coming together to fill out a spreadsheet. Happy draft day, y’all. The FTRS staff has internally conducted a mock draft every year since 2020, but unfortunately that streak came to an end this year. In lieu of a 2026 mock, though, we can offer something else: a look back at our 2020 mock draft to see how everyone we chose has done since that day. Our 2020 FTRS mock, conducted a few weeks into the COVID-19 quarantine period, had seven staffers split the 32 NFL teams among ourselves and then pick as if we were running the show for each of our teams. The goal here is simply to look at who everyone took and grade each pick based on how our drafted players turned out. We’ll take a look at the class as a whole, along with each drafter’s best player selection, best value pick, and worst pick. Let’s start things off with the man who was running the site at the time:

Q&A

What were the standout picks from the 2020 FTRS mock draft?

Standout picks include Justin Jefferson, who became an elite starter, and Antoine Winfield Jr., recognized as an All-Pro safety.

How did Isaiah Simmons perform since being picked in the 2020 draft?

Isaiah Simmons has struggled to find a consistent role and is considered a non-factor in his career to date.

Which team selected Justin Jefferson in the 2020 draft?

Justin Jefferson was selected by the Minnesota Vikings with the 22nd overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

What was the overall assessment of the 2020 FTRS mock draft?

The overall assessment indicates that while some picks were disappointing, several players turned out to be top-tier NFL starters, making it a successful draft overall.

Pick #

Team

Selection

Actual Player Pick

How They Turned Out

Grade

Miami

Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Alabama

5 – Miami

Starter

LA Chargers

Justin Herbert, QB, Oregon

6 – LA Chargers

High-Level Starter

Miami

Mekhi Becton, OT, Louisville

11 – NY Jets

Starter

New Orleans

Tee Higgins, WR, Clemson

33 – Cincinnati

Starter

Miami

Yetur Gross-Matos, EDGE, Penn State

38 – Carolina

Rotational / Fringe Starter

Baltimore

Zack Baun, LB, Wisconsin

74 – New Orleans

High-Level Starter

LA Chargers

Josh Jones, OT, Houston

72 – Arizona

Career Backup

Houston

Ross Blacklock, DT, TCU

40 – Houston

Out of NFL (mediocre)

Baltimore

Neville Gallimore, DT, Oklahoma

82 – Dallas

Career Backup

Miami

Cam Akers, RB, Florida State

52 – LA Rams

Career Backup

C+

Baltimore

Jalen Reagor, WR, TCU

21 – Philadelphia

Out of NFL (bust)

**Overall**: Nishant scooped up some very solid players in the first round but had a disastrous second round, getting pretty much nobody of value with his last five picks. Still, he had one unique distinction: he was the only drafter to correctly predict three real-life draft picks, as he selected Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert, and Ross Blacklock with their actual teams at the spots where they were taken in the 2020 draft.

**Best Player Pick**: Justin Herbert. He’s gotten grief for struggling to lead the Chargers deeper into the playoffs, but Herbert has been a solid-to-great starting QB for six years and has proven himself to be well worth the top-10 selection—especially compared to the up-and-down career of the QB taken one spot before him.

**Best Value Pick**: Zack Baun. He wasn’t taken until much later in the actual 2020 draft, and it took him a few years and a change of scenery to find his footing, but Baun blossomed into an All-Pro linebacker after joining the Eagles in 2024.

**Worst Pick**: Ross Blacklock. He felt like great value at the #40 pick during the mock draft, but he barely even played in 40 games in his career and was a non-factor after his first two years in the league.

Pick #	Team	Selection	Actual Player Pick	How They Turned Out	Grade
4	NY Giants	Isaiah Simmons, LB, Clemson	8 – Arizona	Rotational / Fringe Starter	C-
18	Las Vegas	Justin Jefferson, WR, LSU	22 – Minnesota	Elite Starter	A+
23	Las Vegas	Patrick Queen, LB, LSU	28 – Baltimore	High-Level Starter	A
27	Seattle	D’Andre Swift, RB, Georgia	35 – Detroit	Starter	B
32	NY Giants	Austin Jackson, OT, USC	18 – Miami	Rotational / Fringe Starter	B
34	Indianapolis	Denzel Mims, WR, Baylor	59 – NY Jets	Out of NFL (mediocre)	D
39	Las Vegas	Trevon Diggs, CB, Alabama	51 – Dallas	High-Level Starter	A
44	Indianapolis	Julian Okwara, EDGE, Notre Dame	67 – Detroit	Out of NFL (mediocre)	D
49	Pittsburgh	Laviska Shenault Jr., WR, Colorado	42 – Jacksonville	Out of NFL (mediocre)	C-
59	Seattle	Damon Arnette, CB, Ohio State	19 – Las Vegas	Out of NFL (bust)	D
64	Seattle	Antoine Winfield Jr., S, Minnesota	45 – Tampa Bay	High-Level Starter	A
Overall: Ben whiffed on his first pick and several second-rounders, but he countered those by snagging some of the best players who came out of the 2020 class. Four of his players are top-tier NFL starters today (when healthy, in the case of Trevon Diggs), and he picked three of them ahead of where they actually went in the draft. Not a bad haul overall.
Best Player Pick: Justin Jefferson. Ben traded back a few spots from the #12 pick and still scooped up the best wideout in the draft and one of the best in the NFL today while hitting a huge need for the Raiders in that draft.
Best Value Pick: Antoine Winfield Jr. There’s an argument that Jefferson is the answer here too, but Winfield, an All-Pro safety, was a massive steal at the end of the second round.
Worst Pick: Isaiah Simmons. At the time, Simmons was a freakishly athletic tweener (between linebacker and safety) who seemed guaranteed to wreak havoc wherever he was on the field. Instead he never really found a home at either position, and he’s a non-factor at this point in his career.

Pick #	Team	Selection	Actual Player Pick	How They Turned Out	Grade
2	Washington	Chase Young, EDGE, Ohio State	2 – Washington	Rotational / Fringe Starter	C
8	Atlanta	C.J. Henderson, CB, Florida	9 – Jacksonville	Career Backup	F
19	New England	A.J. Epenesa, EDGE, Iowa	54 – Buffalo	Rotational / Fringe Starter	D
30	Green Bay	Brandon Aiyuk, WR, Arizona	25 – San Francisco	High-Level Starter	A-
47	Atlanta	Jordan Elliott, DT, Missouri	88 – Cleveland	Starter	B
52	LA Rams	J.K. Dobbins, RB, Ohio State	55 – Baltimore	Rotational / Fringe Starter	B-
57	LA Rams	Logan Wilson, LB, Wyoming	65 – Cincinnati	Retired (Starter)	B
62	Green Bay	Robert Hunt, OT, Louisiana	39 – Miami	Starter	A
Overall: Levi’s first three picks were all duds, even though the guy he took at #2 overall was the same guy who was actually picked there. Still, he went on to find some solid players later in the draft, resulting in a decent overall class.
Best Player Pick: Brandon Aiyuk. Injuries have derailed his last couple seasons, but Aiyuk was blossoming into a star around 2024 and could be a fun player once again if he gets back to full strength.
Best Value Pick: Robert Hunt. Once he moved inside to guard after his rookie year, Hunt emerged as a top-flight interior lineman and signed a large contract with the Panthers a couple years ago. Not bad for a guy whom Levi snagged 23 spots later than he was actually taken.
Worst Pick: C.J. Henderson. Levi had the Falcons trade up eight spots to grab Henderson, who turned out to be a colossal bust. He was shipped out midway through his second season in Jacksonville and has bounced around the league (including briefly to Atlanta) without making an impact anywhere.

Pick #	Team	Selection	Actual Player Pick	How They Turned Out	Grade
10	Tampa Bay	Andrew Thomas, OT, Georgia	4 – NY Giants	Starter	B+
13	San Francisco	Jerry Jeudy, WR, Alabama	15 – Denver	Starter	B-
17	Dallas	Henry Ruggs III, WR, Alabama	13 – Las Vegas	Out of NFL (crime)	–
37	San Francisco	Isaiah Wilson, OT, Georgia	29 – Tennessee	Out of NFL (bust)	F
43	Chicago	Lloyd Cushenberry, OC, LSU	83 – Denver	Starter	B
45	Tampa Bay	Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB, LSU	32 – Kansas City	Career Backup	C-
50	Chicago	Jeremy Chinn, CB, Southern Illinois	64 – Carolina	Starter	A
51	Dallas	Josh Uche, LB, Michigan	60 – New England	Career Backup	D
Overall: Jake’s draft class was heavy on SEC players but lacking in star power, as his top two picks turned into solid but unspectacular NFL players and his next two picks were colossal busts for wildly different reasons. But he did snag a few capable starters along the way.
Best Player Pick: Andrew Thomas. He struggled mightily in his first couple seasons, indicating he might be a major bust, but he grew quickly after that and has settled in as a very capable lineman for the Giants.
Best Value Pick: Jeremy Chinn. He’s been a capable NFL starter for pretty much his entire career, and Jake snagged him 14 spots before he was actually taken in the draft.
Worst Pick: Isaiah Wilson, at least in football terms. We’ll never know how Ruggs would have turned out on the field, as he threw away his career midway through his second season and is serving a lengthy prison sentence. We did get to see how Wilson turned out: he played exactly one NFL game before the Titans decided he was a lost cause. Go Dwags.

Pick #	Team	Selection	Actual Player Pick	How They Turned Out	Grade
3	Detroit	Jeff Okudah, CB, Ohio State	3 – Detroit	Career Backup	F
7	NY Jets	Tristan Wirfs, OT, Iowa	13 – Tampa Bay	High-Level Starter	A
22	Minnesota	Kristian Fulton, CB, LSU	61 – Tennessee	Rotational / Fringe Starter	C-
25	Minnesota	Xavier McKinney, S, Alabama	36 – NY Giants	Elite Starter	A+
35	Detroit	Marlon Davidson, DT, Auburn	47 – Atlanta	Fringe Backup	D-
36	Kansas City	Cesar Ruiz, C, Michigan	24 – New Orleans	Starter	B+
54	Buffalo	Kyle Dugger, S, Lenoir-Rhyne	37 – New England	Rotational / Fringe Starter	B
58	Minnesota	Justin Madubuike, DT, Texas A&M	71 – Baltimore	High-Level Starter	A
63	Kansas City	Noah Igbinoghene, CB, Auburn	30 – Miami	Career Backup	D
Overall: Ethan’s draft was very hit or miss, with some excellent players mixed in with some major busts, but it all boiled down to a solid class overall. Some of his best picks were guys he took well ahead of where NFL teams actually picked them, so he showed a pretty good eye for talent.
Best Player Pick: Xavier McKinney. He was okay with the Giants but emerged as a superstar after going to the Packers. The talent was always there, so the real surprise is that he slid to the second round in the actual draft.
Best Value Pick: Cesar Ruiz. He’s been a consistent starter on the interior line (though mostly at guard) for the Saints, and he was a late first-rounder in reality, so getting him early in the second made the pick even more solid.
Worst Pick: Jeff Okudah. Yeah, he’s the guy Detroit took in that same spot in the real draft. Yeah, he was still a complete bust who never came close to being a shutdown corner despite getting opportunities with a few teams.

Pick #	Team	Selection	Actual Player Pick	How They Turned Out	Grade
9	Jacksonville	Derrick Brown, DT, Auburn	7 – Carolina	High-Level Starter	B+
15	Denver	CeeDee Lamb, WR, Oklahoma	17 – Dallas	Elite Starter	A+
16	Arizona	K’Lavon Chaisson, EDGE, LSU	20 – Jacksonville	Rotational / Fringe Starter	C
20	Jacksonville	Jacob Eason, QB, Washington	122 – Indianapolis	Out of NFL (mediocre)	F
21	Philadelphia	Kenneth Murray, LB, Oklahoma	23 – LA Chargers	Starter	A
42	Jacksonville	Jeff Gladney, CB, TCU	31 – Minnesota	Out of NFL (died 2022)	D
46	Denver	Jonathon Taylor, RB, Wisconsin	41 – Indianapolis	High-Level Starter	A+
53	Philadelphia	Ezra Cleveland, OG, Boise State	58 – Minnesota	Starter	B+
Overall: Jeff didn’t have too many misses (aside from one really bad one) and hit on a lot of his picks, ultimately putting together one of the stronger overall classes in the group.
Best Player Pick: CeeDee Lamb. Hard to find too many faults with a guy who’s been a highly productive receiver for the last six years. It’s even funnier because Lamb was on the board in 2020 when Denver was picking at #15 and was targeting a wideout, and… the Broncos took Jerry Jeudy over him.
Best Value Pick: Jonathan Taylor. He was by far the best running back in this class, so kudos to Jeff for seeing that and grabbing him in the second round. (Compounding the Denver failures: their actual pick at #46 was wide receiver K.J. Hamler, who was out of the league after three seasons.)
Worst Pick: Jacob Eason. It was a massive reach for a guy who in reality was taken in the fourth round. Eason threw 10 career passes in the NFL, two of which were picked off. Go Dwags.

Retrospective: FTRS 2020 Mock Draft, Six Years Later

TL;DR

Key points

Q&A

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Nishant Prasadh

Kieffer Milligan

Pick #	Team	Selection	Actual Player Pick	How They Turned Out	Grade
1	Cincinnati	Joe Burrow, QB, LSU	1 – Cincinnati	Elite Starter	A+
11	Carolina	Javon Kinlaw, DT, South Carolina	14 – San Francisco	Rotational / Fringe Starter	C+
14	Cleveland	Jedrick Wills, OT, Alabama	10 – Cleveland	Rotational / Fringe Starter	C-
29	Tennessee	A.J. Terrell, CB, Clemson	16 – Atlanta	High-Level Starter	A+
33	Cincinnati	Michael Pittman Jr., WR, USC	34 – Indianapolis	Starter	B+
38	Carolina	Jaylon Johnson, CB, Utah	50 – Chicago	High-Level Starter	A
41	Cleveland	Grant Delpit, S, LSU	44 – Cleveland	Starter	A-
48	Carolina	Cole Kmet, TE, Notre Dame	43 – Chicago	Starter	B+
61	Tennessee	Jalen Hurts, QB, Oklahoma	53 – Philadelphia	Elite Starter	A+
Overall: While everyone’s draft classes had a few good picks, none compared to the sheer depth of Kieffer’s draft class. All nine of his picks have been capable multi-year starters at some point in their careers, and all but two of them are still somewhere between solid starters and full-on stars today.
Best Player Pick: Jalen Hurts. He and Joe Burrow have both been top-tier starting QBs for several years, and Burrow is probably the better player when healthy, but Hurts gets the nod simply for having stayed on the field more consistently.
Best Value Pick: A.J. Terrell. He slid to the end of the first round in our mock after struggling badly to cover JaMarr Chase and Justin Jefferson in the LSU-Clemson title game, although in reality Atlanta correctly saw that game as a blip and took him at #16. He was excellent value at his actual draft slot and even better value where Kieffer snagged him.
Worst Pick: Jedrick Wills. He was a solid left tackle early in his career, but injuries and a lack of development led to an early end to his tenure in Cleveland. Wills sat out 2025 and signed with Chicago, but it’s unclear if he’ll amount to anything more than a reserve lineman from here on.