BleedTechBlue.com held its first ever Louisiana Tech football mock draft on May 30, 2018. Throughout the next few weeks, we will reveal each of the picks that were made.
Jonathan Ford, Jason Jones, and Ben Carlisle drafted each of the three teams.
The teams will consist of 22 players. There will be one quarterback, two running backs, three wide receivers, four offensive and defensive linemen, two linebackers, two cornerbacks, two safeties, and two wild cards picks.
The draft was done in a snake format throughout.
Let’s take a look at the results of Rounds 15 and 16:
Rounds 15 and 16 turned into a run on offensive and defensive linemen. JFord begins the run by taking Shane Carpenter. Carpenter has done it all throughout his Bulldog career. While he has never been a starter on a consistent basis, Carpenter has been a more than adequate fill-in at both guard and tackle on a weekly basis.
Jason selected mammoth tackle, Gewhite Stallworth in Round 15. Stallworth is competing for the starting right tackle job in 2018. Stallworth had dropped some weight this spring in an effort to become more effective in pass protection, and the results were evident. If Stallworth doesn’t start in 2018, he’ll certainly be a contributor.
With the final pick of the 15th round, Ben switches to the defensive line and selected Ka’Derrion Mason. A signing day flip from Southern Miss in 2016, Mason started six games in 2017 as a sophomore. Will Mason continue to progress and get stronger at the point of attack? That will determine if he becomes an all-conference type of defensive tackle.
With the first pick of Round 16, Ben stays on the defensive line and selected Keonatye Garner. While Garner may be undersized, he is a really solid defensive tackle. He’ll again factor into the rotation at tackle in 2018 after starting seven games a year ago.
After selecting Stallworth in Round 15, Jason takes defensive end, Matthew Ydarraga in round. Ydarraga is a former walk-on that earned a scholarship before the 2017 season. Ydarrage is another in a long list of players that will look to provide some pass rush help opposite of Jaylon Ferguson. Ydarraga had three sacks in 2017.
With the final pick of the 16th round, JFord lands a steal. Ephraim Kitchen is the pick, and Kitchen might be as talented as Amik Robertson when healthy. However, staying healthy has been a problem. Kitchen missed all of 2017 with a torn ACL. Although Kitchen wasn’t full speed in the spring, he was able to participate in individual drills and looked good. If healthy, Kitchen could play a major role at either cornerback or safety for the ‘Dogs this fall.
Stay tuned to BleedTechBlue.com as we reveal Rounds 17 and 18 of the BleedTechBlue Mock Draft on Thursday.
