SI’s Way-Too-Early Mock: Harold Landry to….

By Anthony Iati

On Tuesday Chris Burke of Sports Illustrated released his way-too-early 2018 NFL Mock Draft (first round only). Boston College defensive end Harold Landry is returning to the Eagles for his senior season after a standout junior year and is the only Eagle worth first round consideration in 2018. The consensus from scouts was that Landry would have been roughly a 3rd-rounder had he left BC early in 2017. Many believe Landry has what it takes to be a first-round pick in 2018, given his trajectory so far in college.

Burke mocks Landry to the New York Giants at No. 23. Burke writes: “[Landry] had a spot reserved on my 2017 “draft crushes” team, then decided to return to school. The first round should be well within reach for Landry next year, if he can come anywhere close to the 22 tackles for loss and 16.5 sacks he racked up last year. Letting him work in a rotation behind Jason Pierre-Paul and Olivier Vernon would set Landry up for success.”

The Giants have a stellar history at Landry’s position and have shown a propensity to invest heavily in the D-line under the regime of GM Jerry Reese. While it’s crazy early to project, Burke’s idea of Landry to Big Blue at No. 23 seems logical. Hopefully for Landry’s sake and the Eagles’, Harold has another excellent season.

You can view the full mock draft, which is headlined by two Pac-12 quarterbacks, here.