We’re a month and a half away from the draft, and free agency has already started. Teams are slowly starting to show their hand regarding what direction they will end up going in the draft. Trades are a normal thing on draft night, but they are nearly impossible to predict, so we kept this mock draft as simple as possible with all teams keeping their picks. While I don’t expect this to happen, it provides a good guide to where certain prospects make the most sense.
1. Cleveland: Myles Garrett — DE — Texas A&M
No brainer. He’s the best talent in the draft and their roster is barren of legitimate NFL talent outside a handful of players. Plug and play from Day 1 and keep building.
2. San Francisco: Jonathan Allen — DL — Alabama
Even with a mediocre showing at the combine, Allen’s tape and upcoming pro day keep him in the top 5. San Francisco takes another blue chip defensive line prospect to pair with Armstead and Buckner on the line.
3. Chicago: Jamal Adams — S — LSU
With rumours flying that they’re a serious player for Mike Glennon, it’s clear they don’t value any of the top QB’s at this spot. They take the best safety on the board and John Fox gets a young man that can anchor that defence for the next decade.
4. Jacksonville: Salomon Thomas — DE — Stanford
Blue chip defensive end prospect that they can continue to build the defense around. Solid player who scouts raved about his demeanor on and off the field.
5. Tennessee (VIA LA Rams): Marshon Lattimore — CB — Ohio State
This is a pick I feel can get moved if someone is in love with Deshaun Watson and wants to get ahead of the Jets at 6. If no one is willing to trade, look for Tennessee to take their pick of the many great CB prospects in this draft. My pick is Lattimore, his size, speed, ball skills, and the fact that he played for Urban Mayer, make up for the fact that he was only a 1 year starter.
6. New York Jets: Deshaun Watson — QB — Clemson
This pick just screams Jets. With no real answer on their depth chart at QB, they decide to take a gamble on the man that his coached dubbed “The Next Michael Jordan”. No pressure Deshaun.
7. Los Angeles Chargers: Malik Hooker — S — Ohio State
A team that is closer than you think takes a safety who can step in and replace the hole that Eric Weddle’s departure left on the back end. Very high ceiling for this future Pro Bowl Safety.
8. Carolina Panthers: Leonard Fournette — RB — LSU
A generational running back to pair with the future of the quarterback position is too tempting to pass up. Carolina gets their every down back to pair with Cam Newton in what instantly becomes the most dangerous backfield in the NFL.
9. Cincinnati Bengals: Ruben Foster — LB — Alabama
Even after his issues at the combine, the Bengals take a chance on the best ILB prospect in the draft in the hopes of having him plug the middle and captain their defense moving forward.
10. Buffalo Bills: Mike Williams — WR — Clemson
After restructuring Tyrod Taylor’s deal, giving him some more weapons becomes the #1 priority even with the loss of Stephen Gilmore to the rival Patriots.
11. New Orleans: Derek Barnett — DL — Tennessee
For a team that has had a historically bad defense the last couple of seasons, any help is welcome and needed at this point. New Orleans grabs the top Defensive Line prospect and plugs him in immediately.
12. Cleveland Browns (via Philadelphia): Mitch Trubisky — QB — North Carolina
After not reaching with the first pick and taking the best player in the draft, Cleveland grabs the guy who was probably at the top of their board the whole time at 12 and can put to rest any debate about what they should have done at 1.
13. Arizona: Gareon Conley — CB — Ohio State
Continuing a run on Ohio State defensive backs, Arizona adds another piece to their already impressive secondary with Conley.
14. Philadelphia (VIA Minnesota): Corey Davis — WR — Western Michigan
Philadelphia addresses their porous wide receiver corps and takes the great route runner with plus athleticism.
15. Indianapolis: Haasan Reddick — LB — Temple
Probably the biggest winner from the combine as he saw his stock rise from borderline first rounder to someone who I can see ending up in the top 10. Blew scouts away with his numbers and character.
16. Baltimore: John Ross — WR — Washington
Who has arguably the best deep ball in the NFL? Joe Flacco. Who just broke the record in the 40 at the combine? John Ross. Seems the answers to these two questions should be linked.
17. Washington: Sidney Jones— CB — Washington
Even though they’ve lost some of their top WRs, the Redskins need more help in the defensive backfield and Jones is a top 10 talent who slides right into their laps.
18. Tennessee: OJ Howard — TE — Alabama
In what seems like a perfect match, Howard goes into a situation where he can become a security blanket for a QB who looks poised for a breakout season.
19. Tampa Bay: Jabril Peppers — S — Michigan
Deciding to address their defense, Tampa Bay takes a player who can fill multiple spots and slide him around as needed.
20. Denver: Forrest Lamp — OG — Western Kentucky
A Lineman!! We finally have an Offensive Lineman taken. In a down year for tackles and guards, Denver takes a safe pick in Lamp who backed up his tape with a strong showing at the combine.
21. Detroit: Takkarist McKinley — LB — UCLA
After hitting a home run with Ezekiel Ansah a couple years ago, Detroit takes another raw prospect in McKinley who can rush the passer and play in space.
22. Miami: Taco Cherlton — DL — Michigan
Even with a poor showing at the combine, this pass rusher ends up going to join Cameron Wake to form a formidable pairing on that defensive line.
23. New York Giants: Dalvin Cook — RB — Florida State
Wanting to maximize on Eli’s last few productive years, the Giants grab him another weapon who can be valuable rushing or catching the ball.
24. Oakland: Malik McDowell — DT — Michigan State
Oakland adds another mauler on their defensive line who can play a bit nasty when needed, which is exactly what coach Jack Del Rio likes out of his players.
25. Houston: Cam Robinson — OT — Alabama
Huston decides to go with the raw Robinson in the hopes that he can turn that impressive frame into a staple at Left Tackle for the years to come.
26. Seattle: Ryan Ramszyk — OT — Wisconsin
Continuing the small run on tackles, Seattle shores up their line by grabbing a guy who appears ready to start Day 1.
27. Kansas City: Marlon Humphrey — CB — Alabama
That’s 5 Crimson Tide players for those who are counting. They might not have won the National Championship, but Nick Saban has done an impressive job grooming these players for the NFL. Humphrey is a solid player they can pair with Peters to form a solid CB tandem.
28. Dallas: Obi Melifonwu — CB — Connecticut
Following their trend of picking Connecticut players who blow up at the combine (see Byron Jones), Dallas continues to build their defense in the hopes of another Super Bowl run.
29. Green Bay: Christian McCaffery — RB — Stanford
Green Bay needs to find some more playmakers on offense to help take some of the pressure off Aaron Rodgers. McCaffery is a triple threat who is electric every time he touches the ball.
30. Pittsburg: Evan Engram — TE — Ole Miss
Not that they need the firepower, but Pittsburg could use an upgrade at the TE position to give Big Ben another option to stretch the field with.
31. Atlanta: Teez Tabor — CB — Florida
Showing the depth of the CB class this year, Tabor heads to an already loaded Atlanta team that seems ready to make another deep playoff run.
32. New England: Chris Wormley — DL — Michigan
Belichick and his staff get the luxury of taking the best player available and decides to go to the defensive line for another depth player who can rotate in for them.
Shugh’s Sweet Takes
- How important are the combine interviews? You always hear of players who “blow scouts away” throughout the interview process and others who didn’t show the characteristics that they’re looking for. At the end of the day, what’s truly more important, character or tape?
- With Pro Days on the horizon, which player is going to help his draft stock the most? Look for a lot of discussion about Ruben Foster making up for his little mishap at the combine and I also want to see how some of the guys from smaller schools showcase themselves without other top prospects at the same pro day. I’m referring to players like Haasan Reddick from Temple and Corey Davis from Western Michigan, both projected top 15 picks.
- With all the talk about Cleveland loading up on picks for a shot at Jimmy Garoppolo and the Pats saying they’d prefer him to stay put, who actually has the power? Cleveland can sit tight with their picks and take their future QB at #12 or #33 and New England might end up losing Garoppolo for nothing next offseason. This has easily turned into one of the biggest stories heading into the draft.
Alan Shaw is a special contributor for theocho.ca, resident Draft Guru and self appointed Director of Scouting. He is currently slacking off in his role as official fact checker of The Ocho podcast. Follow Alan on Twitter at @a_shaw88.
