1) Cleveland Browns
Myles Garrett, DE, Texas
A&M – This first
pick will set the tone for the rest of the top 3. Should Cleveland go quarterback here, it will
change the landscape and force San Francisco and Chicago to reach for the passers they
want. Since Cleveland has a two top
twelve picks, they may choose to wait and grab the quarterback of their future
with that twelfth pick. They go best
player available here and that is Myles Garrett.
2) San Francisco 49ers
Deshaun Watson, QB,
Clemson – A brand new
regime must come in after Chip Kelly and Trent Baalke were fired. Watson
is a freakish athlete with enormous upside. Blaine Gabbert is clearly not
the answer and Colin Kaepernick wants out now.
This is a reach but San Francisco doesn’t pick again for a while and the
threat of not getting who they want looms large so they grab their guy now.
3) Chicago Bears
Jonathan Allen, DT,
Alabama – A versatile
piece to help rebuild that once vaunted Chicago defense. Allen is arguably the best player in the
draft and is in line for the number one overall pick as he is a tone setter and
versatile player. He will be a force in the NFL.
4) Jacksonville Jaguars
Solomon Thomas, DE,
Stanford –
Jacksonville is in dire need of edge rushers and playmakers. Gus Bradley is
now gone and if I had it my way Matt Patricia or Tom Coughlin would breathe
life into a lackluster organization. Time will tell which direction they
go in. Thomas is an incredible prospect
and one of my favorites this year. He
can move all over the line and play a traditional 4-3 defensive end for his
full time role. Thomas may not be
regarded as a top-flight prospect, but that will change as the draft process
deepens.
5) Tennessee Titans
Jamal Adams, S, LSU – With two first round picks in the 2017 draft, the Titans can maneuver as much as they would like to acquire more
pieces to an improving roster. Adams will add stability to the safety
position and add a swagger to a defense that needs an attitude.
6) New York Jets
Leonard Fournette, RB,
LSU – The Jets ran the
ball incredibly well with Chris Ivory in 2015. Having Bilal
Powell to compliment Fournette would be an incredible 1-2 punch for whoever is
handing the ball off.
7) San Diego Chargers
Malik Hooker, S, Ohio
State – Losing Weddle
was tough but it was something that had to be done. Youth reigns and Hooker
will help shore up that secondary that already has some great pieces to the
puzzle.
8) Carolina Panthers
Jalen Tabor, CB, Florida – Is there a team that misses a corner
more than Carolina? Teez, as he is so commonly called, is a monster and may
be better than Vernon Hargreaves III who started opposite him at Florida in
years past.
9) Cincinnati Bengals
Mike Williams, WR,
Clemson– Andy Dalton
needs more weapons, as Brandon LaFell is not a legitimate starting wide
receiver. AJ Green would appreciate not seeing double coverage on every play
and with Mike Williams being a big time playmaker; it’ll add a whole new
dimension to that offense.
10) Buffalo Bills
Quincy Wilson, CB,
Florida – The two Florida
corners are both top-notch prospects and the Bills would love either of them.
11) New Orleans Saints
Derek Barnett, DE,
Tennessee – Pass
rushers are always needed and Barnett is the best one available. The
Saints will eventually acquire a defense, right?
12) Cleveland Browns
Desmond King, CB, Iowa – With another first round pick in
this draft, the Browns go best player available and grab a great corner
opposite Joe Haden. With this pick, the
Browns' defense has cornerstones to build around.
13) Arizona Cardinals
Marlon Humphrey, CB,
Alabama – Humphrey
comes in and strengthens the best part of Arizona’s team. This essentially forces teams to run the ball
into a stout front 7. The Cardinals will
need playmakers outside of Fitz and David Johnson in the next few rounds.
14) Indianapolis Colts
Dalvin Cook, RB, Florida
State – Ryan Grigson
must have blackmail against Jim Irsay as he somehow holds onto the GM job for
another year. Drafting Cook makes too much sense as he splits time with
the consummate professional in Frank Gore for a year and learns how to play
running back in the NFL.
15) Philadelphia Eagles
Corey Davis, WR, Western
Michigan – The Eagles desperately need a weapon for Carson Wentz. I
wouldn’t be surprised if they draft a speedster in the later rounds so that
their quarterback of the future can spread the ball around to receivers he
actually trusts to catch the ball.
Philly will address corner in the next round considering the depth at
the position.
16) Baltimore Ravens
Tim Williams, Edge,
Alabama – Some people
like to believe that Tim Williams is a high draft pick. I am not one of those people. Under the tutelage of Dean Pees and Terrell
Suggs, I think this is the perfect landing spot to get the most out of Williams. While his ability to rush from anywhere on
the field will be useful, his bust level is high due to being a situational
player with a bad history.
17) Washington Redskins
Reuben Foster, LB,
Alabama – Scot
McCloughan is my favorite general manager. He has an eye for talent like
no other so predicting his picks are tough but adding a talent
like Foster is too good to pass on. A
guy that can play most linebacker spots would be a gem to have on any team.
18) Tennessee Titans
Marshon Lattimore, CB,
Ohio State – Revamping
the Titans' secondary is key to making their defense a strength instead of a
weakness.
19) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Malik McDowell, DT,
Michigan State
-Building from the outside in is the way to go. Insert McDowell next to
Gerald McCoy and Noah Spence and watch this defense flourish.
20) Denver Broncos
Dawaune Smoot, DE,
Illinois – Damarcus
Ware is getting up there in age and Smoot can help take some pressure off Von
Miller.
21) Detroit Lions
Takkarist McKinley, DE,
UCLA – Lions are
second to last in sacks forced this year.
Ziggy Ansah was hurt most of the year and when healthy he was
ineffective. Time to add more edge guys.
22) Oakland Raiders
Gareon Conley, CB, Ohio
State – This defense
has some holes in it. Somehow with
Khalil Mack and Bruce Irvin they are dead last in sacks forced this year.
Drafting another corner can allow Jack Del Rio to shuffle the lineup
and push Sean Smith and David Amerson to play well or be benched.
23) Miami Dolphins
OJ Howard, TE, Alabama – The Dolphins have one receiving
threat over 6 feet tall and Devante Parker hasn’t exactly proven himself
yet. Howard is a freakish athlete that
Ryan Tannehill will love targeting.
24) New York Giants
Ryan Ramcyzk, OT, Wisconsin – The Giants made a mistake by not
drafting Laremy Tunsil and have suffered because of it. Ereck Flowers
looks overpowered and under techniqued against every player he has matched up
with. Ramcyzk, despite needing offseason surgery for a torn labrum, would
push Flowers to right tackle or guard.
25) Houston Texans
Pat Mahomes, QB, Texas
Tech – Just as I said
last year, Brock Osweiler is terrible.
The Texans can move on from him after 2017 and not have to eat too much
of his contract. Mahomes has a big arm
and some nice touch on his deep passes and allowing him to sit and learn for a
year would be huge for his development to a pro style offense. Whether Bill O’ Brien is there next year or
not, addressing quarterback is a must.
26) Green Bay Packers
Sidney Jones, CB,
Washington – The Packers
defense has looked pretty atrocious this year, mainly because the corners have
been hurt and ineffective. They need
depth and starters and with this deep cornerback draft, they can address the
need a few times.
27) Seattle Seahawks
Dan Feeney, G, Indiana – Seattle needs to revamp their
offensive line. The team keeps spending
massive amounts of money to pay the defense while Russell Wilson has to
improvise behind a line that can’t block anybody. The Seattle line is worth a total of just
over $4.5 million dollars (that includes rookie Germain Ifedi eating up half
that total). How in the world are they
supposed to run the ball and protect their franchise quarterback?
28) Pittsburgh Steelers
Jabrill Peppers, S,
Michigan - The
Steelers secondary blows. Enough said.
Jabrill is the enigma prospect this year. He could go in the top ten or fall to the end
of the first. Every team would gladly
take him this year; it’s a matter of where they feel comfortable taking a
player without a traditional position. I say stick him at strong safety and let him roam the field.
29) Atlanta Falcons
Adoree’ Jackson, CB, USC – Dan Quinn is starting to build
something in Atlanta. Adding a corner that can play outside or inside
will help out that pass rush even more.
30) Kansas City Chiefs
DeMarcus Walker, DE,
Florida State – Chiefs
had only 28 sacks in the regular season. Getting younger and affecting the quarterback is a must with
their old defensive stars increasing in age.
31) Dallas Cowboys
Carl Lawson, OLB, Auburn – Dallas has some players with issues on defense,
whether it be medical or of the legal kind. Lawson will help add pass
rush to Rod Marinelli’s defense.
32) New England Patriots
Christian McCaffrey, RB,
Stanford – This pick
seems to make sense. McCaffrey is a do it all playmaker with incredible
vision. His ability to come out of the backfield and catch passes or
return kicks and punts makes him an offensive weapon that the Pats would love
to have.
33) Cleveland Browns
Mitch Trubisky, QB, North
Carolina – The Browns
address their quarterback faults as they hope to not kill/curse another young
passer.
34) San Francisco 49ers
Jarrad Davis, LB, Florida – San Fran was at their best when they
had athletic and viscous linebackers roaming all over the field. Davis addresses that need.
35) Jacksonville Jaguars
Ethan Pocic, G/C, LSU – Blake Bortles’ offensive line played
pretty well but adding an experienced center/ guard will allow Jax to shuffle
their line around to make it the best it can be.
36) Chicago Bears
Josh Allen, QB, Wyoming – As the draft process continues,
Allen may rise into the first. Chicago
needs a quarterback and would love to let Cutler or a veteran take the hits
again this year while the Wyoming prospect develops.
37) Los Angeles Rams
JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR,
USC – I think this
pick depends largely on who LA grabs in free agency for wide receiver. If they grab Alshon Jeffrey, which if he hits
the market I think they will, it will allow them to address other needs. But
with JuJu at this spot, he may be too good to pass on.
38) San Diego Chargers
TJ Watt, LB, Wisconsin – Building upon the fantastic draft
that San Diego had last year, they keep adding to the talent on the front 7
with a linebacker they can mold into what they want. Watt had 63 tackles and 11.5 sacks in his
last year in college.
39) New York Jets
Cam Robinson, T/G,
Alabama – The Jets
grabbed Fournette with their first pick so now they go get a big hog that can
play either tackle or guard spot. His
ideal spot would be right tackle or inside at guard.
40) Carolina Panthers
Antonio Garcia, OT, Troy – Protecting Cam Newton has to be
obvious now.
41) Cincinnati Bengals
Marcus Maye, S, Florida – Bengals need a tone setter on
defense. Maye can and will provide that.
42) New Orleans Saints
Zach Cunningham, LB,
Vanderbilt – Having a
do it all linebacker that can roam sideline to sideline can start to fix any
defense that blows as much as this one has for the past ten years.
43) Philadelphia Eagles
Tre’Davious White, CB,
LSU – The Eagles
address their atrocious cornerback play.
44) Buffalo Bills
DeShone Kizer, QB, Notre
Dame – The Bills
appear to be moving on from Tyrod Tayler and EJ Manuel has shown nothing to
prove that he is ready to quarterback anything.
Grab Kizer and let he and Cardale Jones battle it out.
45) Arizona Cardinals
Courtland Sutton, WR, SMU – If the Cardinals don’t address
quarterback in free agency (a la Tyrod Taylor), I think they will have to grab
one early in the draft. The way this
draft went, the top QBs are gone so Arizona chooses to add more playmakers to
help out Palmer.
46) Minnesota Vikings
Martinas Rankin, OT,
Mississippi State – Sammy
Sleeves still hasn’t played in all 16 games since his rookie year in 2010. Protecting him or Teddy Bridgewater is a must.
47) Baltimore Ravens
Montravius Adams, DL,
Auburn – Adding to the
hole that Haloti Ngata left, Adams is a big man that can move all over the
Baltimore front.
48) Indianapolis Colts
Ryan Anderson, EDGE,
Alabama – Sacks are
something that the Colts have lacked for a few years now (literally and
figuratively). Anderson is a plug and
play player.
49) Washington Redskins
Justin Evans, S, Texas
A&M – Grab the
safety they’ve been craving since the late great Sean Taylor.
50) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Curtis Samuel, WR, Ohio
State – Mike Evans
needs receiver help. I’m sure he would love a receiver that can take the top
off defenses.
51) Denver Broncos
Quenton Nelson, G, Notre
Dame – Denver needs to
address their offensive line and make it so that they can run the ball more
effectively, no matter who is at quarterback.
52) Cleveland Browns
Julie’n Davenport, OT,
Bucknell – Browns keep
fortifying their team. They have
addressed key positions at DE, CB, QB and now they grab a right tackle that
will slide over to the left when Joe Thomas calls it a career.
53) Detroit Lions
D’Onta Foreman, RB, Texas – The Lions need a downhill running
back to pair with Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick. In my eyes, two back systems don’t seem to be
working out but the Lions need to be able to punch the ball in at the goal
line.
54) Oakland Raiders
Raekwon McMillan, LB,
Ohio State – A middle
linebacker would solidify the Raiders defense.
McMillan diagnoses plays quickly and runs down ball carriers.
55) Houston Texans
Forrest Lamp, OT, Western
Kentucky – Texans
don’t have many holes outside of quarterback so they select Lamp to brighten
the right side of the line.
56) Green Bay Packers
Samaje Perine, RB,
Oklahoma – One of my
favorite players in this draft. Perine is a pure powerback with some
nifty footwork. Oh yeah, he may be one of the strongest players in this
draft as well with reported bench presses over 450 pounds and a high school
squat of 600 pounds. The Packers would welcome a strong runner that Eddie
Lacey was supposed to be.
57) Miami Dolphins
Carroll Phillips, OLB, Illinois – Mario Williams will be cut soon
enough. Insert the Illini standout to
help bolster the pass rush.
58) Seattle Seahawks
Dion Dawkins, OT, Temple – Seattle continues to reinforce their
offensive line and give Russell more protection.
59) Pittsburgh Steelers
Chris Wormley, DL,
Michigan – Wormley has
fallen too far and the Steelers steal him at this slot. He immediately becomes a true rotational guy
for all three defensive line positions.
60) Atlanta Falcons
Taco Charlton, EDGE,
Michigan – Dan Quinn
needs to find ways to get pressure from players other than Vic Beasley. Beasley had 15.5 of the team’s 34 sacks (with
no other player having more than 5). The Michigan alumni can help with that.
61) New York Giants
Evan Engram, TE, Ole Miss – The Giants have been okay with
average tight end play. Let’s give them
an above average one that will quickly become friends with their Ole Miss
quarterback.
62) Kansas City Chiefs
Joe Mixon, RB, Oklahoma – We all know Mixon’s past now. Andy Reid is a veteran coach that can take
the heat and make sure Mixon becomes an outstanding member of society. Look at the work he did with Tyreek Hill.
63) Dallas Cowboys
Caleb Brantley, DT,
Florida – Brantley
took quite the tumble in this mock draft.
Dallas would get a disruptive force at defensive tackle to help free up
the ends to do their work in the backfield.
64) New England Patriots
Anthony Walker, LB,
Northwestern – The
Patriots constantly deal away their best front seven players. Walker can play all four of the linebacker
spots that the Patriots could ask of him.
