MOCK NFL DRAFTS
| Pick | Team | Pos | Player | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
#1 |
|
QB |
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| There was a brief period of time where it looked like C.J. Stroud could be the pick for the Panthers, but that has come and gone. Young seems like the sure-fire pick for them now, and this is one of the only picks that I feel comfortable ‘locking-in’ for draft day. The Panthers will finally have some reason to be optimistic for their future with this selection. | ||||
#2 |
|
LB |
||
| I get a headache just thinking about this pick. After some deep meditation and searching through the stars for clarity, I think that the Texans are more likely to go with a defensive player here rather than a quarterback. They don’t seem to be in love with C.J. Stroud, and I have a hard time seeing them reach on Anthony Richardson or Will Levis with this pick. DeMeco Ryans has connections to Alabama and would love to get a franchise cornerstone on the defensive side of the ball like Will Anderson Jr. | ||||
#3 |
|
QB |
||
| Stroud is falling in most mock drafts after reportedly performing poorly on his S2 Cognitive Test, and while that is a bit concerning if true, I doubt it will sway the pick for a team like the Colts, who have seemed to love Stroud throughout the entire process. They’ll trust the tape and not overthink the selection, and they’ll also be inclined to trade up a pick to make sure other QB-needy teams don’t jump them. | ||||
#4 |
|
LB |
||
| Arizona reportedly prefers Tyree Wilson over Will Anderson, and in this draft, they get their guy while also trading down a pick. They need a lot of help on both sides of the ball, so they’ll opt to build through the trenches with a high-upside player in Wilson. | ||||
#5 |
|
DL |
||
| I’m really interested to see where Carter ends up going on draft night. He’s widely regarded as one of the most talented players in the class, but his off the field issues are proving to be a problem for him in the pre-draft process. Seattle has been linked to him numerous times throughout the off-season so far, and I think they’ll be comfortable taking a chance on him early in the draft, especially considering that they have another first-round pick to salvage this draft if Carter doesn’t work out. | ||||
#6 |
|
CB |
||
| Dan Campbell is building a culture in Detroit centered around hard work, intensity, and brotherhood. Devon Witherspoon fits the bill in all three ways. He plays with a fire that most cornerbacks coming out of college can’t match, and it especially shows with his willingness as a tackler and run supporter. He’s also been regarded as a good teammate in his time at Illinois, and I have little doubt that he’d be a great fit for the new culture up in Detroit. | ||||
#7 |
|
CB |
||
| It seems popular to mock an offensive lineman to the Raiders at this pick, but I don’t see much reason to. Kolton Miller quietly had a great 2022 campaign for the team, and the offensive line was good enough to help Josh Jacobs lead the league in rushing. Instead, I’ll have them get some help on the defensive side of the ball. Gonzalez is a fluid cornerback who scouts and fans alike seem to love, and he would likely be the team’s best player in the secondary within a year or two. | ||||
#8 |
|
QB |
||
| I’m just not sold that the Falcons are going to walk into the season with a quarterback room that features Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke. I don’t think they’ll go into the draft thinking they want a quarterback, but when a hyper athletic QB with sky-high potential like Richardson falls into their lap at pick eight, they’ll have no hesitations in scooping him up before anyone else can. | ||||
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#9 |
|
OT |
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| The Bears have a few obvious needs for next season, one of the most glaring being the offensive line. They have a couple of young lineman who have shown some promise, but they’re still below-average as a unit and are in need of more help. Paris Johnson Jr. showcases a great mix of size and athleticism that GM Ryan Poles will fall in love with. They think they have a franchise quarterback in Justin Fields, and this pick would be invaluable in keeping him healthy long-term. | ||||
#10 |
|
QB |
||
| The Texans seem to be out on C.J. Stroud and in on Will Levis. The latter currently is the favorite to be taken second overall, and while I don’t see that happening, I do think the pairing might find a way to work out. No other team in the top ten will want to take a chance on Levis in my opinion. Most people seem to view him as the QB4 in this class, and I think he’ll take a slight tumble in the draft because of it. Houston seems to like him more than everyone else, and I don’t see a world where they leave the first round without addressing the quarterback position for next season. | ||||
#11 |
|
WR |
||
| Tennessee just got jumped by their divisional rivals for the last good quarterback in the first round, but they’ll get a stellar consolation prize in Jaxon Smith-Njigba. He’s by far my favorite receiver in this class, and he’s also one of my favorite overall players. The team has a clear and obvious need at the position, and they’d be well suited taking the safest receiver in the draft. | ||||
#12 |
|
OT |
||
| New York still has Mekhi Becton and Duane Brown rostered, but Brown is nearing retirement and Becton has not been able to stay healthy at all since being taken in the first round back in 2020. They’ll obviously need to draft some help at the position, and they’ll even trade up to get their guy in Broderick Jones. I feel like he may need some time to develop in the NFL before he’s ready to start on a regular basis, and New York is the perfect place for him to sit for a bit of time behind veteran left tackle Duane Brown. | ||||
#13 |
|
TE |
||
| Green Bay is officially in the post-Aaron Rodgers era after trading him to the Jets on Monday. They’ll presumably be rolling with Jordan Love as the starting quarterback for the foreseeable future, and they’ll need to surround him with adequate talent if they want him to succeed in his new role. Green Bay lost Robert Tonyan to the Bears in free agency this off-season, so there’s a clear need at the position that someone like Michael Mayer could fill. He has sure hands and plays football like a seasoned veteran, and his presence as a safety blanket for this offense would work wonders in helping Love thrive as the starter. | ||||
#14 |
|
CB |
||
| I was tempted to have the Patriots move back and take a Walmart cashier like they seem to do every year, but I don’t think they would do that if Porter fell to them at this pick. Besides his clear tie to football through his dad, Joey Porter Sr., he shows insane potential in so many other ways that Bill Belichick would love. He’s a great cornerback in both press coverage and man coverage, and he has above average physical measurables, standing at 6’2”/193 lbs with 34” arms. This selection would help give New England the lock-down cornerback that they’ve been missing since Stephon Gilmore and J.C. Jackson’s departure. | ||||
#15 |
|
RB |
||
| I haven’t been a fan of the idea of any team taking Bijan Robinson with a top-ten pick, but a scenario where a good team trades back to accumulate more capital and grab him later on is perfect in my eyes. I personally don’t believe the running back position has enough scarcity to warrant a premium pick, but I totally understand why he’s an appealing option for the Eagles. He’s the closest thing we’ve had to a generational prospect at the position since Saquon Barkley and he’d help elevate an already-great Philadelphia offense to new levels for years to come. | ||||
#16 |
|
OT |
||
| Every year there’s a few players who slide further than we expect, and here, that’s Northwestern’s Peter Skoronski. I really like what he brings to the table as a prospect, but I think teams will opt for some of the other tackles in this class because of Skoronski’s sub-par length. Washington will bring an end to his draft fall at pick 16 and get a great value pick at a position of need for them. | ||||
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#17 |
|
OT |
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| Pittsburgh would’ve ideally gotten one of the top-three cornerbacks or offensive tackles with this pick, but with the way the draft has fallen so far, they’ll have to settle for Darnell Wright. He’s far from a bad prospect, but he doesn’t have quite the elite outlook that the top three tackles in this class do. They simply need a lot of help on the offensive line, and it would be interesting to see if they decide to keep him at right tackle or try to teach him how to play left tackle. | ||||
#18 |
|
TE |
||
| If the Bengals are smart, which I think they are, they’ll be aggressively trying to take advantage of this great class of tight ends. That’s arguably their biggest position of need on the offensive side of the ball, and in this scenario, they’ll trade up to secure Dalton Kincaid before a team like the Cowboys or Giants can pick him up. Adding an elite receiving tight end to replace Hayden Hurst would create arguably the league’s most dangerous trio of pass catchers. | ||||
#19 |
|
WR |
||
| The trade up is more of a security measure to make sure no other teams jump them than anything else. Los Angeles has had a decent enough receiving core over the past few years, but in 2022, it’s pretty clear that they’re starting to get old, slow, and injury prone. Enter Quentin Johnston. He has his problems with drops and contested catches, but he brings an elite mix of speed and size that could completely change this offense. The Chargers have been underwhelming for the past couple of seasons, but a ‘high-risk, high-reward’ move could be enough to get them over the hump if Johnston reaches his potential. | ||||
#20 |
|
LB |
||
| Seattle took care of the interior of the line earlier this draft when they took Jalen Carter, and now they’ll get their guy on the edge as well. Nolan Smith has always been a great recruit and football player when he’s on the field, but he has had to deal with injuries and other things that limited his college production. He was able to prop his draft stock back up with an outstanding showing at the combine (4.39 40-yard dash), and he seems like a good fit for the young defense that John Schneider is building in Seattle. | ||||
#22 |
|
DL |
||
| It’s going to be a tough couple of years for the Buccaneers while they try to rebuild in the post-Tom Brady era. They have a lot of expensive and old players on their roster who won’t be around for the long haul, so they need to begin the process of replacing them with younger and cheaper players. Lukas Van Ness will be a bit of a project on the defensive line, but if they can properly utilize and develop him, he could be a cornerstone on this defense for years to come. | ||||
#23 |
|
WR |
||
| Zay Flowers seems to be the apple of Brett Veach’s eye. They set up a private and personal workout between him and QB Patrick Mahomes, so they clearly have a lot of interest in taking him. The only problem is that he probably won’t be available at pick 31, so they’ll have to trade up with Baltimore to make this work. The concerns about how Flowers will be able to produce at his size will die when he’s catching passes from Mahomes at Arrowhead Stadium. | ||||
#24 |
|
CB |
||
| Minnesota still desperately needs help in their secondary even after free agency. Here, they’ll take a chance on a boom-or-bust player in Deonte Banks. He’s one of the best overall athletes in this entire class regardless of position, but his technique is very unrefined and he was far from a lockdown cornerback at Maryland. The Vikings will take a chance on his athletic potential in the hopes that steady coaching from Brian Flores and Daronte Jones can help him reach his ceiling as a player. | ||||
#25 |
|
DE |
||
| Trevor Lawrence and Co. have taken care of most of the concerns on the offensive side of the ball for the Jaguars, so now they should focus on building up the defense. There was a point in time where Myles Murphy was widely considered a top-15 player in this class, and now the team will get a value on grabbing him in the late first round. He has extremely high upside and can fill one of the biggest positions of need for Jacksonville. | ||||
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#26 |
|
WR |
||
| Here’s an easy pick. New York has been missing a true WR1 since Odell Beckham Jr. left years ago, and now they’ll take USC’s Jordan Addison with the hopes that he can become that. He was very accomplished in college, and while there are some concerns about his size and potential scheme fit in the NFL, he would bring a new level of energy and speed to this New York offense that was already productive last season despite not having a true impact receiver. | ||||
#27 |
|
DT |
||
| I think that the Cowboys would want either Michael Mayer or Dalton Kincaid with this pick in an ideal scenario, but with both of them already off of the board, they’ll decide to beef up the trenches instead. Bryan Bresee is a big, fast, and dynamic interior lineman who will help take some of the pressure off of Demarcus Lawrence and Micah Parsons on the edge. Some think he could bust because of his injury history, but I think this pick is a worthwhile risk for the Cowboys to take in the bottom of the first round. | ||||
#28 |
|
OG |
||
| Buffalo will have to go with their backup plan after missing out on Bijan Robinson in this draft. They need help on the interior of the offensive line, and there’s no better candidate for that than O’Cyrus Torrence. He’s a mean, physical lineman who has gotten better every year he played in college. The Bills have made it clear that they want QB Josh Allen to take less hits next season and they would be wise to invest in the offensive line to help with that. | ||||
#29 |
|
DL |
||
| After moving back, the Lions will still get a prime chance to beef up their defensive line at pick 28. Calijah Kancey is still on the board, who has been garnering a lot of hype after testing out extremely well at the NFL Combine. His size may prevent him from being a top-tier run stuffer in the NFL, but he’s so fast and agile that he can beat most offensive lineman without a typical long-arm or bull-rush move. He’s a great compliment to Aidan Hutchinson and James Houston IV on this young Detroit defensive line. | ||||
#30 |
|
DE |
||
| Will McDonald had a hyper-productive career at Iowa State and has had a great pre-draft process so far. He shows off his speed, bend, and overall athleticism on tape, and he backed all of that up with a great showing at the NFL Combine despite having a 103-degree fever when doing drills. New Orleans needs to get some young talent on the defensive line after losing multiple key players in free agency, and there’s little reason to not go with somebody like McDonald at this pick. | ||||
#31 |
|
DL |
||
| Michigan’s Mazi Smith is somebody that I think is a sleeper to go in the first round. He’s an excellent player overall, and that shows on tape. The main concern comes in with his character. He’s gotten into some trouble with the law before and some speculate his work ethic isn’t the best, but I think he can get through all of that with a little guidance in a steady culture like the one in Philadelphia. He would fill a position of need for them on day one and will likely become a productive player for years to come. | ||||
#32 |
|
CB |
||
| After trading back, the Ravens will choose to take the best remaining player on the board at their biggest position of need. There was a point in the off-season where Cam Smith was a consensus first-round pick, but he has since dropped to the middle rounds in most mock drafts for whatever reason. I still believe that he’s a great player, and I think a team like Baltimore would be comfortable taking him at the back of the first round. | ||||