With the major part of free agency having come and gone, now we take a look at what could happen in the upcoming NFL Draft with this two round mock draft. For this little experiment we’ll assume there will be no trades (when in actuality we know there will be plenty of trades on draft day).
1) Tampa Bay – Jameis Winston, QB, Florida State: The Buccaneers obviously need a quarterback and they get the best one in the draft with the top pick.
2) Tennessee – Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon: While it’s not out of the realm of possibilities the Titans could see what they have with Zach Mettenberger and go with Leonard Williams here, I think they roll the dice and go with Mariota here. If anything Mettenberger can keep the quarterback seat warm until Mariota is ready to go.
3) Jacksonville – Dante Fowler, DE/OLB, Florida: Fowler gets to stay in the state of Florida and gives the Jaguars a dynamic edge rusher.
4) Oakland – Leonard Williams, DE/DT, USC: After taking Khalil Mack in last year’s draft, the Raiders continue to add to the pieces on their front-7.
5) Washington – Randy Gregory, OLB, Nebraska: After losing Brian Orakpo in free agency, the Redskins need to fill the hole left by him and Gregory would do just that.
6) New York Jets – Vic Beasley, DE/OLB, Clemson: Much like Gregory, Beasley is another great edge rusher, which the Jets are desperately in need of.
7) Chicago – Danny Shelton, DT, Washington: There are plenty of holes on the Chicago defense, but the Bears have started to address some of those needs with the signing of Pernell McPhee. Danny Shelton eases some of the need for an interior presence.
8) Atlanta – Shane Ray: DE/OLB, Missouri: The Falcons had to be hoping either Gregory or Beasley would have fallen to them, but Shane Ray is more than capable of being worthy of the pick here.
9) New York Giants – Brandon Scherff, OT, Iowa: Scherff not only fits the bill to try and help protect Eli, but will also try and open holes to boost a running game which needs some help.
10) St. Louis – Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama: After trading for Nick Foles, the Rams give their new quarterback quite a target in Cooper. The pairing of Cooper’s size along with Tavon Austin’s speed could be quite a dangerous duo.
11) Minnesota – La’El Collins, OT, LSU: Minnesota gives Teddy Bridgewater some protection by picking the offensive tackle from LSU.
12) Cleveland – Kevin White, WR, West Virginia: The Browns may not have much at quarterback, but they give whoever ends up taking the snaps a playmaker.
13) New Orleans – Alvin “Bud” Dupree, DE/OLB, Kentucky: It was down to either Dupree or Trae Waynes here, but I think the Saints go Dupree with this pick with pass rush being just a little more of a need for New Orleans.
14) Miami – Devante Parker, WR, Louisville: After sending Mike Wallace to Minnesota, Miami has an obvious need at wide receiver. Parker fills the need and combines with Jarvis Landry to give Ryan Tannehill a nice duo to throw to.
15) San Francisco – Eric Kendricks, ILB, UCLA: The 49ers need linebackers badly after the retirements of Patrick Willis and Chris Borland. Kendricks helps to fill some of the void left by the two.
16) Houston – Jaelen Strong, WR, Arizona State: A month ago Strong’s name wasn’t nearly this high on any mock drafts but a strong combine and pro day, along with the departure of Andre Johnson, makes him a pick which makes sense for Houston here.
17) San Diego – Melvin Gordon, RB, Wisconsin: Ryan Mathews is gone so picking Gordon makes a ton of sense here. The pick would also take some of the pressure off of Philip Rivers.
18) Kansas City – Dorial Green-Beckham, WR, Oklahoma: The Chiefs already signed a former wide receiver from Missouri, so why not take another one who spent a couple years in Columbia to try and revamp their anemic passing game.
19) Cleveland – Ereck Flowers, OT, Miami (FL): With this pick coming from the Bills in the Sammy Watkins trade, the Browns have a chance to address their offensive line here.
20) Philadelphia – Jalen Collins, CB, LSU: Who really knows what crazy thing Chip Kelly is going to do here, but I’d bet he tries to continue to bolster the secondary, especially with receivers like Odell Beckham Jr, Dez Bryant, and DeSean Jackson.
21) Cincinnati – Andrus Peat, OT, Stanford: At least when Andy Dalton bombs in primetime/playoff games, he’ll be able to get some extra protection to do so.
22) Pittsburgh – Landon Collins, S, Alabama: With it seemingly like there is limited time left for Troy Polamalu in Pittsburgh, the Steelers look towards the future and take the top safety in the draft.
23) Detroit – Eddie Goldman, DT, Florida State: With Suh and Fairley gone the Lions need to overhaul their defensive line. Goldman can pair with Haloti Ngata to shut things down on the interior.
24) Arizona – Owamagbe Odighizuwa, DE/OLB, UCLA: It might take people longer to figure out how to pronounce Odighizuwa’s name than it is for him to make an impact. The UCLA product has tremendous athleticism and could help the defense in the desert stay tough.
25) Carolina – D.J. Humphries, OT, Florida: Seems like a smart move to try and bolster the line after Cam Newton got little protection last year.
26) Baltimore – Todd Gurley, RB, Georgia: Might be a little bit of a risky pick after Gurley tore his ACL during the season, but he truly is a talent when healthy. Plus after the issues Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce had leading to their releases, this pick makes sense.
27) Dallas – Eli Harold, DE/OLB, Virginia: After thinking the Dallas defense was going to be terrible coming into the year they weren’t too bad. Still it never hurts to build some depth on defense.
28) Denver – T.J. Clemmings, OT, Pittsburgh: The Broncos make what’ll probably be Peyton’s last year in Denver as comfortable as possible with some extra protection on the line.
29) Indianapolis – Arik Armstead, DE/DT, Oregon: The Colts have retooled their offense with Frank Gore and Andre Johnson. Now they look towards the defensive side of the football.
30) Green Bay – Jordan Phillips, DT, Oklahoma: Green Bay needs some helps with their run defense and Phillips can help clog the middle.
31) New Orleans – Phillip Dorsett, WR, Miami (FL): After trading Jimmy Graham to get this pick, and sending Kenny Stills to Miami, the Saints could use some help in their receiving corps.
32) New England – A.J. Cann, G, South Carolina: The Patriots could go corner here, but taking one of the best offensive lineman in the draft makes a little more sense.
Second Round:
33) Tennessee – Jake Fisher, OT, Oregon
34) Tampa Bay – Cameron Erving, OT/G, Florida State
35) Oakland – Devin Smith, WR, Ohio State
36) Jacksonville – Jay Ajayi, RB, Boise State
37) New York Jets – Brett Hundley, QB, UCLA
38) Washington – P.J. Williams, CB, Florida State
39) Chicago – Gerod Holliman, S, Louisville
40) New York Giants – Ronald Darby, CB, Florida State
41) St. Louis – Donovan Smith, OT, Penn State
42) Atlanta – Maxx Williams, TE, Minnesota
43) Cleveland – Carl Davis, DT, Iowa
44) New Orleans – Bernardrick McKinney, LB, Mississippi State
45) Minnesota – Kevin Johnson, CB, Wake Forest
46) San Francisco – Alex Carter, CB, Stanford
47) Miami – Paul Dawson, LB, TCU
48) San Diego – Arie Kouandjio, G, Alabama
49) Kansas City – Denzel Perryman, LB, Miami (FL)
50) Buffalo – Laken Tomlinson, G, Duke: With the Bills already having upgraded at WR and TE (pending Miami not matching the offer sheet to Charles Clay), the focus turns to trying to bolster their offensive line. Tomlinson seems like a perfect fit since he was an outstanding run blocker at Duke. LeSean McCoy, Fred Jackson, and the rest of the running game should greatly benefit from the addition of Tomlinson.
51) Houston – Jacoby Glenn, CB, Central Florida
52) Philadelphia – Tre Jackson, G, Florida State
53) Cincinnati – Devin Funchess, WR/TE, Michigan
54) Detroit – Duke Johnson, RB, Miami (FL)
55) Arizona – Quinten Rollins , CB, Miami (OH)
56) Pittsburgh – Danielle Hunter, DE/LB, LSU
57) Carolina – Nelson Agholor, WR, USC
58) Baltimore – Clive Walford, TE, Miami (FL)
59) Denver – Josue Matias, G, Florida State
60) Dallas – Tevin Coleman, RB, Indiana
61) Indianapolis – Reese Dismukes, C, Auburn
62) Green Bay – Stephone Anthony, LB, Clemson
63) Seattle – Byron Jones, CB, UConn
64) New England – Michael Bennett, DT, Ohio State
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