By: Anthony Chiado
- Los Angeles Rams (from Tennessee)
The Pick: Jared Goff, QB, California
I’m not convinced that Goff is any more than a 3rd round pick, but his highlights are just good enough to convince a quarterback-needy team to trade up to the top pick in a very weak draft in order to select him.
- Philadelphia Eagles (from Cleveland)
The Pick: Carson Wentz, QB, North Dakota State
I’m even less convinced of Wentz as a top QB prospect than I am Goff, but two teams giving up kings ransoms to move into the top two picks makes it hard for me to believe the draft starts any way other than QB-QB.
- San Diego Chargers
The Pick: DeForest Buckner, DL, Oregon
The Chargers could go a number of different ways with this pick. Their biggest weakness, however, is their run defense and Buckner will do a lot to remedy that issue virtually immediately.
- Dallas Cowboys
The Pick: Jalen Ramsey, CB, Florida State
Between Ramsey, Myles Jack, Joey Bosa, and Ezekiel Elliott the Cowboys have their pick of top prospects. Ramsey provides positional versatility for the Dallas secondary and the upside to possibly end up as the best player from this class.
- Jacksonville Jaguars
The Pick: Myles Jack, LB, UCLA
The Jaguars are in massive need of a talent upgrade on the defensive side of the ball and Myles Jack with a healthy knee is arguably one of the three best players in the class and an immediate pro-bowl caliber linebacker.
- Baltimore Ravens
The Pick: Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Ohio State
In what is essentially a class with six top ten caliber players, none of which are the two QBs at the top of the board, the Ravens are guaranteed to get one. Elliott may not fill the biggest need, but he would work wonders for Baltimore’s offense.
- San Francisco 49ers
The Pick: Paxton Lynch, QB, Memphis
San Francisco needs a QB and Chip Kelly has made it clear he isn’t afraid to go and get himself one. Lynch is, to me, by far the top QB in the class and gives the 49ers their QB of the future.
- Cleveland Browns (from Miami via Philadelphia)
The Pick: Laremy Tunsil, OT, Ole Miss
The Browns may have bigger needs here than OT, but Tunsil is probably the best player in the class. A Joe Thomas trade possibly being in the cards has also been rumored. If that happens, Tunsil can step right in and take his place.
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Pick: Joey Bosa, EDGE, Ohio State
The Buccaneers have the makings of a great offense on one side of the ball, but there defense is a whole other story. Bosa may never be a great pass rusher, but his run defense is fantastic and is more technically sound than most EDGE rusher prospects are when they enter the league.
- New York Giants
The Pick: Ronnie Stanley, OT, Notre Dame
The Giants spent a top ten pick on Ereck Flowers last year and he was, predictably, awful in his rookie year. They once again are in need of offensive line help and Stanley keeps the trend of selecting overrated OTs high in the draft.
- Chicago Bears
The Pick: Leonard Floyd, EDGE, Georgia
The Bears are need of an impact pass rusher for their 3-4 defense and, while he is more athlete than football player at this point, Leonard Floyd provides a high upside pick that could pay big dividends.
- New Orleans Saints
The Pick: Kevin Dodd, EDGE, Clemson
The Saints’ defensive line is one of the weakest, if not the weakest, position groups in the entire league. If it were up to me Dodd would not be in the conversation until the middle of the second round, but he provides a bookend for the Saints to pair with Cam Jordan.
- Miami Dolphins (from Philadelphia)
The Pick: Vernon Hargreaves III, CB, Florida
The Dolphins top two CBs at the moment are Byron Maxwell and Jamar Taylor. Those two names don’t exactly inspire confidence. Hargreaves is supremely athletic and can all but likely become a Leon Hall equivalent for the foreseeable future.
- Oakland Raiders
The Pick: Sheldon Rankins, DL, Louisville
The Raiders aren’t exactly in need of a defensive tackle, but they have shown they know how to build a defensive front seven. The first rule of doing so is knowing you can never have enough interior defensive linemen and Rankins is a great one.
- Tennessee Titans (from Los Angeles)
The Pick: Jack Conklin, OT, Michigan State
Conklin is another OT who will probably go in the first round who belongs nowhere near that conversation. The Titans desperately need to improve their offensive line play, though, and he fills that spot.
- Detroit Lions
The Pick: Taylor Decker, OT, Ohio State
The Lions have Riley Reiff penciled in at LT but don’t have anyone on the roster who could be a starting RT. Decker certainly has his flaws but he can step in at the spot and start at a high level from day one.
- Atlanta Falcons
The Pick: Shaq Lawson, EDGE, Clemson
Last year in the first round the Falcons took Clemson’s Vic Beasley, who has shown all of the making of becoming an elite pass rusher one day. Adding Shaq Lawson to play on the other side of the defensive line will give Atlanta a fearsome duo for years to come.
- Indianapolis Colts
The Pick: Ryan Kelly, C, Alabama
Ryan Kelly has flown under-the-radar for most of the process. He is undoubtedly a first round caliber center and will fill a very big need in the center of the Colts’ offensive line that is currently without one.
- Buffalo Bills
The Pick: Noah Spence, EDGE, Eastern Kentucky
With Mario Williams now gone from Buffalo, the Bills need an EDGE rusher to start opposite Jerry Hughes. After getting booted from the Big Ten for off-field issues, Spence saw great success and a rebound in his draft stock at Eastern Kentucky.
- New York Jets
The Pick: Reggie Ragland, LB, Alabama
Ragland may not be the most athletic linebacker, but he is an aggressive downhill thumper who can start from day one. He will be able to fill the hole the Jets have at inside linebacker next to David Harris as well.
- Washington Redskins
The Pick: Chris Jones, DL, Mississippi State
The Redskins defense has made long strides in the past few years to become a relatively strong unit. Adding a versatile piece like Jones to the defensive line will help in the short term and in the long run.
- Houston Texans
The Pick: Josh Doctson, WR, TCU
The Texans invested huge money into their offense this offseason between Brock Osweiler and Lamar Miller. Now all they need is a wide receiver to complement DeAndre Hopkins. Doctson is the best receiver in the class and has drawn comparisons to Hopkins, himself.
- Minnesota Vikings
The Pick: Laquon Treadwell, WR, Ole Miss
Treadwell isn’t the most athletically gifted and he may be pretty much who he is at this point, but he is also extremely technically sound for a college receiver. The Vikings have a few big play threats at the position but Treadwell can be a target hog and safety valve for Teddy Bridgewater, along with much more.
- Cincinnati Bengals
The Pick: Will Fuller, WR, Notre Dame
Losing Marvin Jones, and even Mohamed Sanu to a lesser extent, to free agency damaged the Bengals’ receiving corps. While I don’t necessarily think Fuller should be considered this high, he would add a vertical threat to the passing game opposite A.J. Green.
- Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pick: William Jackson III, CB, Houston
The Steelers probably have bigger needs at NT and S than they do CB, but you need to have either a good pass rush or pass coverage to win in the NFL and right now the Steelers don’t have either. Jackson isn’t the type of small, laterally athletic CB the team has shown interest in but he’s the best one left.
- Seattle Seahawks
The Pick: Robert Nkemdiche, DL, Ole Miss
Nkemdiche drew his fair share of off-field headlines while at Ole Miss and he is rumored to be quite the personality. Pete Carroll embraces the personality of his players like no other and Nkemdiche has quite the upside should he find a home on an NFL defensive line.
- Green Bay Packers
The Pick: Kenny Clark, DL, UCLA
As of today the Packers’ three starting defensive linemen are Mike Daniels, Letroy Guion, and Josh Boyd. They could stand to upgrade two of those spots and Clark brings the versatility that Ted Thompson likes along with having incredible upside.
- Kansas City Chiefs
The Pick: Eli Apple, CB, Ohio State
Marcus Peters was incredible last year as a rookie alongside Sean Smith. Sadly for the Chiefs, Smith left in free agency to the Raiders. They do have Phillip Gaines and Steven Nelson to possibly fill the spot so this isn’t a huge need, but I could see NFL teams falling in love with Apple’s size and length.
- New England Patriots
–Forfeited–
- Arizona Cardinals
The Pick: Keanu Neal, S, Florida
The Cardinals managed to let Rashad Johnson escape in free agency which leaves them with D.J. Swearinger as one of their current starting safeties. Needless to say, nobody wants that and Neal has the mindset of a thumping strong safety along with the skills to roam the back end.
- Carolina Panthers
The Pick: Derrick Henry, RB, Alabama
I don’t know how likely this would be to happen but it would make the NFL’s most exciting team even more fun to watch. Pairing two athletic freaks in Cam Newton and Derrick Henry together would create a monster backfield that defenses would struggle to stop.
- Denver Broncos
The Pick: Darron Lee, LB, Ohio State
The Broncos lost Danny Trevathan to free agency over the offseason and now they need someone to replace him. Lee certainly has his flaws, but he can match the athleticism that Trevathan took from the middle of the defense when he left for greener pastures.
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