Below is the first of two mock drafts I'll put out this year. In this version, I'm not trying to predict what will happen. I am making the picks as if I was in charge of every team.
1) Tennessee Titans – Travis Hunter, CB/WR, Colorado
It’s
hard to know what to do with a player like Hunter, but ultimately I think the
only answer is to just pick him and let it sort itself out. He’s a better
cornerback than he is a wide receiver, but I think he’s good enough on offense
to at least have a role there, likely as a third option getting 15-20 snaps a
game. If it works, he’s a superstar who will change the shape of your
franchise. If it doesn’t, in a couple years they can try to transition him to a
more traditional role, where he still has the potential to develop into an All
Pro cornerback.
2) Cleveland Browns – Abdul Carter, EDGE, Penn State
Another
pass rusher isn’t the biggest need for Cleveland after they got past Myles
Garrett’s trade request and signed him to an extension, but Carter is the clear
best player available, and the Browns aren’t in position to be picky. He’s a
versatile athlete with tremendous upside to develop into one of the best
defensive players in the league.
3) New York Giants – Kelvin Banks, OT, Texas
There’s
a clear top two of elite prospects, and after that you have to start reaching.
Banks isn’t the sort of sensational athlete that normally goes top five,
but he’s a reliable and solid tackle who
brings value in both the running and passing game. The Giants have been trying
to fix their offensive line for years, and it hasn’t worked yet, but this will
hopefully get them to that point.
4) New England Patriots – Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Arizona
Drake
Maye showed flashes of potential operating with basically no help from his
supporting cast a season ago. So then the Patriots went out with the most cap
space of any team in the league, and they spent almost all of it on defense.
They still need someone to protect their young quarterback, and also someone
for him to throw the ball to. They can’t get both here, but at least McMillan
offers a good option as a big target with more quickness than you’d expect.
5) Jacksonville Jaguars – Armand Membou, OT, Missouri
Similarly,
the Jaguars need to do something to help out Trevor Lawrence. Membou needs some
polishing, but he has the athletic ability to develop into one of the best in
the league. He’s big, and he’s athletic, and even if it takes a couple years
for him to clean up his rough patches, he and Brian Thomas will give the
Jaguars the foundation of a potentially elite supporting cast.
6) Las Vegas Raiders – James Pearce, EDGE, Tennessee
Defensive
line isn’t the biggest need for the Raiders either, but it’s also never a bad
thing to have multiple good pass rushers. Playing opposite Maxx Crosby would
give Pearce a lot of opportunities to work one-on-one in space where he’s at
his best. And even if he sometimes struggles to finish sacks, having other good
rushers around him to clean things up will make the pressure he does generate
even more valuable.
7) New York Jets – Colston Loveland, TE, Michigan
I’m
still wary of taking tight ends this high, but Loveland is a special talent. He
has good length and excellent ball skills, and he combines that with rare
quickness and route-running ability that makes him a matchup nightmare. The
Jets are still a couple years away from having a functional offense, but the
combination of Loveland and Garrett Wilson will set them up well for when they
do get an offensive line and quarterback in place.
8) Carolina Panthers – Walter Nolen, DT, Ole Miss
The
Panthers already have a space-eating monster in the middle in Derrick Brown,
exactly the sort of player that would be perfect to place alongside Nolen. He
can get moved around some in the running game, but as a pass rusher his ceiling
is almost unlimited. He’s explosive, he’s strong, he’s flexible, and he can
bring some dynamism to a Panthers defense that is sorely lacking it.
9) New Orleans Saints – Jahdae Barron, CB, Texas
Things
are pretty easy for the Saints. They have basically nothing, so they just have
to take the best player available. That player is Barron, a very good athlete
with the versatility to play all over the defensive backfield.
10) Chicago Bears – Mason Graham, DT, Michigan
It
would make sense to take someone on the offensive side to support Caleb
Williams, but I actually like what the Bears have done building out a receiving
corps and offensive line through trades and free agency. And despite all the
money they’ve spent on the defensive side, it still wasn’t very good a year
ago. Graham would give them a disruptive interior presence to hopefully free up
the big-money pair of Montez Sweat and Dayo Odeyingbo to work in space on the
outside.
11) San Francisco 49ers – Emeka Egbuka, WR, Ohio State
The
49ers took a receiver in the first round a year ago, but he didn’t impress much
as a rookie, and they traded away Deebo Samuel in the offseason. And Egbuka is
just too perfect a fit for this offense to pass up on. He’s a savvy
route-runner and a very willing blocker, a piece that Kyle Shanahan can move
anywhere and use in any number of ways to create opportunities in both the run
and pass game.
12) Dallas Cowboys – Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State
Jeanty
is a rare talent, but it’s still hard for me to grab a running back at the top
of the draft. I think the most value the position offers is someone who can
come in and contribute right away for a team with a strong supporting cast.
Despite all the evidence to the contrary, I still think the Cowboys are the
sort of team that could really use someone like this, with the talent to leap
back into contention if things break right.
13) Miami Dolphins – Derrick Harmon, DT, Oregon
The
Dolphins have built an impressive group of edge pass rushers, if only they
could stay healthy. They still have some holes on the interior though, and
Harmon could give them one of the best young fronts in the league. It might
have made more sense for this roster to take someone on the offensive side of
the ball, but I think Harmon is a step above the other talents available at
this point.
14) Indianapolis Colts – Will Johnson, CB, Michigan
Late
last year Drew Lock threw for 309 yards and 4 touchdowns against the Colts.
That is inexcusable. And while the Colts did some work to address their
secondary in free agency, they could still use young talent on the back end.
Johnson isn’t the best athlete, but he has good size and tremendous ball skills
that can create big plays for the defense.
15) Atlanta Falcons – Josh Conerly, OT, Oregon
Tackle
has been a strong point for the Falcons for the past few years, but that’s not
going to be the case for much longer. Jake Matthews is 33 years old, and Kaleb
McGary is a free agent after this year. Michael Penix is the sort of
quarterback who can dice a defense up from the pocket but struggles to make
plays under pressure. Getting a young and talented tackle on the same timeline
as him is almost essential for Atlanta’s future.
16) Arizona Cardinals – Mike Green, EDGE, Marshall
I
wasn’t able to find enough tape to do a full breakdown on Green, but the couple
games I watched make me think he would slot in somewhere around here. He’s a
twitchy athlete who is still rounding out the rest of his game but shows early
signs of some advanced pass rushing techniques. Arizona has some interesting
pieces on the offensive side of the ball, but they still need help at basically
every position on defense.
17) Cincinnati Bengals – Kenneth Grant, DT, Michigan
The
Bengals desperately need youth and juice along their defensive front, and Grant
has both of those things. This is too high for a space-eating defensive tackle
who is still not that good at eating space. But he shows flashes of the
quickness that suggest there’s more for him to unlock here, and there’s a
chance he could grow into a true game-wrecking force in a few years.
18) Seattle Seahawks – Josh Simmons, OT, Ohio State
Seattle’s
offensive line was a mess in 2024, and then in the offseason they made a
quarterback swap to get someone who is significantly worse at dealing with pressure.
They need to find a way to protect Sam Darnold so he can attack down the field.
I’m a little hesitant about Simmons here, both because he’s coming off of
injury that might limit him as a rookie and because Seattle’s bigger need is on
the interior rather than at tackle. But I think the value he provides is far
enough above the options at guard to justify it.
19) Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Matthew Golden, WR, Texas
Tampa
Bay has been able to count on very good receiver play for years, but both Mike
Evans and Chris Godwin are getting up there in years. Golden will add an
instant burst as a deep threat, and he has the potential to develop into a more
complete receiver to take over for the next era of Buccaneers football.
20) Denver Broncos – Luther Burden, WR, Missouri
Bo
Nix was better than I expected as a rookie but still showed some clear
limitations. He enjoyed chucking up deep balls to the big target of Courtland
Sutton, but mostly he still focuses underneath, attacking in about the 5 yard
range and counting on his receivers to create after the catch. Burden is the
best after the catch threat in this year’s draft, and he’d add a new element to
the Broncos offense.
21) Pittsburgh Steelers – Cam Ward, QB, Miami
This
is a somewhat weird fit of player and team. The number one thing the Steelers
ask their quarterback to do is to avoid turnovers, and the number one thing
Ward loves to do is to launch the ball recklessly down the field. But I think
they both need someone with the opposite impulses. The Steelers need someone
who is going to push back and take chances to provide a spark on offense. And
Ward needs coaches who will force him to play with more discipline.
22) Los Angeles Chargers – Grey Zabel, OG/OT, North Dakota State
The
Chargers have a pair of very good tackles, but their offensive line is still a
mess because they can’t trust the interior. I had Will Campbell ranked higher
among guard prospects, but Zabel is a better fit for the downhill attacking
style of the Chargers running game. He’s still a little raw in pass protection,
but he bowls people over in the running game, and putting him alongside either
Rashawn Slater or Joe Alt will give the Chargers one side of the line they can
consistently trust to move people off the ball.
23) Green Bay Packers – Shavon Revel, CB, East Carolina
Revel
is another player I wasn’t able to find much film of, partially because he
missed most of his final college season with a torn ACL. But he’s a big and
physical cornerback with a ton of upside, and the Packers have spent years
chasing anyone at this position.
24) Minnesota Vikings – Nick Emmanwori, S, South Carolina
The
Vikings made a lot of moves in free agency to beef up their offensive and
defensive lines, but they still have some serious concerns at defensive back.
Cornerback is a bigger need than safety, but the best value here is Emmanwori,
a freak athlete who needs quite a bit of work but has the potential to develop
into the perfect attacking weapon for Brian Flores’s defense.
25) Houston Texans – Will Campbell, OG/OT, LSU
Houston
desperately needs to find any bit of competence on their offensive line, and
Campbell is the best option available at this point. I don’t love this fit for
him—I think he’d be better off going someplace that already has good tackles,
where it will be easier to fast-track him on the transition to guard—but he’s certainly
better than anything the Texans have on their line at this point.
26) Los Angeles Rams – Shedeur Sanders, QB, Colorado
Sanders
is the best player left on the board, and I feel like he does deserve to go in
the first round, especially in a week class. This part of the draft is hard to
find a place for a quarterback though, since most of these teams are picking
this late because they already have a good option at the position. But the Rams
are in a unique place without a clear answer of what they’re going to do in the
post-Stafford era. And unlike most teams in this position, I don’t think
they’re close enough to Super Bowl contention that one more player here could
push them over the top, so I’m less bothered taking someone who would likely
spend a year or two offering very little value.
27) Baltimore Ravens – Shemar Stewart, EDGE, Texas A&M
The
Ravens have gotten excellent pass rush production from Kyle Van Noy, with 21.5
sacks over the past two years. But he is 34 years old, and if he falls off they
have basically nothing on the edge. A few years ago they used a pick in this
same range on Odafe Oweh, a freakish athlete who never quite put it together as
a pass rusher. But they shouldn’t scare them off from taking the same gamble
with Stewart, an arguably even more gifted player with an even steeper
development curve.
28) Detroit Lions – Mykel Williams, EDGE, Georgia
Last
year the Lions defense fell apart due to injuries, but some of that is simply
the nature of business with Marcus Davenport as part of the starting lineup.
They need more youth and depth on their defensive front, and Williams can give
that to them. He doesn’t have the upside to develop into a superstar rusher,
but that’s fine, because the Lions already have one of those. He’s perfect as a
secondary option, who can hold up against the run and occasionally take
advantage of the one-on-one matchups he is going to frequently see.
29) Washington Commanders – Malaki Starks, S, Georgia
Washington
made a couple of nice additions to the defensive side of the ball a year ago,
but there is still more work they could stand to do there. Starks is a smart
and reliable player who should be able to jump in as a starter from day one,
even if his lack of elite physical tools could limit his usefulness.
30) Buffalo Bills – Maxwell Hairston, CB, Kentucky
I
only checked out one game of Hairston as well, and there wasn’t a lot to see on
the tape either good or bad. But the tools are enough to justify a relatively
complete team like the Bills taking a gamble. He runs a 4.28 forty and had a
39.5 inch vertical leap, and if he can harness these gifts he can be a shot of
youth to a defense that’s been hanging on by a thread for several years.
31) Kansas City Chiefs – Donovan Jackson, OG, Ohio State
Kansas
City lost the Super Bowl because their offensive line wasn’t good enough, and
then they traded away their best offensive lineman. They need to make a major
investment here, and Jackson is a solid option who can plug in right away to
the spot Joe Thuney vacated.
32) Philadelphia Eagles – JT Tuimoloau, EDGE, Ohio State
The
Eagles won a Super Bowl on the strength and depth of their defensive front, but
they lost three key pieces of that rotation to free agency and retirement, so
it’s worth another dip. At this point I haven’t done enough tape study to have
strong opinions on who the best option is, and I picked Tuimoloau mostly for
stylistic reasons. He’s another physical player who excels against the run and
may have a somewhat limited ceiling as a pass rusher, but who would be a great
complement across the formation from the twitchy, explosive Nolan Smith.
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