1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon
Mariota is not the best player in this draft. He is a good young quarterback, but there is definitely some doubt about whether or not his game will translate to the next level. However, quarterback is the most important position in sports and teams will always reach to get a good one. On the bright side, he will have two very good and big receivers in Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans to help him make the transition, assuming Chip Kelly does not offer his entire draft to move up for the Oregon signal caller. 2. Tennessee Titans – Randy Gregory, DE, Nebraska Tennessee is also in need of a quarterback; however, the only first grade talent available at the position in Jameis Winston, and, personally, I wouldn’t touch him with a ten foot pole. Tennessee wisely agrees and takes the best player available. 3. Jacksonville Jaguars – Leonard Williams, DT, USC The Jaguars, while they got off to a good start by taking Blake Bortles in last years draft, are still more than one player away. Williams is the best player available who could be a great building block on the defensive side of the ball. 4. Oakland Raiders – Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama Oakland had a great draft in 2014. They seem to have found their franchise quarterback in Derek Carr and got a great linebacker in Khalil Mack. It is now time to give their young quarterback a receiver, and, this year, there is not one better at the position than Amari Cooper. 5. Washington Redskins – Brandon Scherff, OT, Iowa Is Robert Griffin III the future quarterback in Washington? We don’t know because they can’t protect him. I believe that Griffin can be the guy he was in his rookie season, if they give him time in the pocket. Scherff is the best offensive tackle in the draft and could help Griffin keep his job in Washington. 6. New York Jets – Jameis Winston, QB, FSU Like I said, I would not touch Winston. The Jets, however, are not a smart team. Ok, that is not fair. We do not know what they will be like because they have yet to hire a new general manager and head coach. They need a quarterback and if he slips past the Titans, the Jets may have their quarterback. 7. Chicago Bears – Shane Ray, DE, Missouri The Bears need a lot of help on defense. While they could use a safety, seventh overall is too early for Landon Collins (or any safety for that matter). Ray is one of the best pass rushers in the draft and you can never have enough pass rushers. 8. Atlanta Falcons – Dante Fowler, OLB, Florida Atlanta has had one of the worst defenses in the league for the past few years. In 2014, they had only 22 sacks. Shall I put that into perspective? JJ Watt had 20.5 sacks. He almost out sacked an NFL team. (Actually, he did out sack the Cincinnati Bengals, who only had 20 sacks on the year.) 9. New York Giants – Vic Beasley, OLB, Clemson What was the reason that the Giants beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl, mostly in 2007? Their pass rush. If you have a good pass rush, you can mask problems in the secondary because they do not have to cover as long. Beasley is one of the best pass rushers in this draft and can either replace Jason Pierre-Paul (who is a free agent after the season), or team up with him, if he is re-signed, to make for a dangerous pass rush once again. 10. St. Louis Rams – Andrus Peat, OT, Stanford The Rams seem to be a quarterback away from contending for a playoff spot. However, whoever they find to quarterback their team, needs to be protected. There is no quarterback worth of this draft spot, so the Rams snag an offensive tackle to pair with Greg Robinson as the future of their offensive line. 11. Minnesota Vikings – Cedric Ogbuehi, OT, Texas A&M Teddy Bridgewater seems to be the guy in Minnesota. Now it is time to make sure he stays upright and former first round pick Matt Kalil has not been what everybody thought he would be. 12. Cleveland Browns – DeVante Parker, WR, Louisville Is Johnny Manziel the future at quarterback for the Browns? Well, they need to give him some weapons to find out. Josh Gordon cannot stay on the field, whether it is a drug related suspension or a team suspension. Look for Gordon to be dealt in the offseason and the Browns address the wide receiver need in the draft. 13. New Orleans Saints – Alvin Dupree, DE, Kentucky New Orleans is another team that had trouble getting to the quarterback in 2014. Actually, they had trouble doing just about anything on defense. Dupree has a quick burst and should work with Junior Galette to improve the Saints’ pass rush. 14. Miami Dolphins – Danny Shelton, DT, Washington Jared Odrick is a free agent after the season. Some believe he will demand too much money to be brought back, so the Dolphins will have to look elsewhere to fill the tackle spot. CBS Sports compared him to Vince Wilfork. If Shelton can even come close to the player that Wilfork has been for the Patriots, they will have gotten a steal at 14. 15. San Francisco 49ers – Kevin White, WR, West Virginia Michael Crabtree is a free agent. Anquan Boldin is not getting any younger. Stevie Johnson and Brandon Lloyd are not top of the depth chart wide receivers. White is a tall, quick receiver with big hands who can go up and win the jump ball. Plus, the Niners need to give Colin Kaepernick all the help he can get. 16. Houston Texans – Devin Funchess, WR/TE, Michigan Andre Johnson is on the wrong side of 30 and while DeAndre Hopkins has shown he can be a productive wide receiver, they need more than just one weapon. 17. Kansas City Chiefs – Jalen Strong, WR, Arizona State The Kansas City Chiefs did not have a touchdown caught by a wide receiver in the entire 2014 season. I think it is safe to say they could use a wide receiver in the draft. 18. San Diego Chargers – Ereck Flowers, OT, Miami According to Football Outsiders, the Chargers were the 31st ranked offensive line while run blocking and only a middle of the pack pass blocking team. They could use an upgrade on the line. 19. Cleveland Browns (from Buffalo Bills) – Shaq Thompson, OLB, Washington Cleveland is so close. They have a decent defense. Add a pass rusher coming off the edge and they could really jump to the next level. 20. Philadelphia Eagles – Trae Waynes, CB, Michigan St. Philadelphia may have had a high-powered offense, but they needed to. They couldn’t stop anybody on defense. They ranked in the bottom half of the league in interceptions and only Atlanta gave up more passing yards per game than the Eagles. 21. Carolina Panthers – La’El Collins, OT, LSU The Panthers’ offensive line ranked in the bottom half in terms of both run and pass protection. They need to keep Cam Newton upright and an upgrade on the line is necessary to do so. 22. Baltimore Ravens – Melvin Gordon, RB, Wisconsin The Ravens stumbled upon a diamond in the rough in Justin Forsett. However, nobody believes that a journeyman change of pace back will, at 30 years old, continue to be the lead back in Baltimore. Melvin Gordon had one of the best seasons a running back has ever had in college football and should break the two-year streak of no running backs in the first round. 23. Cincinnati Bengals – Marcus Peters, CB, Washington Cincinnati’s defense was in the bottom third of the NFL in terms of passing yards per game. He was kicked out of Washington and is known to have character issues, so they would have to confident that the veterans can keep him in check. 24. Detroit Lions – PJ Williams, CB, FSU The Lions will have some re-tooling to do on defense. They could potentially lose both Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley this offseason, and could use an upgrade in the secondary already as it is. If they do lose both defensive tackles, that could be where they look in the draft. 25. Pittsburgh Steelers – Landon Collins, S, Alabama Collins won’t fall this far, but I have trouble projecting a safety as a top 15 pick. That may change in my next draft once I’ve see more of him. The Steelers have an aging secondary, which includes safety Troy Polamalu. They could be looking to grab his replacement in this draft, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they trade up for Collins. 26. Indianapolis Colts – Shilique Calhoun, DE, Michigan St. The Colts need a lot of help on defense. They were surprisingly in the top ten in sacks in 2014, but Robert Mathis will be 34 next season. 27. Arizona Cardinals – Malcolm Brown, DT, Texas Defensive line is one of the biggest needs for the Cardinals and Malcolm Brown would give them a great deal of options along the line. He has lined up in just about every possible position a defensive lineman can. As Todd McShay wrote in his mock draft, “he’s played nose tackle, defensive tackle, and defensive end in a 4-3 front and nose tackle and defensive end in a 3-4 front.” 28. Dallas Cowboys – Eddie Goldman, DT, FSU Dallas had only 28 sacks, 28th in the league, in 2014. Goldman can provide some pressure from the inside and is a solid run stopper as well. 29. Green Bay Packers – Benardrick McKinney, ILB, Mississippi St. Clay Matthews is not a middle linebacker. You cannot have your best defensive player, and one of the best pass rushers in the game, inside. They are limiting his production. 30. Denver Broncos – TJ Clemmings, OT, Pittsburgh It looked at the beginning of the season that the Broncos had one of the best lines in football. They proved to be false as they were exposed as the season progressed and teams were able to pressure Peyton Manning. 31. New England Patriots – Shawn Oakman, DE, Baylor The Patriots could use another pass rusher. Chandler Jones is becoming a star, and Rob Ninkovich continues to be one of the most underrated players in football. However, you can never have enough defensive linemen. Ask the Seattle Seahawks, who have a rotation that keeps everybody fresh. Oakman is absolutely huge, but is very quick for his size. If he drops to the Patriots late in the first round, they should run to the podium. However, the more realistic pick would be a versatile offensive lineman, like Cameron Erving out of FSU. 32. Seattle Seahawks – Todd Gurley, RB, Georgia Seattle has a team of studs. They can afford to take a chance on an injury risk player. Many believed they were going to take Dominique Easley in last year’s draft, judging by the atmosphere in the room once he was off the board. With Marshawn Lynch’s future in Seattle uncertain, Pete Carroll and the Seahawks may be looking to find his replacement, and even though it’s been three years since a running back was taken in the first round, you better believe that if he was healthy, Gurley would be long gone by this pick.
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SAMUEL PERICOLOSam is a graduate of Assumption College where he studied History, Marketing, and Political Science and was a Co-Producer on a weekly sports talk television show. Archives
March 2018
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