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So, we're here again. Hi. Now that the 2013 draft is in the books, I'm looking ahead to 2014.
A couple things on this three-round mock:
- The order is just the SB Nation power rankings inverted. That's how Dan did it for his 2014 mock at Mocking the Draft; if it's good enough for Kadar, it's good enough for me.
- I really tried to shed the conventional wisdom this year. In my first 2013 mock, I had Matt Barkley going first overall just like everyone else. It made sense. This year? I'm sticking with my early analyses. They're all going to be really, really wrong.
- I've included the current trades that affect the first three rounds. St. Louis gets Washington's 1st. Cleveland gets Pittsburgh's 3rd as does Minnesota with Seattle's and San Francisco with Tennessee's.
- I assumed that all draft-eligible players will declare for the draft. This won't happen. Don't get your hunch all in a bunch about it.
- I've only got FBS prospects in the mock (save for one little RB), since ya boy doesn't watch FCS. Yet again, this mock is filled with wrongness on so many levels. That doesn't detract from the discussions it should inspire.
Let's get to it.
Round 1
1.) Jacksonville Jaguars - Aaron Murray: QB, Georgia
Oh hell yes I did. I'm a big fan of Murray's skills, and he's got it all to play for this year. He nearly led the Bulldogs to knock off Alabama in the SEC Championship last year (which was easily one of the best games of the year if you've forgotten) after an up and down performance to be nice. He's got the mentality of an NFL QB though and has elevated the play of his WRs after A.J. Green's departure.
So mark me down as the only guy on Earth calling Murray #1 overall...so that when it doesn't happen, you can bring this up.
2.) Oakland Raiders - Jadeveon Clowney: DE, South Carolina
3.) New York Jets - Marqise Lee: WR, USC
4.) Buffalo Bills - Jake Matthews: OT, Texas A&M
5.) Arizona Cardinals - Teddy Bridgewater: QB, Louisville
It's not hard to see Bridgewater going to any of the above teams. I just think this scenario makes more sense to me. Geno gets a legit target in New York (Jeremy Kerley's not gonna cut it...), and new Bills HC Doug Marrone upgrades his blindside coverage of new signal caller E.J. Manuel.
6.) Tennessee Titans - Tajh Boyd: QB, Clemson
7.) Cleveland Browns - Bryn Renner: QB, UNC
I'm higher on Renner than most, but we'll get a great early test to see how much he's grown from 2012 to this season when the Tarheels open the season against South Carolina. I think Clowney already has two sacks.
8.) Kansas City - Timmy Jernigan: DT, Florida St.
9.) Philadelphia Eagles - Bradley Roby: CB, Ohio St.
10.) San Diego Chargers - Taylor Lewan: OT, Michigan
11.) Carolina Panthers - Jason Verrett: CB, TCU
12.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Aaron Lynch: DE, South Florida
Lynch had a wonderful freshman campaign with Notre Dame before sitting out last season while transferring to USF. Have Sept. 28 marked on your draft calendars -- UCF takes on Miami and two NFL tackle prospects in Seantrel Henderson and Malcolm Bunche.
13.) Detroit Lions - Louchiez Purifoy: CB, Florida
14.) Miami Dolphins - Daniel McCullers: DT, Tennessee
15.) St. Louis Rams - Ha'Sean Clinton-Dix: S, Alabama
Putting Haha in the back of the Rams' defense would give them some additional coverage skills they've been lacking from the safety position, as evidenced by his three-game interception streak to close out Bama's season
16.) Minnesota Vikings - Cody Fajardo: QB, Nevada
No, Fajardo's not showing up on many boards or mocks. No, I'm not entirely sure why.
17.) Dallas Cowboys - Johnny Manziel: QB, Texas A&M
Oh, this has to happen. Is there any way this doesn't happen?
18.) Pittsburgh Steelers - Sammy Watkins: WR, Clemson
19.) Chicago Bears - David Yankey: OT, Stanford
20.) New Orleans - Jackson Jeffcoat: DE, Texas
21.) St. Louis (via Washington Redskins) - C.J. Mosley: OLB, Alabama
Jo-Lonn Dunbar is a free agent after this season, and given Alec Ogletree's drafting, I think we'll see a different usage of Dunbar this year. That being said, Mosley might make more sense for the Rams 10 ½ months from now.
22.) Indianapolis Colts - Ifo Ekpre-Olomu: CB, Oregon
23.) New York Giants - Austin Seferian-Jenkins: TE, Washington
24.) Cincinnati Bengals - Ryan Shazier: OLB, Ohio St.
25.) Houston Texans - Anthony Barr: OLB, UCLA
26.) Baltimore Ravens - Cyrus Kouandjio: OT, Alabama
27.) Green Bay - Cody Hoffman: WR, BYU
28.) Atlanta Falcons - Stephon Tuitt: DE, Notre Dame
29.) New England Patriots - Louis Nix III: DT, Notre Dame
30.) Seattle Seahawks - Demarcus Lawrence: DE, Boise St.
31.) Denver Broncos - David Fales: QB, San Jose St.
Peyton can't play forever...I think.
32.) San Francisco 49ers - Ra'Shede Hageman: DT, Minnesota
Round 2
33 (1).) Jacksonville - Colt Lyerla: TE, Oregon
34 (2).) Oakland - De'Anthony Thomas: RB, Oregon
35 (3).) New York Jets - Chris Coyle: TE, Arizona St.
36 (4).) Buffalo - A.J. Johnson: ILB, Tennessee
37 (5).) Arizona - Jordan Matthews: WR, Vanderbilt
38 (6).) Tennessee - Antonio Richardson: OT, Tennessee
39 (7).) Cleveland - Cyril Richardson: G, Baylor
40 (8).) Kansas City - Kyle Van Noy: OLB, BYU
41 (9).) Philadelphia - Marcus Mariota: QB, Oregon
Is it too obvious to reunite HC Chip Kelly with his QB?
42 (10).) San Diego - Austin Hill: WR, Arizona
Hill's likely out for the whole season having torn his ACL earlier this year a little more than a month ago, which sucks. He exploded in 2012 including a huge performance against USC in which he caught 10 passes for 259 yards. Knees are the worst. #Ihateknees
43 (11).) Carolina - Aaron Colvin: CB, Oklahoma
44 (12).) Tampa Bay - Gabe Ikard: C, Oklahoma
45 (13).) Detroit - Lache Seastrunk: RB, Baylor
46 (14).) Miami - Seantrel Henderson: OT, Miami
47 (15).) St. Louis - Morgan Moses: OT, Virginia
Anyone think Rodger Saffold sticks around at RT after this final year of his contract? Me neither.
48 (16).) Minnesota - Will Sutton: DE, Arizona St.
49 (17).) Dallas - James Wilder, Jr.: RB, Florida St.
Wilder might be atop my RB positional board, but this dude gets in trouble. A lot. He & Johnny Football would make for a very entertaining combo on the field and in the news.
50 (18).) Pittsburgh - Gabe Jackson: G, Mississippi St.
51 (19).) Chicago - Shayne Skov: ILB, Stanford
52 (20).) New Orleans - Andrew Jackson: ILB, Western Kentucky
53 (21).) Washington - Justin Gilbert: CB, Oklahoma St.
54 (22).) Indianapolis - Dri Archer: RB, Kent St.
55 (23).) New York Giants - Charles Sims: RB, Houston
56 (24).) Cincinnati - Brandon Coleman: WR, Rutgers
57 (25).) Houston - Clint Trickett: QB, West Virginia
Trickett waited behind E.J. Manuel at Florida State for a couple of years, but was outplayed by phenom Jameis Winston in the spring. Transferring to West Virginia might just do the trick...ett. Sorry.
58 (26).) Baltimore - Yawin Smallwood: ILB, Connecticut
59 (27).) Green Bay - Jabari Hunt-Days: ILB, Georgia Tech
60 (28).) Atlanta - La'El Collins: G, LSU
61 (29).) New England - Lamin Barrow: ILB, LSU
62 (30).) Seattle - Allen Robinson: WR, Penn St.
63 (31).) Denver - Ka'Deem Carey: RB, Arizona
64 (32).) San Francisco - Hakeem Smith: S, Louisville
Round 3
65 (1).) Jacksonville - Kareem Martin: DE, UNC
66 (2).) Oakland - Josh Shirley: OLB, Washington
67 (3).) New York Jets - Bryan Stork: C, Florida St.
68 (4).) Buffalo - Morgan Breslin: DE, USC
69 (5).) Arizona - Zack Martin: OT, Notre Dame
70 (6).) San Francisco (via Tennessee) - Bennett Jackson: CB, Notre Dame
71 (7).) Cleveland - Davante Adams: WR, Fresno St.
72 (8).) Kansas City - James Hurst: OT, UNC
73 (9).) Philadelphia - Spencer Long: G, Nebraska
74 (10).) San Diego - Bene Benwikere: CB, San Jose St.
75 (11).) Carolina - Rob Havenstein: OT, Wisconsin
76 (12).) Tampa Bay - Jeremiah Attaochu: OLB, Georgia Tech
77 (13).) Detroit - Ja'Wuan James: OT, Tennessee
78 (14).) Miami - Isaiah Bruce: OLB, West Virginia
79 (15).) St. Louis - Anthony Steen: G, Alabama
Steen was the Tide's starting RG all season last year; he should be one of the leaders again this season for one of the best units in the country.