Rules
- Prospects from 2012 and 2013 are eligible
- This is based on how players were seen as prospects. We know Russell Wilson is awesome now, but he went in the 3rd round so he won’t go in the 1st round here.
- 2013 needs and current rosters are taken into account.
- A team cannot draft a player currently on their roster because that wouldn’t make any sense.
1. Kansas City Chiefs- QB Andrew Luck (Stanford)
This is pretty obvious. The Chiefs just traded for Alex Smith, but they wouldn’t have done that if a prospect like Andrew Luck were available to them #1 overall.
2. Jacksonville Jaguars- QB Robert Griffin (Baylor)
This is equally obvious. The Jaguars may or may not have interest in Geno Smith at #2, but they’d definitely have interest in Robert Griffin if he were available.
3. Oakland Raiders- QB Geno Smith (West Virginia)
I have the Raiders taking Geno Smith in my regular mock and he makes sense here for them too. I don’t think they’d take Matt Kalil or Trent Richardson and I think they’ll see Smith as more valuable to them than any defensive player in either draft class.
4. Philadelphia Eagles- OT Matt Kalil (USC)
The Eagles will probably take Eric Fisher at #4 if available. Matt Kalil is better than not just Eric Fisher, but also Luke Joeckel. He’d go #1 in 2013 if he were in this draft class. The Eagles would take him at 4 in a heartbeat.
5. Detroit Lions- RB Trent Richardson (Alabama)
The Lions have Reggie Bush as a change of pace back and Mikel Leshoure as a between the tackles guy, but they love taking the best available prospect and I don’t think they would pass on Trent Richardson.
6. Cleveland Browns- CB Morris Claiborne (LSU)
The Browns will be hoping that DeMarcus Milliner falls to them at 6 this year as cornerback is their biggest need. In this mock, they get a superior cornerback prospect in Claiborne.
7. Arizona Cardinals- OT Luke Joeckel (Texas A&M)
Joeckel will probably go #1 in 2013, but I have him 7th in this one, 2nd among 2013 prospects. That’s just how much better last year’s draft class was at the top. The only reason Joeckel wasn’t the highest drafted prospect from 2013 in this mock is because the Raiders didn’t need a left tackle. The Cardinals obviously do.
8. Buffalo Bills- QB Ryan Tannehill (Texas A&M)
The Bills would take Geno Smith in a heartbeat if he fell to them at 8 in reality. Some would argue that Tannehill is a superior quarterback prospect (I wouldn’t). Either way, quarterback is a massive need of the Bills’ so they take Tannehill here.
9. New York Jets- WR Justin Blackmon (Oklahoma State)
There isn’t a receiver like Justin Blackmon in the 2013 NFL Draft, but if there were, the Jets would take him in a heartbeat at 9.
10. Tennessee Titans- DT Sharrif Floyd (Florida)
The Titans get the top available defensive player from the 2013 NFL Draft. They have some nice defensive tackles, but none are the game changers Floyd can be in a 4-3.
11. San Diego Chargers- OT Eric Fisher (Central Michigan)
The Chargers will pray that one of 2013’s top-3 tackles will fall to them at 11 and they’d probably have to move up in reality. In this scenario, however, Fisher falls to them and they take him in a heartbeat.
12. Miami Dolphins- OT Lane Johnson (Oklahoma)
Like the Chargers, the Dolphins will probably also have to move up to take a left tackle if they want one, but not here as Lane Johnson falls to them at 12.
13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers- CB DeMarcus Milliner (Alabama)
The Buccaneers have a massive need at cornerback and will consider Xavier Rhodes and Desmond Trufant at 13. They’d take the superior Milliner in a heartbeat.
14. Carolina Panthers- S Mark Barron (Alabama)
The Panthers have all sorts of needs on the defensive side of the ball, with the exception of defensive end. Barron, the 7th overall pick in 2012, is easily the best available defensive prospect at this point in the draft (remember, they can’t redraft Kuechly).
15. New Orleans Saints- RLB Dion Jordan (Oregon)
The Saints badly need a pass rusher and they take the best available here. Jordan is a top-10 pick lock and could go as high as #2 to the Jaguars in reality.
16. St. Louis Rams- MLB Luke Kuechly (Boston College)
The Rams take a pure best available. Kuechly would move Laurinaitis to the outside and give the Rams two great every down linebackers.
17. Pittsburgh Steelers- RLB Ezekiel Ansah (BYU)
The Steelers are another team that gets a prospect that would never fall to them in real life. Rush linebacker is a need of theirs after they released James Harrison.
18. Dallas Cowboys- G Chance Warmack (Alabama)
The Cowboys will be lucky if Jonathan Cooper falls to them, so they’d take Chance Warmack in a heartbeat. He’d plug and play really well at right guard for them.
19. New York Giants- CB Stephon Gilmore (South Carolina)
The Giants take best available as they usually do. Gilmore was a top-10 pick in the superior 2012 draft class and helps a 31st ranked pass defense.
20. Chicago Bears- G Jonathan Cooper (North Carolina)
The Bears still have a massive need at left guard even after all of the money they spent on the offense this off-season. Cooper would plug and play there really well.
21. Cincinnati Bengals- WR Michael Floyd (Notre Dame)
Safety and linebacker are bigger needs for the Bengals, but none of those made any sense for them here so they take Floyd, the 13th pick in 2012, as a long term complement to AJ Green.
22. St. Louis Rams- WR Tavon Austin (West Virginia)
I have the Rams taking Tavon Austin at 16 in my regular mock, but he might not even make it to them there. He’d be a perfect fit for them as a replacement for Danny Amendola.
23. Minnesota Vikings- DT Fletcher Cox (Mississippi State)
I have the Vikings taking Sheldon Richardson here in reality. Cox, the 12th pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, is a better defensive tackle and might have been the #2 defensive tackle off the board behind Sharrif Floyd if he were in this draft class.
24. Indianapolis Colts- NT Dontari Poe (Memphis)
Defensive tackles went 11, 12, and 14 in 2013 and the Colts take the highest drafted of the bunch here. Cox goes ahead of him, but only because he’s a better 4-3 fit.
25. Minnesota Vikings- WR Kendall Wright (Baylor)
The Vikings almost have to come out of the first round with a wide receiver. Wright is the best available, narrowly edging out the bigger, but rawer Cordarrelle Patterson.
26. Green Bay Packers- 3-4 DE Star Lotulelei (Utah)
Lotulelei could go a lot higher depending on what his medical recheck in Indianapolis shows next month, but he’s a steal here for the Packers, who need defensive line help.
27. Houston Texans- WR Cordarrelle Patterson (Tennessee)
Patterson won’t fall to them in reality, but wide receiver is a big position of need for the Texans. He has the size they like.
28. Denver Broncos- DT Michael Brockers (LSU)
The Broncos finish off the top-3 defensive tackles from 2012. Brockers was a raw pass rusher coming out, but John Fox will like his ability to stuff the run from day 1.
29. New England Patriots- CB Xavier Rhodes (Florida State)
The Patriots get 2013’s #2 cornerback here at 29. I think they’d be pretty happy with that considering how poor their pass defense was last season, especially without Aqib Talib, who is only on a one year deal.
30. Atlanta Falcons- OLB Jarvis Jones (Georgia)
The Falcons grab a hometown pass rusher that can play in a 3-4.
31. San Francisco 49ers- S Kenny Vaccaro (Texas)
The 49ers could trade up for Vaccaro in reality because they have a big hole at safety after losing Dashon Goldson. They don’t have to here.
32. Baltimore Ravens- MLB Dont’a Hightower (Alabama)
The Ravens were known to have a lot of interest in Hightower last year. He went one pick before them to the Patriots so the Ravens traded out of the 1st round completely, but they get him here as a successor for Ray Lewis.
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