It’s that time of the year when teams are getting ready for the off-season and making moves to get under the salary cap ahead of free agency. Then there is also the NFL Scouting Combine, where teams watch players go through workouts and interviews with them. The teams also have some lines of back-channel communication about potential trades, free agents, etc. You will also see many mock drafts by different experts, and there will be more than one throughout March leading up to the draft.
The mock drafts are fun to look at to see what people think teams will do, which players will fall, etc. Some are ridiculous, and some make sense, but it’s good to have an opinion, so I decided to try my own mock draft in the first round of the NFL Draft before the combine. Here we go.
1 – Tennessee Titans- Cam Ward QB, Miami
2 – Cleveland Browns- Abdul Carter Edge, Penn St.
3 – New York Giants- Shedur Sanders QB, Colorado
4 – New England Patriots- Mason Graham DL, Michigan
5 – Jacksonville Jaguars- Travis Hunter CB, Colorado
6 – Las Vegas Raiders- Will Johnson CB, Michigan
7 – New York Jets- Will Campbell OL, LSU
8 – Carolina Panthers- Tetairoa Williams WR, Arizona
9 – New Orleans Saints- Ty Warren TE, Penn St
10 – Chicago Bears- Kelvin Banks OT, Texas
11 – San Francisco 49ers- Kalon Walker LB, Georgia
12 – Dallas Cowboys- Ashton Jeanty RB, Boise St
13 – Miami Dolphins- Kenneth Grant DT, Michigan
14 – Indianapolis Colts- Malaki Starks S, Georgia
15 – Atlanta Falcons- Shemar Stewart Edge, Texas A & M
16 – Arizona Cardinals- Mike Green Edge, Marshall
17 – Cincinnati Bengals- Walter Nolan DT, Ole Miss
18 -Seattle Seahawks- Josh Simmons OT, Ohio State
19 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers- Luther Burden WR, Missouri
20 – Denver Broncos- Colston Loveland TE, Michigan
21 – Pittsburgh Steelers- Emeka Egbuka WR Ohio St
22 – Los Angelas Chargers- Omarion Hampton RB, NC
23 – Green Bay Packers- Jahdae Barron CB, Texas
24 – Minnesota Vikings- Nick Emmanwori S, South Carolina
25 – Houston Texans- Tyler Booker G, Alabama
26 – Los Angelas Rams- Jaxson Dart QB, Ole Miss
27 – Baltimore Ravens- Josh Conerly OT, Oregon
28 – Detroit Lions- Nick Scourton Edge, Texas A & M
29 – Washington Commanders- Maxwell Hairston CB, Kentucky
30 – Buffalo Bills- Derrick Harmon DT, Oregon
31- Kansas City Chiefs- Armand Membou OT, Missouri
32 – Philadelphia Eagles- Aireontae Ersery OT, Minnesota
That’s it. I know people might like I don’t have the Dolphins taking an offensive lineman, but they also have a big need for a DT next to Zach Seiler and they have to look ahead with Seiler about to turn 30 and nobody else. Plus, the Dolphins need some new young blood on defense, and they need to push the pocket and collapse on the quarterback. A lot of mock drafts have the Dolphins taking a guard or safety. Chris Grier won’t take a guard that high.
Safety, maybe, but you have to build the foundation of your football team before you can work on the outside. If one of the top offensive linemen falls to the Dolphins, then maybe you take them. I would like to see the Dolphins try to trade down to get more picks because they have to add young talent to an aging roster and a cap-strapped team, but this mock draft has no trades.
Feel free to comment on what you think. We all have opinions, especially around draft time when dissecting mock drafts.
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