NFL Mock Draft

Pick #	Team	Selection	Position	School	Comments	Possible Trade Target
1	Houston Texans	Jadeveon Clowney	DE	South Carolina	The best prospect by a mile in the draft.  Even if someone trades up, Clowney should be the pick.	Blake Bortles
2	St. Louis Rams	Greg Robinson	OT	Auburn	The Rams will listen, but I think nothing will sway them from taking the best of a good group of tackles.	Khalil Mack
3	Jacksonville Jaguars	Khalil Mack	OLB/DE	Buffalo	Mack would probably be the best pass rusher in a non-Clowney draft.	Jadeveon Clowney
4	Cleveland Browns	Sammy Watkins	WR	Clemson	As tempting as Manziel will be, I think the Browns can get their quarterback later.  Watkins/Gordon will instantly be a top 3 receiver combo.	Johnny Manziel
5	Oakland Raiders	Mike Evans	WR	Texas A&M	The ghost of Al Davis lives with another receiver in the top-5.  Best in-air skills in the draft.	Khalil Mack
6	Atlanta Falcons	Jake Matthews	OT	Texas A&M	They will look to trade up or down for a pass rusher, but will settle for a good tackle if they stay put.	Jadeveon Clowney
7	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Aaron Donald	DT	Pittsburgh	I don't see them taking a quarterback with so many other needs.  Donald could end up being the second best player in the draft.	Mike Evans
8	Minnesota Vikings	Justin Gilbert	CB	Oklahoma St.	The Vikings will be a high possibility to trade into the back end of the round for a quarterback, so they shore up their secondary here.	Blake Bortles
9	Buffalo Bills	Taylor Lewan	OT	Michigan	As much as Ebron makes sense here, Scott Chandler is serviceable while their O-line is not.	Jadeveon Clowney
10	Detroit Lions	Darquez Dennard	CB	Michigan St.	The Lions need help in the secondary and Dennard will be a definite upgrade.	Sammy Watkins
11	Tennessee Titans	Anthony Barr	OLB/DE	UCLA	I think the Titans roll with Locker for one more season, and get some much needed pass rush help.	Blake Bortles
12	New York Giants	Zack Martin	OT	Notre Dame	Eli Manning cannot handle pressure so if the Giants want to contend they must keep him upright.	Aaron Donald
13	St. Louis Rams	Ha Ha Clinton-Dix	S	Alabama	The biggest weakness on the team is solidified by the well-rounded Clinton-Dix.	Mike Evans
14	Chicago Bears	Calvin Pryor	S	Louisville	Chicago is lacking a starting safety, and no other needs match the players available here.	Aaron Donald
15	Pittsburgh Steelers	Kyle Fuller	CB	Virginia Tech	Pittsburgh gave up a very un-Steeler-like amount of passing yards last year and will look to fix that problem.	Darquez Dennard
16	Dallas Cowboys	Ryan Shazier	OLB	Ohio State	I doubt the Cowboys stay here with Manziel still available, but if they do they take the best defender left.	Aaron Donald
17	Baltimore Ravens	Eric Ebron	TE	North Carolina	Joe Flacco does back-flips after adding Steve Smith and Ebron to Torrey Smith and Pitta.	Calvin Pryor
18	New York Jets	Odell Beckham Jr.	WR	LSU	The Jets are lacking one more receiving option opposite Decker.	Brandin Cooks
19	Miami Dolphins	Cyrus Kouandjio	OT	Alabama	The Dolphins will probably go tackle no matter what here, and Cyrus seems like the best fit.	Zack Martin
20	Arizona Cardinals	Blake Bortles	QB	UCF	Arizona would have been happy with Carr; but will be ecstatic to get Bortles.	Johnny Manziel
21	Green Bay Packers	C.J. Mosley	LB	Alabama	Mosley has probably been the best player on the board for a few picks, so you know that the Packers will snap him up.	Ryan Shazier
22	Philadelphia Eagles	Brandin Cooks	WR	Oregon St.	Fastest receiver in the draft going to Chip Kelly? Sounds like a perfect fit.	Odell Beckham
23	Kansas City Chiefs	Marqise Lee	WR	USC	Alex Smith needs a downfield target and will Cooks off the board, they will settle for Lee.	Brandin Cooks
24	Cincinnati Bengals	Bradley Roby	CB	Ohio State	Cincy needs a corner and has no problem with head cases (Pac-Man, Geno Atkins, Ochocinco, etc.)	Ryan Shazier
25	San Diego Chargers	Louise Nix	DT	Notre Dame	San Diego will definitely go defensive front seven, and I think Nix is the best left here.	Anthony Barr
26	Cleveland Browns	Johnny Manziel	QB	Texas A&M	The Browns get what they want after all, although I would still rather have Bridgewater.	Teddy Bridgewater
27	New Orleans Saints	Jason Verrett	CB	TCU	New Orleans would love to slip Champ Bailey into the slot, and Verrett gives them that option.  A top-8 pick if 2 inches taller.	Kyle Van Noy
28	Carolina Panthers	Morgan Moses	OT	Virginia	Carolina is screwed at left tackle after Jordan Gross retired so they will most definitely take one in the first two rounds.	Marqise Lee
29	New England Patriots	Ra'Shede Hageman	DE/DT	Minnesota	The Patriots need depth on their defensive line and Hageman is a big body to pair with Vince Wilfork.	Stephon Tuitt
30	San Francisco 49ers	Stan Jean-Baptiste	CB	Nebraska	A lot of people are thinking receiver here, but I think San Fran shores up their secondary.	Cody Latimer
31	Denver Broncos	Lamarcus Joyner	DB	Florida St.	The Broncos reach a little bit to get the versatility of Joyner.  He will be like a Charles Woodson-type roaming all over the field.	Jason Verrett
32	Seattle Seahawks	Joel Bitonio	OL	Nevada	Seattle goes with a multitalented offensive lineman who can play anywhere along the line.	Xavier Su'a-Filo

Obviously I am not factoring trades into my actual selections, but I did select a player that each team might target to trade up or down for.  For instance, Teddy Bridgewater will get drafted tonight almost assuredly.  It will probably be the Texans/Raiders/Jaguars/Vikings trading back into the last few picks of the first round.  Any of the last four teams will be willing to trade down several picks to pick up a first or second rounder next year.  The other trade most likely to happen is with the Cowboys at 16.  If Manziel is still available, they will not take him but will most likely trade down with the Cardinals or Browns.  An appealing scenario there might be the Texans trading the 33^rd pick, their first rounder next year, and a mid-rounder this year to get up to 16 for Johnny Football.  They would be too good to pass up for Dallas, which needs more than one key player to solidify its roster.

Now for the Cowboys actual selections, there are a number of players at 16 (or lower) that would help them now.  Aaron Donald, Anthony Barr, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Calvin Pryor, Ryan Shazier and Louis Nix would all be immediate starters and upgrades to their current defense.  It would be ideal to trade down a few spots, pick up an extra pick or two, and get Shazier, Nix or Timmy Jernigan.  The other sought after scenario would be Donald falling to them at 16, but that is looking less and less likely. 

One final scenario that has not been mentioned much but is definitely in play: trade up to number 1 for Clowney.  What would it take?  Going by the draft pick value guide, they would need to give Houston numbers 16, 48, a first rounder next year, a first rounder the year after and swap down in the fourth for their fifth round pick.  Now, would that be worth it for Clowney?  If he is the game-changing, Hall-of-Fame projection that some teams have him as, then yes I would do it.  Could you maybe switch the second first-round pick to a second or third and still get it done? Possibly, and then I would definitely do it.  But think about it this way: how much of a Twitter-Blow up, ESPN headlining splash would that be?  Then, how much would that tickle Jerry’s “Glory Hole”? 

For once, I would be okay with it.  The Cowboys are not one player away from being a Super Bowl favorite.  However, unlike previous trades that yielded a second-tier (arguably) corner, a third round player at the end of the first, and a spare tight end, they would be getting a game-changing, best player in the draft.  If Clowney is on the field with a healthy Dallas defense, they would be a playoff favorite for sure.  Then, it’s a dice roll anyway.