For months, the top three picks in the 2014 NFL Draft have been Blake Bortles, Jadeveon Clowney and Teddy Bridgewater, in that order. While speculation that Bridgewater could slide as far as the second round has recently run rampant on the Internet, I'm sticking to my guns. He's the best quarterback in the class, and while I believe the Texans will prefer Blake Bortles due to his prototypical size, I can't understand why the Jaguars would pass on the opportunity to take him.
So my mock draft will continue to reflect Bridgewater as the No. 3 pick until I have a more legitimate reason than a mediocre pro day performance to do so:
# | Team | Player | Pos | College |
1 | Houston Texans | Blake Bortles | QB | Central Florida |
2 | Atlanta Falcons (via WAS thru STL) | Jadeveon Clowney | DE | South Carolina |
3 | Jacksonville Jaguars | Teddy Bridgewater | QB | Louisville |
4 | Detroit Lions (via CLE) | Sammy Watkins | WR | Clemson |
5 | Oakland Raiders | Khalil Mack | OLB | Buffalo |
6 | St. Louis Rams (via ATL) | Greg Robinson | OT | Auburn |
7 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Mike Evans | WR | Texas A&M |
8 | Minnesota Vikings | C.J. Mosley | LB | Alabama |
9 | Buffalo Bills | Jake Matthews | OT | Texas A&M |
10 | Cleveland Browns (via DET) | Justin Gilbert | CB | Oklahoma State |
11 | Tennessee Titans | Anthony Barr | OLB | UCLA |
12 | New York Giants | Eric Ebron | TE | North Carolina |
13 | St. Louis Rams | Ha Ha Clinton-Dix | S | Alabama |
14 | Chicago Bears | Ra'Shede Hageman | DT | Minnesota |
15 | Pittsburgh Steelers | Kyle Fuller | CB | Virginia Tech |
16 | Baltimore Ravens | Taylor Lewan | OT | Michigan |
17 | Dallas Cowboys | Aaron Donald | DT | Pittsburgh |
18 | New York Jets | Brandin Cooks | WR | Oregon State |
19 | Miami Dolphins | Ryan Shazier | OLB | Ohio State |
20 | Arizona Cardinals | Derek Carr | QB | Fresno State |
21 | Green Bay Packers | Calvin Pryor | S | Louisville |
22 | Philadelphia Eagles | Odell Beckham Jr. | WR | LSU |
23 | Kansas City Chiefs | Marqise Lee | WR | USC |
24 | Cincinnati Bengals | Darqueze Dennard | CB | Michigan State |
25 | San Diego Chargers | Louis Nix | DT | Notre Dame |
26 | Cleveland Browns (via IND) | Johnny Manziel | QB | Texas A&M |
27 | New Orleans Saints | Jason Verrett | CB | TCU |
28 | Carolina Panthers | Kelvin Benjamin | WR | Florida State |
29 | New England Patriots | Xavier Su'a-Filo | G | UCLA |
30 | San Francisco 49ers | Bradley Roby | CB | Ohio State |
31 | Denver Broncos | Zack Martin | OT | Notre Dame |
32 | Seattle Seahawks | Stephon Tuitt | DE | Notre Dame |
33 | Houston Texans | Dee Ford | OLB | Auburn |
34 | Washington Redskins | Cyrus Kouandjio | OT | Alabama |
35 | Cleveland Browns | Gabe Jackson | G | Mississippi State |
36 | Oakland Raiders | Zach Mettenberger | QB | LSU |
37 | St. Louis Rams (via ATL) | Antonio Richardson | OT | Tennessee |
38 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Christian Jones | LB | Florida State |
39 | Jacksonville Jaguars | Jace Amaro | TE | Texas Tech |
Note: I projected two trades in the mock: The Falcons moving up to acquire Jadeveon Clowney and the Lions moving up to acquire Sammy Watkins. While I didn't work out compensation, I assumed that trading from No. 6 to No. 2 would cost the Falcons their No. 37 selection.