The NFL Draft is on Thursday, April 30th which means it will all finally be over. Oh sweet death, give me one last caress. As we get close to the draft, it usually gets more absurd and people over think it. You'll get a lot of crazy mock drafts and a lot of stupid mock drafts. I have yet to do an actual mock draft, so here is mine.
It is stupid and probably wrong.
1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Jameis Winston, QB, FSU
2. Tennessee Titans - Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon
3. Jacksonville Jaguars - Bud Dupree, DE/LB, Kentucky
This will be the only pick I explain, and I'll explain it like this: The Jaguars desperately need a pass rusher. The team had a lot of sacks last season, but not a lot of quarterback pressures, which is a big reason teams still seemingly passed at will against the Jaguars. The reason I'm picking Dupree here, because the more I think about it the more he seems like the best fit. He's as good an athlete as Vic Beasley, but he's bigger than Dante Fowler. He didn't have a lot of production at Kentucky, but he was asked to do quite a bit in their defensive scheme. For the Jaguars, he would just be asked to be a package pass rusher early both with his hand on the ground and standing up, similar to how the Seattle Seahawks used Bruce Irvin as a rookie, which is who I compare Dupree to. He offers plus size, plus athleticism and plus upside which is similar to Dave Caldwell's picks in nearly every draft when you go back and look at the players. Putting Dupree in the hands of defensive line coach Todd Wash seems like the perfect fit for this team.
4. Oakland Raiders - Leonard Williams, DT, USC
5. Washington Redskins - Vic Beasley, OLB, Clemson
6. New York Jets - Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama
7. Chicago Bears - Trae Waynes, CB, Michigan State
8. Atlanta Falcons - Dante Fowler, OLB, Florida
9. New York Giants - Andrus Peat, OT, Stanford
10. St. Louis Rams - La'el Collins, OT, LSU
11. Minnesota Vikings - DeVante Parker, WR, Louisville
12. Cleveland Browns - Danny Shelton, DT, Washington
13. New Orleans Saints - Randy Gregory, OLB, Nebraska
14. Miami Dolphins - Todd Gurley, RB, Georgia
15. San Francisco 49ers - Arik Armstead, DE, Oregon
16. Houston Texans - Brandon Scherff, OG, Iowa
17. San Diego Chargers - Kevin White, WR, WVU
18. Kansas City Chiefs - Kevin Johnson, CB, Wake Forest
19. Cleveland Browns - Mario Edwards, DE, Florida State
20. Philadelphia Eagles - Landon Collins, S, Alabama
21. Cincinnati Bengals - Jake Fisher, OT, Oregon
22. Pittsburgh Steelers - Eli Harold, OLB, Virginia
23. Detroit Lions - Jordan Phillips, DT, Oklahoma
24. Arizona Cardinals - Shane Ray, OLB, Missouri
25. Carolina Panthers - Cedric Ogbuehi, OT, Texas A&M
26. Baltimore Ravens - Melvin Gordon, RB, Wisconsin
27. Dallas Cowboys - Jay Ajayi, RB, Boise State
28. Denver Broncos - Cam Erving, OL, Florida State
29. Indianapolis Colts - Ereck Flowers, OT, Miami
30. Green Bay Packers - Eric Kendricks, LB, UCLA
31. New Orleans Saints - Nelson Agholor, WR, USC
32. New England Patriots - Eddie Goldman, DL, Florida State
I didn't do any trades on purpose, but keep an eye out for the Atlanta Falcons looking to move up for Dante Fowler.