NFL Mock Draft 2015: Projections for Most Hyped 1st-Round Prospects

Earning a first-round NFL draft selection is both a blessing and curse.

On the bright side: more money, recognition and better chances of landing a starting gig. But with those perks comes pulverizing pressure with little room for growth. Either be great like the team investing its top pick expects, or forever face the dreaded bust label.

But, hey, it'll probably all work out fine. With less than two weeks remaining until draft day, let's take another swing at mocking the opening round.

Pick	Team	Selection
1	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Jameis Winston, QB, Florida State
2	Tennessee Titans	Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon
3	Jacksonville Jaguars	Leonard Williams, DE, USC
4	Oakland Raiders	Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama
5	Washington Redskins	Dante Fowler Jr., DE/OLB, Florida
6	New York Jets	Shane Ray, DE/OLB, Missouri
7	Chicago Bears	Kevin White, WR, West Virginia
8	Atlanta Falcons	Vic Beasley, OLB, Clemson
9	New York Giants	Brandon Scherff, OT, Iowa
10	St. Louis Rams	Andrus Peat, OT, Stanford
11	Minnesota Vikings	DeVante Parker, WR, Louisville
12	Cleveland Browns	Danny Shelton, DT, Washington
13	New Orleans Saints	Randy Gregory, DE/OLB, Nebraska
14	Miami Dolphins	Landon Collins, S, Alabama
15	San Francisco 49ers	Trae Waynes, CB, Michigan State
16	Houston Texans	Jaelen Strong, WR, Arizona State
17	San Diego Chargers	Eddie Goldman, DT, Florida State
18	Kansas City Chiefs	La'el Collins, OT, LSU
19	Cleveland Browns (via Buffalo)	T.J. Clemmings, OT, Pittsburgh
20	Philadelphia Eagles	Dorial Green-Beckham, WR, Oklahoma
21	Cincinnati Bengals	Alvin Dupree, DE/OLB, Kentucky
22	Pittsburgh Steelers	Marcus Peters, CB, Washington
23	Detroit Lions	Ereck Flowers, OT Miami
24	Arizona Cardinals	Arik Armstead, DE/OLB, Oregon
25	Carolina Panthers	D.J. Humphries, OT, Florida
26	Baltimore Ravens	Breshad Perriman, WR, UCF
27	Dallas Cowboys	Melvin Gordon, RB, Wisconsin
28	Denver Broncos	Maxx Williams, TE, Minnesota
29	Indianapolis Colts	Malcom Brown, DT, Texas
30	Green Bay Packers	Benardrick McKinney, ILB, Mississippi State
31	New Orleans Saints (via Seattle)	Eric Kendricks, ILB, UCLA
32	New England Patriots	Todd Gurley, RB, Georgia

Most Hyped Prospects

Hype is a dangerous poison when lofted onto the wrong person. When someone meets our seemingly impossible expectations, we celebrate our genius for spotting greatness. When they falter, we scoff and learn little to nothing.

Khalil Mack drew rave reviews across the aisle before last year's draft, and the No. 5 pick delivered for the Oakland Raiders. For every success story, however, there's a Johnny Manziel who doesn't immediately reach superstar heights.

Nobody will learn to temper expectations anytime soon, so these guys will either become beloved Pro Bowlers or abject failures in the public eye. 

Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon

Despite running and throwing circles around Jameis Winston all year, Marcus Mariota fell out of favor as the No. 1 pick. Then he started sliding more, only to make a late comeback into the No. 2 spot.

Whether the Tennessee Titans draft him or trade down to someone else who wants the Oregon quarterback, that's where Mariota should now land.

All eyes are on the Heisman Trophy winner, and for good reason. He scored 58 touchdowns during a sensational junior year, averaging a resounding 10.01 yards per pass attempt alongside a 68.3 completion percentage.

To anyone scoffing at Oregon's fast-paced spread offense, have you watched the NFL recently? If anything, being a potent dual-threat quarterback who masters the uptempo style gives Mariota an advantage as NFL offenses evolve.

So don't place much stock into an NFL personnel man telling Yahoo Sports' Charles Robinson, "If [Mariota] doesn't go in the top six picks, he could do an Aaron Rodgers." In 2005, the future superstar fell into the Green Bay Packers' lap at pick No. 24.

Mariota, however, will go in the top six, with the New York Jets serving as his safety net.

According to Bleacher Report NFL Insider Jason Cole, video above, the Jets "want to move on from Geno Smith." Yet given all the interest, they'll likely have to trade up to bring him to the Big Apple.

Kevin White, WR, West Virginia

At the start of 2015, Amari Cooper was considered the runaway top wide receiver after corralling an SEC-record 124 receptions during his junior year. Then Kevin White ran a 4.35 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine.

Along with his breakaway speed, White has Cooper beat in the size department. The 6'3", 215-pound wideout fits the desired frame, and his 109 catches and 1,447 yards for West Virginia isn't bad either.

For those reasons, many mock drafts tie White to the Oakland Raiders instead of Cooper. Robinson, however, said the battle remains close between the top-two receivers:

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But distinguishing the pair by pure speed became even tougher when NFL teams got official unreleased data (the stuff that isn't shared with the media) from combine workouts. In reality, both ran faster than the times released by the NFL Network. Cooper ran in the window of 4.35 to 4.38 seconds, and White was listed in the window of 4.32-4.35. 

As time has gone on, Cooper's tape has helped him immensely, as well as individual workouts. One highly regarded source in the scouting community raved about Cooper's route-running in March, and said of his pass-catching ability: "You rarely ever hear the ball hit his hands."

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Pitting them against each other creates drama, but both are top-10 picks anyway. After trading Brandon Marshall, the Chicago Bears can give Alshon Jeffery another star running mate at pick No. 7.  

Trae Waynes, CB, Michigan State

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

Trae Waynes has distanced himself as this year's best incoming cornerback, moving up the big board after a strong combine.

He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.31 seconds, the fastest finish among all cornerbacks and the second-best time overall behind J.J. Nelson's 4.28. Waynes also strutted his strength with 19 bench-press reps.

The bump-and-run corner played physical coverage for the Spartans, but he might need to adjust his technique with the NFL quick to call illegal contact and defensive holding. Luckily he's open to change:

All of a sudden, Waynes is drawing speculation as a top-10 pick. NJ.com's Nick Powell made the case for the New York Giants snagging him at No. 9 to join fellow corners Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Prince Amukamara: 

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Waynes would give the Giants a guy to develop behind Rodgers-Cromartie and Amukamara next season, and groom him for a starting role down the road. Amukamara is a free agent after the season, and is facing a big contract year after missing half the 2014 season with a torn biceps. Rodgers-Cromartie's $10 million signing bonus makes him difficult to cut after this season, but his cap hit drops significantly after his third year, and by that time, the Giants could decide to move on.

It might seem like a luxury to have three first-round cornerbacks on one roster, but in this era of NFL offenses, where three and four-wide receiver sets are commonplace, it's more or less a requirement to go at least three deep at cornerback.

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While Brandon Scherff is a better choice for their mediocre offensive line, Waynes becomes a possibility if the Iowa guard falls off the board. He's unlikely to slip past the upper half of the opening round, as the San Francisco 49ers need secondary help with Chris Culliver and Perrish Cox gone.