2016 NFL Mock Draft: Projections for Next Year's Draft Class
NFL draft season never ends, folks—the 2016 NFL draft is right around the corner.
Sure, the globe has yet to witness the fallout from the Jameis Winston-Marcus Mariota drama of the 2015 draft, but it's a poor excuse to not take a peek ahead to the future.
There, fans will find a stacked class ripe with elite secondary, defensive line and—perhaps more important than anything—quarterback prospects.
It's early and quite a lot can change, but the current outlook of the 2016 class is both a breath of fresh air in comparison to this year's offering and something to get to know right away.
So let's get right to it with a look at where the top prospects may end up. The order is opinion, with the results based on team need, value of the pick and stock of the prospect.
2016 NFL Mock Draft
| 1 | Oakland Raiders | Vernon Hargreaves, CB, Florida |
| 2 | Cleveland Browns | Joey Bosa, DE, Ohio State |
| 3 | Tennessee Titans | Laquon Treadwell, WR, Ole Miss |
| 4 | Jacksonville Jaguars | Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Ohio State |
| 5 | Washington | Laremy Tunsil, OT, Ole Miss |
| 6 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Kendall Fuller, CB, Virginia Tech |
| 7 | New York Jets | Cardale Jones, QB, Ohio State |
| 8 | New York Giants | DeForest Buckner, DL, Oregon |
| 9 | Chicago Bears | Robert Nkemdiche, DE, Ole Miss |
| 10 | Kansas City Chiefs | Duke Williams, WR, Auburn |
| 11 | Buffalo Bills | Myles Jack, LB, UCLA |
| 12 | Atlanta Falcons | Nate Andrews, S, Florida State |
| 13 | Pittsburgh Steelers | Shilique Calhoun, DE/OLB, Michigan State |
| 14 | Minnesota Vikings | Tyler Boyd, WR, Pittsburgh |
| 15 | Miami Dolphins | Ronnie Stanley, OT, Notre Dame |
| 16 | San Francisco 49ers | Scooby Wright, DE/OLB, Arizona |
| 17 | St. Louis Rams | Travin Duval, WR, LSU |
| 18 | Houston Texans | Spencer Drango, OT, Baylor |
| 19 | New Orleans Saints | Connor Cook, QB, Michigan State |
| 20 | Philadelphia Eagles | Jalen Ramsey, CB, Florida State |
| 21 | Detroit Lions | Su'a Cravens, S, USC |
| 22 | San Diego Chargers | Leonard Floyd, DE/OLB, Georgia |
| 23 | Carolina Panthers | Derrick Henry, RB, Alabama |
| 24 | Arizona Cardinals | Jaylon Smith, LB, Notre Dame |
| 25 | Baltimore Ravens | A'Shawn Robinson, DT, Alabama |
| 26 | Dallas Cowboys | Eddie Jackson, CB, Alabama |
| 27 | Cincinnati Bengals | Christian Hackenberg, QB, Penn State |
| 28 | Indianapolis Colts | Shawn Oakman, DE/DT, Baylor |
| 29 | Denver Broncos | O.J. Howard, TE, Alabama |
| 30 | Green Bay Packers | Zack Sanchez, CB, Oklahoma |
| 31 | New England Patriots | Carl Lawson, DE/OLB, Auburn |
| 32 | Seattle Seahawks | Cameron Sutton, CB, Tennessee |
Early Prospects to Know and Ideal Fits
Christian Hackenberg, QB, Penn State
Penn State junior quarterback Christian Hackenberg has the look of an NFL quarterback at 6'4" and 236 pounds and the arm of one, too.
| 2014 | 55.8 | 2977 | 12 | 15 |
| 2013 | 58.9 | 2955 | 20 | 10 |
Hackenberg's numbers don't jump off the page, but the fact he runs a pro-style offense under the tutelage of James Franklin makes him one of the top names to watch next season.
While he suffered a bit of a down season last year in what was a wild ride for the Nittany Lions, Hackenberg finished things with a bang in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl against Boston College, throwing for 371 yards and four touchdowns with no picks in a one-point overtime triumph.
If the performance is a sign of things to come, Hackenberg will climb draft boards in a hurry. Sports Illustrated's Andrew Perloff offers the difference to watch between top signal-callers next year:
Should Hackenberg perform to expectations next year, it's going to be hard for a team such as the Cincinnati Bengals to ignore him. A team comfortable with its starter but yearning for more won't mind throwing the Penn State product into a competition and rolling with the winner.
Ideal Fit: Cincinnati Bengals
Joey Bosa, DE, Ohio State
Anyone who caught an Ohio State game last season knows Joey Bosa will be on to bigger things sooner rather than later.
Bosa is the most disruptive force in college football, a notion he reinforced last year by terrorizing quarterbacks on a weekly basis en route to the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award.
It's hard to imagine Bosa's performance dips with another year under his belt. Ohio State coach Urban Meyer isn't expecting any sort of dip, per Bill Bender of Sporting News:
“I think he should be the best D-lineman in America. He’s got a tremendous work ethic. He and (defensive line coach Larry) Johnson have a tremendous chemistry right now; the way they are working. He's trying to take his game to the next level, which we all know is pretty high.”
At the next level, Bosa can play pretty much anywhere and figures to have an impact. Look at a team like the Cleveland Browns, though, which will perhaps need another contributor on the defensive side of things by the time the draft rolls around.
Ideal Fit: Cleveland Browns
Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Ohio State
Let's just stick with those Buckeyes. Get used to it, too, because this is what happens when Meyer controls the recruiting.
Folks know the deal with Ezekiel Elliott. He's a human bowling ball who in his first year as a starter last season ran 273 times for 1,878 yards and 18 touchdowns on a 6.9 per-carry average.
Even better, Elliott turned it on when his team needed it most, rushing for a minimum of 220 yards and two scores over the course of Ohio State's final three games, one the Big Ten Championship, the other two College Football Playoff encounters.
It would be quite interesting to see where Elliott would stack up against Todd Gurley and Melvin Gordon in the 2015 class, but he'll just have to settle for bulldozing the collegiate level one more season before heading the 2016 class.
There, he's a strong fit with a team like the Jacksonville Jaguars, a team in need of a centerpiece in the backfield to help along a developing quarterback.
Ideal Fit: Jacksonville Jaguars
Vernon Hargreaves, CB, Florida
Get ready for the next big thing at cornerback.
Vernon Hargreaves would be more of a household name if quarterbacks actually threw his way, but those occurrences are few and far between—even in the SEC—because of his elite skill set.
As ESPN.com's Steve Muench and Kevin Weidl wrote at the end of last season, Hargreaves compares to the best of the best with two collegiate seasons in the books:
"Hargreaves was the top cornerback in college football this year, and shares similar qualities to Darrelle Revis. He is a smooth athlete who possesses adequate size and shows great balance to mirror receivers when locked up in man coverage. The sophomore also has outstanding instincts and anticipation that allows him to be a playmaker (24 pass breakups and five interceptions in his career). While he can continue to clean up his technique as a tackler, he is willing and aggressive in run support.
"
Hargreaves is best with whichever team clutches a pick in the top three and wants to pull the trigger first.
In this scenario, it's the Oakland Raiders, a rebuilding team with plenty of talent up front but in need of a better long-term outlook across from D.J. Hayden.
Ideal Fit: Oakland Raiders
Stats courtesy of NFL.com and accurate as of April 29. All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus.
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