NFL Mock Draft 2017: Round 1 Projections for Class' Pivotal Prospects

The 2017 NFL draft is roughly a month away, and speculation about how the first round will unfold is beginning to heat up. While we think we can predict which prospects will go in the opening round, we have no real way of knowing the order in which they'll come off the board.

The general assumption is that former Texas A&M pass-rusher Myles Garrett will be taken first overall on the draft's opening night. After that, the order of selections is quite unpredictable. It's easy to link players to teams—as we're going to do in this mock draft—but one unexpected selection could change the course of the entire draft.

For example, an early, unexpected selection of a quarterback or receiver could start a run at the position. The same is true for running backs. While this is believed to be a draft deep in overall talent, there are only a handful of truly top prospects at certain positions—and these are the guys pivotal to the early stages of the draft.

Here, we'll run down the current draft order and make our projections for each pick based on factors like team needs, team fit, player potential and prospect stock. We'll also examine the latest buzz surrounding some of the draft's most pivotal prospects.

2017 NFL Mock Draft

Pick	NFL Team	Proj. Selection
1	Cleveland Browns	Myles Garrett, DE, Texas A&M
2	San Francisco 49ers	Jamal Adams, S, LSU
3	Chicago Bears	Solomon Thomas, DE, Stanford
4	Jacksonville Jaguars	Leonard Fournette, RB, LSU
5	Tennessee Titans (from LAR)	Corey Davis, WR, Western Michigan
6	New York Jets	Malik Hooker, S, Ohio State
7	Los Angeles Chargers	Jonathan Allen, DL, Alabama
8	Carolina Panthers	Marshon Lattimore, CB, Ohio State
9	Cincinnati Bengals	Haason Reddick, LB, Temple
10	Buffalo Bills	Mike Williams, WR, Clemson
11	New Orleans Saints	Derek Barnett, DE, Tennessee
12	Cleveland Browns (from PHI)	Mitchell Trubisky, QB, North Carolina
13	Arizona Cardinals	Deshaun Watson, QB, Clemson
14	Philadelphia Eagles (from MIN)	Tre'Davious White, CB, LSU
15	Indianapolis Colts	Reuben Foster, LB, Alabama
16	Baltimore Ravens	O.J. Howard, TE, Alabama
17	Washington Redskins	Malik McDowell, DT, Michigan State
18	Tennessee Titans	Takkarist McKinley, LB, UCLA
19	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Dalvin Cook, RB, Florida State
20	Denver Broncos	Christian McCaffrey, RB, Stanford
21	Detroit Lions	Gareon Conley, CB, Ohio State
22	Miami Dolphins	Teez Tabor, CB, Florida
23	New York Giants	David Njoku, TE, Miami
24	Oakland Raiders	Marlon Humphrey, CB, Alabama
25	Houston Texans	Jabrill Peppers, LB, Michigan
26	Seattle Seahawks	Forrest Lamp, OL, Western Kentucky
27	Kansas City Chiefs	John Ross, WR, Washington
28	Dallas Cowboys	Taco Charlton, DE, Michigan
29	Green Bay Packers	T.J. Watt, LB, Wisconsin
30	Pittsburgh Steelers	Tim Williams, LB, Alabama
31	Atlanta Falcons	Dan Feeney, OG, Indiana
32	New Orleans Saints (from NE)	Budda Baker, S, Washington

Latest Buzz

Panthers Might Be Sold on Leonard Fournette

The general consensus seems to be that the top three running backs in this year's class are former LSU back Leonard Fournette, former Stanford playmaker Christian McCaffrey and Florida State product Dalvin Cook.

A run at the position could occur if one of these three come off the board early in Round 1.

According to Jeremy Igo of Carolina Huddle, one running back might not make it past the Carolina Panthers at No. 8 overall:

I have Fournette going earlier in this mock, as I think he could really change the way the Jacksonville Jaguars run their offense. However, If Igo is correct, then there's no way Fournette makes it out of the top 10.

This could easily cause running back-needy teams to try moving up in the draft in order to secure McCaffrey or Cook. For teams that don't need a running back, this could create an ideal opportunity to move down and still snag a top-tier prospect.

Is Hooker the Best Safety in the Draft?

While this draft is deep in defensive talent, there are only a couple of safeties who appear worthy of an early Round 1 selection. One is former LSU standout Jamal Adams. The other is Ohio State product Malik Hooker.

I have Adams coming off the board first because he is the more experienced safety and I believe he can have more immediate impact. He should quickly be able to do a lot of things to impact what a team is able to do defensively.

"Adams is versatile, with the ability to serve as a run defender near the line of scrimmage and play deep as a free safety," Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com recently explained. "He also has the ball production scouts look for in college with five career interceptions."

Williams doesn't believe Adams will even make it to the seventh overall pick in Round 1.

Hooker, though, may actually have the better upside. While he only made 13 starts at Ohio State, his ability to find and make plays on the ball was impressive. He's a true center-field safety who has drawn comparisons to one Ed Reed.

"It's definitely an honor," Hooker said, per Conor Orr of NFL.com. "It's a great thing for me personally to be named in the same sentence as a great like Ed Reed. It's a humbling thing. It tells me I gotta keep working until people say that I'm a great. It's just shocking, man, a great thing for me."

There are bound to be a few teams that view Hooker as the superior safety prospect. Depending on where these teams sit in the draft order, they could heavily impact how the first round unfolds.

If Adams is off the board within the first few picks, one of these teams could try trading up in order to grab the Reed-like safety. If one of these teams is picking at the top of the draft, Adams could wind up being the safety who slides a bit.

If both of these guys go early, another safety, like Washington's Budda Baker, could end up being drafted earlier than expected.

Browns to Work Out Mitchell Trubisky

We don't know if there will actually be a run on quarterbacks in the first round of the draft, but we do know that the Cleveland Browns will be in the best position to potentially start one. The Browns own the first overall pick in the draft, the 12th overall pick and two second-round selections.

In other words, Cleveland is primed to grab a quarterback pretty much anywhere within the first 12 selections.

The Browns have been linked to former North Carolina quarterback Mitchell Trubisky for a couple of reasons. During the combine, Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reported that Cleveland was "strongly considering" Trubisky with the No. 1 overall pick.

Trubisky is also a Mentor, Ohio, native who grew up rooting for the Browns. He seems to enjoy the idea of returning to northern Ohio to play professional ball:

Brown head coach Hue Jackson chose not to attend Trubisky's pro day, which naturally caused some speculation that Cleveland wasn't all that interested in the quarterback after all. However, the reason Jackson didn't attend is this: The Browns will host Trubisky will be part of Cleveland's local prospects workout day on Friday, per Cabot.

"Unlike the other 30 pre-draft [prospects] the Browns are permitted, the local prospects are allowed to work out at the Browns facility during the hometown day," Cabot explained. "That means the Browns don't have to spend one of their 30 visits on Trubisky, and they can conduct the visit and the workout all on the same day."

If the Browns like what they see from Trubisky at that visit—and are transparent enough to let it slip—then we could hear a lot more talk of quarterbacks being drafted sooner than later.