NFL Mock Draft 2017: 1st-Round Projections for Nation's Top Prospects

Draft season is in full swing, folks, and we're drawing ever closer to the NFL's biggest offseason event. In less than a month, all 32 teams will gather in Philadelphia to determine the paths of the next generation of NFL talent.

This year's crop of incoming rookies appears to be loaded with playmakers on both sides of the ball. While there might not be a quarterback who stands tall about the rest, there is a plethora of potentially elite defenders, ball-carriers and pass-catchers.

The nation's top prospects, of course, are expected to hear their names called on the opening night of the draft. It's this opening round that we'll focus on here.

We'll run down the current draft order and make projections for each pick based on factors like player potential, prospect stock, team needs and team fit. We'll also examine the latest draft-related news and rumors heading into April.

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	Jabrill Peppers, LB, Michigan
19	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Christian McCaffrey, RB, Stanford
20	Denver Broncos	Forrest Lamp, OL, Western Kentucky
21	Detroit Lions	Takkarist McKinley, LB, UCLA
22	Miami Dolphins	Gareon Conley, CB, Ohio State
23	New York Giants	David Njoku, TE, Miami
24	Oakland Raiders	Dalvin Cook, RB, Florida State
25	Houston Texans	Davis Webb, QB, Cal
26	Seattle Seahawks	Ryan Ramczyk, OT, Wisconsin
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)	Kevin King, CB, Washington

Latest Buzz

King on the Rise

NFL Media's Daniel Jeremiah recently polled five league executives on this year's rising prospects. He wondered which prospect had seen the biggest rise in draft stock since the end of the season. Two of the five executives picked former Washington cornerback Kevin King.

"Kevin King's height, length and ball skills show up on tape, but he was even better at the combine," one executive explained, per Jeremiah. "He owned that event. It's hard to find corners with that combination of length and movement ability."

It's easy to see why some talent evaluators have fallen in love with King over the past few months. He was impressive during his time at Washington and equally impressive in pre-draft workouts.

Last season, King amassed 44 tackles, 13 passes defended and two interceptions. Pro Football Focus (PFF College) rated him 52nd overall among all collegiate cornerbacks for the season.

A towering defensive back, King measured in at 6'3" and 200 pounds at the scouting combine. He produced a 4.43-second 40-yard dash, a 3.89-second short shuttle and an impressive 39.5-inch vertical at the combine as well.

I have King mocked to the New Orleans Saints here because I think his combination of size and athleticism make him a good fit in the AFC South. New Orleans constantly faces tall, physical receivers like Mike Evans, Kelvin Benjamin and Julio Jones. King is the type of corner that may be able to match up with them.

Tabor Sliding?

Former Florida cornerback Teez Tabor might be headed in the opposite direction from King during this final stretch. The pass-defender once appeared to be a virtual lock for the first round based on his coverage with the Gators.

Tabor produced 20 passes defended and seven interceptions over the past two seasons at Florida. Pro Football Focus rated him 60th overall among cornerbacks in 2016.

The problem for cornerbacks is speed. NFL defensive backs need it, and Tabor doesn't seem to have it. He ran a 4.62-second 40 at the scouting combine, which isn't good. Just consider that Myles Garrett, who weighs roughly 70 pounds more than Tabor, ran a 4.64-second 40.

"The magic number for corners is 4.60. Anything above that and the alarm goes off," NFL Media's Jeremiah recently explained. "That could have a major impact. People can say the 40 is overrated, but the one position where it matters most is corner.

The narrative might be different had Tabor ran a more impressive 40 at his pro day, but he actually ran worse, as Bleacher Report draft analyst Matt Miller recently pointed out:

Running a slow 40 doesn't mean Tabor cannot be a quality NFL corner, but it does bring up concerns over his limitations. In this draft filled with cornerback talent, this could be enough to push Tabor out of the first round entirely.

Browns Don't Want to Trade No. 1

We mentioned in the opening that there doesn't appear to be a clear-cut top quarterback in this year's class. However, there does appear to be a clear top prospect—former Texas A&M pass-rusher Myles Garrett. 

This is why the Cleveland Browns appear poised to take Garrett with the first overall pick. The alternative could be trading the pick for a veteran quarterback like New England Patriots backup Jimmy Garoppolo. This option would give another team the consensus best player in the draft, but it also might finally give Cleveland a franchise quarterback.

This doesn't seem like a route the Browns want to take, though.

"No," Browns head coach Hue Jackson said when asked if they'd trade their first pick, per Pat McManamon of ESPN.com. "I can tell you no on that one."

There has been plenty of speculation that the Browns will try to acquire a quarterback like Garoppolo before the draft. There is plenty of reason to believe that this still could happen, too.

"There's trade opportunities, hopefully," Jackson said, per McManamon.

Garrett appears to be just too talented to include as part of a deal.

"He's a face-of-the-franchise, cornerstone guy," one NFC executive said of Garrett, per NFL Media's Bucky Brooks. "He's a can't-miss prospect. There simply aren't many guys like this walking the planet."

Unless Jackson is purely blowing smoke, though, it doesn't appear the No. 1 pick will be part of any pre-draft trade

This means that any other team hoping to get its hands on Garrett is likely out of luck. It also means that the real draft guesswork begins with pick No. 2.