Todd McShay 2017 NFL Mock Draft: Notable Picks from ESPN Guru's Final Mock

With the NFL draft just hours away, ESPN draft insider Todd McShay released his final mock draft of the offseason. You can see his first-round projections below:

Pick	Team	Selection
1	Cleveland Browns	Mitchell Trubisky, QB, North Carolina
2	San Francisco 49ers	Myles Garrett, DE, Texas A&M
3	Chicago Bears	Jamal Adams, S, LSU
4	Jacksonville Jaguars	Leonard Fournette, RB, LSU
5	Tennessee Titans	Marshon Lattimore, CB, Ohio State
6	New York Jets	O.J. Howard, TE, Alabama
7	Los Angeles Chargers	Solomon Thomas, DT, Stanford
8	Carolina Panthers	Christian McCaffrey, RB, Stanford
9	Cincinnati Bengals	Jonathan Allen, DT, Alabama
10	Buffalo Bills	Reuben Foster, ILB, Alabama
11	New Orleans Saints	Charles Harris, OLB, Missouri
12	Cleveland Browns	Derek Barnett, DE, Tennessee
13	Arizona Cardinals	Malik Hooker, S, Ohio State
14	Philadelphia Eagles	Mike Williams, WR, Clemson
15	Indianapolis Colts	Haason Reddick, LB, Temple
16	Baltimore Ravens	Forrest Lamp, G, Western Kentucky
17	Washington	Dalvin Cook, RB, Florida State
18	Tennessee Titans	Corey Davis, WR, Western Michigan
19	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Marlon Humphrey, CB, Alabama
20	Denver Broncos	Ryan Ramczyk, OT, Wisconsin
21	Detroit Lions	David Njoku, TE, Miami (Fla.)
22	Miami Dolphins	Takkarist McKinley, DE, UCLA
23	New York Giants	Garett Bolles, OT, Utah
24	Oakland Raiders	Kevin King, CB, Washington
25	Houston Texans	Deshaun Watson, QB, Clemson
26	Seattle Seahawks	Cam Robinson, OT, Alabama
27	Kansas City Chiefs	Jarrad Davis, ILB, Florida
28	Dallas Cowboys	Tre'Davious White, CB, LSU
29	Green Bay Packers	Adoree' Jackson, CB, USC
30	Pittsburgh Steelers	Evan Engram, TE, Mississippi
31	Atlanta Falcons	John Ross, WR, Washington
32	New Orleans Saints	​Patrick Mahomes, QB, Texas Tech

Without question, the immediate talking point from McShay's mock draft is the Cleveland Browns taking Mitchell Trubisky with the top overall pick. While there has been plenty of talk that the Browns are high on Trubisky and might select him, it would still be something of a stunner if the team passed on an explosive and productive talent like Myles Garrett, who projects to be a generational talent at defensive end.

Still, if the Browns are in love with Trubisky and truly believe he's the quarterback of the future, why not take him No. 1? Many would argue the Browns would be making a major leap on a guy who has started just 13 games and passing on a defensive game-changer. But quarterbacks rule the NFL.

McShay wrote of the selection: "Everything I hear suggests the Browns like Trubisky the best among the QBs. It's unlikely he drops to No. 12, where Cleveland picks again. So the questions become: Take Garrett here and try to trade back up for Trubisky? Or take the QB and address pass-rusher at No. 12? Fascinating decision."

It's not just a fascinating decision, it's one that will literally alter the entirety of the draft. San Francisco would surely be thrilled to see Garrett available at No. 2. Teams might be inclined to trade up to nab a quarterback with one off the board earlier than expected. And defensive talents might fall down the board a bit with Garrett going one pick later than projected.

There aren't many major surprises after that until No. 6, where he projects the New York Jets to select O.J. Howard. It isn't surprising based on Howard's talent—he's one of the safer prospects in the draft and should be an excellent player—but rather that the Jets might target a tight end that high.

In the past 10 drafts, just two tight ends have been selected as top-10 picks: Vernon Davis went No. 6 overall in the 2006 NFL draft, and Eric Ebron went No. 10 overall in 2014. So while it isn't unheard of to select a tight end with such a high pick, it is relatively rare. 

Still, McShay's justification for the pick makes sense:

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The Jets can't afford to whiff on a top-10 pick like they did back in 2013 with Dee Milliner. Howard is one of the safest prospects in this draft. He's very similar to Greg Olsen: a big, athletic target who can cause issues down the seam and contribute as a blocker. The Jets have had just 26 catches from tight ends in the past two seasons, by far the fewest in the league. (Arizona is second worst with 97.)

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McShay also has the Buffalo Bills nabbing Reuben Foster at No. 10. From a talent standpoint, this is a steal, though Foster has flashed some character concerns after he was kicked out of the NFL Scouting Combine and failed a drug test. On the field, however, he's a beast.

One player McShay has dropping is Malik Hooker, who could potentially go as high as No. 2 or No. 3 in this draft. McShay cited three different offseason surgeries, however, as the basis for his potential mini-slide to No. 13.

As for the other quarterbacks, McShay has Deshaun Watson dropping all the way to No. 25 to the Houston Texans and Patrick Mahomes going No. 32 to the New Orleans Saints. Given the talent and depth of this draft at other positions, that wouldn't be a shocker.

But given the propensity for teams to overdraft at quarterback, it also wouldn't be shocking if Trubisky, Watson and Mahomes were all top-10 picks. That's the beauty of the NFL draft—predictability simply isn't in its DNA.