Mel Kiper NFL Mock Draft 2024: Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye Lead Top 10

ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. is pushing back against some of the conventional wisdom surrounding this year's NFL draft with his first mock draft of the season.

The legendary draft guru has the Chicago Bears using the No. 1 overall pick to select Caleb Williams but has the Washington Commanders passing on Drake Maye to take 2023 Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels at No. 2 overall.

Maye's "slide" out of the top two allows the New England Patriots to land the North Carolina signal-caller with the third pick.

Here are the top 10 picks in Kiper's mock draft:

1. Chicago Bears: Caleb Williams, QB, USC
2. Washington Commanders: Jayden Daniels, QB, LSU
3. New England Patriots: Drake Maye, QB, North Carolina
4. Arizona Cardinals: Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Ohio State
5. Los Angeles Chargers: Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia
6. New York Giants: Malik Nabers, WR, LSU
7. Tennessee Titans: Joe Alt, OT, Notre Dame
8. Atlanta Falcons: Dallas Turner, LB, Alabama
9. Chicago Bears: Rome Odunze, WR, Washington
10. New York Jets: Olu Fashanu, OT, Penn State

Kiper did acknowledge it's "tight" between Daniels and Maye on his board, but the way Daniels finished the season was enough to push him over the top for now.

"Maye's inconsistency at the end of the season is enough for me to put Daniels at No. 2," Kiper wrote. "The reality, though, is the Commanders just hired their new general manager and still don't have a coach, so there's a lot to figure out about which direction they go."

While there has been speculation about the Bears potentially keeping Justin Fields and trading the top pick, it still seems like that is a long shot.

Fields is entering the final guaranteed season of his rookie deal, with the Bears having to decide about his fifth-year option for 2025, worth an estimated $23.3 million, in the next few months.

There's a strong argument that Fields has gotten a raw deal from the Bears through his first three seasons. He didn't get a top-tier wide receiver until 2023 when Chicago acquired D.J. Moore from the Carolina Panthers last year.

Fields has played for two different offensive coordinators in the past three years. After the Bears fired Luke Getsy at the end of this season, he'll play for a third in 2024 if he is brought back.

From a purely business perspective, though, it's in Chicago's best interest to draft a quarterback with the No. 1 pick. This allows the team to reset with a new player on a rookie contract who arguably has more upside than Fields.

The Commanders' situation is virtually impossible to figure out because they don't have a head coach. Until they fill that position, no one is going to know which of the top quarterbacks in this class they prefer.

New England would almost certainly love it if this scenario in Kiper's mock plays out. The team may be all-in on a quarterback with the No. 3 pick anyway, so being able to land Maye, who is the top-ranked signal-caller in this class by B/R's NFL scouting department, would be a huge coup for first-year head coach Jerod Mayo.

Next week is a big one for NFL teams and prospects in the 2024 draft. The East-West Shrine Bowl will be played on Feb. 1, followed by the Senior Bowl on Feb. 3.