2012 NFL Mock Draft: First-Round Picks Guaranteed to Pay off

In our 2012 NFL mock draft, we highlight several first-round picks who will repay their respective teams with instant impact as rookies:

1. Indianapolis Colts: Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford

The Colts suddenly have a lot of pressure to make the right pick at No. 1 overall, as Robert Griffin III has, after months of being considered the consensus No. 2 pick, briefly emerged as a potential change-of-gears move by Indianapolis.

This pick should be and still will be Luck—there's little reason why anyone's mind should change months after a live football game has been played—which gives the Colts an ideal quarterback to lead them over the next 10-12 years.

It's hard to see how Luck becomes a bust at the next level, no matter how bad the pieces around him are in Indianapolis.   

2. Washington Redskins: Robert Griffin III, QB, Baylor (via trade with St. Louis Rams)

Regardless of what the Colts do with the No. 1 pick, the Redskins are getting a player they desperately need with the very next pick. Griffin or Luck is a prize and will pay off immediately in Washington.

It still appears most likely that Griffin is their man, which, overall, is a better fit for the Mike Shanahan offense. If Griffin starts right away, he's a likely Rookie of the Year candidate.    

3. Minnesota Vikings: Matt Kalil, OT, USC

2011 first-round pick Christian Ponder got beaten up down the stretch last season, but adding Kalil as the team's new starting left tackle immediately gives the Vikings offensive line a sense of credibility. Across the line, they'd be better off in 2012.  

4. Cleveland Browns: Trent Richardson, RB, Alabama

If the Browns truly want to give Colt McCoy a chance to pull this off in Cleveland, the team needs to get him a workhorse back like Richardson. 

5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Morris Claiborne, CB, LSU

With Aqib Talib facing legal problems that will not be solved before the draft, the Bucs have to make this move to safeguard a tenuous position. 

6. St. Louis Rams: Justin Blackmon, WR, Oklahoma State (via trade with Washington Redskins)

If not for an injury red flag on Michael Floyd, I think he'd be the Rams' pick here. Blackmon is the safer selection at No. 6. 

7. Jacksonville Jaguars: Melvin Ingram, DE, South Carolina

Floyd should really be in play for the Jaguars at No. 7, but I think they pick Ingram for a couple of reasons.

For starters, finding an impact pass-rusher is considerably harder to do later on in the draft compared to a receiver. And on that same point, receiver is arguably the deepest and most talented position in the 2012 draft.

Take Ingram, give yourself a potential 10-sack player in 2012, and find a playmaking receiver in a later round. 

8. Miami Dolphins: Ryan Tannehill, QB, Texas A&M

The Dolphins may just scare themselves into moving up several spots to ensure they get Tannehill, a quarterback offensive coordinator Mike Sherman is very familiar with.

9. Carolina Panthers: Fletcher Cox, DT, Mississippi State

Cox is the top-10 defensive lineman no one is talking about, and he fits a huge need for the Panthers. 

10. Buffalo Bills: Riley Reiff, OT, Iowa

The Bills lost Demetress Bell in free agency and now have a hole on the left side of their line that needs filling. 

11. Seattle Seahawks: Luke Kuechly, LB, Boston College (TRADE w/ Kansas City)

After middle linebacker David Hawthorne bolted in free agency, the Seahawks make the short move up to No. 11 overall to make sure they land Boston College's tackling machine. 

12. Kansas City Chiefs: David DeCastro, G, Stanford (TRADE w/ Seattle) 

The Chiefs are a fit for Kuechly, but so is DeCastro, a mauling guard who could help push Kansas City's running game back to the top of the NFL.

Acquiring DeCastro, plus Eric Winston at right tackle and a power back like Peyton Hillis, gives the Chiefs all they need to be the kind of offensive football team that got to the playoffs back in 2010. 

13. Arizona Cardinals: Nick Perry, OLB/DE, USC

The Cardinals might be crossing their fingers that either Reiff or DeCastro fall to No. 13, but getting Perry allows Arizona's defense to be more pressure-centered and versatile. 

14. Dallas Cowboys: Stephon Gilmore, CB, South Carolina

Gilmore, free-agent pick Brandon Carr and Mike Jenkins give the Cowboys a solid-looking trio of cornerbacks on paper for 2012.

15. Philadelphia Eagles: Dontari Poe, DT, Memphis

Poe blew away the combine, but his tape still has question marks, which means he falls to the end of the top 15. The Eagles top his brief tumble because they understand how a versatile and disruptive defensive line can affect a football game.

16. New York Jets: Courtney Upshaw, OLB, Alabama 

The Jets have been at their best under Rex Ryan when the running game is working, and there's pressure coming from the defense. The latter point happened too infrequently last season.

Adding Upshaw, who can play inside and out in a 3-4 defense, gives Ryan a unique toy to play with as a pass-rusher in 2012 and beyond.

17. Cincinnati Bengals: Cordy Glenn, G, Georgia

The Bengals could go several ways with this pick, but Glenn gives the team another building block up front that can play multiple positions. 

18. San Diego Chargers: Jonathan Martin, OT, Stanford

Another pass-rusher would be nice here, but getting Martin, a mauling run-blocker who can play right tackle next season, is too much to pass up. 

19. Chicago Bears: Quinton Coples, DE, North Carolina

The Bears' flirtation with pass-rushers during free agency is a precursor to their eventual move in the first round, where new GM Phil Emery can take Coples to team with fellow UNC alum Julius Peppers at defensive end. 

20. Tennessee Titans: Peter Konz, C, Wisconsin

By not finding an answer at center in free agency, Tennessee might have to take the top player available at the position in the first round. 

21. Cincinnati Bengals: Doug Martin, RB, Boise State

Martin has first-round ability as a running back, and he'd be a good fit for what the Bengals want to do at the position next season. 

22. Cleveland Browns: Michael Floyd, WR, Notre Dame

I have a sneaking feeling that some team would move into the teens to get Floyd, given that he even falls that far. But if he did, you'd have to think the Browns would literally sprint their card up to the podium with Floyd's name on it.

With Richardson and Floyd taken in the first round, quarterback Colt McCoy would have no more excuses for 2012.  

23. Detroit Lions: Dre Kirkpatrick, CB, Alabama

After seeing Eric Wright bolt in free agency, the Lions need to add depth and quality at the cornerback position. Kirkpatrick gives them both.

24. Pittsburgh Steelers: Dont'a Hightower, ILB, Alabama

Is there a better fit in the entire draft, outside of the two quarterbacks at the top, than Hightower to the Steelers? I can't find one.

Well-versed in the 3-4 defense and the leader of a defense that allowed less than nine points a season in 2011-12, Hightower would be the Steelers' immediate replacement for James Farrior. He'd likely be an impact player early on, too. 

25. Denver Broncos: Devon Still, DT, Penn State

The Broncos should resist the temptation to take an offensive player for Peyton Manning, especially if Still—a top defensive tackle prospect—is available here.

26. Houston Texans: Kendall Wright, WR, Baylor  

With so few holes on the roster, Houston can afford to get greedy and take Wright, an electric play-maker, at No. 26 overall. 

27. New England Patriots: Mark Barron, S, Alabama

In Barron, the Patriots get a plug-and-play safety who should be a factor right away in the secondary.

28. Green Bay Packers: Whitney Mercilus, DE, Illinois 

It's looking more and more likely that a pass-rusher is going to fall to the Packers at No. 28, but which one?

In this scenario, it's Mercilus. A "one-year wonder" to some, Mercilus has shown through the pre-draft process that he has the athletic ability to make his sacking ways work at the next level.

Given the Packers' desperate need for help opposite Clay Matthews, Mercilus makes a lot of sense. 

29. Baltimore Ravens: Andre Branch, OLB, Clemson 

A pass-rushing linebacker isn't a need in Baltimore, but the Ravens appreciate as much as any team the value in bringing in people to rush the quarterback.  

30. San Francisco 49ers: Michael Brockers, DT, LSU

After adding several names on the offensive side of the ball in free agency, the 49ers can afford to add a raw but talented defensive line prospect in Brockers toward the end of the first round. 

31. New England Patriots: Shea McClellin, OLB, Boise State

The more you watch and read on McClellin, the more you become convinced that he's a first-round pick. And the best fit for McClellin, outside of maybe Green Bay, is in New England.

32. New York Giants: Mike Adams, OT, Ohio State

The Giants skated by with poor tackle play at times in 2011, and Adams gives them a future at the position on either the left or right side.