NFL Draft 2015: Prospects Who Will Alter Complexion of 1st Round

Underclassmen have a little more than a week remaining to announce their intent to enter the 2015 NFL draft, which makes for awfully tense times inside collegiate coaching offices and NFL executive suites. While teams generally have a good idea of who's in and out before a player announces a decision, the crystallization of the player pool allows for draft boards to begin forming.

A majority of the biggest names have already made their intentions known. Jameis Winston—who declared Wednesday morning in a statement released by his agency, per ESPN.com—Shaq Thompson, Dorial Green-Beckham and a host of other potential first-rounders have already begun the paperwork process, and more are on the way. Marcus Mariota will almost certainly follow suit after the College Football Playoff National Championship Game on Monday.

As it stands, most with basic common sense can see how the rest of the week will play out. A majority of players, finally looking to get paid for something that was already their job, will come out—sometimes to their own detriment. A couple high-profile guys will probably be stragglers and stick around on Saturdays, but it's typically safe to assume anyone worth entering will.

All of that helps us figure out what to expect come April 30. Granted, we're a looong way away from understanding how NFL front offices are going to configure the first round. Everything now is based on a combination of innuendo, common sense and plain old guessing.

But for now, it's the best we got. With that in mind, let's take a quick look at some first-round prospects whose stock may wind up shaping the first round.

Jameis Winston, QB, Florida State

The biggest swing pick of the first round will be near the top. We can all but skip to the No. 2 pick come April. Barring some cataclysmic, mind-numbingly numb decision, the Bucs will be taking Mariota with the top selection. They lack a franchise signal-caller, Mariota is one of the best quarterbacks in college football history and duh.

Where Winston comes off the board is another question entirely. Sitting at No. 2 are the Tennessee Titans. I do not know if you are abreast of the Titans' quarterback situation, nor do I blame you if you shuttered the franchise from your mind in 2014. But suffice it to say they could use a quarterback. Badly.

In most seasons, Tennessee would happily jump at selecting Winston with the second overall pick. From a skills standpoint there are many evaluators who still believe Winston is a better pro prospect than Mariota. He's a prototype talent who can make every throw on the field and is a year removed from perhaps the best freshman season for a quarterback in the sport's history.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

But Winston is not a mere quarterback prospect. He is an enigmatic personality with enough off-the-field issues to have his own "Controversies" tab on Wikipedia (NSFW language). It has four lengthy subheadlines. All of the reported incidents or allegations happened before Winston's 21st birthday.

Any coaching staff that selects Winston has to be comfortable banking its livelihood on those issues being a thing of the past. Ken Whisenhunt might not be ready to make such a commitment. Discontent was already prevalent throughout his first year in Tennessee, and Whisenhunt hasn't had a winning season in his last four as a head coach (three in Arizona).

If Winston doesn't come off the board at No. 2, it could create an arms race. The Jacksonville Jaguars, Oakland Raiders and Washington don't appear likely to take a quarterback at the top of Round 1 given their current situations. The Jaguars and Raiders selected quarterbacks in high-priority rounds last year, while Washington's quarterback situation is its own hellscape.

One of those teams seems likely to listen to trade offers. If not, the Jets' dream of Winston falling to No. 6 may come true.

Dorial Green-Beckham, WR, Oklahoma

Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press

I'll be honest. I have no earthly idea where Green-Beckham will go come draft night. I'm not sure anyone does, including DGB himself.

By now everyone knows his story. The nation's top overall recruit coming out of high school, Green-Beckham surprisingly chose Missouri and spent two seasons making coaches scratch their heads and drop their jaws.

There may be no better Calvin Johnson comparison on the planet from a skills and size standpoint. Green-Beckham is a mammoth, quick, fast, huge, rangy, athletic human being who makes defenders seem puny by comparison.

As a sophomore he helped resurrect the Missouri program with a 58-reception, 883-yard season that culminated in a Cotton Bowl win over Oklahoma State. It'd be his last collegiate game. Missouri dismissed Green-Beckham from the team last April after a number of off-field incidents, most notably an alleged domestic incident where he was accused of pushing a woman down a flight of stairs.

One brief transfer to Oklahoma and a failed early reinstatement later, Green-Beckham has perhaps the most uncertain draft status of any player in this class. Stack him up physically next to Alabama's Amari Cooper, and it doesn't take long to slot him into the first round. Take a 30-second glance at his Wikipedia page, and it doesn't take long to wipe him off the board entirely.

There is no way he'll go above Cooper in April, but anything after that is a pure guessing game. Arizona's Jaelen Strong, Louisville's Devante Parker and West Virginia's Kevin White each have a claim to that No. 2 spot. Each player comes with a resume that includes elite-level collegiate production and a clean rap sheet.

Green-Beckham by draft night could be the leader of that pack or may drop behind the likes of Sammie Coates into the second-round range. The combine and individual workouts will help tell that story. Teams will want to see Green-Beckham hasn't lost any top-end speed, and they'll need to evaluate him mentally before handing him first-round money.

It'll be an interesting few months to watch this saga unfold.

Who Emerges Among Hybrid Pass-Rushers?

John Raoux/Associated Press

Recent drafts have seen a glut of athletic, smallish hybrid defensive ends/outside linebackers get selected in the first round. The proliferation of defensive coordinators switching up their schemes has allowed some of these players to thrive, and it's not hard to take one look at a Dion Jordan and see a pass-rushing fiend in an individual workout.

Problem is that there are too many of these players. Vic Beasley, Dante Fowler, Alvin Dupree and Shane Ray all occupy the same general space and will be vying for attention with teams in need. Each possesses the physical traits to play either pass-rushing position. Both are going to frustrate and tantalize scouts until workouts begin crystallizing the pecking order.

Unfortunately for at least one of these guys, it'll mean falling by the wayside. At least one of the aforementioned foursome will not be coming off the board on Day 1. Pass-rushing needs aside, drafts have become awash with these types of talents, and it's starting to dilute the pool.

Wade Payne/Associated Press

NFL teams, for whatever you'd like to say about them, know that not all of these players are going to be good. At least one (possibly two) will prove to be little more than a physical specimen whose potential was infinitely higher than his football skill. CBS Sports has as many as 11 outside linebackers who could be going in the first three rounds. There are 14 such defensive ends.

Not all of them occupy the "hybrid" distinction—there are probably 10 or so on a rough count—but it's nonetheless fierce competition. Someone in that Beasley-Fowler-Dupree-Ray foursome is going to emerge as the best all-around player. For the other three, it'll be up to them to fight tooth and nail to secure one of those limited remaining first-round slots.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.