2015 NFL Draft: 1st-Round Order and Predictions for Combine's Early Stars

As strange as it sounds, Jameis Winston and Ali Marpet of Hobart College are the most notable names out of Indianapolis at the 2015 NFL Scouting Combine.

So far, of course.

Winston because he is Winston, a media darling and the highest profile in the class. Marpet because he came out of nowhere—go ahead, guess where Hobart College is—and ran the fastest 40-yard dash of all offensive linemen.

The festivities in Indianapolis are far from over, but it is important to take a step back and analyze the top winners and their impacts on the upcoming first round of the draft.

Oh, and Hobart College is located in Geneva, New York.

2015 NFL Draft 1st-Round Order and Predictions

Pick	Team	Selection
1	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon
2	Tennessee Titans	Jameis Winston, QB, Florida State
3	Jacksonville Jaguars	Randy Gregory, DE, Nebraska
4	Oakland Raiders	Leonard Williams, DL, USC
5	Washington Redskins	Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama
6	New York Jets	Kevin White, WR, West Virginia
7	Chicago Bears	Dante Fowler Jr., DE, Florida
8	Atlanta Falcons	Alvin Dupree, DE/OLB, Kentucky
9	New York Giants	La'el Collins, OL, LSU
10	St. Louis Rams	Marcus Peters, CB, Washington
11	Minnesota Vikings	Dorial Green-Beckham, WR, Oklahoma
12	Cleveland Browns	DeVante Parker, WR, Louisville
13	New Orleans Saints	Shane Ray, DE, Missouri
14	Miami Dolphins	Shaq Thompson, OLB, Washington
15	San Francisco 49ers	Trae Waynes, CB, Michigan State
16	Houston Texans	Brandon Scherff, OT, Iowa
17	San Diego Chargers	A.J. Cann, OG, South Carolina
18	Kansas City Chiefs	Breshad Perriman, WR, UCF
19	Cleveland Browns (via Buffalo)	Vic Beasley, OLB, Clemson
20	Philadelphia Eagles	Landon Collins, SS, Alabama
21	Cincinnati Bengals	Malcom Brown, DT, Texas
22	Pittsburgh Steelers	Arik Armstead, DE/OLB, Oregon
23	Detroit Lions	Danny Shelton, DT, Washington
24	Arizona Cardinals	Owamagbe Odighizuwa, OLB, UCLA
25	Carolina Panthers	Andrus Peat, OT, Stanford
26	Baltimore Ravens	Jalen Collins, CB, LSU
27	Dallas Cowboys	Benardrick McKinney, ILB, Mississippi State
28	Denver Broncos	Ereck Flowers, OT, Miami
29	Indianapolis Colts	Nate Orchard, DE, Utah
30	Green Bay Packers	Eddie Goldman, DT, Florida State
31	Seattle Seahawks	Carl Davis, DL, Iowa
32	New England Patriots	Maxx Williams, TE, Minnesota

Early Combine Stars

La'el Collins, OT, LSU

Before Friday, La'el Collins' stock was all over the place.

Scouts flipped on the film, saw a mauling LSU tackle somewhat in the Andre Smith fold and then watched as he dominated the Senior Bowl in the ground game, for what it's worth. Chatter still suggested he might be a better fit on the interior of a line, hurting his stock.

Still, offensive tackle is tough to figure out this year, so the NFL realm really needed to get its hands on Collins' combine numbers in a controlled environment against others.

Now there is likely no way another lineman comes off the board before him.

Collins came in at a lean 6'4" and 305 pounds (he was listed at 321 pounds at LSU) and blazed a 5.12 40-yard dash time.

As NFL.com's Bryan Fischer points out, Collins prepared well and stood out during drills:

Bleacher Report's Matt Miller touched on the LSU product's surprising athleticism:

The jarring athleticism is a bit of a surprise, and as a result, any talk about Collins being restricted to a guard position at the pro level is dead.

Collins will be the first tackle off the board at this point, especially with other top-tier names such as Brandon Scherff still battling the same positional questions Collins just put to bed.

Prediction: New York Giants select Collins at No. 9 overall.

Cam Erving, OL, Florida State

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

Where to start? 

Cam Erving's stock to date has been much, much more tumultuous than Collins' detailed above. So much so, in fact, that he has been out of the first-round conversation for months after positional changes at Florida State due to performance issues.

Alas, Erving is on the rehab path after a jaw-dropping day in Indianapolis. Not only did he weigh in at 6'5" and 313 pounds, he ran a 5.15 40-yard dash, bench pressed 225 pounds 30 times and scored a fourth-ranked broad jump of 112 inches.

Things are full circle for Erving, who moved to center during last year's campaign. ESPN's Kevin Weidl puts it best:

"

The 180 Cam Erving has done since moving to OC vs Miami has been impressive. Has turned into one of the safer prospects in this class.

— Kevin Weidl (@KevinW_ESPN) February 21, 2015"

More interesting, though, is that this supreme display of athleticism has some teams thinking about Erving as an outside player once again. CBS Sports' Dane Brugler shares the details:

It is probably best to peg Erving as an interior player—for now.

Rest assured that NFL teams are going to go back and deeply analyze the how, why and when of what went wrong for Erving on the outside to see if they have a potential gem of an offensive tackle on their hands come draft day.

Right now, Erving appears to be a fringe first-round pick, which is outstanding given his rocky season. Things could still trend in either direction, but the combine was a jarring success.

Prediction: Erving comes off the board in the early second round.

Maxx Williams, TE, Minnesota

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Minnesota's Maxx Williams looked like the best tight end in the class Friday.

The owner of 36 catches for 569 yards and eight scores last season alone despite a run-heavy scheme, Williams stole the show in drills with his athleticism that meshes well with the film.

Williams showed good size at 6'4" and 249 pounds. More importantly, he blazed a 4.78 40-yard-dash, posted a 34.5-inch vertical jump and a 117-inch broad jump.

Best of all, though, was the show Williams put on as a receiver. NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah details this well: 

At the end of the day, most expected nothing less of Williams. He's consistently pegged as the top tight end in the class by roughly a mile, a gap that is only furthered thanks to his dominance over his peers Friday.

Bleacher Report's Ty Schalter puts it best:

This won't be like last year when Eric Ebron came off the board very high in the first round.

Rather, Williams will take a tumble as teams load up on a very, very deep wideout and pass-rushing class, which lands him right in the arms of Tom Brady and the New England Patriots at the end of the round.

Prediction: New England Patriots select Williams at No. 32 overall.

Note: Stats courtesy of NFL.com as of Feb. 20 at 9 p.m. ET. All advanced metrics via Pro Football Focus.