2015 NFL Mock Draft: Big Questions That Still Need to Be Answered

With the NFL combine now behind us and pro days underway, it is time to take yet another look at which teams will be taking whom in the upcoming NFL draft.

Although it feels like Russell Wilson just threw the game-sealing interception against the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, we are now less than two months away from the first day of the draft, and players are starting to get better ideas of where they will be drafted.

There are still a number of twists and turns that are bound to occur between now and April 30, and draft day itself is always impossible to predict, but here is the best look at what could go down in the first round, as well as a few questions that have yet to be answered about some of the top prospects.

Pick	Team	Player
1	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Jameis Winston, QB, Florida State
2	Tennessee Titans	Leonard Williams, DL, USC
3	Jacksonville Jaguars	Dante Fowler Jr., DE, Florida
4	Oakland Raiders	Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama
5	Washington	Randy Gregory, DE, Nebraska
6	New York Jets	Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon
7	Chicago Bears	Danny Shelton, DT, Washington
8	Atlanta Falcons	Vic Beasley, DE/OLB, Clemson
9	New York Giants	Brandon Scherff, OT, Iowa
10	St. Louis Rams	La'el Collins, OT, LSU
11	Minnesota Vikings	Kevin White, WR, West Virginia
12	Cleveland Browns	DeVante Parker, WR, Louisville
13	New Orleans Saints	Shane Ray, DE, Missouri
14	Miami Dolphins	Trae Waynes, CB, Michigan State
15	San Francisco 49ers	Jaelen Strong, WR, Arizona State
16	Houston Texans	Andrus Peat, OT, Stanford
17	San Diego Chargers	T.J. Clemmings, OT, Pittsburgh
18	Kansas City Chiefs	Landon Collins, S, Alabama
19	Cleveland Browns	Eddie Goldman, DT, Florida State
20	Philadelphia Eagles	Kevin Johnson, CB, Wake Forest
21	Cincinnati Bengals	Arik Armstead, DE, Oregon
22	Pittsburgh Steelers	Bud Dupree, OLB, Kentucky
23	Detroit Lions	Malcom Brown, DT, Texas
24	Arizona Cardinals	Eli Harold, DE, Virginia
25	Carolina Panthers	D.J. Humphries, OT, Florida
26	Baltimore Ravens	Jalen Collins, CB, LSU
27	Dallas Cowboys	Melvin Gordon, RB, Wisconsin
28	Denver Broncos	Cedric Ogbuehi, OT, Texas A&M
29	Indianapolis Colts	Shaq Thompson, LB, Washington
30	Green Bay Packers	Paul Dawson, LB, TCU
31	Seattle Seahawks	Dorial Green-Beckham, WR, Oklahoma
32	New England Patriots	Devin Smith, WR, Ohio State

How far will Marcus Mariota fall in the draft?

Julio Cortez/Associated Press

Marcus Mariota is an incredibly talented quarterback who had a fantastic weekend at the NFL combine and enjoyed one of the most prolific careers in college football history during his time at Oregon.

But despite all of these things that have gone right for him, he continues to slip down draft boards for few reasons other than his size and build. Once considered the consensus No. 1 pick, it didn’t take long for him to lose that spot to Florida State’s Jameis Winston.

At this point, it would take an injury at a pro day or a monumental slip up from Winston to see that projection relinquished, and with the Tennessee Titans all but out of the market for a quarterback this year, Mariota might slip and become one of the more valuable prospects in the draft.

The early teams in the draft are surprisingly set at quarterback, with four of the top five having guys they have committed to, for better or worse, at least for next season. But the one team that does not have a quarterback and would be very interested in one is the New York Jets.

Although the Jets do have a young quarterback already on the roster, Geno Smith isn’t likely to take the step forward that the team needs to get back to the contending status it boasted during Mark Sanchez’s first few seasons.

If Mariota is passed over by the Titans at No. 2, expect the Jets to draft him as their quarterback of the future. If they go a different way, though, things could get a little more interesting.

Eagles head coach Chip Kelly has been adding a lot of former Oregon players in Philadelphia. Any chance the Eagles move up to take Mariota?

Can Shane Ray impress enough at his pro day to get into the top 10?

Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

There is no question as to how talented Missouri defensive end Shane Ray is. A 14.5-sack, 22.5-tackle-for-loss season at Missouri in 2014 established him as a potential star in the NFL.

But that was before a foot injury kept him out of the combine.

With some teams likely looking to switch him to outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme, Ray needs a chance to prove he is athletic enough to handle the role and be worthy of a spot in the upper tier of draft boards. Already considered small for the role he fills, Missouri's pro day could be huge for the edge-rusher.

Ray has said that he will be doing all of the drills that the combine highlights at his pro day, which is scheduled for March 19. That pro day could provide a big boost to where he is selected.

If Ray impresses as some believe he can, he could jump up as a possible top-10 pick, but the worries about his size and athleticism could hurt significantly and might drop him down draft boards.

Do the performances of last year’s receivers change draft boards this year?

Julio Cortez/Associated Press

It isn’t much of a stretch to say that last year's receiver draft class was one of the most successful of all time. With players like Odell Beckham Jr., Sammy Watkins, Mike Evans and Kelvin Benjamin, among others, making an immediate impact in the league, you have to wonder how that will affect draft boards for 2015.

This year contains another very strong class, with up to eight receivers valued as possible first-round draft picks, but the expectations placed on some rookie receivers could skyrocket from what expectations were before last season.

While Amari Cooper and Kevin White are both expected to be immediate hits in the league, it is the next tier—DeVante Parker and Jaelen Strong—that could suffer the most. Both are incredibly talented players and will likely be strong additions to whatever team adds them, but asking a rookie to produce instantly is a tall order.

Even the next tier—Devin Smith, Devin Funchess, Breshad Perriman and Sammie Coates—have potential to be hits, but there is no guarantee that will happen right away.

It used to be expected that a receiver would take a big leap forward in his second or third season in the league, but after last season, teams will want their players to reach that level in year one.

It isn’t impossible for this to happen, but it isn’t likely to repeat, either. With the devaluation of running backs across the league, it feels like receivers have seen their value increase, and thus increased the expectations for them.

It will be interesting to see how many receivers are taken in the first round, and more importantly, how many are able to live up to their draft positions next fall.