2015 NFL Mock Draft: Predictions for Top Prospects with Draft Day Approaching

The NFL draft is basically the famous Rowdy Roddy Piper quote come to life: Just when you think you have the answers, the draft changes the questions.

The entire draft itself is essentially the same basic question—whom will Team X draft?—over and over and over again. Of course, that's not the only query many fans have before and during the event.

With the 2015 draft mere days away, the topics below are bound to be some of the more hotly debated before Day 1.

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

Biggest Lingering Questions

Do the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Pass on Jameis Winston?

For months now, it's felt like a done deal that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would draft Jameis Winston. The franchise desperately needs a quarterback, and Winston would appear to be the best QB on the board.

However, the draft always loves to complicate things. One anonymous NFL executive evoked the name JaMarcus Russell when discussing Winston's NFL potential, per Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

"

With Jameis Winston I see JaMarcus Russell. They do dumb things. Isn't it interesting? …

Lack of focus by JaMarcus is what I see in Winston. They're physically talented, but during the course of a game they kind of lose their focus and just put the ball up for grabs.

I see the body. I see the lack of focus. I see the same coach and system. Only Winston's not as good an athlete and his arm isn't as strong as JaMarcus'.

"

Speaking Friday on his radio show, ESPN's Bomani Jones made the point that Russell has often been used as a lazy comparison to try and knock a player's draft value.

Russell and Winston have little in common beyond being black quarterbacks and having played under Jimbo Fisher. They're not the same kind of quarterback, and Winston is two inches shorter and 30 pounds lighter than Russell, who's listed in his LSU bio as 6'6" and 260 pounds.

Putting Winston in the same company as Russell in terms of on-field talent is an unnecessary, unfair smear, but such is the life in draft season.

You'd still bet that the Buccaneers will take the 2013 Heisman Trophy winner. Winston carries a laundry list of off-field baggage, but purely in terms of football ability, he is the best fit for Tampa Bay.

Should the Bucs pass on Winston, though, it would set off a serious chain reaction on Day 1.

What Are the Tennessee Titans Going to Do?

Ryan Kang/Associated Press

No team will be more interesting to watch in the days leading up to the draft than the Tennessee Titans. Whatever they do with the second overall pick could have serious ramifications for the rest of Round 1.

ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. surprised quite a few fans when he listed Marcus Mariota No. 2 overall on his Mock Draft 4.0. He alluded to the fact that the Titans could trade the pick to somebody who covets the reigning Heisman Trophy winner.

"I don't project trades here," Kiper wrote. "But in talking to people inside and outside the league, my sense is that Mariota is likely to be taken here—it's just hard to say which team is making the pick."

Bleacher Report's Jason Cole reported that Ken Whisenhunt ideally wants to trade the second overall pick and acquire somebody like Philip Rivers to play quarterback:

Just because that's Whisenhunt's dream scenario doesn't mean the San Diego Chargers will oblige.

Maybe the Titans just go ahead and take Mariota even though they're high on Zach Mettenberger and view him as a "poor team's Tom Brady," per David Climer of The Tennessean.

Whisenhunt already played around with the idea of starting Mariota in Week 1 if Tennessee did in fact select him.

"If we pick him at No. 2, you definitely think he can be the Day 1 starter," he said in March, per USA Today's Jim Corbett. "He was impressive. … Just the short time we spent with him on the board, he was very good."

Or perhaps Tennessee is unable to find a package worth trading the No. 2 pick for and takes Leonard Williams or somebody who's not Mariota. If that happens, teams might angle to acquire the third or fourth picks, since the Jacksonville Jaguars and Oakland Raiders aren't going to take Mariota.

The best move for the Titans would be trading the pick and getting more assets. This year's draft isn't particularly deep. The drop in value between the second pick and wherever else they could land in the first round wouldn't be that stark.

But there's no telling whether any team is truly banging down Tennessee's door with a good enough offer.

How High Does Todd Gurley Rise?

Before his ACL injury, Todd Gurley could very well have been a top-10 pick, which is high praise given the way running backs are currently valued in the draft. Teams simply don't see the need to target the position on Day 1 like they would have in years past.

Here's a look at where the first running back was taken in each of the last 10 years.

Year	Pick	Team	Player
2005	No. 2	Miami Dolphins	Ronnie Brown, Auburn
2006	No. 2	New Orleans Saints	Reggie Bush, USC
2007	No. 7	Minnesota Vikings	Adrian Peterson, Oklahoma
2008	No. 4	Oakland Raiders	Darren McFadden, Arkansas
2009	No. 12	Denver Broncos	Knowshon Moreno, Georgia
2010	No. 9	Buffalo Bills	C.J. Spiller, Clemson
2011	No. 28	New Orleans Saints	Mark Ingram, Alabama
2012	No. 3	Cleveland Browns	Trent Richardson, Alabama
2013	No. 37	Cincinnati Bengals	Giovani Bernard, North Carolina
2014	No. 54	Tennessee Titans	Bishop Sankey, Washington

The trend started in 2011—you could argue—and teams became even more emboldened with the strategy after watching Trent Richardson bomb with the Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts.

This year, however, two running backs could reasonably be taken in the first round—Gurley and Melvin Gordon. Of the two, Gurley has the higher potential, and thus a team will likely take him first. The only question is how high he could go.

The former Georgia Bulldog is drawing comparisons to Adrian Peterson—that's how highly he's viewed in some circles. Bleacher Report's Matt Miller drew a parallel to Shaun Alexander, which is also esteemed company:

ESPN's Todd McShay had the New York Jets taking Gurley sixth overall in his most recent mock draft. McShay felt some of the fears regarding Gurley's knee were allayed following a medical recheck. According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, doctors didn't find any serious problems:

Gurley will be an interesting case study in how much teams are willing to look past a major knee injury, in addition to how much they're willing to value a running back with as much potential as Gurley has.

Some will argue that it's foolish to draft a running back in the first round when guys like LeSean McCoy and Jamaal Charles were selected outside of Day 1.

If you felt you were getting the next Adrian Peterson, though, wouldn't you take that gamble?