2015 NFL Mock Draft: Bold Predictions for 1st Round's Most Volatile Prospects

College football's top prospects will soon become the NFL's next up-and-coming young stars, as Round 1 of the 2015 NFL draft will take place on Thursday, April 30.

Each of the league's 32 organizations are hoping to grab their next franchise star, but this year's draft class lacks surefire prospects outside of the top 10 or 12 picks. It will take strong scouting for teams to capitalize on their first-round selections after the first 10 players are off the board.

Not every prospect has the immediate-impact-potential of a Jameis Winston or a Leonard Williams. Some guys have the talent to become NFL studs, yet they also have drawbacks that might hold them back from finding consistent success. It's those guys that we'll focus on below.

A complete mock for Round 1 follows in the table below, and analysis on three of the draft's most volatile prospects comes just after that.

Pick	Team	Selection
1	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Jameis Winston, QB, Florida State
2	Tennessee Titans	Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon
3	Jacksonville Jaguars	Leonard Williams, DL, USC
4	Oakland Raiders	Kevin White, WR, West Virginia
5	Washington Redskins	Brandon Scherff, OT, Iowa
6	New York Jets	Dante Fowler, DE, Florida
7	Chicago Bears	Shane Ray, DE/OLB, Missouri
8	Atlanta Falcons	Vic Beasley, OLB, Clemson
9	New York Giants	Trae Waynes, CB, Michigan State
10	St. Louis Rams	Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama
11	Minnesota Vikings	DeVante Parker, WR, Louisville
12	Cleveland Browns	Arik Armstead, DE, Oregon
13	New Orleans Saints	Danny Shelton, DT, Washington
14	Miami Dolphins	Marcus Peters, CB, Washington
15	San Francisco 49ers	Ereck Flowers, OT, Miami (FL)
16	Houston Texans	Jaelen Strong, WR, Arizona State
17	San Diego Chargers	Kevin Johnson, CB, Wake Forest
18	Kansas City Chiefs	Devin Smith, WR, Ohio State
19	Cleveland Browns (via Buffalo)	Breshad Perriman, WR, UCF
20	Philadelphia Eagles	Landon Collins, S, Alabama
21	Cincinnati Bengals	Andrus Peat, OT, Stanford
22	Pittsburgh Steelers	Byron Jones, CB, Connecticut
23	Detroit Lions	Malcom Brown, DT, Texas
24	Arizona Cardinals	Alvin "Bud" Dupree, OLB, Kentucky
25	Carolina Panthers	La'el Collins, OT, LSU
26	Baltimore Ravens	Randy Gregory, DE, Nebraska
27	Dallas Cowboys	Melvin Gordon, RB, Wisconsin
28	Denver Broncos	D.J. Humphries, OT, Florida
29	Indianapolis Colts	Todd Gurley, RB, Georgia
30	Green Bay Packers	Denzel Perryman, ILB, Miami (FL)
31	New Orleans Saints (via Seattle)	Dorial Green-Beckham, WR, Oklahoma
32	New England Patriots	Jalen Collins, CB, LSU

19. Cleveland Browns (via Buffalo): Breshad Perriman, WR, UCF

John Raoux/Associated Press

The first round is chock-full of wide receivers with big potential, but no wideout is more volatile than UCF's Breshad Perriman.

He didn't work out at the NFL combine due to hamstring issues. That left scouts waiting anxiously for his pro day, and he certainly didn't disappoint. Known for his incredible speed, Perriman put it on display earlier this month.

The 6'2" speedster clocked in between 4.22 and 4.27 seconds in the 40-yard dash, with the low point being better than Chris Johnson's record-setting 4.24 set back in 2008. Speed is unteachable, and Perriman has plenty of it. Even his wheels don't make up for some of his shortcomings, however.

Catching the ball is an essential skill for wideouts. It's like swimmers knowing how to float and runners knowing how to walk. Perriman struggles with hauling in passes consistently, though. Getting to the ball isn't the problem—it's corralling it once he gets his hands on it.

The Star Tribune's Master Tesfatsion worries about how that will play in the NFL:

"

The concerning part is that Perriman is open on these drops. If he’s struggling with that against mainly AAC talent, how will fare with a NFL cornerback all over him? It doesn’t mean anything if you can burn by a cornerback but can’t catch the ball. This sounds so obvious but yet it gets overlooked somehow.

"

The word "overlooked" likely has to do with how ESPN's Mel Kiper recently mocked Perriman in the top 10, and, frankly, that is absurd. He had eight games last season with three catches or fewer. While that has a lot to do with Blake Bortles' departure in last year's draft, Perriman is also to blame.

He could very well turn into a serviceable NFL receiver. DeSean Jackson is probably the absolute best-case scenario, but that's quite a stretch. He'll more than likely end up like Travis Benjamin, a player with great speed who simply can't put it all together at the next level.

26. Baltimore Ravens: Randy Gregory, DE, Nebraska

Randy Gregory may end up as one of this class' most productive players 10 years down the line. But that's if he stays on the field.

He tested positive for marijuana at the NFL combine, and that's not the only infraction for the Nebraska product, as lapses in judgment like this one might continue to hold him back:

Whether or not New Orleans is "boring" is not the issue at hand here. Some people aren't crazy about a hopping nightlife. Fine. We can live with that.

But when the New Orleans Saints are a team in desperate need of an edge-rusher, that's not something you want to say. By calling the city boring, he basically told the Saints that he doesn't want to spend the early stages of his career there. Again, that's not ideal for a prospect with his potential.

Grant Paulsen of 106.7 The Fan's Grant & Danny Show agrees:

Of course, there will be teams willing to take a shot on him given his incredible on-field talents. He gets off the line quickly and has an uncanny motor. He attacks the ball-carrier and doesn't stop until he's on the turf. Add in his physical traits (6'5", 235 pounds), and Gregory can be a staple on a defense as either a defensive end or outside linebacker.

Bleacher Report's Dan Pompei hears that teams are weighing the pros and cons of Gregory's NFL future:

There's a strong chance Gregory falls in Round 1. The Baltimore Ravens, a team who can give Gregory a chance to learn behind star Terrell Suggs, shouldn't pass on him if he's still there at No. 26.

31. New Orleans Saints (via Seattle): Dorial Green-Beckham, WR, Oklahoma

Dorial Green-Beckham is another player with off-field problems, but we'll focus his draft volatility on his on-field problems.

We have to touch on the obvious positives first. His size paired with his speed makes him a force. A 6'5", 237-pound man shouldn't have the ability to run a 4.49-second 40-yard dash, something he did at the combine.

It takes multiple defensive backs to cover Green-Beckham adequately. A corner and a safety over the top should be considered the minimum. In terms of size and speed, we're talking a poor man's Calvin Johnson.

But Green-Beckham is far from becoming the next Megatron. Bob Sturm of The Dallas Morning News points out why:

"

He runs very few routes and doesn’t play with the power you would like to see for a man in a tight-ends body. There is no point in having great strength if you cannot translate it to functional football strength and a man his size should never get beat on a slant or appear to bail out from contact. He also does not display consistent catch technique and has some lapses that leads to some frustrating drops.

"

It wouldn't be correct to call him soft, but he's definitely relatively weak when you consider him among similarly sized NFL receivers and tight ends.

This, coupled with his previous troubles off the field, certainly make him a risk early in Round 1. That said, Bleacher Report's Matt Miller still likes him more than another wideout projected in the first round:

Perriman and Green-Beckham are not similar players, but their shortcomings put them in a similar category. They're players with unteachable physical gifts with on-field problems that aren't necessarily easy fixes.

A team like the New Orleans Saints can afford to take a risk at No. 31 given their offensive depth and his obvious upside.

Kenny DeJohn is a Breaking News Team Featured Columnist. Follow him on Twitter.