2016 NFL Mock Draft: Predicting Where College's Top Prospects Will Land

As the NFL approaches its halfway mark of the season, it is becoming very clear which teams will be choosing toward the top of the 2016 draft. 

It's never too early to start searching for the next big talent, and there are plenty of prospects in the NCAA that look like they'll succeed at the next level. 

Here is a look at my latest mock draft. The draft order was determined by the current NFL standings and took each team's positional needs into consideration.  

Pick	Team	Player	Position	School
1	Detroit Lions	Laremy Tunsil	OT	Ole Miss
2	Baltimore Ravens	Joey Bosa	DE	Ohio State
3	Tennessee Titans	Robert Nkemdiche	DT	Ole Miss
4	San Francisco 49ers	Ronnie Stanley	OT	Notre Dame
5	San Diego Chargers	Jalen Ramsey	CB	Florida State
6	Kansas City Chiefs	Jared Goff	QB	California
7	Jacksonville Jaguars	Taylor Decker	OT	Ohio State
8	Houston Texans	Connor Cook	QB	Penn State
9	Cleveland Browns	Paxton Lynch	QB	Memphis
10	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Jack Conklin	OT	Ohio State
11	Dallas Cowboys	Laquon Treadwell	WR	Ole Miss
12	Chicago Bears	Vernon Hargreaves	CB	Florida
13	Washington Redskins	Jaylon Smith	LB	Notre Dame
14	Seattle Seahawks	Leonard Floyd	DE/LB	Georgia
15	Philadelphia Eagles	Myles Jack	LB	UCLA
16	New Orleans Saints	Michael Thomas	WR	Ohio State
17	Indianapolis Colts	Reggie Ragland	LB	Alabama
18	Buffalo Bills	Scooby Wright	LB	Arizona
19	St. Louis Rams	Kendall Fuller	CB	Virginia Tech
20	Oakland Raiders	A'Shawn Robinson	DT	Alabama
21	Miami Dolphins	DeForest Buckner	DE	Baylor
22	Pittsburgh Steelers	Cameron Sutton	CB	Tennessee
23	New York Giants	Emmanuel Ogbah	DE	Oklahoma State
24	New York Jets	Jerald Hawkins	OT	LSU
25	Minnesota Vikings	Tyler Boyd	WR	Pittsburgh
26	Arizona Cardinals	Adolphus Washington	DT	Ohio State
27	Atlanta Falcons	Vadal Alexander	G	LSU
28	Green Bay Packers	Shilique Calhoun	DE/LB	Michigan State
29	Denver Broncos	Kenny Clark	DT	UCLA
30	Cincinnati Bengals	Nate Andrews	S	Florida State
31	Carolina Panthers	Ezekiel Elliott	RB	Ohio State

For many of these early mock drafts, the first round has featured just two quarterbacks in Michigan State's Connor Cook and California's Jared Goff. However, with Memphis' emergence in the Top 25 polls, their quarterback has made his way onto many mock draft boards. 

Junior Paxton Lynch is the man under center for the 7-0 Tigers who have risen to No. 16 in the Associated Press poll. His numbers have been unreal during the first seven games of the 2015 season, completing over 70 percent of his passes with 17 touchdowns and one interception. 

He's accurate to all parts of the field and can throw a pretty deep ball, as ESPN CollegeFootball shows:

Lynch is already grabbing the attention of NFL scouts, as one NFC area scout told NFL.com's Lance Zierlein, "Paxton Lynch is moving up. I need to study him more, but guys with his size that can move like he does—he has a chance to be big time."

CBSSports.com's Dane Brugler delved a bit deeper:

"

Lynch isn't a flawless prospect; he needs to work on his footwork, touch and continue to add weight. But with continued development, Lynch could be this year's version of Blake Bortles if he declares -- a passing prospect from a non-power-five conference who checks a lot of boxes for NFL evaluators in an average quarterback class.

"

There's still plenty of time for Lynch to ramp up his game even more, which could propel him to being the first quarterback taken in this year's draft. 

If Michigan State continues its mediocre play despite holding a Top 10 ranking and California stays out of the polls, the better it bodes for Lynch. 

Stats courtesy of ESPN.com.