NFL Draft 2016: Mock Draft for Every Selection in Star-Studded 1st Round

Mock draft season is upon us, and the Tennessee Titans are on the clock.

For the second year in a row, the Titans will pick in the top two. Tennessee accomplished its primary goal by getting its quarterback of the future in Marcus Mariota, now the task at hand is to get him some help. 

After the Titans is where it gets interesting. The Cleveland Browns need (another) quarterback of the future, the San Diego Chargers need a potential franchise-caliber player to ready a move to Los Angeles and the Dallas Cowboys will reap the rewards of playing almost a full season without Tony Romo.

All of that, and more, in the first mock draft after the regular season. Let's take a look.

Pick	Team	Player	Position	School
1	Tennessee Titans	Laremy Tunsil	OT	Ole Miss
2	Cleveland Browns	Paxton Lynch	QB	Memphis
3	San Diego Chargers	Laquon Treadwell	WR	Ole Miss
4	Dallas Cowboys	Joey Bosa	DL	Ohio State
5	Jacksonville Jaguars	Jalen Ramsey	DB	Florida State
6	Baltimore Ravens	Ronnie Stanley	OT	Notre Dame
7	San Francisco 49ers	Jared Goff	QB	Cal
8	Miami Dolphins	Mackensie Alexander	DB	Clemson
9	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Robert Nkemdiche	DE	Ole Miss
10	New York Giants	Ezekiel Elliott	RB	Ohio State
11	Chicago Bears	Jaylon Smith	LB	Notre Dame
12	New Orleans Saints	Myles Jack	LB	UCLA
13	Philadelphia Eagles	Vernon Hargreaves III	DB	Florida
14	Oakland Raiders	Jamal Adams	S	LSU
15	St. Louis Rams	Connor Cook	QB	Michigan State
16	Detroit Lions	Shaq Lawson	DE	Clemson
17	Atlanta Falcons	Vadal Alexander	OG	LSU
18	Indianapolis Colts	DeForest Buckner	DE	Oregon
19	Buffalo Bills	Hunter Henry	TE	Arkansas
20	New York Jets	Jack Conklin	OL	Michigan State
21	Pittsburgh Steelers	Shilique Calhoun	DL	Michigan State
22	Seattle Seahawks	Corey Coleman	WR	Baylor
23	Green Bay Packers	Scooby Wright	LB	Arizona
24	Kansas City Chiefs	Taylor Decker	OL	Ohio State
25	Washington Redskins	Tyler Boyd	WR	Pittsburgh
26	Houston Texans	Carson Wentz	QB	North Dakota State
27	Minnesota Vikings	Michael Thomas	WR	Ohio State
28	Cincinnati Bengals	Tre'Davious White	DB	LSU
29	Denver Broncos	Desmond King	DB	Iowa
30	Arizona Cardinals	Leonard Floyd	OLB	Georgia
31	Carolina Panthers	Kendall Fuller	DB	Virginia Tech
32	New England Patriots	Pick forfeited	N/A	N/A

Paxton Lynch vs. Jared Goff

Let's be clear. If I were running an NFL team that had to make the choice between Jared Goff or Paxton Lynch, Goff is the pick 10 times out of 10.

Goff is, unquestionably, the best quarterback in this draft. He can make any type of throw, has tremendous arm strength to fit the ball into tight windows and has shown great pocket awareness when pressure gets to him.

He possesses the same qualities that another Cal quarterback, some guy named Aaron Rodgers, had during his college days. There will be concerns brought up that Goff played in a spread-based system in a shotgun formation. The same things were said about Mariota, and he turned out to have a great rookie season, stats wise.

This pass from Goff is one of the reasons why teams want him, courtesy of CBS Sports' Rob Rang. It's a quick three-step drop, Goff reacts quickly and fires a beautifully placed ball to Bryce Treggs for one of Goff's six touchdowns in the Armed Forces Bowl:

Yes, Goff should be taken ahead of Lynch. That doesn't mean he will be.

If you believe Sports Illustrated's Peter King, then Johnny Manziel will not be a Brown come draft time. Cleveland will, once again, be looking for a new quarterback. Goff is the best prospect, while Lynch is the best project. If there's one thing Cleveland has done consistently for the past decade and a half, it's draft guys that possess more upside than immediate value.

This isn't a knock on Lynch, though. There's much to like about a guy who has the stature of Cam Newton at 6'6" and 230 pounds and has the athleticism and rocket arm to match. He doesn't possess the accuracy that Goff has, but Lynch is more athletic for his size and can make more plays with his legs than Goff. Watch this throw, courtesy of Rang, in which Lynch takes an eight-step drop and fires an impressive strike in an inadvertent window:

What may hurt Lynch was his performance in the Birmingham Bowl against the Auburn Tigers. He threw for only 104 yards and an interception in the loss and looked unimpressive against a mediocre Auburn defense. 

Rang goes into a bit more detail on how off Lynch looked:

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Unofficially, Lynch completed six screens in this game for a total of 14 yards. Without these easy completions resulting in big yardage, Lynch was forced to attempt more difficult throws. He completed a few of them, firing well-thrown passes to the sideline while in the pocket and on the move. Too often, however, Lynch's ball placement was off, forcing his receivers to adjust and limiting their ability to run after the catch.

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The Browns would be making the right choice with Goff at No. 2, knowing the immediate value and return they'd get with him. With Lynch, it's a matter of patience, and the Browns have been known to have none in the last two years. They should take Goff, but a weird hunch says they go with Lynch's upside rather than immediate face-of-the-franchise value.

Would the Cowboys take Laquon Treadwell if Joey Bosa is Off the Board?

CBS Sports' Dane Brugler released his latest mock draft on Sunday, and he made an interesting point in regards to the Dallas Cowboys' No. 4 pick.

Would Jerry Jones go receiver, with plenty of other pressing needs in front of him, and take Ole Miss star Laquon Treadwell?

Brugler has Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa going one pick before the Cowboys at No. 3, to the San Diego Chargers, while Treadwell goes to San Diego in this mock and Bosa goes to Dallas.

Here's Brugler's take on why the Cowboys should pick Treadwell:

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The Cowboys will consider a quarterback here and need help on defense, but the window is closing with Tony Romo at quarterback and Dallas needs to surround him with more talent. Treadwell, who is similar to Dez Bryant with the way he attacks the football, would be an ideal fit opposite Dez.

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If Bosa is still available when Dallas is on the clock, Bosa will be a Cowboy without question. If he's a Charger, like Brugler predicts, then the Cowboys should still go defense and take a guy like Robert Nkemdiche or DeForest Buckner. Jalen Ramsey from Florida State would also be a wise pick here, should the Cowboys want to rid themselves of Morris Claiborne and/or Brandon Carr.

There's only one reason why the Cowboys should consider drafting Treadwell. If Dez Bryant's decline is on the horizon, Dallas needs a replacement.

Terrance Williams proved this season that he's not a No. 1 receiver. He's a perfect complement to Bryant on the outside but not a guy that can be counted on to be a top target. Treadwell going to Dallas means that the Cowboys fear Bryant's production will drastically drop because of his foot injury, or they're done with Williams or even Cole Beasley.

Moving on from either of those two doesn't make sense, especially with a healthy Romo.

Matt Cassel and Brandon Weeden proved, even with Bryant playing, that the Cowboys need more than another receiver. They would take a quarterback at No. 4 before taking Treadwell, no matter how much the Cowboys would love to have another guy that resembles Bryant. 

The argument about Romo's window closing can also be said of Philip Rivers. With Malcom Floyd retiring, Rivers could use a Bryant-type receiver like Treadwell to play opposite of Keenan Allen. San Diego's defense played well enough to keep the Chargers in contention during some games, but the offense scored 20 points or less six times once Allen went down.

If Bosa is gone when the Cowboys pick, receiver should be low on the priority list.