NFL Draft 2017: Mock Draft Projections and Analysis for Top Prospects

We may be smack dab in the middle of the NFL playoffs, but that doesn't mean it's too early to start looking ahead to the 2017 NFL draft.

At the end of the College Football Playoff and bowl season, prospects are still declaring for the draft, and the official order isn't even set yet. So naturally, all January mock drafts have to be taken with a grain of salt.

Still, it's the perfect time to start identifying each team's needs and which players in the draft they'll have on their big boards to satisfy those needs.  

Note that selections 25-32 are not finalized as the NFL playoffs enter the divisional round, so for now, these teams are slotted in as projections. 

As for the tie at the 14th pick, the Minnesota Vikings traded their first-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles and have the same record and strength of schedule as the Indianapolis Colts. The order will be determined by a coin flip.

Selection	Team	Player	Position	School
1	Cleveland Browns	Myles Garrett	DE	Texas A&M
2	San Francisco 49ers	Mitch Trubisky	QB	UNC
3	Chicago Bears	Jonathan Allen	DE	Alabama
4	Jacksonville Jaguars	Jamal Adams	SS	LSU
5	Tennessee Titans (via LA)	Malik Hooker	FS	Ohio State
6	New York Jets	DeShone Kizer	QB	Notre Dame
7	San Diego Chargers	Cam Robinson	OT	Alabama
8	Carolina Panthers	Leonard Fournette	RB	LSU
9	Cincinnati Bengals	Derek Barnett	DE	Tennessee
10	Buffalo Bills	Deshaun Watson	QB	Clemson
11	New Orleans Saints	Tim Williams	OLB	Alabama
12	Cleveland Browns (via PHI)	Marlon Humphrey	CB	Alabama
13	Arizona Cardinals	Reuben Foster	ILB	Alabama
14 (tie)	Philadelphia Eagles (via MIN)	Mike Williams	WR	Clemson
14 (tie)	Indianapolis Colts	Dalvin Cook	RB	FSU
16	Baltimore Ravens	Solomon Thomas	DE	Stanford
17	Washington	Malik McDowell	DT	Michigan State
18	Tennessee Titans	John Ross III	WR	Washington
19	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Jabrill Peppers	S	Michigan
20	Denver Broncos	Ryan Ramczyk	OT	Wisconsin
21	Detroit Lions	Teez Tabor	CB	Florida
22	Miami Dolphins	Marshon Lattimore	CB	Ohio State
23	New York Giants	Christian McCaffery	RB	Stanford
24	Oakland Raiders	Zach Cunningham	ILB	Vanderbilt
25	Houston Texans	Taco Charlton	DE	Michigan
26	Green Bay Packers	O.J. Howard	TE	Alabama
27	Seattle Seahawks	Garrett Bolles	OT	Utah
28	Atlanta Falcons	Charles Harris	DE	Missouri
29	Pittsburgh Steelers	Takkarist McKinley	OLB	UCLA
30	Kansas City Chiefs	Quincy Wilson	CB	Florida
31	Dallas Cowboys	Sidney Jones IV	CB	Washington
32	New England Patriots	DeMarcus Walker	DE	Florida State

Top Prospects

Myles Garrett, DE, Texas A&M

Texas A&M defensive lineman Myles Garrett has risen to the top of many analysts' big boards ahead of the draft after he declared officially on New Year's Eve.

That includes ESPN's Todd McShay, who recently reworked his big board and moved Garrett into the top spot, writing, "This is the best pure pass-rusher in the 2017 draft," via ESPN (insider subscription required). 

Garrett, as McShay noted, added 10 pounds of muscle in the offseason and will be a Day 1 contributor for a team looking to plug him into its defense.

As the consensus top player in the draft, it will be hard even for the quarterback-needy Cleveland Browns to pass on this once-in-a-generation talent, and for that reason, this early mock has the Browns foregoing the option to take North Carolina's Mitch Trubisky in favor of this defensive stud. 

Mitch Trubisky, QB, North Carolina

Speaking of Trubisky, he's not going to fall far in this draft. This mock has the San Francisco 49ers scooping him up at the No. 2 position overall.

There's still a lot of chatter about which quarterback will be (and deserves to be) the first one selected this spring, especially after Clemson's Deshaun Watson turned heads when he led his team to a win in the CFP National Championship.

But NFL teams employ a year-round group of scouts to make sure that they get their big boards right, and those scouts spend months watching film and attending practices and games. They're not going to let one splashy national championship game affect their rankings, and fans should be careful of the same.

The 6'3", 220-pound Ohio native completed 67.5 percent of his passes at North Carolina and wrapped up his college career with 41 touchdowns to 10 interceptions.

He's also mobile, making plays with his legs (to the tune of 120 rushing attempts for 439 yards and eight touchdowns over his college career), which would fit in perfectly with the offense that San Francisco already runs.

If the Browns pass up Trubisky, the 49ers will be delighted to grab him at No. 2.

Jonathan Allen, DE, Alabama

Like the Browns and 49ers before them, the Chicago Bears could also use a quarterback of the future, but they could end up going the same route as the Browns and upgrading their defense.

After all, there are just too many team-changing defenders to pass up this early in the first round, and the value just isn't there for the quarterbacks unless a team were to trade down.

Vic Fangio has to be giddy over the prospect of landing Allen. In fact, as of January 12, CBS Sports has Allen rated No. 1 on its overall prospect list, above even Garrett.

In a program that has recently produced players such as A'Shawn Robinson and Jarran Reed, Allen still manages to stand out.

"Possessing enough burst to challenge tackles as well as enough size and strength to hold up inside, Allen provides greater positional and schematic versatility than many of the defensive linemen before him at Alabama," boasts the CBS Sports draft analysis. 

Chicago has already partially rebuilt its defense in the last two years with defensive end Jonathan Bullard and defensive tackle Eddie Goldman, but it's still missing that player who can change the tenor of the game. Allen could do that for the Bears.