NFL Draft 2017: 1st-Round Mock Draft as Super Bowl 51 Approaches

We've just about reached the end of the 2016 NFL season. On Sunday, the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons will do battle in Super Bowl LI. Once that game is over, the Patriots and Falcons will join the league's other 30 franchises with sights set on the 2017 offseason.

This means we'll all be in offseason mode and focusing on upcoming events like the scouting combine, the start of free agency and, of course, the 2017 NFL draft.

We're here to take another look ahead at the draft. The Super Bowl is almost upon us, but collegiate all-star games like the East-West Shrine Game and the Reese's Senior Bowl have passed. This means we have just a tad more insight into some of this year's top draft prospects.

Utilizing what we now know—along with factors like projected player potential and team needs—we'll try predicting the entire first round of the upcoming draft. We'll also take a closer look at some of our top projected pairings.

A couple of notes about the draft order. We're using simple record to set the final two picks in the round since the Patriots and Falcons have yet to play. We're also going alphabetical with picks 14 and 15 (Indianapolis and Philadelphia) since a coin toss will be used to determine the order there.

Let's dig in!

2017 Mock Draft

Pick	NFL Team	Proj. Selection
1	Cleveland Browns	Myles Garrett, DE, Texas A&M
2	San Francisco 49ers	Mitch Trubisky, QB, North Carolina
3	Chicago Bears	Jamal Adams, S, LSU
4	Jacksonville Jaguars	Jonathan Allen, DL, Alabama
5	Tennessee Titans (from LAR)	Mike Williams, WR, Clemson
6	New York Jets	Deshaun Watson, QB, Clemson
7	Los Angeles Chargers	Malik Hooker, S, Ohio State
8	Carolina Panthers	Leonard Fournette, RB, LSU
9	Cincinnati Bengals	Derek Barnett, DE, Tennessee
10	Buffalo Bills	Jabrill Peppers, LB, Michigan
11	New Orleans Saints	Solomon Thomas, DE, Stanford
12	Cleveland Browns (from PHI)	Ryan Ramczyk, OT, Wisconsin
13	Arizona Cardinals	DeShone Kizer, QB, Notre Dame
14	Indianapolis Colts	Marshon Lattimore, CB, Ohio State
15	Philadelphia Eagles (from MIN)	Corey Davis, WR, Western Michigan
16	Baltimore Ravens	Dalvin Cook, RB, Florida State
17	Washington Redskins	Chris Wormley, DL, Michigan
18	Tennessee Titans	Charles Walker, DT, Oklahoma
19	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Quincy Wilson, CB, Florida
20	Denver Broncos	Cam Robinson, OT, Alabama
21	Detroit Lions	Reuben Foster, LB, Alabama
22	Miami Dolphins	Marlon Humphrey, CB, Alabama
23	New York Giants	O.J. Howard, TE, Alabama
24	Oakland Raiders	Teez Tabor, CB, Florida
25	Houston Texans	Caleb Brantley, DT, Florida
26	Seattle Seahawks	Forrest Lamp, OL, Western Kentucky
27	Kansas City Chiefs	John Ross, WR, Washington
28	Dallas Cowboys	Taco Charlton, DE, Michigan
29	Green Bay Packers	Christian McCaffrey, RB, Stanford
30	Pittsburgh Steelers	Charles Harris, DE, Missouri
31	Atlanta Falcons	Dan Feeney, OG, Indiana
32	New England Patriots	David Njoku, TE, Miami

4. Jonathan Allen to Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars could target LSU safety Jamal Adams in order to help solidify their secondary. However, I have the Chicago Bears gobbling up Adams instead of a quarterback in order to address their pass-coverage unit, which was rated just 24th by Pro Football Focus.

With Adams off the board, the Jaguars should go with the best remaining defensive player in Alabama defensive lineman Jonathan Allen.

Allen is a productive pass-rusher who can complement Dante Fowler Jr. perfectly on the Jaguars line. He racked up 69 total tackles, 10.5 sacks and 16.0 tackles for a loss during the 2016 season alone. He could provide a major boost to a Jaguars pass rush that was rated just 20th by Pro Football Focus for the 2016 season.

In addition, the Jaguars would be getting a truly instinctive defender to build their defensive front around. As NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah recently pointed out, Allen is excellent at dissecting and reacting on the fly.

Allen would help the pass rush, but he would also help Jacksonville's run defense. Considering the team ranked 19th in run defense in 2016—with an average of 106.4 yards per game allowed—this would be a welcome boon.

13. DeShone Kizer to Arizona Cardinals

The biggest change in this mock from previous ones is the inclusion of Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer in the first round. This is a reactionary change.

The writing has been on the wall concerning the Arizona Cardinals and their future at quarterback given Carson Palmer's age (37) and injury history. However, recent developments suggest that the team needs to address the position sooner rather than later.

According to Mike Jurecki of Fox Sports 910 Phoenix (h/t Jody Oehler), Palmer has put his area home up for sale and has withdrawn his children from school:

This strongly suggests that Palmer's immediate future might not be in Arizona. The former USC standout previously hinted that retirement could be a possibility.

"I guess nothing is ever official until it is, but I’d like to play if my body responds the way I hope," Palmer said in a text message to Dan Bickley of AZCentral.com (h/t Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk).

The Cardinals cannot afford to just sit and wait for Palmer's official answer. They need to start targeting their next signal-caller now. This is where Kizer comes in.

Though Kizer isn't the most polished passer in this year's draft, he could have the highest upside of any of the potential Round 1 talents.

"I could tell you he should have gone back to school, but he also has some things you can work with," one unnamed NFC scout told NFL.com's Lance Zierlein of Kizer.

Allowing the Notre Dame product to sit for a while might be prudent. Fortunately, the Cardinals have a capable backup in Drew Stanton. While Stanton obviously isn't the future at the position, he is steady enough to bridge the gap between Palmer and Kizer.

While Arizona couldn't realistically expect to be a title contender in this scenario, it could at least buy Kizer enough time to develop into a capable starter.

15. Corey Davis to Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles went up and got themselves a young quarterback in last year's draft. The team traded up to No. 2 overall in order to snag Carson Wentz, then allowed him to start his entire rookie season.

While Wentz didn't exactly take the league by storm—he produced a passer rating of just 79.3—he did show some promise. Pro Football Focus rated Wentz 51st overall among quarterbacks, better than 20 other pro signal-callers.

Unfortunately, it wasn't always easy for Wentz to make strides in his development. This was largely due to the fact that the Eagles fielded one of the worst receiving corps in the entire league. As a team, Philadelphia was rated 30th in receiving by Pro Football Focus.

Adding Western Michigan wideout Corey Davis in Round 1 could change this.

Davis is a big, physical (listed at 6'2", 205 pounds) prospect who dominated the collegiate competition. In 2016 alone, he racked up 1,500 yards and 19 touchdowns on 97 receptions.

Adding Davis would give the Eagles a true No. 1 receiver while also allowing Jordan Matthews to slide over into the No. 2 role. This immediately would give Wentz a quality receiver tandem with which he could grow.