NFL Draft 2017: 1st-Round Mock Draft After Super Bowl

Super Bowl LI might not have actually been the greatest NFL title game of the modern era, but it certainly had one of the greatest finishes. The New England Patriots' comeback victory in overtime is something that won't soon be forgotten.

Unfortunately, James White's winning touchdown in overtime also represented the end of the 2016-17 NFL season. The only action football fans are going to have over the next few months is free agency and the draft.

The good news is that these events can actually be a lot of fun, especially the draft. Trying to predict which draft prospects will go where and when has almost become an annual sport of its own. Here's a little secret: We here at Bleacher Report enjoy getting in on that fun, and that's what we're going to do here.

With the Super Bowl firmly behind us, we're going to take a look at the latest draft order and make our first-round predictions. We'll be basing our picks on factors like projected player potential, team needs and team fit.

We will also take a look at some of the latest draft-related storylines of the week.

2017 NFL 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	Deshaun Watson, QB, Clemson
4	Jacksonville Jaguars	Jamal Adams, S, LSU
5	Tennessee Titans (from LAR)	Mike Williams, WR, Clemson
6	New York Jets	Malik Hooker, S, Ohio State
7	Los Angeles Chargers	Jonathan Allen, DL, Alabama
8	Carolina Panthers	Leonard Fournette, RB, LSU
9	Cincinnati Bengals	Reuben Foster, LB, Alabama
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	Derek Barnett, DE, Tennessee
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 Harris, OLB, Missouri
19	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Quincy Wilson, CB, Florida
20	Denver Broncos	Forrest Lamp, OL, Western Kentucky
21	Detroit Lions	Dawuane Smoot, DE, Illinois
22	Miami Dolphins	Marshon Lattimore, CB, Ohio State
23	New York Giants	O.J. Howard, TE, Alabama
24	Oakland Raiders	David Njoku, TE, Miami
25	Houston Texans	Marlon Humphrey, CB, Alabama
26	Seattle Seahawks	Dan Feeney, OG, Indiana
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	Caleb Brantley, DT, Florida
31	Atlanta Falcons	Teez Tabor, CB, Florida
32	New England Patriots	T.J. Watt, LB, Wisconsin

Latest Buzz

Jarrad Davis to Miss Combine Drills

Florida linebacker Jarrad Davis is considered to be one of the top defensive prospects in this year's draft and a possible first-round pick. The 6'2", 238-pound linebacker produced 60 tackles, 2.0 sacks, 6.0 tackles for a loss and four passes defended.

Pro Football Focus (PFF College) rated Davis 124th out of all inside linebacker in the country this past season.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like interested teams are going to get an up-close look at Davis at the NFL Scouting Combine.

According to NFL Media's Ian Rapoport, Davis won't participate in drills at the combine:

The good news is that, per Rapoport, Davis will be back to 100 percent by his pro day. Davis will also attend the combine to undergo interviews and to meet with teams:

This means that, while the ankle injury caused Davis to miss the final three games of last season, it isn't likely to have a significant effect on his draft stock—so long as Davis meets expectations at his pro day.

Could Patrick Mahomes be the Top Quarterback?

Right now, the general feeling is that the first three quarterbacks off the board will be North Carolina's Mitch Trubisky, Clemson's Deshaun Watson and Notre Dame's DeShone Kizer. However, there's a very real chance (there always is) that no one from this group will be the best quarterback in the draft.

Eric Galko of the Sporting News believes that Texas Tech's Patrick Mahomes II might actually be the top quarterback available—and others seem to agree.

Galko recently wrote the following:

"

Some I've spoken with are right in line with my evaluation, wondering if he is the top quarterback in this class and whether he should go in the top 15. Others laugh at the idea of a gunslinger who won five games in 2016 going top 20. Based on my reading at this point, he ranges from the sixth best passer for some teams to maybe No. 1 for others, way more variable than Watson. To me, he's a less polished version of Matthew Stafford coming out of Georgia.

"

It's true that teams placing a value on actually winning games aren't likely to be as high on Mahomes, but his individual body of work is intriguing. Last season, Mahomes completed 65.7 percent of his passes for 5,052 yards with 41 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Pro Football Focus rated Mahomes fourth overall among all quarterbacks for the 2016 season.

Some are going to be wary of Mahomes' experience in a spread offense. However, it's worth noting that similar concerns surrounded Fresno State's Derek Carr back in 2014.

"Operated out of the shotgun and pistol and made a lot short/lateral throws and half-field reads," Nolan Nawrocki of NFL.com wrote of Carr in a pre-draft profile. "Production is inflated by spread offense and porous Mountain West Conference defenses."

Carr was a Pro Bowler last season and one of the top-rated quarterbacks in the NFL.

This isn't to suggest that Mahomes is going to be the same player that Carr is; only to suggest that he could be. Teams will need to look closely at his mechanics, throwing ability and intangibles and bypass any preconceived notions about the system he comes from.

I don't have Mahomes going in the first round just yet, but this could change as the pre-draft process continues to unfold. It wouldn't be at all surprising to see Mahomes rise up draft boards while guys like Kizer begin to fall.

Seahawks Unlikely to Lose Pick

There was some speculation leading up to Super Bowl LI that the Seattle Seahawks could lose a draft pick as part of punishment for failing to disclose cornerback Richard Sherman's knee injury. Following Seattle's exit from the playoffs, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll mentioned that Sherman had been playing much of the season with the injury, yet he wasn't listed on injury reports.

ESPN.com's Chris Mortensen speculated that the draft pick lost could be as high as a second-rounder, because the Seahawks have recently violated other practice rules.

We learned over the weekend that this isn't likely to be the case. Rapoport reported that the Seahawks are unlikely to face severe punishment for the violation, if they face any at all:

This is obviously good news for Seattle fans, and it's also going to be good news for at least one draft prospect hoping to be drafted on Day 2.