2017 NFL Mock Draft: 1st-Round Predictions Ahead of Free Agency

We've reached the point in the NFL offseason when it might be the most difficult to predict what teams are actually going to do. The scouting combine is over, the draft is nearly two months away, and teams are allowed to contact the representatives of pending free agents.

Realistically, there is no reason for any team to be up front about its actual intentions until the start of free agency on Thursday. Once the dominoes start falling in free agency, we'll have a better idea of what teams might actually do in the draft.

Of course, this isn't going to stop us from taking a crack at predicting the draft—which is exactly what we're going to do here. Based on what we know about this year's class and what we further learned at the combine, here's an updated first-round mock.

We'll be running down the current draft order and making our predictions based on factors like player potential, team needs and team fit. We'll also examine the latest bits of news and rumors that could affect draft weekend.

2017 NFL Mock Draft

Pick	NFL Team	Proj. Selection
1	Cleveland Browns	Myles Garrett, DE, Texas A&M
2	San Francisco 49ers	Solomon Thomas, DE, Stanford
3	Chicago Bears	Deshaun Watson, QB, Clemson
4	Jacksonville Jaguars	Jamal Adams, S, LSU
5	Tennessee Titans (from LAR)	Corey Davis, WR, Western Michigan
6	New York Jets	Malik Hooker, S, Ohio State
7	Los Angles Rams	Marshon Lattimore, CB, Ohio State
8	Carolina Panthers	Leonard Fournette, RB, LSU
9	Cincinnati Bengals	Haason Reddick, LB, Temple
10	Buffalo Bills	Jonathan Allen, DL, Alabama
11	New Orleans Saints	Derek Barnett, DE, Tennessee
12	Cleveland Browns (from PHI)	Mitchell Trubisky, QB, North Carolina
13	Arizona Cardinals	Mike Williams, WR, Clemson
14	Philadelphia Eagles (form MIN)	John Ross, WR, Washington
15	Indianapolis Colts	Reuben Foster, LB, Alabama
16	Baltimore Ravens	Dalvin Cook, RB, Florida State
17	Washington Redskins	Chris Wormley, DL, Michigan
18	Tennessee Titans	Gareon Conley, CB, Ohio State
19	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Charles Harris, OLB, Missouri
20	Denver Broncos	Forrest Lamp, OL, Western Kentucky
21	Detroit Lions	Jabrill Peppers, LB, Michigan
22	Miami Dolphins	Teez Tabor, CB, Florida
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	Ryan Ramczyk, OT, Wisconsin
27	Kansas City Chiefs	Tre'Davious White, CB, LSU
28	Dallas Cowboys	Taco Charlton, DE, Michigan
29	Green Bay Packers	Christian McCaffrey, RB, Stanford
30	Pittsburgh Steelers	Sidney Jones, CB, Washington
31	Atlanta Falcons	Dan Feeney, OG, Indiana
32	New England Patriots	T.J. Watt, LB, Wisconsin

Latest Buzz

Teams Could Differ on Foster's Combine Incident

Former Alabama linebacker Reuben Foster made noise at the scouting combine for all the wrong reasons. He was sent home for getting into a confrontation with a hospital worker while waiting for medical evaluations.

Foster met with NFL teams on Tuesday to try to explain the incident. According to NFL Media's Ian Rapoport, Foster met with 20 members of team personnel to offer an apology and an explanation. Per Rapoport, Foster's apology left teams impressed.

While most teams may be impressed with Foster's willingness to take ownership of his mistake, this doesn't mean his stock won't slide in the eyes of some. Former NFL scout and manager at Ourlads.com Dan Shonka recently explained, per Andrew Astleford of SECCountry.com:

"

That’s just him being stupid. Now of course, they’ve tried to spin everything and make him apologize. But you better think of that (stuff) before you do it. Will it hurt his draft status? I don’t know. He didn’t do (much) in his career before this year, OK? Then he got hurt. Every team is going to look at him differently. We had him as a top-15 player. We like him. He’s a good football player. But he gives you pause.

"

Shonka brings up a good point about Foster's past production. While the linebacker had a stellar campaign in 2016—115 tackles, 5.0 sacks, 13.0 tackles for a loss—he wasn't a particularly productive player before last year. Foster only logged 108 tackles in the previous three years combined.

Now some teams might want to question Foster's ability to handle himself like a professional in addition to his status as a one-year wonder.

John Ross Set for Surgery

Former Washington receiver John Ross turned heads at the scouting combine for the right reasons—he set a new record by running the 40-yard dash in 4.2 seconds. However, he didn't participate in any more drills after the impressive run because of a leg issue.

According to NFL Network's Kimberly Jones, Ross cited sore calves as the reason:

Ross will probably never have to run another 40 in his life. Teams know he is fast. However, if they have any other questions about Ross' athletic ability, they might not get a chance to have them answered before the draft.

According to NFL Media's Ian Rapoport, Ross will only run routes at Washington's pro day and is scheduled to undergo shoulder surgery next week:

Now, this isn't exactly news, as teams knew Ross would undergo surgery after the combine. However, it does highlight the one big concern teams could have about the speedy pass-catcher—injury history.

Ross has already undergone surgery on both of his knees.

Ross' injury history is one of the reasons why NFL Media draft expert Mike Mayock stated he doesn't believe the combine record will significantly affect his draft stock.

"The issue is going to be medical," Mayock explained. "He has a small frame, he's had multiple knee operations, he's going to get his shoulder done. Today, he cramped up. Couldn't finish. That's going to be a theme for him going forward."

We're pretty sure that Ross' ending surgery will be declared successful—as all NFL surgeries seem to be these days. Yet, at least some teams are likely to worry that this latest procedure is part of a trend.

Browns Would Prefer to Snag Garoppolo

Armed with the first and 12th overall picks, the Cleveland Browns have the ammunition to grab their signal-caller of the future in this year's draft. According to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, however, the Browns might not believe that quarterback is in this draft.

Per Cabot, part of Cleveland's "dream scenario" would be landing New England Patriots backup Jimmy Garoppolo by trading the No. 12 selection.

It's unclear whether this desire for Garoppolo is a reflection on Cleveland's views on Tom Brady's understudy, the team's views on this year's crop of rookie quarterbacks or both.

Here's another thing to consider, though: At this point in the offseason, Cleveland's clamoring for Garoppolo could be mere smoke.

While the general perception is that no quarterback in this class is ready to start as a rookie, this doesn't mean there isn't a player the Browns feel can develop into an elite passer. The team isn't likely to contend over the next couple years, so a quarterback's inability to start right away might not be an issue for the franchise.

Cabot previously reported that the Browns would strongly consider taking North Carolina's Mitchell Trubisky No. 1 overall instead of Garrett.

"He's got size, he can move, he sees the field, has a big arm and more upside than Carson Wentz last year. They'd be set,'' one NFL executive said of Trubisky, per Cabot.

There's a chance that Cleveland wants to see if a team is willing to trade up a few spots to snag Garrett, giving the Browns additional draft capital and a shot at the quarterback they like. Perhaps the Browns want to keep everyone else guessing heading into free agency.

Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reported that the Browns will have "significant interest" in Buffalo Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor if he becomes a free agent. If Taylor is Cleveland's real target, it would make sense for the Browns not to oversell their interest.

Then again, maybe the Browns are simply dreaming about having a quarterback that owns two Super Bowl rings.