NFL Mock Draft 2018: Predictions for Top Prospects Ahead of Week 17
If your favorite NFL team is contention for a playoff berth, then move along. It's not time for you to put all your time and energy into creating mock drafts.
But for the rest of the NFL and its fans, there is just one more week of the cruel and painful 2017 NFL regular season before the offseason officially begins. Once Week 17 is over, most attention turns to college football and the NFL Draft. After all, the draft is where the league's future stars are born.
While there are still months before the draft begins, the 0-15 Cleveland Browns are officially on the clock and have a lot of thinking to do before making their selection. Let's take a look at my latest mock draft going into Week 17 followed by some brief analysis over the draft's biggest names:
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2018 NFL Mock Draft
1. Cleveland Browns: Josh Rosen, QB, UCLA
2. New York Giants: Sam Darnold, QB, USC
3. Indianapolis Colts: Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Denzel Ward, CB, Ohio State
5. Cleveland Browns (via Houston Texans): Connor Williams, OT, Texas
6. Denver Broncos: Mike McGlinchey, OT, Notre Dame
7. San Francisco 49ers: Minkah Fitzpatrick, DB, Alabama
8. New York Jets: Baker Mayfield, QB, Oklahoma
9. Chicago Bears: Courtland Sutton, WR, SMU
10. Cincinnati Bengals: Roquan Smith, LB, Georgia
11. Miami Dolphins: Orlando Brown, OT, Oklahoma
12. Oakland Raiders: Joshua Jackson, CB, Iowa
13. Arizona Cardinals: Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville
14. Washington: Vita Vea, DT, Washington
15. Green Bay Packers: Quenton Nelson, OG, Notre Dame
16. Los Angeles Chargers: Calvin Ridley, WR, Alabama
17. Buffalo Bills: Derwin James, S, Florida State
18. Detroit Lions: Martinas Rankin, OT, Mississippi State
19. Dallas Cowboys: Rashaan Evans, LB, Alabama
20. Seattle Seahawks: Billy Price, C/OG, Ohio State
21. Tennessee Titans: Mark Andrews, TE, Oklahoma
22. Baltimore Ravens: Harold Landry, LB, Boston College
23. Atlanta Falcons: Maurice Hurst, DT, Michigan
24. Carolina Panthers: James Washington, WR, Oklahoma State
25. Buffalo Bills: Arden Key, DE/OLB, LSU
26. Jacksonville Jaguars: Josh Allen, QB, Wyoming
27. Los Angeles Rams: Carlton Davis, CB, Auburn
28. New Orleans Saints: Sam Hubbard, DE/OLB, Ohio State
29. Pittsburgh Steelers: Jerome Baker, OLB, Ohio State
30. Minnesota Vikings: Malik Jefferson, LB, Texas
31. New England Patriots: Clelin Ferrell, DE, Clemson
32. Philadelphia Eagles: Christian Wilkins, DT, Clemson
Cleveland Browns: Josh Rosen, QB, UCLA
The Browns should select Josh Rosen out of UCLA with the first overall pick. He's the best quarterback prospect in this year's class, has a ton of upside and can help turn around the franchise.
The problem with drafting Rosen is that it appears he doesn't want to play for the Browns, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. And because he doesn't want to play for the Browns, that makes justifying that pick quite difficult.
However, the Browns can't let Rosen's preferences get in the way of picking another player. What they should do is draft Rosen and hope he plays in Cleveland. If he refuses, trade him away—a la Eli Manning to the New York Giants after the then-San Diego Chargers drafted Manning and shipped him off the Big Apple.
Other quarterbacks such as Sam Darnold could be in play this early on in the draft, but Rosen makes the most sense here, even with the circumstances surrounding this selection.
New York Jets: Baker Mayfield, QB, Oklahoma
This year's Heisman Trophy winner doesn't get a lot of love from NFL scouts despite being the most efficient quarterback in college football history.
Maybe it's Baker Mayfield's personality that rubs people the wrong way. Maybe he's just too good at playing quarterback and we all just can't stand to see him succeed. Or maybe it's that he's just unconventional and doesn't fit the mold of an Andrew Luck-type of quarterback, which scares off NFL teams.
The fact of the matter is that Mayfield knows how to sling the pigskin around the field, and the New York Jets need a guy under center who can do just that.
The Jets were surprisingly good this season with Josh McCown playing quarterback, but McCown hurt his hand, and in reality, he isn't the franchise's future at 38 years of age.
The Jets have a solid offense with two dynamic receivers in Jermaine Kearse and Robby Andersen. If Mayfield can do what he did in college in New York, he'll become a rockstar.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Jerome Baker, OLB, Ohio State
The status surrounding Ryan Shazier's future in the NFL is murky, to say the least.
Shazier's spinal injury suffered a couple weeks back was horrifying to watch, and who knows at this time if he'll ever play football again. If he can, kudos to him on his recovery and the best of luck to him moving forward. But for the Steelers, they need to think about replacing him this offseason with the mindset that he's going to be out for an extended period of time, perhaps forever.
While replacing a dominant linebacker in Shazier will be difficult, there is an Ohio State Buckeye who might be up to the task.
Jerome Baker is a game-wrecker, just like Shazier. In nearly every game this season, Baker stood out as Ohio State's most consistent player on the defensive side of the ball.
And if scouts had any doubt about his ability to handle playing on a big stage, he silenced his critics during the Big Ten Championship Game against Wisconsin, racking up 16 total tackles.
Baker might not be Ryan Shazier, but he could be a great fit for a team that needs a lift at the linebacker position going into next season.
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.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
