NFL Draft 2018: Complete 1st-Round Mock Draft Following Wild-Card Weekend
After a classic national championship game on Monday night that Alabama won 26-23 over Georgia, the college football season is in the books, which means the 2018 NFL draft class is now focused on preparing for their offseason workouts.
On the other side of things, 24 NFL teams have wrapped up their season and are diving into the process of scouting this year's talent pool.
A lot will change between now and April, but here's an early look at how the first round could play out. The first 24 picks are based on the official draft order, while the eight teams still alive in the postseason are ordered by their playoff seeds.
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1. Cleveland Browns: Sam Darnold, QB, USC
2. New York Giants: Josh Rosen, QB, UCLA
3. Indianapolis Colts: Bradley Chubb, DE, N.C. State
4. Cleveland Browns (from HOU): Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State
5. Denver Broncos: Baker Mayfield, QB, Oklahoma
6. New York Jets: Minkah Fitzpatrick, DB, Alabama
7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Arden Key, DE, LSU
8. Chicago Bears: Quenton Nelson, OG, Notre Dame
9. *San Francisco 49ers: Denzel Ward, CB, Ohio State
10. *Oakland Raiders: Roquan Smith, LB, Georgia
11. Miami Dolphins: Vita Vea, DT, Washington
12. Cincinnati Bengals: Orlando Brown, OT, Oklahoma
13. Washington Redskins: Derwin James, S, Florida State
14. Green Bay Packers: Isaiah Oliver, CB, Colorado
15. Arizona Cardinals: Billy Price, G/C, Ohio State
16. Baltimore Ravens: Derrius Guice, RB, LSU
17. Los Angeles Chargers: Josh Allen, QB, Wyoming
18. Seattle Seahawks: Connor Williams, OT, Texas
19. Dallas Cowboys: Christian Wilkins, DT, Clemson
20. Detroit Lions: Maurice Hurst, DT, Michigan
21. Buffalo Bills: Tarvarus McFadden, CB, Florida State
22. Buffalo Bills (from KC): Harrison Phillips, DT, Stanford
23. Los Angeles Rams: Clelin Ferrell, DE, Clemson
24. Carolina Panthers: Austin Bryant, DE, Clemson
25. Atlanta Falcons: Trenton Thompson, DT, Georgia
26. Tennessee Titans: Harold Landry, LB, Boston College
27. New Orleans Saints: Christian Kirk, WR, Texas A&M
28. Jacksonville Jaguars: Taven Bryan, DT, Florida
29. Pittsburgh Steelers: Ronnie Harrison, S, Alabama
30. Minnesota Vikings: Mike McGlinchey, OT, Notre Dame
31. New England Patriots: Sam Hubbard, DE/LB, Ohio State
32. Philadelphia Eagles: Courtland Sutton, WR, SMU
*49ers and Raiders selection order will be determined by coin flip at NFL combine. The order of the final eight teams will be decided at the conclusion of the playoffs.
10. Oakland Raiders: Roquan Smith
The Raiders will be a tough team to predict this offseason due to the addition of head coach Jon Gruden.
Reggie McKeznie remains in this role as general manager, but it's safe to assume Gruden didn't sign a 10-year, $100 million contract just sit back and let McKenzie pick his players. Gruden's voice will be heard, and that could change the Raiders' approach to the draft.
One of the holes Gruden and McKenzie have to address this offseason is linebacker, where depth has been lacking in recent seasons.
Georgia linebacker Roquan Smith will likely be the first linebacker off the board in April due to his ability to make plays against the run and dropping back into coverage. He's a prototypical player for today's NFL, where linebackers need the athleticism to make plays in space, but they still need the strength to step up and make splash plays at the line of scrimmage.
Adding Smith would be a positive step to rebuilding a Raiders defense that ranked 26th in the league in yards per play allowed in 2017.
16. Baltimore Ravens: Derrius Guice
The Ravens nearly snuck into the playoffs this year, which would have been a minor miracle given the state of their offense, which ranked 31st in the NFL in yards per play.
Unfortunately for the Ravens, unless they're willing to completely rebuild and move on from Joe Flacco, there aren't a lot of dramatic changes that can be made to overhaul the unit.
At this stage of his career, the 32-year-old Flacco has proved to be a capable quarterback when surrounded by talent, but not someone who makes those around him better. So the Ravens need to find ways to limit Flacco's importance and the best way to do that is by upgrading the run game.
In recent seasons the Ravens backfield has been a revolving door of Justin Forsett, Alex Collins, Terrance West, Kenneth Dixon and others. The continued attempts to find cheap players to plug in to the position hasn't worked, and it's time for GM Ozzie Newsome to finally invest in the position again.
Saquon Barkley will probably be long gone by the time the Ravens are on the clock, but LSU's Derrius Guice should be available. He's a powerful downhill runner who compares favorably to his former teammate Leonard Fournette, despite a slightly smaller build.
If Guice can rejuvenate the Ravens run game, Baltimore could reemerge as a serious threat in the AFC in 2018.
23. Los Angeles Rams: Clelin Ferrell
The Rams' 2017 turnaround was remarkable, and earned the franchise its first postseason berth since 2004, when Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk was still the focal point of the offense.
Despite the improvement on offense, the team still has holes to fill on the defensive side of the ball.
The Rams allowed over 350 yards of total offense eight times in 2017, and he went just 4-4 in those games.
Aaron Donald and Michael Brockers provide stability for the Rams' interior defensive line, but Los Angeles could upgrade the edge players this offseason.
Clemson's Clelin Ferrell would give an extra boost to an already strong Rams pass rush and potentially help a struggling run defense as well.
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