NFL Draft 2018: Round 1 Mock Draft Projections Before Super Bowl Sunday

With Super Bowl LII just around the corner, we will officially end the 2017 NFL season.

However, the fun that is the NFL doesn't stop there.

Remember, we have an entire offseason.

We have free agency, contract renewals, potential trades and the draft.

The NFL draft is the best way to build your team. You get your guys and you can utilize them in the ways you wish.

Sure, the Jacksonville Jaguars did plenty through free agency, but look at their key pieces—cornerback Jalen Ramsey and running back Leonard Fournette.

Both of those guys were drafted.

In the end, a healthy complement of draft picks and free agency can put you in a position to challenge for a Super Bowl title.

Below, you'll find a mock draft of the first round and we'll highlight a few of the notable picks.

NFL Mock Draft

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 (via Houston Texans): Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State

5. Denver Broncos: Quenton Nelson, OG, Notre Dame

6. New York Jets: Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville

7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Minkah Fitzpatrick, S, Alabama

8. Chicago Bears: Denzel Ward, CB, Ohio State

9. Oakland Raiders (pending coin flip): Joshua Jackson, CB, Iowa

10. San Francisco 49ers (pending coin flip): Connor Williams, OT, Texas

11. Miami Dolphins: Roquan Smith, LB, Georgia

12. Cincinnati Bengals: Mike McGlinchey, OT, Notre Dame

13. Washington Redskins: Derwin James, S, Florida State

14. Green Bay Packers: Mike Hughes, CB, UCF

15. Arizona Cardinals: Baker Mayfield, QB, Oklahoma

16. Baltimore Ravens: Calvin Ridley, WR, Alabama

17. Los Angeles Chargers: Vita Vea, DT, Washington

18. Seattle Seahawks: Orlando Brown, OT, Oklahoma

19. Dallas Cowboys: Maurice Hurst, DT, Michigan

20. Detroit Lions: Marcus Davenport, DE, UTSA

21. Buffalo Bills: Courtland Sutton, WR, SMU

22. Buffalo Bills (via Kansas City Chiefs): Tremaine Edmunds, LB, Virginia Tech

23. Los Angeles Rams: Arden Key, LB, LSU

24. Carolina Panthers: Sam Hubbard, DE, Ohio State

25. Tennessee Titans: Rashaan Evans, LB, Alabama

26. Atlanta Falcons: Da'Ron Rayne, DT, Alabama

27. New Orleans Saints: Hayden Hurst, TE, South Carolina 

28. Pittsburgh Steelers: Josh Allen, QB, Wyoming

29. Jacksonville Jaguars: Isaiah Wynn, OG, Georgia

30. Minnesota Vikings: Taven Bryan, DT, Florida

31. Philadelphia Eagles*: Leighton Vander Esch, LB, Boise State

32. New England Patriots*: Harold Landry, EDGE, Boston College

* = Pending result of Super Bowl

6. Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville

It's time to pull the trigger, Jets.

Look, the Josh McCown's of the world are fine, but they're not your future. It's time to move on and draft your guy.

Now, if a quarterback is drafted by the Jets at No. 6, they'll play immediately most likely, if not 2019.

So, if the Jets wanted to bring back McCown and let Jackson sit behind him, that would be fine, too.

Jackson is a playmaker. He can do things most quarterbacks cannot. If a play breaks down, he can scamper to the outside to pick up yardage.

The quarterback is a polarizing player during this process, but he should go to the Jets. There are better teams for him, but the Jets need a player like Jackson to lift their franchise out of the depths of the AFC East.

29. Josh Allen, QB, Wyoming

Another quarterback and another polarizing player.

Allen is an intriguing prospect. He has his accuracy issues, but he has all the measurables teams want (6'5", 233 pounds).

Not only that, but this guy can absolutely launch the ball. It's almost unreal how much velocity his passes have.

At 29, going to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Allen will be in a situation where the team can really groom him to succeed Big Ben. That will take a few years, but that's what Allen needs to refine his game coming out of Wyoming.

If Allen sits three-plus years behind Big Ben, learns, and inherits a team with a cast of characters in wide receiver Antonio Brown and running back Le'Veon Bell, his career will be set up to be a fantastic and long one.

32. Harold Landry, EDGE, Boston College

With uncertainty facing cornerback Malcolm Butler's future with the Patriots, the team could look to go cornerback here, but drafting Landry makes sense.

First, the Patriots need an edge-rusher who can get to the quarterback at a high rate.

The Patriots sack leader this past regular season was Trey Flowers with 6.5. That's a fine number, but imagine the Patriots with a double-digit sack player?

Landry is a bit undersized, but as Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network suggested, he has similarities to Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Dee Ford.

If Landry was picked by the Pats, he would be the first player drafted out of Boston College since Ron Brace in 2009.