With the regular season in the books and 18 of 32 draft slots locked up, we figured it would be a good time to drop the first 2024 NFL Mock Draft of the season.
Obviously tons will change between now and the actual first round of the draft on April 25. We still have the Senior Bowl, the Scouting Combine and the whole pro day and private visit circuit. There’s plenty of time for players to see their stock go up or down.
But we have a fairly solid initial idea of who the key players will be leading the discussion for the first round. So without further ado, here’s the first of many mocks this draft season. Draft order for postseason teams is sorted by record.
2024 NFL Mock Draft
1 – Chicago Bears (CAR): USC QB Caleb Williams
This was the pick in my way too early 2024 mock back in May, too. Since then, I think the gap between Williams and the other quarterbacks in this class has closed. The preferences of the team that ends up picking here could dictate if it’s Williams or Maye. Ultimately, I think the Bears will make the pick. There are a lot of ways to look at the situation Chicago is in right now with current QB Justin Fields, but in my opinion, it comes down to the fifth-year option. If they feel strongly enough about Fields to pick up the option, it’s worth trading down to keep building around him. If the Bears aren’t comfortable exercising the option, they should capitalize on having the No. 1 pick in a strong year for quarterbacks.
2 – Washington Commanders: North Carolina QB Drake Maye
I feel like it’s safe to say Washington is taking a quarterback here no matter what. The only question will be who. In addition to Maye and Williams, a third quarterback has asserted himself into the conversation at the top of the draft.
3 – New England Patriots: Ohio State WR Marvin Harrison Jr.
There’s a compelling argument for the Patriots to go quarterback here. They also are a team to monitor for a trade up if Chicago wants to move down. But there are other ways to address the quarterback position in New England, and that could allow them to take the best player in the draft right here. Harrison Jr. would have a strong chance to be the Patriots’ best receiver since Randy Moss.
4 – Arizona Cardinals: Penn State OT Olu Fashanu
Getting Harrison would be the dream for Arizona, but failing that there are still plenty of other holes on the roster to be addressed. Starting LT D.J. Humphries tore his ACL late in the season and was a potential cap casualty even before that. Drafting Fashanu would give Arizona two potential book-end tackles for QB Kyler Murray after they aced the pick of RT Paris Johnson last year.
5 – Los Angeles Chargers: LSU WR Malik Nabers
Stale and boring are not words that should ever be used to describe an offense quarterbacked by Justin Herbert, but that’s the position the Chargers have found themselves in too often over the past few seasons. Los Angeles’ weaponry needs an infusion of explosiveness, and Nabers fits the bill.
6 – New York Giants: LSU QB Jayden Daniels
The third quarterback in the mix at the top of the draft, Daniels parlayed a huge senior season into a Heisman Trophy and a massive amount of hype heading into the draft process. He’s an electric dual-threat talent who will intrigue a lot of teams. They have to figure out if he’s a one-year wonder or a budding talent who the game finally clicked for. For the Giants, this would be a swing at securing a game-changing talent after 2023 reignited doubts about QB Daniel Jones.
7 – Tennessee Titans: Notre Dame LT Joe Alt
Tennessee looks like a team that’s going to be starting from the ground level in 2024, so reinforcing the foundation along the line of scrimmage should be the top priority. This is a great draft for tackles and Alt is one of the top prospects due to his size, athleticism and potential.
8 – Atlanta Falcons: Clemson CB Nate Wiggins
My early leanings for this pick are on the defensive side of the ball after three straight top-ten picks dedicated to the skill positions. Wiggins has outstanding athleticism and will be one of the leading candidates to be the first cornerback off the board in an above-average class.
9 – Chicago Bears: Washington WR Rome Odunze
Chicago can pair a quarterback at No. 1 with another pass-catcher as they continue to try and elevate the offense. Odunze had a massive 2023 season and has a chance to elevate himself even more in the pre-draft process if he tests as well as some people think he might at 6-3 and nearly 220 pounds.
10 – New York Jets: Alabama OT JC Latham
Between the strength of this draft class at tackle and the narrative in New York, expect to see this plenty between now and April. Latham is a mountainous player with surprising movement skills and a fair amount of college experience. He played on the right side in college but the Jets need a lot of help at both tackle spots.
11 – Minnesota Vikings: Alabama EDGE Dallas Turner
One of the top defensive prospects in the class, Turner has the athleticism teams covet from pass-rushing prospects and has the production and pedigree coming from Alabama as well. He’s a tick on the smaller side for some systems but that shouldn’t be an issue for the Vikings, who are set to lose both OLBs Danielle Hunter and Marcus Davenport to free agency this offseason.
12 – Denver Broncos: Georgia TE Brock Bowers
We are in the stretch of the draft where teams will be thinking hard about the second tier of quarterbacks but history says prospects are either top-ten locks or more likely to slide. So we’ll have Denver foregoing a quarterback to continue adding pieces for HC Sean Payton to work with on offense. Bowers is one of the top talents in the draft but the position he plays could cause him to slide a tick. Teams will prioritize quarterbacks, receivers, tackles and pass rushers above a tight end, even an elite prospect like Bowers.
13 – Las Vegas Raiders: Georgia OT Amarius Mims
Tackle is a sneaky need for the Raiders, with questions long-term about both LT Kolton Miller and RT Jermaine Eluemunor. Mims has top-level traits for the position but is a bit of project due to a lack of experience. He played just half the season due to injury in 2023.
14 – New Orleans Saints: UCLA DE Laiatu Latu
The Saints have been trying for a few years to find edge rushers to restock the pipeline behind DE Cameron Jordan and so far have not necessarily been successful. Latu has a medical history to reckon with but great size and traits, which New Orleans in particular values when it comes to scouting the edge rusher spot.
15 – Indianapolis Colts: Alabama CB Terrion Arnold
The Colts need to remake their secondary completely and it starts with Arnold, who likely overtook his more notable teammate Ga’Quincy (Kool-Aid) McKinstry this past season. As just a redshirt sophomore, Arnold notched five picks and 12 PDs this past season.
16 – Seattle Seahawks: Washington OL Troy Fautanu
Seattle is a huge wildcard here after moving on from HC Pete Carroll, so I’m making a few guesses as to what they’ll prioritize here. Part of the reason the Seahawks underachieved is not playing as well on either side of the line of scrimmage as they expected. Fautanu plays left tackle for the Huskies but isn’t as long as the NFL typically likes for tackle prospects. He’s still enormous and Seattle could use him to help shore up their interior.
17 – Jacksonville Jaguars: Florida State WR Keon Coleman
The Jaguars have a fascinating decision with WR Calvin Ridley this offseason, as if they sign the 29-year-old to a long-term deal they have to fork over a second-round pick to the Falcons. If they don’t keep Ridley, though, they need a new No. 1 receiver. Coleman could be that guy and has the type of catch radius and knack for spectacular, tough catches to provide exactly what Jacksonville was missing this season.
18 – Cincinnati Bengals: Illinois DT Jer’Zhan Newton
Bengals veteran DT D.J. Reader is on an expiring contract and just suffered a season-ending torn quad, so Cincinnati needs some reinforcements on the interior of their defensive line. Newton looks like the early top interior defender in this class. Reader is a nose tackle while Newton is more of a three-technique, but disruption is disruption, and Newton causes havoc on tape.
19 – Green Bay Packers: Iowa CB Cooper DeJean
The Packers have had a lot of success with offensive linemen in the middle rounds, so I think they forego that spot here in favor of addressing their secondary which has fallen apart this year. They traded Rasul Douglas, Eric Stokes can’t stay healthy and Jaire Alexander is a wildcard. DeJean is a top-tier athlete and can play any of the five spots in the secondary.
20 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Penn State EDGE Chop Robinson
Tampa Bay finished seventh in the NFL with 48 sacks but also blitzed at the third-highest rate and didn’t have any one player with more than 7.5 sacks (2023 third-round OLB YaYa Diaby). Veteran Shaquil Barrett will be in the final year of his deal and former first-rounder Joe Tryon-Shoyinka will likely be in the same boat once Tampa Bay declines his fifth-year option in May. Robinson is undersized but has rare explosion off the ball.
21 – Arizona Cardinals (HOU): Florida State DE Jared Verse
The Cardinals have holes all over the roster, including at pass rusher. They were 30th in the NFL in sacks last season with just 30. Verse plays with great effort and power but failed to cement himself as a top-10 prospect this past season.
22 – Los Angeles Rams: Ohio State DE J.T. Tuimoloau
Assuming they don’t trade this pick, this will be the Rams’ first first-round selection since they took QB Jared Goff back in 2016. So they’ve got to make it count. I suspect Los Angeles will look at a premium position and the defense needs more help, so that means edge rusher or cornerback. Tuimoloau had games where he absolutely dominated but the consistency wasn’t there at Ohio State.
23 – Pittsburgh Steelers: Oklahoma OT Tyler Guyton
Pittsburgh hit with OT Broderick Jones but there’s still room to improve the offensive line. Guyton needs some development but he has impressive physical tools and could give the Steelers a long-term bookend for Jones.
24 – Miami Dolphins: Alabama CB Kool-Aid McKinstry
2023 proved to be almost a redshirt season for 2023 second-round CB Cam Smith and Miami could use more help at cornerback in case he doesn’t take a step forward. There’s a good chance veteran CB Xavien Howard is a cap casualty this offseason. McKinstry is more than just a fun name, he’s a legit candidate for top corner in the class.
25 – Buffalo Bills: LSU WR Brian Thomas
Buffalo’s receiving corps could look thin in a hurry with WR Gabriel Davis set for free agency and WR Stefon Diggs on the other side of 30. Thomas is an athletic freak at 6-4 with blazing speed. He needs some polish but he has the tools to be an outstanding deep threat for QB Josh Allen.
26 – Kansas City Chiefs: Oregon WR Troy Franklin
The Chiefs have pushed the limit of how far they can go with a shaky receiving corps and they need a speed element to prevent defenses from crowding the middle of the field again. Franklin had back-to-back seasons of strong production to finish his college career and would add an explosive element back to Kansas City’s offense.
27 – Philadelphia Eagles: Toledo CB Quinyon Mitchell
Despite coming from a smaller school, Mitchell is the real deal, with plenty of production and outstanding measurables. Philadelphia is getting old at cornerback and that’s come back to bite them this season.
28 – Houston Texans (CLE): Alabama EDGE Chris Braswell
If the Texans don’t re-sign DE Jonathan Greenard, that opens up a big vacancy across from DE Will Anderson. Houston could fill it by dipping back into the Bama well and reuniting Anderson with Braswell, his former college teammate.
29 – Dallas Cowboys: Duke OL Graham Barton
There are multiple roles Dallas could find for Barton, who has experience playing all across the offensive line. The Cowboys could put Barton at center or left guard depending on if they re-sign C Tyler Biadasz or end up moving G Tyler Smith out to left tackle to succeed LT Tyron Smith.
30 – Detroit Lions: Penn State CB Kalen King
The teams who have been able to get the better of the Lions this season have taken advantage of the secondary where Detroit is still working to upgrade, especially at cornerback. King lost some of his higher-profile matchups this past season and isn’t the biggest defensive back, but still has a lot of plus traits that NFL teams will covet.
31 – San Francisco 49ers: Oregon State OT Taliese Fuaga
Fuaga gives the 49ers a potential immediate starter at right tackle and a potential long-term succession plan for LT Trent Williams.
32 – Baltimore Ravens: BYU OT Kingsley Suamataia
Suamataia is a massive football player at 6-6 and 325 pounds, and he was the No. 3 player on the “Freaks” list from the Athletic’s Bruce Feldman. He has all the athletic gifts an NFL OL coach could hope for, he just needs work being able to effectively harness all of that. The long-term future for both tackle spots in Baltimore is up in the air between LT Ronnie Stanley‘s health and RT Morgan Moses‘ age.
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