As always, this is not a mock draft of what this author would do. It’s a mock draft based on what the team is likely to do based on the current perceptions of the prospects in college football.
5. Jacksonville Jaguars. Vernon Hargreaves III, DB Florida.
Gus Bradley might have figured..something..out with Bortles, Yeldon and his wideouts on offense. The defense is still a major work in progress but a lot of that was Bradley counting on Dante Fowler to get a consistent pressure into the backfield. He’ll be back for 2016 with an entire season to watch film and get stronger.
The Jags can go linebacker here(their linebackers are pretty poor) or defensive back. And assuming that this is their plan, it really comes down to a coin flip between Ramsey and Hargreaves. Since a great corner is probably worth more than a great free safety in that defense, Hargreaves gets the nod.
4. Dallas Cowboys. Andrew Billings, DL Baylor.
Don’t act surprised. The Cowboys have been putting out far too much smoke about a potential Romo replacement here at 4. They’re up to something and a defensive back might be a bit too low ball for Jerry Jones.
Recently Jones eschews the popular draft board rankings for guys that he(and his staff) believe are the better fit for their system. So far, it’s worked out rather well for them. Travis Frederick, Zach Martin and Byron Jones have all been at least contributors with Frederick and Martin quickly gaining recognition as one of the best players at their respective positions.
Billings is a classic 1 gap defensive tackle who loves to penetrate and disrupt the opposing offense. In short, he’s everything that the Cowboys need for their Tampa-2 defense.
3. San Diego(for now) Chargers. Laremy Tunsil, OL Ole Miss.
The Bolts really were hoping that Joey Bosa fell to them. They had thoughts of building their defense around Liugut, Bosa and Ingram for the next 3-5 seasons. But since Tennessee had to take him at #1, they’ll fix a bigger need: their offensive line.
This isn’t to say that DJ Fluker and Orlando Thomas haven’t been good players for them, they have. But one of the reasons that Rivers has struggled with pressure and their running game seems stuck in neutral is that they have a big, powerful offensive line that lacks finesse and high end talent. Tunsil would be an attempt to address both issues. He’s more finesse than power and he would be the more talented lineman on the roster.
This is probably Rivers’ last run as a starter until they start the transition to whomever comes next and they’ll need a solid blindside blocker for his heir.
2. Cleveland Browns. Jared Goff, Qb California.
Hue Jackson and the Browns convoluted front office could make a player for a young or vet quarterback in free agency(Cousins, Bradford, RG3) or in a trade(AJ McCarron, etc). Barring that, they’ll probably take a passer here to build around.
Jackson might not be looking for a Dalton type guy: more mobile with less of a big arm. He’s seemed to prefer bigger armed guys in the past. Goff has his flaws and isn’t an Andrew Luck type blue chip prospect. He is a quality prospect who just has a propensity to throw too many picks.
1. Tennessee Titans. Joey Bosa, DL Ohio State.
A classic best player available pick for the Titans. They don’t need a quarterback with Mariota, and probably don’t think that Tunsil is worthy of the #1 overall pick(even though he’d be an improvement on their current tackles). They could try to trade out of this spot to a team that wants Goff or Wentz, but teams probably aren’t going to offer them a ton.
Bosa can play just about anywhere in a defensive front 7. For the Titans and their 3-4 defense, the expectation will be that he be the JJ Watt at 5 tech defensive end for them. He doesn’t appear to be as talented as Watt was coming out of school was, but then again Watt was a mid-1st round pick.