2015 NFL Mock Draft

1. Tamapa Bay Buccaneers: FSU QB Jameis Winston,
2. Tenesee Titans: Oregon QB Marcus Mariota
3. Jacksonville Jaguars: Clemson OLB Vic Beasly
4. Oakland Raiders: USC DE Leonard Williams
5. Washington Redskins: Florida DE Dante Fowler Jr.
6. New York Jets: Missouri OLB Shane Ray
7. Chicago Bears: Washington DT Danny Shelton
8. Atlanta Falcons: Kentucky DE Bud Dupree
9. New York Giants: Oregon DE Arik Armstead
10. St. Louis Rams: Alabama WR Amari Cooper
11. Minnesota Vikings: Iowa OT Brandon Scherff
12. Cleveland Browns: West Virginia WR Kevin White
13. New Orleans Saints: Michigan St CB Trae Waynes
14. Miami Dolphins: LSU OT La'el Collins
15. San Francisco 49ers: Texas DT Malcom Brown
16. Houston Texans: Louisville WR DeVante Parker
17. San Diego Chargers: Miami OT Ereck Flowers
18. Kansas City Chiefs: FSU C Cameron Erving
19. Cleveland Browns: FSU DT Eddie Goldman
20. Philadelphia Eagles: LSU CB Jalen Collins
21. Cincinnati Bengals: Nebraska OLB Randy Gregory
22. Pittsburgh Steelers: Alabama S Landon Collins
23. Detroit Lions: Stanford OT Andrus Peat
24. Arizona Cardinals: Georgia State RB Todd Gurley
25. Carolina Panthers: Florida OT DJ Humphries
26. Baltimore Ravens: Central Florida WR Breshard Perriman
27. Dallas Cowboys: Wisconsin RB Melvin Gordon
28. Denver Broncos: Pittsburgh OT TJ Clemmings
29. Indianapolis Colts: Wake Forest CB Kevin Johnson
30. Green Bay Packers: Miami LB Denzel Perryman
31. New Orleans Saints: Virginia OLB Eli Harold
32. New England Patriots: Duke G Laken Tomlinson

Jameis Winston goes first overall, but he shouldn't. Too many off-field red flags, too many interceptions, and putting any rookie QB behind that sad excuse for an offensive line spells failure. This team has several areas of need and trading down to a strong squad that needs a QB, like the Rams or Texans or Browns, could address that. Even IF Winston performs as advertised, and that is a big IF, he wont be enough to turn this team around. Marcus Mariota, the Titans might claim that they have a "poor man's Tom Brady" in Mettenburger and that Mariota is a day one starter, but this is all smoke and mirrors. They're testing the waters for a trade, and they should, because like the Bucc's this team is devoid of talent, and a project QB wont fix that. I'm just not sure how much interest there truly is out there for Mariota, how much trade value he'll develop, and if the Titans can pass on his potential. Vic Beasly, Fowler is the popular pick here, but I think the Jags surprise everyone with Beasly. Unlike Fowler, a potential bust, Beasly's college production matches his standout combine performance. Leonard Williams will go to the Raiders. I see many mocks have one of the top two WRs landing with the Raiders, but the position is just so deep and the case could be be made that almost 10 players deserve to be drafted in the first round. Oakland addresses this need early in the 2nd round and grabs a top talent here. Arik Armstead goes to the Giants, but I'm skeptical about this pick and might have them going with OL next time around. Amari Cooper is the first WR off the board at #10, going to the Rams. I'm somewhat split on Cooper/White at #1 overall, but with the poor receiving options in St. Louis I had them going with the more sure bet in Cooper. Brandon Scherff goes to the Vikings, and I love this pick. The Vikings have found their man in Bridgewater, and protect their newly found quarterback, often knocked for being a slight-of-frame injury risk, with the best lineman in the draft. They've added depth at WR with the acquisition of Mike Wallace, will continue to develop Charles Johnson and the frustrating Cordarelle Patterson, and can address this later in the draft. Kevin White and Eddie Goldman just felt like great fits for Cleveland. White addressing an obvious need at WR and Eddie giving the Browns the big, run-stuffing body they need. I didn't even write about Shane Ray going to the Jets, just felt like he would go there, but these two picks just felt right. A lot of drafts have Randy Gregory going to the Saints at # 13, but with pro-bowl talentsout like Josh Gordon and Justin Blackmon out of the league right now, this is too rich for me. They need a pass-rush, but with the top 5 off the board, New Orleans gets the top CB in Trae Waynes. La'el Collins goes to the Dolphins to protect the 3rd most sacked QB in 2014. I love their acquisition of Kenny Stills, and they can keep their QB upright and add WR depth later in the draft. Malcom Brown goes to SF to address the Justin Smith Situation. With Willis and Borland gone, LB is an obvious need for this team, but they address this next round.The Texans get DeVante Parker with the 17th pick, giving the team a presence on the other side of DeAndre Hopkins and Ryan Mallet a chance to prove if he is the real deal or not. With Arian Foster always banged up and getting older, it was very tempting to take Gurley here. A lot of mocks have the Chargers drafting one of the top 2 RBs, but I have faith in Branden Oliver. He's vertically challenged, but at 208 lbs he is just as big or bigger than plenty of other perceived leadbacks, has a violent running style and is a good receiver out of the backfield. For me, this team's issues start at the offensive line. Phillip Rivers start out the 2014 season as the top QB. Oliver as a great RB. Then the poor offensive line talent catches up to them, and neither Rivers nor Oliver can thrive. This isn't an Oliver problem, its an offensive line problem and the Chargers work to address this with Ereck Flowers (not to mention the 17th overall pick is a bit rich for a RB). The Chiefs replace their loss at center with a premier, versatile lineman in Cameron Erving. A lot of mocks have the Chiefs landing a premier WR.... WHY? Alex Smith couldn't be more conservative if he tried and they just acquired Jeremy Maclin. Protect Smith, protect Jamal Charles. The Chiefs don't need another WR not to throw touchdowns to. Randy Gregory is picked up by the Bengals at #22. The Bengals have a solid roster and can tolerate Gregory's inherent risk at #22, given his upside as the clear best player available. Landon Collins, the top overall safety prospect, replaces Polamalu, though passing on one of the top corners here hurts. The Detroit Lions land big Andrus Peat. Last week I saw a stat, something along the lines that the Lions spent $55 million between Stafford, megatron, and Golden Tate, while only spending $5 million on the offensive line. Peat fixes this sin of a trend, keeps Stafford on his feet, and gives the QB to cash in on his long awaited breakout. Todd Gurley lands with Arizona, who can get by without him (Andre Ellington) until he is healthy. The Panthers land DJ Humphries. I'm not sure Humphries will be the guy, but seems to be pretty agreed upon that the Panthers need to add a OT early. Breshard Perriman going to the Ravens is another one of my favorite picks in this mock. I think a lot of people are overreacting to his sub 4.3 pro-day 40 time. Being a WR is about more than running fast (see Ted Ginn Jr., Darrius Heyward-Bey, and their multitude of brethren). Nonetheless, having the chance to pair Perriman's speed/upside with Flacco's big arm this late in the draft is fun to think about. Melvin Gordon lands with the Cowboys at #27. I hate this pick. I don't like drafting a RB in the first round, I'd be happy with other RBs like Tevin Coleman or TJ Yeldon, and this team has too many obvious needs on defense. I ended up justifying it on the basis of the team setup, where the Cowboys ground and pound, take up time, and keep the other team's offense off the field. Essentially defense through offense, which allowed me to overlook the defensive needs on the idea that giving the Cowboys their guy at RB would help the D as well. The Broncos take the best OT available, TJ Clemmings, to compensate for the loss of Orlando Franklin and to protect Grampa Manning. I'll probably get yelled at for this pick, but I have Kevin Johnson going to the Colts at #29. Everyone else seems to agree that the Colts need to do more to protect Luck, but I just had the top OL going too early and couldn't justify taking one here. Also, I couldn't help but remember Roethlisburger's 6 TD game against the Colts last season. Outside of Vontae Davis, they just don't have much going for them at CB and I decided to add talent and depth here in Kevin Johnson. With AJ Hawk gone and a need at LB, the Pack fills a need and goes with the first ILB off the boards in Denzel Perryman. The Saints get their pass-rusher at #31 with Eli Harold, a great value and safer pick than Randy Gregory, who as I said a lot of mocks have going to the Saints at #13. I just don't get this... the way their roster is, the Saints HAVE to hit on these picks. Gregory might be a pro-bowler, but he also might not be in the league in the near future if he follows down the steps of Blackmon/Flash Gordon. The Pats fix their serious internal line problems with Duke guard Laken Tomlinson. ProFootballFocus advanced statistics has Tomlinson as the top pass-protector, and the only guard to show up in the top 20 in both pass-protecting and run-blocking. The Pats have obvious needs at CB and defensive line, but the value wasn't here for DL (lets hope 2014 1st rounder Dominique Easly can step up) and I didn't think Tomlinson would be here at the Pats pick at the end of the 2nd round. There were some top-tier CBs still on the board, but I just couldn't do it. Marcus Peters seems like an overrated punk, and the main reason people know Byron Jones is because he can jump far (I know he can play football, has all the intangibles, etc, but his highlight video was just boring). I'd rather gamble on those positions and reach a little to keep Tommy Touchdown upright. Also, I might have PTSD from week 4 at Kansas City, and want for that not to happen again.

1. Tennessee Titans: Oregon OT Jake Fisher
2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: FSU G Tre Jackson
3. Oakland Raiders: Missouri WR Dorial Green-Beckham
4. Jacksonville Jaguars: Indiana RB Tevin Coleman
5. New York Jets: Texas A&M G Jarvis Harrison
6. Washington Redskins: Hobart OL Ali Marpet
7. Chicago Bears: USC WR Nelson Agholar
8. New York Giants: Utah DB Eric Rowe
9. St. Louis Rams: FSU CB Ronald Darby
10. Atlanta Falcons: Minnesota THE Maxx Williams
11. Cleveland Browns: Colorado St QB Garret Grayson
12. New Orleans Saints: South Carolina G AJ Cann
13. Minnesota Vikings: Uconn CB Byron Jones
14. San Francisco 49ers: Mississippi St ILB Benard McKinney
15. Miami Dolphins: TCU ILB Paul Dawson
16. San Diego Chargers: Ohio State WR Devin Smith
17. Kansas City Chiefs: Arizona State WR Jaelen Strong
18. Buffalo Bills: Texas A&M OT Cedric Ogbuehi
19. Houston Texans: UCLA LB Eric Kendricks
20. Philadelphia Eagles: Miami WR Philip Dorsett
21. Cincinnati Bengals: Kansas State WR Tyler Lockett
22. Detroit Lions: Oklahoma DT Jordan Phillips
23. Arizona Cardinals: Clemson ILB Stephone Anthony
24. Pittsburgh Steelers: Washington CB Marcus Peters
25. Carolina Panthers: Alabama RB TJ Yeldon
26. Baltimore Ravens: Miami(Ohio) CB Quinten Rollins
27. Denver Broncos: Iowa DT Carl Davis
28. Dallas Cowboys: Clemson DT Grady Jarrett
29. Indianapolis Colts: Mississippi St DE Preston Smith
30. Green Bay Packers: FSU CB PJ Williams
31. Seattle Seahawks: Oregon C Hroniss Grasu
32. New England Patriots:Washington OLB Shaq Thompson

The Titans and Bucs improve their offensive lines for their newly acquired signal callers with Jake Fisher and Tre Jackson. The Raiders, after skipping out on WR in round 1 and taking top prospect Leonard Williams, give Derek Carr a big weapon in the enigmatic Dorial Green-Beckham. Hey, somebody has got to take the bad man, and Oakland mine as well be the place. Nice value here for the top talent at the receiver position, and really liking the Raiders top two picks. This might be something of a reach, but the Jags grab the violent Indiana RB Tevin Coleman. Offensive line or defense might be the way to go here, but I like the idea of Coleman's big play ability taking some of the heat off of Bortles, and Gerhart/Robinson just aren't quite getting it done. The Jets and Skins both improve their offensive lines with Jarvis Harrison and Ali Marpet. This is probably a little high for Marpet, but he's got a great story and the big guy runs a sub-5 40. Nelson Agholar gives the Bears a high end WR2 behind Alshon Jeffery, and I like his value here better than Kevin White with the 7th pick. Alshon Jeffery is a better WR than any on plenty of rosters, including both Super Bowl contenders, and the Bears have plenty of other needs to fill. The people who want the Bears drafting White are the same that got excited about the Buccaneers' receivers last year. Instead, they get a top DL in Danny Shelton in the first and a nice WR in the 2nd with Agholar. Ronald Darby gives the Rams a top CB and will allow the team to unleash the massive potential of their defense. The Falcons get the top THE in the draft in Maxx Williams, giving Matty Ice a weapon. From what I've read, Williams stock is bolstered by an underwhelming THE class. I always wonder why some THE needy team doesn't make a play for the Rams' Jared Cook. Maybe he REALLY isn't that good of a football player, but I just have to think that the right coach could unleash his freak athlete potential and he is brutally underutilized in St. Louis, given his sizeable contract. In real life, though, the Falcons take Williams, filling a hole at THE and giving their offense another receiving weapon. The Browns get project QB Garret Grayson (could have just as well gone with Bryce Petty or Brett Hundley here, pick your poison), who gives them insurance behind Johnny Rehab and a chance to bust in the 2nd round, and not the first, trying to find a QB. I actually really like this pick, a lot. I also think a THE lacking Browns team with absolutely no receiving talent, a great offensive line, and young RBs should bring in Tim Tebow and feature a read-option offense. Without any better option at QB, why not!? All Tebow did in his NFL career was win, and at the least it would be more fun to watch than that wet mess of an offense the Browns put out there for the 2nd half of last year and are trying to run out their again this year with Brian Hoyer 2.0. But I regress.... The Saints get guard AJ Cann, who improves their interior OL and lends to the smashmouth running game Sean Payton is looking for. The Vikings improve their secondary with Byron Jones, though I doubt he drops this far in the actual draft. Benard McKinney helps soften the Borland/Willis blow and lets the 9er's retain their identity on defense. With the OL strengthened in round 1, Devin Smith gives the chargers a deep threat and skill position talent they desperately need. Jaelen Strong goes to the Chiefs, but we'll see if he goes this high in the real draft depending on how his wrist injury plays out and if he'll need surgery. The Bills draft Cedric Ogbuehi in order to sure up their terrible OL and give their offense the time/protection to take advantage of their tremendous skill players. The Texans make a case in the NFL's nature vrs nurture argument and take a gamble on on Erick Kendricks offers great value to the Texans in the 2nd. Not the OLB a lot of mocks are calling for, but this gives the team insurance on the off-injured Brian Cushing. The Eagles draft speedy receiver Phillip Dorsett, stretching the field and giving their lethal backfield more room to run. The Bengals take away any room for excuses for their ginger at QB, and draft Kansas WR Tyler Lockett. It was painfully obvious how little depth this team had at WR during the playoffs last year. Lockett fixes this and gives Dalton a sure-handed possession receiver opposite big-threat AJ Green. The Lions alleviate the Haloti Ngata departure with big man Jordan Phillips from Oklahoma. Good value here for the potential first round talent, but who has back problems and a hot/cold engine (sounds like ex-Lion Nick Fairley). I do the Steelers a solid and give them Marcus Peters, who in no way will be around at this point in the real draft. I was looking at his metrics on ProFootballFocus though, and they were truly underwhelming. This, coupled with his being kicked off his Washington Huskies football team and scouts being critical of him as having bark but no bite, let him slide in my prediction. The Panthers draft TJ Yeldon, who was once in the same conversation as Todd Gurley as college's best back. If you don't like this pick, try to remember back to last year when DeAngelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart, and Mike Tolbert were hurt last year and they were rolling out Fozzie Whitaker and some other no-namers. Well, Williams is gone and Stewart isn't exactly a hallmark of health. Yeldon is a powerful back, gives the team talent and depth at RB, and bolsters the offenses identity - you'll have to respect this read-option. The Ravens give their secondary a breath of fresh air with basketball turned football player Quinten Rollins. The Broncos draft Carl Davis to try and fill the footprints of "Pot Roast" Terrance Knighton, who somehow set sail for the Skins on a 1-year $4 million dollar contract. Why the Patriots didn't try and get there hands on Knighton, for that little money, pains me. The Cowgirls get bigger upfront with Grady Jarret, while the Colts get younger/better at pass-rusher with Preston Smith. Green Bay takes a gamble on drunk driving PJ Williams, who ProFootballStats shows to be overrated, but the Pack needs help at CB with the departure of Davon House and Tramon Williams. The Hawks get Hronnis Grassu who will be the man at center with Max Unger departed to New Orleans. Lastly, the Pats get versatile Shaq Thompson who will add depth at linebacker -- Jerod Mayo coming off an injury along with Donta Hightower -- and be a chess piece in the hooded one's defense.

I definitely noticed that I had some weird trends playing out as I did my draft, but tried not to go back and forth trying to fix things and just to keep this in mind next time around. For one, I probably put entirely too much emphasis on offensive line. Even if its not sexy, offensive line can win football games, but I really probably reached a few times with my OL picks. Secondly, I was probably a little light on my CB positioning, having only two go in the first round. The third trend I noticed is that I was late on WR, having Amari Cooper the first off my board at #10. I 100% stand by this and feel that I properly evaluated the position. Frankly the Raiders and maybe Redskins are the only two teams that have any business considering a WR in the top 9, and there is so much wrong with these teams that I couldn't justify it. It would be like throwing chrome wheels and a nice flame paint job on a car with oil leaks and mice in the engine, that only starts if you kick the rear fender twice and do 5 Hail Marys. Not to mention both teams are in a place to get WR talent at the top of round 2. That said, I am also 100% sure the real draft will have a receiver going off the board before #10. Whatever.

Favorite Picks that go against the norm of a lot of mock drafts out there: Raiders getting L. Williams at #4, instead of a receiver, and then grabbing DGB in the 2nd. The Bears getting big bad Danny Shelton at #7, instead of a WR, getting a toughness they badly need and still getting Nelson Agholar in the 2nd. Amari Cooper, and not Kevin White, going to the Rams at #10 so as to not make St. Louis the island of the misfit mountaineers. Brandon Scherff going to the Vikings at #11 and La'El Collins to the Dolphins at #14 to protect the young QBs, instead of DaVante Parker. DaVante Parker eventually going #16 to the Texans and their previously lackluster offense... Andre who?!? Chargers strengthening OL instead of taking Todd Gurley. Ravens going with Perriman over Melvin Gordon. In the 2nd round,Tyler Lockett to CInci, Devin Smith to SD, and Philip Dorsett to the Eagles and Jordan Phillips falling to the Lions.

Least Favorite Picks: Jags getting Beasly at #3. I only get uncomfortable with this because I think they would trade down and could still have their go at Beasly or another top 5 pass rusher. Leonard Williams doesn't really fit there need and I just have the hunch Shane Ray/Fowler are overrated, so if I'm the Jags I trade down and wait for Beasly or even Dupree or Harold. Armstead at #9 to Giants, wish I went OL here, or at least with Malcom Brown. Erving to the chiefs at #18, just think this is bad value, even if a true need. Patriots getting Laken Tomlinson at #32, just seems rich and, as a Pats fan.... boring! Byron Jones and especially Marcus Peters falling that late into the 2nd round. Just stupid. Not going to happen. Looking into it more, I'd swap Tevin Coleman to the Jags for the bigger TJ Yeldon, sending Coleman to the Panthers. The Jags already have shoelace, lets go bigger. Or maybe I should have gone OL. Shaq Thompson to the Pats in the 2nd. After reaching for Laken Tomlinson in the first, and getting Tweener Thompson in the 2nd, my Patriots are still thin at CB and at DT. I don't know, reasonable picks but Ijust don't feel "tougher" because of them. Would have liked to get a big DT like Malcom Brown, but the draft just didn't go that way. Maybe I'll go with Byron Jones next time around, we'll see.