With the conclusion of the college football season, the best upperclassmen in the country have begun their journey to the NFL draft. A series of interviews, workouts, and tests await these players, but in the meantime, football fans can speculate on who is going where. This week I’ve compiled a mock draft for the first round of the upcoming NFL draft. I made my selections based on player skills and team needs, and for the four teams still competing (as of this writing) to become the Super Bowl champion, I placed them in the order that I think they will finish when the season’s all said and done. Without further ado, with the first pick of the 2014 NFL draft the Houston Texans select …
1. Houston Texans – Jadeveon Clowney, DE, South Carolina
2. St. Louis Rams (from Washington) – Sammy Watkins, WR, Clemson
3. Jacksonville Jaguars – Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville
4. Cleveland Browns – Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M
5. Oakland Raiders – Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida
6. Atlanta Falcons – Greg Robinson, OT, Auburn
7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Eric Ebron, TE, North Carolina
8. Minnesota Vikings – Khalil Mack, LB, Buffalo
9. Buffalo Bills – Anthony Barr, LB, UCLA
10. Detroit Lions – Mike Evans, WR, Texas A&M
11. Tennessee Titans – Jake Matthews, OT, Texas A&M
12. New York Giants – Taylor Lewan, OT, Michigan
13. St. Louis Rams – Calvin Pryor, S, Louisville
14. Chicago Bears – Timmy Jernigan, DT, Florida State
15. Pittsburgh Steelers – Justin Gilbert, CB, Oklahoma State
16. Baltimore Ravens – Kelvin Benjamin, WR, Florida State
16. Dallas Cowboys – Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, S, Alabama
18. New York Jets – Marqise Lee, WR, USC
19. Miami Dolphins – Zach Martin, OT-OG, Notre Dame
20. Arizona Cardinals – Cyrus Kouandjio, OT, Alabama
21. Green Bay Packers – C.J. Mosley, LB, Alabama
22. Philadelphia Eagles – Darqueze Dennard, CB, Michigan State
23. Kansas City Chiefs – Brandin Cooks, WR, Oregon State
24. Cincinnati Bengals – Derek Carr, QB, Fresno State
25. San Diego Chargers – Louis Nix, NT, Notre Dame
26. Cleveland Browns (from Indianapolis Colts) – Jarvis Landry, WR, LSU
27. New Orleans Saints – Kony Ealy, OLB-DE, Missouri
28. Carolina Panthers – Lamarcus Joyner, CB, Florida State
29. New England Patriots – Ra’Shede Hageman, DT, Missouri
30. San Francisco 49ers – Stephon Tuitt, DE, Notre Dame
31. Denver Broncos – Jason Verrett, CB, TCU
32. Seattle Seahawks – Paul Richardson, WR, Colorado
