!(These are my opinions based off of my own research on team performances and more)!
!(Also does not include any possible trades that may have/ possibly might occur)!
!(Also does not include any possible trades that may have/ possibly might occur)!
No. 1: Cleveland Browns (1-15 last season)
Needs: QB, OL, DB, DL
Summary: Let's be honest, the Browns are in need of help in just about every corner that is visible to the name eye. The organization has continued to plummet further down into a hole of obscurity year after year thanks to a number of issues that include constant management and coaching changes, bad drafting, poor player development, and trading away or allowing their top assets to leave. This past season was no different as Cleveland, once again, finished near the bottom of the NFL in just about every category except rushing yards, where they finished the season ranked 19th to put them in the lower middle of the pack. But even still, the Browns are in need of something big. Perhaps Cleveland can go and watch Draft Day to potentially find some hope and/or ideas on what to do come April 27th on the opening of the draft. And as some fans have pointed out, these Browns are not the original Browns that won championships (hash tag is down below). But as of now, these are the Cleveland Browns. And whatever they do, they must make sure that the person they are choosing is ready. #NotMyBrowns
No. 2: San Francisco 49ers (2-14 last season)
Needs: QB, OLB, OL
Summary: Whenever it comes to talking about the San Francisco 49ers, I feel like I should just go join Otis Redding and "sit on the dock of the bay, watching the tide roll away" because I often cannot get the words out to describe what is happening here. But, I guess I'll give it a go: the 49ers have destroyed a franchise that now must crawl back to it's past in the 1980s to find happiness and hope. After appearing and losing in Super Bowl XLVII in 2013 against the Baltimore Ravens, the team returned to the 2014 NFC Championship game but lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. And after failing to qualify for the playoffs during the 2014-15 season, head coach Jim Harbaugh made an agreement to end his contract as tension continued to flair between he and [then] general manager Trent Baalke. Since then, the 49ers have now had three head coaches in three years (Jim Tomsula, Chip Kelly, and Kyle Shanahan) and also seen their most impactful player, former middle linebacker Patrick Willis, retire due to concern over his future health/life after football. Yet despite all this dysfunction, the team has managed to draft decently. However, only time will tell if they are all winners. Hopefully, new GM John Lynch and new head coach Kyle Shanahan can find the right person for this draft.
My Pick: Solomon Thomas, DE, Stanford - As far as I would say, San Francisco's biggest need for this draft is to find their next quarterback for the future. The problem is: none of the top QBs have shown anything that notes them to be top five picks in my book. So with that, I would have the 49ers choosing Solomon Thomas from Stanford. From what I have seen of Thomas, his film has shown that he has an arsenal of skill moves to use after his explosive first step to get around offensive tackles and splitting the gap. His ability to tackle is stunning because of how he can not only wrap up the ball carrier but also explode into his opponents with a bang as well. In the combine, his 30 reps on the 225 bench press is impressive, but the question marks are on the quickness and speed after a 4.69s 40-yd dash. With the speed question combined with his lack of size, it makes it hard to square in on if he is a defensive tackle or end. There are also times when he can come off the ball and be caught standing almost straight up which makes him an easy target.
Of course, one big thing about this pick I've heard and I understand is the frustration in this pick being made as this would be the third straight defensive end selected in the first round by San Francisco, with the first being Arik Armstead in 2015 and then DeForest Buckner in 2016. But with the addition of Thomas, there are a few option that could take place. *Option one: place Thomas at either end spot and move either Armstead or Buckner to the interior as a defensive tackle. *Option two: have Thomas pack on another ten pounds or so and allow him to be a smaller DT similar to Aaron Donald for the Los Angeles Rams. *Option three (most unlikely): have Thomas drop down from 270 lbs to 250-255 lbs and play as one of their outside linebackers. Most likely, I would bank on the option two being what happens. So, unless San Fran can think of a better option, I see Thomas as their guy.
No. 3 Chicago Bears (3-13 last season)
Needs: DB, OL, TE
Summary: Just because this is my hometown team, does not mean I will try to sugarcoat them in any way, shape, or form. I know the Chicago Bears as good as any fan would at this point. I was there when they were at their best when in 2006, the franchise went to their second Super Bowl in their history after posting a 13-3 regular season record with an outstanding defense that was as smart as it was tough and a simple offense of ground-and-pound with big passes. But unfortunately, the Bears were not able to overcome Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. Since then, Chicago have suffered a long 11 years of star players, retiring, constant changes in offensive coordinators, the trading of perennial superstar players, bad drafting, head coaching and GM changes, and so on. I can only wonder what George "Papa Bear" Halas has do be thinking right now. My guess is probably stomping on his hat and swearing like a sailer. But while this year's record has the word, "disaster" written all over it, does that mean that I think our team is horrendous? Well, I would say that it's a decent average roster. While the team lost some key players, they were able to sign some other skilled and talented free agents that can help make an impact. Along with rise of a few of last year's rookies, their maybe hope still here so long as they can find the right player in the draft for them.
My Pick: Jamal Adams, S, LSU - If you follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or any other social media site I may have, then you know how I feel about this kid. No disrespect to Northwestern, Illinois, and Northern Illinois, but LSU football is my favorite team to watch every year. For the last couple of years now, Jamal Adams has been drawing my eyes closer and closer to watching him play to where I now believe he is the best fit for this franchise. Adams has many amazing qualities as a safety, with one being his spring board stance on the balls of his feet that allows him to be able to explode forward or drop back into coverage.He shows an outstanding instinct to attack and stop the run working from the strong safety spot which makes him appear as a fourth linebacker, or fifth in the Bears' 3-4 defense. Also, Adams has shown that he plays incredibly smart and in-control which helps him to be able to to make hard-hitting contact with the ball carrier a majority of the time. But what helps to sweeten the Jamal Adams drafting is that he also has shown that he can play good pass coverage and intercept passes by playing the ball in the air (5 career INTs), instead of waiting for a tipped ball to fall into their hands (AKA Jabrill Peppers). But all this nice talk does not mean he does not have some issues. One issue I have noticed is that he does not always set up to make the play sometimes in order to allow teammates to make it instead, and he also has taken some very risky angles when pursuing ball carriers at times that can lead to big plays being made. But other than that, the Bears would be crazy not to add Adams to the secondary to bring back the "strong" in strong safety.
No. 4 Jacksonville Jaguars (3-13 last season)
Needs: TE, DT, OL, RB
Summary: The Jacksonville Jaguars always seem to be one of those franchises that end up having to pick in the Top 10 of the NFL draft every year, despite the fact that they always seem to draft some pretty nice players. The franchise finished in the lower half of the NFL stat rankings, which means that many of the players currently on the roster may be sitting in the hot seat to keep their jobs. it doesn't help when questions such as, "Is Blake Bortles the franchise QB? Did they really trade away TE Julius Thomas? Why can we not seem to find some kind of consistency on defense? Would Maurice Jones-Drew ever consider coming out of retirement?" and many others are being thrown around left and right. However, the team did seem to make a few moves during the free agency period with the signing of offensive tackle Brandon Albert, cornerback A.J. Boyce, defensive end Calais Campbell, and safety Barry Church. So there a possible chance that the team may find a way to turn things around. But it will not completely start until they figure out just what they will do with this #4 overall pick.
My Pick: Leonard Fournette, RB, LSU - Believe me when I say this: this decision did not come very lightly at all. I was stuck between two other SEC players at the time being either Alabama's defensive tackle Johnathan Allen or Alabama's tight end O.J. Howard. And while both seem to have the talent to be taken at No.4 and some of the expert analysts believe that it may happen, I think Jacksonville will fill a much bigger gap by drafting Leonard Fournette to run through it. Since watching Fournette from his senior year highlights in high school and throughout all of his college career, he has shown a ton of "wow' factor that is in his game. He's about 6'1" and currently weighs around 230-235 lbs. Along with his size, Fournette has shown that he is capable of running around, through, and past his opponents with almost certain ease. And thanks to his size, he has been able to develop a bruiting running style that allows him to hit the whole with authority and continue to work throughout the play. Fournette was also able to show that he can be a nice weapon in the pass game coming out of the back field, as well as an asset in the pass blocking if needed. Plus it doesn't hurt that sits at No.4 on LSU's all-time leading rushing yards list.
However, Fournette is not without his faults and concerns. One of the big concerns that may be a "red flag" of sorts to, not just the Jaguars, but other teams is Fournette's health due to injuries to his foot and ankle that he sustained over his years at LSU. Other issues that have been noted with him are that he can be timid at times to commit to making a move in the backfield if nothing is wide open, seem like he may be easy to trip up due to his hard nose running style, and still needs to work on his pass catching game some in order to be a more complete back. But despite all that, that doesn't mean that O.J. Howard or Johnathan Allen are any better options. To me, I would say Leonard Fournette heads for Florida to help bring back the run game that M.J.D (Maurice Jones-Drew) left behind.
No. 5: Tennessee Titans [via Los Angeles Rams] (9-7 last season)
Needs: CB, WR, ILB
Summary: Honestly, I cannot believe that the Tennessee Titans are this lucky. First, they get Marcus Mariota who is proving me wrong by looking more and more like a franchise QB each year, then they make a trade with the L.A. Rams to get this 1st rounder and still drafted a talented offensive tackle in the Top 10 last year, and now they have two first round picks with a winning record that put them in second place in their division just under the Houston Texans. Seriously, I cannot for a minute wrap my head around this because of how use to the Indianapolis Colts winning the division title. Along with Mariota, the Titans also have seen former Dallas Cowboy star running back DeMarco Murray return to form while splitting some time with former Bama RB and Heisman trophy winner Derrick Henry. They have also seen players like WR Rishard Matthews step up with TE Delanie Walker to give hope to their receiving corp issues. Now, the Titans will be looking to add more firepower to their young offense and defense in order to regain control over to AFC South and dominate over Indianapolis and Houston. Now the Titans may be on the brink of breaking a long playoff drought and returning to grace form if they can find the right players.
My Pick: Marshon Lattimore, CB, Ohio State - While I do think that they would like to take a wide receiver at this pick (and they still might), I have a feeling that the top WRs will fall to a point in which the Titans may feel that they can get one of the three main wideouts (Mike Williams, Corey Davis, John Ross) at their other pick of No. 18 overall or could use that pick along with their 2nd or 3rd round pick to trade up to get one of them. So with that, I would look to the Titans to take Ohio State CB Marshon Lattimore in order to help boost their secondary even farther. To many of the experts, Lattimore is considered one of the top 10 best players in this year's draft. And about half of them have him ranked in the top 5 of the list. What makes Lattimore so attractive for analysts and teams to think about drafting him is that he seems to have great coverage skills in which he is able to use his speed to stay with his man and stick on his hip in order to make a play on the ball.
From the snap, he's shown that he can quickly commit to any direction. Lattimore also has shown that he has a feel for attacking the ball and make INTs at their high points. All of that along with sure-fire confidence and mental awareness may make him a dangerous corner in the NFL. Some of the things that are working against Lattimore are that while he is a 6'0" corner, his body is not ideal for combating NFL wideouts every down. He also seems to have an issue with wanting to throw his arms out to jam receivers at the line form time to time which can mean that he can be easily thrown against stronger wideouts. Also, based on how fast flags seem to be thrown by the refs nowadays, Marshon Lattimore may be a pass interference issue due to his instinct to start grabbing at his man when in desperation. He'll also have to improve his ability to come up and stop the run and being able to secure a good tackle. But if the Titans Marshon Lattimore and help him fix those few things, he should be a nice young star in Tennessee's defense for a long time.
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