The College Football regular season has come to an end, and conference championship weekend is near, so I am here to bring you the second iteration of my 2024 NFL Mock Draft Series. As in prior years, the Mock Draft Series will add one round per iteration with Mock 8.0 coming the night before the 2024 NFL Draft, Live from Detroit. This mock is built on research done across media in an attempt to hit on the 32 players that are expected to be drafted in Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft. Picks will change, Some players may return to school, and Teams will trade between now and April, but if you were here for My 2023 Mock 1.0, I hit on four team matches and the No. 1 overall pick, Bryce Young in Mock 1.0 on December 1st, 2022. 

 

Trades Included

• Tampa Bay receives Pick 1.01, Chicago receives Pick 1.07, 2.39, and 1st + 2nd round picks in 2025.
• LA Rams receive Pick 1.32 and 3.97,  Philadelphia receives Pick 2.46, 3.78, and 2025 3rd round pick.

 

Round 1 – (Pick 1-32)

No. 1 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers via CHI – Caleb Williams, QB – USC

Very few teams are in a situation to win from the jump with a quarterback like Caleb Williams. The Buccaneers have a strong defensive core with a good young offensive line, the linchpin of the offense is Mike Evans. Evans has made it clear that he wants to play in Tampa for the rest of his career, but if the Bucs do not actively try to improve the team he will seek a new contract and team in free agency. Williams is the type of player that can keep Evans in Tampa and elevate the offense into the playoffs during year 1, in a poor NFC South.

No. 2 – Arizona Cardinals – Marvin Harrison Jr, WR – Ohio State

With Kyler Murray returning to the lineup in November, it looks as if the Cardinals are planning ahead to utilize the $230 million dollar man. With Hollywood Brown departing in Free Agency, Marvin Harrison Jr. enters the league ready to demand a 30% target share alongside a strong young core of Trey McBride, Michael Wilson, and Rondale Moore.

No. 3 – New England Patriots – Drake Maye, QB – North Carolina

Similar to Caleb Williams, Maye has struggled to even win the middle-of-the-road games in college, against the likes of Georgia Tech and North Carolina State. The expectation is that Bill Belichick will depart from New England this offseason and allow the new age of New England Patriots football to enter, and no better way than with a fresh young face at quarterback.

No. 4 – Chicago Bears – Olu Fashanu, OT – Penn State

No. 5 – Washington Commanders – Joe Alt, OT – Notre Dame

No. 6 – New York Giants –  Laiatu Latu, EDGE – UCLA

No. 7 – Chicago Bears via TB – Rome Odunze, WR – Washington

In 2022, Odunze finished with 1,145 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns, and while speaking with analysts and scouts last spring, some thought he was a top-5 receiver in the 2023 NFL Draft. Odunze decided to return to Washington and play with Michael Penix again… it was a great decision for Odunze as he doubled down, crested 1,300 yards, and scored 13 touchdowns in 2023. He is one of three finalists for the Bilitnikoff award, given to the best receiver in college football.

No. 8 –  New York Jets – J.C. Latham, OT – Alabama

No. 9 – Los Angeles Chargers – Brock Bowers, TE – Georgia

Gerald Everett’s contract expires after the 2023 season, Mike Williams continues to deal with injuries year after year and Keenen Allen has yet to get younger. Look for the Chargers to gift Justin Herbert a new target in 2024, similar to what Buffalo did in 2023 with Dalton Kincaid for Josh Allen.

No. 10 – Tennessee Titans – Taliese Fuaga, OT – Oregon State

No. 11 – Las Vegas Raiders – Kool-Aid McKinstry, CB – Alabama

No. 12 – New Orleans Saints – Jared Verse, EDGE – Florida State

No. 13 – Green Bay Packers – Jer’Zhan Newton, DL – Illinois

No. 14 – Los Angeles Rams – Malik Nabers, WR – LSU

Nabers is in top-10 conversations right now among a lot of people in the space, his 6’0 200lbs frame coupled with a pedigree at LSU that is near perfect, following in the footsteps of Justin Jefferson, and Ja’Marr Chase, Nabers will be the third LSU receiver drafted in the 1st round over the last 4 seasons. Nabers has 100+ yards in 9 of the last 10 games.

No. 15 – Cincinnati Bengals – Keon Coleman, WR – Florida State

My favorite landing spot in the 2024 NFL Draft, Tee Higgins is going to be expensive, and at the current state, I don’t see the Bengals bringing Higgins back. In 2023, the Bengals drafted Andrei Iosivas and Charlie Jones, both RosterWatch Pre-Draft favorites. Iosivas an athlete from the Senior Bowl and Ivy League school Princeton, and Charlie Jones was the highest-graded route runner at the 2023 NFL Combine. Keon Coleman brings a similar play style as Tee Higgins to the Bengals’ offense but carries a more aggressive contested catch ability.

No. 16 – Buffalo Bills – Dallas Turner, EDGE – Alabama

No. 17 – Arizona Cardinals via HOU – Nate Wiggins, CB – Clemson

No. 18 – Denver Broncos – Chop Robinson, EDGE – Penn State

No. 19 – Atlanta Falcons – J.J. McCarthy, QB – Michigan

The Falcons have no shortage of talent in the weaponry department after spending three consecutive top-10 picks on Drake London, Kyle Pitts, and Bijan Robinson. Desmond Ridder has been given multiple opportunities and has been benched on multiple occasions. McCarthy is a cleaner, more athletic, more aggressive, and more accurate version of Ridder, a player that has won at the highest level, 25-1 over the last two seasons with just a loss against TCU in the 2023 CFP Semi-Final. McCarthy doesn’t have Elite Tier traits but he will be a Game Manager + at the NFL level, something a roster like the Falcons is seeking.

No. 20 – Minnesota Vikings – Bo Nix, QB – Oregon

Nix feels like the most controversial player right now in the Mock Draft space, a player with an immense chest of tools with NFL size and strength. All though Nix is in year five, he has progressed every season dating back to his freshman season at Auburn when he finished with a 57% completion percentage while averaging just 6.7 yards per pass attempt. Nix spent three seasons at Auburn, and the last two in Eugene, Oregon. In five years, Nix jumped from 57% to 78%, while his average yards per pass attempt jumped from 6.7 to 9.7 to go along with a 21-4 record over the last two seasons.

No. 21 – Indianapolis Colts – Cooper DeJean, CB – Iowa

No. 22 – Seattle Seahawks – Tyler Nubin, S – Minnesota

No. 23 – Pittsburgh Steelers – Kalen King, CB – Penn State

No. 24 – Houston Texans via CLE – Emeka Egbuka, WR – Ohio State

2022 was Egbuka’s best season in Columbus, playing alongside Marvin Harrison with a prolific quarterback by the name of C.J. Stroud. Adding a strong option alongside Tank Dell and Nico Collins would give Stroud one of the best young trio’s in the NFL for the next 4-8 years.

No. 25 – Miami Dolphins – Bralen Trice, EDGE – Washington

No. 26 – Dallas Cowboys – Graham Barton, OT – Duke

No. 27 – Detroit Lions – Kamren Kinchens, S – Miami (FL)

No. 28 – Jacksonville Jaguars – J.T. Tuimoloau, EDGE – Ohio State

No. 29 – Kansas City Chiefs – Xavier Legette, WR – South Carolina

Legette has been at South Carolina since 2019, and before the 2023 season he had 423 career receiving yards…over the Gamecock’s first four games in 2023, Legette rattled off 556 yards, breaking Alshon Jeffery’s school record for most receiving yards in the first four games of a season. When the NFL Combine comes around I think Legette’s name will be viewed heavily in the top 50.

No. 30 – San Francisco 49ers – Amarius Mims, OT – Georgia

No. 31 – Baltimore Ravens – Terrion Arnold, CB – Alabama

No. 32 – Los Angeles Rams via PHI – Michael Penix Jr, QB – Washington

With questions surrounding Matthew Stafford’s health over the last two seasons, and Stetson Bennett not looking like the answer. The Rams move up into Round 1 to take the quarterback of the future, they drafted Malik Nabers 14th overall to assist Stafford in 2024, but forward-thinking, drafting Penix allows the Rams to visualize a future of Puka Nacua, Malik Nabers and an aging Cooper Kupp.

 

Round 2 – (Pick 33-64)

No. 33 – Carolina Panthers – Chris Braswell, EDGE – Alabama

No. 34 – Arizona Cardinals – Kris Jenkins, DL – Michigan

No. 35 – New England Patriots – Quinyon Mitchell, CB – Toledo

No. 36 – Washington Commanders via CHI – Landon Jackson, EDGE – Arkansas

No. 37 – Washington Commanders – Barrett Carter, LB – Clemson

No. 38 – New York Giants – Adonai Mitchell, WR – Texas

No. 39 – Chicago Bears via TB – T’Vondre Sweat, DT – Texas

No. 40 – Green Bay Packers via NYJ –  Patrick Paul, OT – Houston

No. 41 – Los Angeles Chargers – Kamari Lassiter, CB – Georgia

No. 42 – Tennessee Titans – Xavier Worthy, WR – Texas

No. 43 – Las Vegas Raiders – Jayden Daniels, QB – LSU

No. 44 – Philadelphia Eagles via NO – Calen Bullock, S – USC

No. 45 – Green Bay Packers – TreVeyon Henderson, RB – Ohio State

No. 46 – Philadelphia Eagles via LAR – Troy Franklin, WR – Oregon 

The Eagles have been attempting to field a super-stretch player outside of AJ Brown and Devonta Smith for a few years with Quez Watkins and Olamide Zaccheaus. Troy Franklin brings size, length, and projected 4.3 speed to the best team in the NFL. Scary.

No. 47 – Cincinnati Bengals – Leonard Taylor, DL – Miami (FL)

No. 48 – Buffalo Bills – Brian Thomas, WR – LSU

With the departure of Gabe Davis in free agency, there is an outside stretch role to fill and Thomas classifies as the 2024 version of Terrace Marshall, or DJ Chark of the LSU receiving core.

No. 49 – Houston Texans – Jeremiah Trotter Jr, LB – Clemson

No. 50 – New Orleans Saints via DEN – Tyler Guyton, T – Oklahoma

No. 51 – Atlanta Falcons – Denzel Burke, CB – Ohio State

No. 52 – Indianapolis Colts – T.J. Tampa, CB – Iowa State

No. 53 – Minnesota Vikings – Jackson Powers-Johnson, C – Oregon

No. 54 – New York Giants via SEA – Troy Fautanu, OL – Washington

No. 55 – Pittsburgh Steelers – Edgerrin Cooper, LB – Texas A&M

No. 56 – Cleveland Browns – Ruke Orhorhoro, DL – Clemson

No. 57 – Miami Dolphins – Ja’Tavion Sanders, TE – Texas

No. 58 – Dallas Cowboys – Braelon Allen, RB – Wisconsin

The second running back off of the board ends up being the youngest in the class, Allen has 1,100 scrimmage yards in each of his three seasons at Wisconsin. Dallas wants to play a more balanced brand of football and attempted it with Tony Pollard, but it did not produce the same result as Ezekiel Elliott of yesteryear.

No. 59 – Detroit Lions – Ja’Lynn Polk, WR – Washington

No. 60 – Jacksonville Jaguars – Josh Newton, CB – TCU

No. 61 – Kansas City Chiefs – Maason Smith, DL – LSU

No. 62 – San Francisco 49ers – Kingsley Suamataia, OT – BYU

No. 63 – Baltimore Ravens – Ladd McConkey, WR – Georgia

No. 64 – Philadelphia Eagles – Caelen Carson, CB – Wake Forest

 

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