Every year, hundreds of mock drafts are done and generally they all look close to the same. Then comes the draft and everything gets flipped on it's head. Nobody expected the Texans to trade up in last years draft to get the third pick while their second overall pick was still celebrating with the crowd. Let's try to find a happy medium between surprises that may happen and outright insanity in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
JJ McCarthy falls out of the 1st Round.
While no fault of McCarthy, teams are hesitant to trust in him due to his lack of involvement and reps in Michigan's offense. He isn’t the most athletically talented guy and doesn’t have a cannon for an arm which will have teams worried he is the newer version of Mac Jones. JJ goes early in the second.
The Chiefs pass on a 1st Round WR.
Even with the current Rashee Rice drama, the Chiefs decide that Patrick Mahomes can do it all with the crew he has and opts to defer picking a receiver to a later round. The Chiefs have a serious need for a LT as they are currently slated to have Wanya Morris holding down Mahomes blind side. The Chiefs have plenty of tackle options available for them at 32.
We will see 4+ 1st Round trades.
There are few sure things in this draft, but it is very deep with guys that can be solid. We saw lots of trades in the first round last year and we could see even more this season. Teams will be able to trade up to get their guy and trade back and still get their guy. The WR, OL, and CB depth is deep and could be high priorities on opening night.
CB will be the most drafted position.
As stated above, this CB class is deep and there is a big need for CBs. The guard is changing among CBs as the once elite are aging out and coming back from injuries. The league has a plethora of great WRs and has another elite class coming in. You need to be able to stop the pass more than ever.
There will be the most 1st Round Offensive selections in the draft in a decade .
Right after I say that CB will be the most drafted position, I follow it up with this. It’s likely the first three picks are all QB and it feels almost guaranteed that a minimum of four receivers and a TE are going in the first. The offensive line class is deep, while this may be the shallowest group of defensive lineman that we have seen in awhile. While shallow, we also aren’t seeing the high ceiling for players like we have in previous years. We will see a scarce number of defensive lineman and linebackers go in the first round and probably not a single safety. My initial numbers have around 19 of the 32 selections being offensive players.
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