Tampa Bay gets EDGE help in new PFF mock draft

Tampa Bay’s draft position for 2024 is volatile at the moment, but this is one position the Bucs could certainly improve at.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers don’t exactly know where they’re picking yet — the NFC South is volatile, after all — but there’s one position the team could certainly use to upgrade at.

Pro Football Focus released its latest mock draft for the 2024 season, and had the Bucs picking inside the Top 10 at eight. With that pick, writer Trevor Sikkema had the Bucs taking UCLA EDGE Laiatu Latu, one of the draft’s premier edge rushing prospects.

Here is what Sikkema had to say about the proposed pick:

The Buccaneers could entertain picking a quarterback if they end up with a top-10 selection. Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. would be the most likely next signal-caller off the board. He’s also from Tampa Bay, so it would be a homecoming if they went that direction.

But right now, the Buccaneers’ defensive line unit ranks in the bottom 10 in sacks, total pressures and pass-rush win percentage. Their defense has been disappointing this season, and fixing that starts up front. Latu has been the most productive pass-rusher in the country over the past two seasons, notching pash-rush win percentages above 20% in each of those campaigns.

Latu would certainly help Tampa Bay’s struggling pass rush. He’s had a 10-sack season his last two years in college football with the Bruins and is currently at 11 with two games to go, making him one of the more vaunted pass rushers in college football. If he’s available when the Bucs pick, they could be remiss not to take him. The Bucs have (arguably) missed on some of their defensive line picks in recent years, but hitting on a young edge rusher would be big for this Tampa Bay team.

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Cowboys 2024 7-round mock draft: 5 prospects who could help

A look at the Cowboys’ current five picks and a few ideal prospects to fill current needs. | From @TimLettiero

The Dallas Cowboys find themselves in a groove as they move past the halfway portion of the season. With eyes on taking the division back, head coach Mike McCarthy and company look to finish the home stretch as well as they’ve started it.

Now sitting at 6-3 on the season, Dallas once again has their sights set on double-digit wins and hopefully a more fruitful journey into the playoffs. However, whenever and wherever the season ends, the draft will arrive and give the club a chance to enhance their roster for future seasons.

While players and coaches alike focus on each week as it comes, background work from the likes of VP of Player personnel Will McClay keeps tabs on the upcoming offseason. The Cowboys currently own five picks, and they are slated to receive two more compensatory picks once those are assigned. Here, we’ll look at the birds in hand and which prospects could fit based on projected team needs.

Cowboys News: Two 2-round mocks, Lamb’s dominance, Giants trap?

Storylines on the Cowboys’ offensive line, good news on the injury front and how Dallas can go on a tear for the rest of 2023. | From @cdburnett7

The Dallas Cowboys enter a Week 10 matchup with the struggling and limping New York Giants. Nonetheless, it’s the NFL, and Dallas has a lot to prove. On the offensive line, Tyron Smith is being pampered, a right he’s earned, while Terence Steele is struggling. Jerry Jones isn’t losing faith in the 26-year-old, though.

Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb’s dominance is fueling the club’s offensive success and now he’s approaching rare air in franchise history. Predictions for the rest of the season, good news on the injury front and how wide receiver Martavis Bryant has the belief of the brass in the latest News and Notes.

2024 NFL Mock Draft: Bears rule the roost with two top-five picks

In this two-round 2024 NFL mock draft, the Chicago Bears continue with Justin Fields as their quarterback, and start to build around him with the first and fifth picks.

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The Chicago Bears’ 16-13 win over the Carolina Panthers on Thursday night was a double victory for the Monsters of the Midway. Not only did they “up” their record to 3-7 on the season, but the first-round Panthers pick, owned by the Bears as part of the trade to select Bryce Young with the first pick in the 2023 NFL draft, is now the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, because the Panthers are 1-8.

That puts forth an interesting question for the Bears, and whoever’s in charge of their personnel in 2024, whether it’s current general manager Ryan Poles, or somebody else: Are they happy enough with the development of quarterback Justin Fields (when he’s healthy) to avoid taking one of the two rock star quarterbacks — USC’s Caleb Williams of North Carolina’s Drake Maye — with that first pick? Chicago also has its own fifth overall pick as a result of its own dismal record, so it’s either hold onto Fields and build around him, or punt to a new guy.

In this mock draft, the Bears do show faith in Fields, giving him a possibly “generational” receiver in Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. with the first pick, and a potential franchise edge-rusher in UCLA’s Laiatu Latu.

For the rest of the picks in this two-round mock, read below.

2024 mock draft: 2-round projections prior to NFL Week 10

The second edition of the 2024 NFL mock draft from Draft Wire’s Jeff Risdon

It’s time to update the two-round mock draft ahead of one of the last big weekends of college football.

My first edition of the 2024 mock draft came out after Week 4. There has been quite a bit of football, both college and NFL, to impact the projections.

The draft order here is based on the current NFL standings entering Week 10. We’re still in the “presenting ideas and possibilities” phase of draft projections, too.

2024 NFL Mock Draft: Drake Maye overtakes Caleb Williams in our first-round projections

Drake Maye overtakes Caleb Williams in Doug Farrar’s latest 2024 mock draft, leading to big hypothetical decisions for quarterback-needy teams.

Recency bias affects all kinds of decisions in life, and NFL drafts are no different. Just because you’re thought to be the drop-dead No. 1 prospect in a future draft when an NCAA season begins doesn’t mean you’ll stay there.

So it is in this particular mock draft with USC’s Caleb Williams, whose last two games has to have NFL evaluators shaking their heads and wondering just what’s going on down in Southern California.

In the first six weeks of USC’s 2023 season, Williams completed 120 of 168 passes for 1,836 yards, 22 touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 144.2. In his last two games, Williams completed 47 of 72 passes for 455 yards, one touchdown, three interceptions, and a passer rating of 70.1. This isn’t all Williams’ fault — protection and scheme have also been issues — but when you have a situation in which there’s another quarterback knocking on Williams’ door for that No. 1 spot, it can complicate the conversation.

In this case, that guy complicating the conversation is North Carolina’s Drake Maye. Maye has completed 160 of 270 passes this season for 2,249 yards, 14 touchdowns, five interceptions, and a passer rating of 102.5. While he does not possess Williams’ mind-bending skill set, and while a strong finish to the season should propel Williams back up to the top… well, right now, I’d bet there are quite a few NFL personnel people who are torn.

So, we have the Chicago Bears selecting Maye with the first overall pick, and hopefully trading Justin Fields to a team actually interested in maximizing his abilities. A good deal for all!

As for Williams? Well, his landing spot would certainly start all kinds of other conversations regarding the professional future of one Russell Carrington Wilson.

Here’s the rest of our first-round projections for this particular 2024 NFL mock draft.

2024 mock draft: Updated projections after NFL Week 4

2024 mock draft: Updated projections for NFL Week 5 from Draft Wire’s Jeff Risdon

For the first few weeks of the college football season, Curt Popejoy has handled the mock draft projection duties here at Draft Wire. This week, it’s my turn to crank out my very first set of 2024 projections.

As with all of the mock drafts I do with one exception every year, these projections represent what I think the team might do with the pick at each selection. It does not necessarily reflect the choices I would make.

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The draft order here is the current NFL draft order after the conclusion of Week 4. There are some players included who are underclassmen that might not declare, most notably QBs Caleb Williams and Shedeur Sanders.

Titans take Caleb Williams and a RB in PFN’s 2-round 2024 mock draft

Pro Football Network has the Titans drafting at No. 4 overall in its 2024 mock draft, which is one of many problems with it.

You could make a strong argument that there is nothing more pointless than mock drafts before the upcoming season even begins.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t stop people from trying to call their shots in hopes that they can eventually pat themselves on the back for correctly predicting a draft pick months in advance.

Dalton Miller of Pro Football Network recently decided to take a crack at predicting the first two rounds of the 2024 NFL draft, and he certainly has some hot takes when it comes to the Titans.

With Tennessee’s first pick, Miller has the Titans selecting USC quarterback Caleb Williams with the No. 4 overall pick. Here is what Miller had to say about this projection:

In no way, shape, or form should Will Levis get in the way of selecting Caleb Williams if somehow this exact scenario plays out. Levis might develop into a pretty good NFL QB. He’s big with a big arm and good athleticism for the position.

But Williams has the uncoachable traits that take a quarterback from great to elite. While that’s no guarantee he’d hit the ground at break-neck speeds at the NFL level (see Trevor Lawrence), it shouldn’t take long for him to start producing at a ridiculous clip.

Should this pick somehow become a reality, the Titans would complete the trifecta of selecting three straight quarterbacks in each of the first three rounds in consecutive years. 

First, it was Malik Willis in the third round in 2022, then Will Levis in the second in 2023, and then, if this pick were to come to fruition, Williams in 2024.

To be perfectly honest, any assumption the Titans will be picking in the top four of next year’s draft is both completely disrespectful and utter nonsense.

Adding to that, there’s no denying that Williams is a phenomenal talent, but can we at least let Levis play in a preseason game before we try to find his replacement?

Lastly, unless Williams has a down year for the Trojans, the chances of him being available at No. 4 overall are probably slim to none, as teams will likely be falling over each other to trade up for him.

To make matters worse with this mock, Miller then had the Titans taking Arkansas running back Raheim Sanders with their second-round pick.

Here was Miller’s rationale for the Titans going with another Day 2 running back:

Derrick Henry is nearly 30 and is entering the final year of his deal. The Tennessee Titans seem set on their current offensive philosophy, so drafting the closest thing we’ve seen to Derrick Henry since he was selected in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft seems like a no-brainer.

Ah, yes, investing a second-round pick on a back just one year removed from selecting a ball-carrier in the third round (Tyjae Spears) and two years from selecting one in the fourth round (Hassan Haskins) is definitely a “no brainer.”

By all accounts, Spears has been one of the rookie standouts in camp thus far and is expected to have a pretty significant role within the offense.

Apparently, he better enjoy that role while he can because Miller is already eying his replacement. And, he’s already writing off the idea that Derrick Henry could possibly return in 2024.

These predictions are as useless as a pair of basketball cleats, but this mock in particular was just too good (bad) to not tell you about, so here we are.

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2024 mock draft: Rams select Dallas Turner to improve their pass rush

Pro Football Network’s Ian Cummings has the Rams taking edge rusher Dallas Turner in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft.

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The Los Angeles Rams are expected to have a first-round pick for the first time in the Sean McVay era entering the 2024 NFL draft. While the Rams could have their sights on multiple prospects, Pro Football Network’s Ian Cummings has them taking Dallas Turner out of Alabama with the 10th overall pick to strengthen their pass rush.

With the Rams devoid of experience in a variety of positions — mainly on defense — many expect them to be a below-average squad in 2023. And with Matthew Stafford entering his age-35 season, some people believe the Rams could be trying to put themselves in a position to select one of the top quarterback prospects.

But in Cummings’ mock draft, the Rams end up with the No. 10 pick and address the defensive side of the ball. Turner is an edge rusher out of Alabama that has the potential to develop into a talented pass rusher at the next level.

In his first two seasons at Alabama, Turner has combined for 67 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, 12.5 sacks, two fumble recoveries, and a touchdown. Following the departure of Will Anderson, who was taken by the Houston Texans in this year’s draft, Turner figures to play a pivotal role in Alabama’s defense in the upcoming season.

The Rams added three edge rushers during the 2023 NFL draft by taking Byron Young, Nick Hampton, and Ochaun Mathis. Even with holes all over the roster, taking an edge rusher in the first round wouldn’t be the worst idea if the Rams aren’t in a prime spot to get one of the premier quarterback prospects.

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Chiefs Check-in: Kansas City selects WR in latest 2024 mock draft

Kansas City gave Patrick Mahomes yet another weapon in ESPN’s latest 2024 mock draft. That and more on today’s edition of #Chiefs Check-in:

Chiefs Check-in is our online newsletter at Chiefs Wire, running Monday-Friday mornings. Subscribe to get more Chiefs news delivered to your inbox every day.

The Kansas City Chiefs are known for their offensive proficiency and are predicted to take a wide receiver in the first round of the 2024 annual selection conference according to one recent mock draft. Even after spending second-round picks at the position in consecutive years, the team is projected to continue stockpiling talent for Patrick Mahomes to utilize against opponents for years to come.

Read on for this and more on today’s edition of Chiefs check-in for the morning of Monday, July 10: