Tag: 2024 nfl mock draft

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.

Falcons select QB, EDGE in new 5-round mock draft

The Falcons select a new QB and an edge rusher in our first 2024 NFL mock draft of the year

The 2024 NFL draft is over five months away and there’s a lot we expect to change before the first round begins on April 25.  Currently, the Falcons hold the No. 11 overall pick and their situation at quarterback is far from settled.

With that in mind, we’ve projected a new quarterback to Atlanta in our first mock draft of the year. Using the Pro Football Focus Mock Draft Simulator, here’s our latest five-round projection for the Falcons at midseason.

Browns 2024 NFL mock draft: Re-tooling the offensive line

The Browns could look to address turnover on the offensive line

It looks like the Cleveland Browns have their right tackle of the future in rookie Dawand Jones out of Ohio State. But there could be even more turnover soon with Joel Bitonio getting older and Wyatt Teller’s contract situation. On top of that Jedrick Wills Jr. at left tackle hasn’t earned a second contract yet. Can they re-tool this Summer? That is what we attempt to do in this 2024 NFL mock draft.

For those reasons, I think an offensive lineman could likely be the top pick for Cleveland and they may even draft more than one. Andrew Berry has shown that he likes to draft answers a year or two in advance as opposed to the exact year you need to replace them.

For the upcoming year, Cleveland currently has a second-round pick, a third, two fifths, and three seventh-round picks. It s really early in the process with plenty of football and testing before any teams truly build their big boards. Here is a look at how I could see the Browns attack the first five rounds of next April’s draft.

Bengals get 2024 NFL draft’s best nickname in new mock draft

The Bengals get a great player in a new mock draft.

While the Cincinnati Bengals attempt to make a playoff push out of the bye week, here’s a fun quick detour into 2024 NFL mock draft land.

Picking 18th in the latest mock draft from Draft Wire’s Curt Popejoy, the Bengals roll with one of the best cornerbacks in the draft class with Alabama’s Ga’Quincy “Kool-Aid” McKinstry: “McKinstry slides due to some questionable decisions on the field but with the right coaching he could be elite.”

That sort of amazing nickname will soften the blow of longtime Bengals fans still not thrilled with the idea of using first-round picks on cornerbacks, that’s for sure.

Kidding aside, Kool-Aid is a fantastic NFL prospect who does the little things well in aggressive coverage, making him a great fit. Cincinnati figures to need the help, too, if they don’t re-sign Chidobe Awzuzie next summer.

And not that they need it, but Kool-Aid also has experience on special teams as a reurtner.

Kool-Aid, Cam Taylor-Britt and DJ Turner would make for a huge-upside cornerback room for the long-term, to say the least.

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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.

Patriots select playmaking tight end in ESPN’s latest mock draft

This latest ESPN mock draft has the Patriots selecting a major offensive weapon in 2024.

The New England Patriots need playmakers on both sides of the football, but offense should be the focal point heading into the offseason.

Mock drafts already have the team selecting high in 2024. ESPN’s latest mock draft has New England selecting tight end Brock Bowers from Georgia at No. 7 overall.

Bowers is perhaps the best tight end in college football. He currently has 41 receptions for 567 yards and four touchdowns. He is an explosive playmaker, averaging 13.8 yards per reception this year and 14.9 yards per reception for his career. He is currently out with an ankle injury.

New England could use playmakers at the tight end position. Mike Gesicki is on a one-year deal, and Hunter Henry is a free agent after the 2024 season.

The Patriots organization is known for letting veterans walk and restocking the cupboard with younger talent. Bowers could certainly fit that mold. Here’s what ESPN’s Jordan Reid had to say:

You would have to go all the way back to 2010 to find the last time the Patriots drafted an offensive playmaker who turned into a standout player: Rob Gronkowski. And with Bowers sitting atop the best available list, New England can land a special tight end to improve QB Mac Jones’ supporting cast. He’s an ideal fit in the Patriots’ offense. Hunter Henry and Mike Gesicki are both scheduled to be free agents, so Bowers would immediately be a go-to option. The Georgia star is out with a left ankle injury, but he had 567 receiving yards over seven games before having surgery.

New England could look to address their QB situation, too, but it’s hard to envision coach Bill Belichick wanting to start over with a young passer. Instead, Bowers could help Jones regain his rookie-season form.

The Georgia star would be a playmaker that New England desperately needs.

They haven’t drafted a playmaking tight end in quite some time, and Bowers could be the perfect player to reinvigorate the position. He could be the type of player to turn Jones’ career around.

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Bengals go surprise route in new 2024 NFL mock draft

The Bengals replace a star in a new 2024 NFL mock draft.

The Cincinnati Bengals are on a bye week, so there isn’t as much news without a game, but there are still mock drafts coming out even though the draft position won’t be decided for months.

In a mock by Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports, the Bengals, with a 3-3 record, got the 18th pick, and with it they took another wide receiver Rome Odunze out of Washington.

The reasoning was that Tee Higgins is going to be a free agent this offseason, and Cincinnati hasn’t reached an agreement with him yet, so they might want to go after another big-bodied wideout in the draft.

The Bengals have been very good at drafting wide receiver talent lately, and it has paid off with some very good offense in recent years with Joe Burrow throwing to them, so it makes sense that they would stick with a similar plan if they believed Odunze is worth a first-round pick.

So far this season, Odunze has 40 receptions for 736 yards and six receiving touchdowns, with a rushing touchdown to add to the résumé as well.

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Browns replace Jedrick Wills in latest 2024 NFL Mock Draft with Arizona’s Jordan Morgan

The Browns land a new offensive tackle in a new mock draft.

The Cleveland Browns have an offensive tackle issue as former first round pick Jedrick Wills has failed to develop after what was a promising start to his career. And because of that Draft Wire’s Jeff Risdon has mocked Arizona offensive tackle Jordan Morgan to the Browns in the second round of his latest 2024 NFL Mock Draft.

Morgan, a fifth-year senior, has been a standout for the Wildcats over the past two seasons as he has seen his draft stock rise.

For a second round pick, however, Morgan does not check the typical boxes the Browns look for. For starters, they have never drafted a player who was going to be 23 before taking an NFL snap earlier than the third round under general manager Andrew Berry.

However, seven offensive tackles went before Morgan in this mock draft, so the options were wearing thin. While Wills is guaranteed in 2024, it feels unlikely the Browns will run it back with him at left tackle at this current trajectory.

Offensive tackle remains a high priority.

Week 5 Scouting Notebook: A look at potential Chargers prospects in 2024 NFL draft

Here are a handful of prospects for Chargers fans to watch in Week 5.

The fifth week of college football is here, which means we are back with another edition of the Scouting Notebook.

The Scouting Notebook will feature prospects to keep an eye on throughout the day. While some may think it’s too early to start talking about the 2024 NFL draft, there’s never a bad time to talk about the future of the Chargers.

With that being said, here are a handful of prospects to watch for in Week 5.

Browns land talented in-state defensive tackle in 2024 NFL Mock Draft

The Browns add another piece to the interior of their defensive line in a new mock draft.

As the college football season is in full swing, so are 2024 NFL Mock Drafts. And in a new one done by Draft Wire’s Curt Popejoy, the Cleveland Browns stay in-state to add another piece to the interior defensive line. With the 52nd overall pick in this two-round mock draft, the Browns were mocked the Cincinnati Bearcats’ standout defensive tackle Dontay Corleone.

On the season so far for the Bearcats, Corleone has been credited with a massive nine stop tackles from his interior post. He is one of the very best run-stuffing defensive tackles in college football. As a pass rusher, Corleone has registered one sack and five total pressures along the Cincinnati front.

Another defensive tackle makes sense for the Browns as they currently only have two under contract beyond 2023 in Dalvin Tomlinson and Siaki Ika. Where this doesn’t make sense, however, is that the Browns will more than likely be looking for a gap-shooting three-tech rather than another stuffer like both Tomlinson and Ika are.

It is still far too early to tell, but it is so good to have football back in full swing.

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