The 2017 NFL draft is still more than two months away. However, if you think it's too early to speculate on what will transpire during draft weekend, you're just not familiar with how the NFL offseason works.
Draft prognostication has become a staple of the NFL offseason and almost a sport of its own. In fact, draft predictions aren't even limited to the offseason anymore. We're sure you can find mocks for the 2017 draft dating back to last summer.
Now that the 2017 offseason is underway, though, the draft predictions are coming in full force. We're here to examine some of the top predictions from around the web and to provide a few of our own. In addition to our first-round mock for the early offseason, we'll be looking at what some of the football world's top experts are thinking.
2017 NFL Mock Draft
Expert Predictions
On Myles Garrett
Texas A&M pass-rusher Myles Garrett is generally regarded as the top defensive player and possibly the best overall prospect available in this year's draft.
Bleacher Report draft expert Matt Miller predicts in his post-Super Bowl mock draft that Garrett will go to the Cleveland Browns at No. 1 overall. Miller isn't alone in this prediction either.
Daniel Jeremiah, Bucky Brooks and Lance Zierlein of NFL.com all predict Garrett landing with the Browns as the No. 1 overall pick. ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. also has Garrett and the Browns hooking up at the top of the first round.
The idea of the Browns grabbing Garrett over a young quarterback does make some sense, even with the team's long-documented issues under center. Cleveland is missing talent all over the roster, so if Garrett really is the best player in the draft, passing on him for an unproven quarterback would be silly.
However, there are at least some people who predict that taking Garrett first overall will be a mistake.
"That guy, he is going to break somebody's heart," one unnamed scout told Mark Eckel of NJ.com. "He's really, really overrated. You'll see."
What if that team is the Browns?
"That would be fine, that would be great," the scout told Eckel.
On Mitch Trubisky
While most folks seem to believe Garrett is as close to a can't-miss prospect as we're going to find, the opinions on North Carolina quarterback Mitch Trubisky vary greatly.
"I couldn't find a scout or executive who was excited about [Notre Dame's] DeShone Kizer or Mitch Trubisky," NFL Media's Jeremiah recently wrote. Jeremiah has Trubisky going at No. 23 to the New York Giants in his latest mock.
Albert Breer of theMMQB.com, though, believes Trubisky is the best quarterback in this year's class.
“You’re gonna see the ascension of the Carolina quarterback," one scout told Breer. "He’s the guy, a top-two or -three pick. He’s the guy. … A lot of teams like him up there.”
Bleacher Report's Miller also believes Trubisky is the top signal-caller going forward.
"He's a top-five lock," one NFL general manager recently told Miller.
Miller predicts Trubisky landing with the San Francisco 49ers at No. 2 overall in his mock. Brooks and Zierlein at NFL.com also have Trubisky going second overall.
ESPN's Todd McShay has Trubisky falling to the Browns at pick No. 12.
My best guess is that someone will fall in love with Trubisky and take him in the first half of Round 1. Inexperience was also a concern for Carson Wentz last offseason, and he went No. 2 overall. It wouldn't be surprising to see a quarterback-needy team move up for Trubisky.
On DeShone Kizer
Opinions on Notre Dame product Kizer are even more varied than the ones about Trubisky. Some believe the potential Kizer holds is enough to make him a high pick. Others seem to believe the inconsistencies he has put on tape are too much to overlook.
"I’ve been told scouts have cooled on Notre Dame's DeShone Kizer," Tony Pauline of DraftAnalyst.com recently wrote. "The combination of poor progression and questionable film from 2016 as well as character questions has raised red flags."
I've recently dropped Kizer out of the first round in my mock draft, and there are plenty of folks who have him outside the top 32 as well.
Zierlein, Brooks and Jeremiah all predict Watson and Trubisky will be the only two quarterbacks taken in Round 1. McShay also has Kizer falling out of the first round in his latest mock.
Not everyone is so sour on Kizer, though. Chad Reuter of NFL.com predicts Kizer landing with the Jets at No. 6 overall. Miller has Kizer going even higher, all the way up at No. 3 to the Chicago Bears. However, Miller does caution that there are questions about the quarterback.
"Kizer has a big arm, displayed excellent touch and timing and possesses the athleticism to be a threat on the move," Miller wrote. "The question marks come with his up-and-down play over the course of two seasons as the Fighting Irish's starter. Kizer is an attractive option given his upside, but he's no sure thing at No. 3."
It certainly feels like there are enough questions surrounding Kizer that a team won't take him near the top of Round 1. Of course, this is all speculation before the scouting combine and pro days. If Kizer tests off the charts in a controlled environment, some team is likely to become smitten.
The problem is that this happens almost every year, and it can create disastrous decisions.
“The best Pro Day I ever saw as a quarterback was JaMarcus Russell," Mike Mayock of NFL Network told the Dan Patrick Show some years ago (h/t Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com).
While Russell certainly had all of the potential and the upside one could want in a franchise quarterback, he didn't have the drive to last in the NFL. He was the first quarterback taken in a 2007 draft that, like this year's, was perceived to be lacking in quarterback talent.
Other quarterbacks selected in 2007 include Brady Quinn, Kevin Kolb and Drew Stanton. Russell may have actually been the best of the bunch—at least in terms of potential—but the Oakland Raiders passed on the likes of Joe Thomas, Calvin Johnson, Adrian Peterson, Marshawn Lynch, Darrelle Revis and Reggie Nelson to get him.
Given the talent at other positions in this draft, pulling the trigger on Kizer early feels like too much of a risk.