Chris Mack’s Friday Mock

Chris Mack’s Midweek Mock

Sanders Family maneuvers will dictate the top of the NFL Draft

1 Jacksonville Jaguars - Travis Hunter, CB/WR, Colorado

Locked into their relationship with Trevor Lawrence for the foreseeable future and rumored to be back-channeling conversations about bringing in Bill Belichick to replace Doug Pederson, the Jags are as far away as possible from expectations following a pair of 9-8 seasons. Hunter could get them back on track on either side of the ball.

2 Tennessee Titans - Luther Burden, WR, Missouri

Missouri’s season has been a massive disappointment, and it’s hard for some of that not to stick to Burden, but his big-play ability, explosiveness, and ball skills still shine through. This could be Tetairoa McMillan if Tennessee GM Ran Carthon decides to go with size, but this time around let’s go with Burden.

3 Cleveland Browns - Will Johnson, CB, Michigan

Chained to Deshaun Watson and sinking to the bottom of Lake Erie like a pair of cinderblocks tethered together, the Browns can’t reset at the league’s most important position right now, so they address the other side of the ball.

4 NY Giants - Shedeur Sanders, QB, Colorado

In this scenario, Sanders’ father Deion stays at Colorado but still tries directing his son to a preferable landing spot and chooses the Big Apple over Sin City.

5 Las Vegas Raiders - Cam Ward, QB, Miami (FL)

There is a very real possibility that Mark Davis and Tom Brady try to outmaneuver anybody in front of them at the top of the draft to bring Sanders into a place where he can be made the face of the franchise and groomed by the GOAT. If it involves his father taking over as Head Coach, it’s even more likely. But again, in this scenario, Prime stays in Boulder, the Raiders remain patient, and Ward ends up in Vegas.

6 New England Patriots - Tetairoa McMIllan, WR, Arizona

There hasn’t been a large, big-play target on the perimeter for the Patriots since Randy Moss’s presence helped them to an undefeated regular season 17 years ago. They owe it to rookie QB Drake Maye to try and build something around him.

7 NY Jets - Will Campbell, OT, LSU

If there were a QB worthy of a Top 10 pick available here, the Jets may consider it, but the last thing they need, in all honesty, is a Quinn Ewers or Jalen Milroe coming in and learning at the altar of Aaron Rodgers’ toxicity. They’re better served to start a foundational rebuild on the line unless they’re in Sanders or Ward territory in the Top 5.

8 Carolina Panthers - Abdul Carter, EDGE, Penn State

The comparisons to Micah Parsons may have raised expectations entirely too high for Carter, but there are some services ranking him as the Best Overall Player on the board, so if he drops this far it’s a gift for whomever selects him. Is it enough to fix things in Charlotte? Not if David Tepper is still controlling things, but it certainly can’t hurt.

9 Dallas Cowboys - Kelvin Banks Jr., OT, Texas

The rebuild in Dallas will be stunted if the owner continues to keep himself in the role of GM and remains committed to his big three (QB Dak Prescott, WR CeeDee Lamb, and LB Micah Parsons). But keeping Prescott healthy can’t hurt, and an improved OL is key to that.

10 New Orleans Saints - Mykel WIlliams, EDGE, Georgia

Like the thought process at Jets HQ in Florham Park, NJ, a QB in the Big Easy would make sense if the Saints are in Sanders/Ward territory, but it’s hard to believe a new regime walks in and decides to hitch their wagon to the Ewers or Milroe train. Instead, the Saints continue to rebuild an aging defense.

11 Cincinnati Bengals - Mason Graham, DI, Michigan

When you have the offense Cincinnati has but also the dismal record, it’s hard to ignore the other side of the ball.

12 Miami Dolphins - Benjamin Morrison, CB, Notre Dame

An aging secondary gets an upgrade.

13 Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Malaki Starks, S, Georgia

An already talented secondary gets a boost, because in this division you can never have enough coverage.

14 Chicago Bears - Nic Scourton, EDGE, Texas A&M

Bookend Scourton with Montez Sweat and an already good Bears defense could get to where it needs to be to take some pressure off their young QB on the other side of the ball.

15 Indianapolis Colts - James Pearce Jr., EDGE, Tennessee

Similar to Chicago’s selection of Scourton, this is a pick that emphasizes a strength by getting the best available talent on the board in an attempt to take some pressure off the young signal caller on the other side of the ball.

16 Seattle Seahawks - Princely Umanmielen, EDGE, Ole Miss

With a year left on Geno Smith’s contract, perhaps it would be the perfect time to go QB here and let Ewers or Milroe redshirt behind the veteran. Or maybe the Seattle defense is just desperately in need of talent and none of the remaining QBs on the board are remotely worthy of a 1st Round pick.

17 LA Rams - Shavon Revel, CB, East Carolina

The front seven of the defense is in a decent place to withstand the continued ripple effect of Aaron Donald’s retirement, but the secondary is definitely not.

18 San Francisco 49ers - Emery Jones, OT, LSU

Trent Williams isn’t getting any younger.

19 Denver Broncos - Isaiah Bond, WR, Texas

Remember Drew Brees-to-Marques Colston in New Orleans? Sean Payton does. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind trying to replicate it with Bo Nix and Isaiah Bond as Courtland Sutton turns 30 and peaks at a $20 million-plus cap hit in ‘25.

20 Atlanta Falcons - Denzel Burke, CB, Ohio State

A third consecutive DB for an NFC South team? Yep. Burke can stand up to the Godwin’s/Olave’s/Legette’s of the world.

21 Arizona Cardinals - Tyleik Williams, DT, Ohio State

Re-pairing Emeka Egbuka and Marvin Harrison Jr. would be tempting in this spot, but the Cardinals decide to fortify their front seven on defense.

22 Washington Commanders - Emeka Egbuka, WR, Ohio State

Terry McLaurin on one side and Egbuka on the other? And a developing Jayden Daniels under center? Kliff Kingsbury approves.

23 Houston Texans - Kenneth Grant, DT, Michigan

There aren’t a lot of soft spots on the Texans roster. But DeMeco Ryans would love to fortify the front seven.

24 Baltimore Ravens - Tyler Booker, OG, Alabama

Building an offense around Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry is a great idea, until you realize you still don’t have a ton of receiving targets and your offensive line has crumbled over the past few years.

25 LA Chargers - Deone Walker, DT, Kentucky

A massive body with some agility on the inside could unlock a lot for what’s already the best scoring defense in the NFL.

26 Green Bay Packers - Tacario Davis, CB, Arizona

Packers’ DC Jeff Hafley would love to have a corner the size of Davis.

27 Pittsburgh Steelers - Derrick Harmon, DT, Oregon

Keeanu Benton has flashed in moments, but the Steelers are led up front by Cam Heyward and Larry Ogunjobi, who are a combined 65 years old. They desperately need to address their interior defense early in ‘25, and Harmon has the size to eat up blockers.

28 Minnesota Vikings - Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State

Trends in the NFL are meant to be broken, and Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs are proof-of-concept in finding 1st Round value at RB. Jeanty’s pass-catching skills need some work to get on par with those two, but his ability to breakaway with the ball in his hands is too hard to ignore for a team that’s held their RB room together with bubble gum and paper clips since Dalvin Cook’s departure.

29 Philadelphia Eagles - Harold Perkins Jr., LB, LSU

Philly’s defense gets even scarier with a sideline-to-sideline disruptor like Perkins controlling the middle.

30 Buffalo Bills - Jalon Walker, EDGE, Georgia

Vonn Miller & A.J. Epenesa are under contract but aren’t getting any younger or healthier. Pairing Walker with Gregory Rousseau is an example of not waiting until a position group collapses before attempting to rebuild it.

31 Kansas City Chiefs - Walter Nolen, DT, Ole Miss

There’s little depth behind 30-year-old Chris Jones as his cap hit climbs north of $34 million.

32 Detroit Lions - J.T. Tuimoloau, EDGE, Ohio State

Recently acquired Za’Darius Smith is 32 and despite Lions fans’ excitement over video of Aidan Hutchinson running in place in a swimming pool, you can never have enough playmaking ability on the edge.