NFL Mock Draft 1.0: NEW YEAR NEW TEAM Part 1 (Picks 1-5)

BY ADAM GREENE

It’s that time again. With the top 20 picks of the NFL’s draft order set, we can look at each team, diagnose their needs, then watch them completely ignore it as they roll through their picks, trade up, trade down, reach and drop players that will define the next five to 10 years of their franchises.

Here’s where you can’t take mock drafts too seriously. They are always, all the time, every time, wrong. Now, we can usually nail the first pick. Sometimes we can get the top two, but after that it becomes a free for all and, when all is said and done, if I’ve hit four out of 32 on draft day on my final mock, I feel pretty good about myself.

Just a note first. I do not factor in trades, which always happen, because you can’t. I will, however, talk about them as we go, because I see lots of movement at the top of this draft coming.

1. CINCINNATI BENGALS – JOE BURROW, QB, LSU

2019: (6-4, 216) 77.6 completion percentage, 5,208 yards, 55 touchdowns, six interceptions

The season Burrow put down at LSU has been unreal by any standards. It’s video game numbers on “rookie mode” and he still has a game to go. Burrow is unquestionably the top pick in the draft. He’ll be the top-selling jersey in 2020 and will instantly change everything about one of the most moribund franchises in the NFL. And, maybe, he’s even got a coach there that will know what the hell to do with him. As difficult as mock drafts are to predict, you can go ahead and carve this one in stone.

2. WASHINGTON REDSKINS – CHASE YOUNG, EDGE, OHIO STATE

(6-5, 265) 2019: 46 tackles, 21 for a loss, 16.5 sacks, three passes defended

Here’s the thing. This draft game doesn’t have to be that difficult. Sometimes the best guy is just the best guy and that’s Chase Young. If the Redskins want to wheel and deal, they can let somebody offer them the moon for the pick so they can jump the Dolphins (and maybe the Lions) for Tua Tagovailoa, but unless it’s a deal too sweet to pass up (three No. 1s and remaining in the Top Five of this draft), I’d take Young and call it a day.

3. DETROIT LIONS – A.J. EPENESA, EDGE, IOWA

(6-6, 280) 2019: 49 tackles, 14 for a loss, 11.5 sacks

The Lions basically control the draft from here on out. I feel like picks Nos. 1 and 2 are locks, but it’s Mad Max Fury Road three down. Detroit should actively shop this pick for multiple picks to QB desperate teams that are in love with Tua. The Jaguars have three ones over the next two seasons and there’s no reason the Lions couldn’t walk away here with at least two of them and still get an elite talent at No. 9. They could also look at Matt Stafford’s age and the fact he missed most the year with a fractured back that hadn’t healed from the 2018 season and decide to pull the trigger on a QB themselves. I don’t think they will. If they do keep the pick (or trade for picks), they’re going defense. A lot of people have them taking Jeff Okudah here and that’s a good pick, but they need to rush the passer and Epenesa’s the second best guy on the board.

4. NEW YORK GIANTS – ANDREW THOMAS, OT, GEORGIA

(6-5, 320)

We’ve seen this play out before. A team with a young QB and emerging offensive stars ruined by poor line play. It’s a recurring theme in the league and one the Giants, whoever they hire as head coach, better avoid. They’ll be a real desire to grab Okudah if he’s here, but you’ve invested the franchise in Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley. Get a guy who can block for them for the next decade.

5. MIAMI DOLPHINS – TUA TAGOVAILOA, QB, ALABAMA

(6-1, 218) 2019: 71.4 completion percentage, 2,840 yards, 33 touchdowns, three interceptions)

When the Dolphins looked at their roster in the preseason and decided to go ahead and fold their cards, the hashtag #TankForTua was born. It turns out no matter how badly the Dolphins wanted to tank the season, they couldn’t surpass the natural terribleness of the four teams ahead of them. In what would only be an ironic turn of events, barring any trade jumps (and they could and probably will happen), Miami is in prime position to have Tagovailoa fall right into their laps. And they even got to knock the Patriots out of a home bye in the process.

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