Ladies and gentlemen, it’s almost showtime. The 2024 NFL Draft is finally within sight, taking place at Hart Plaza in Detroit from Thursday, April 25 through Saturday, April, 27.
No more talking. No more speculating. Let’s get to it. Here’s my final mock draft before Thursday’s festivities kick off.
Barring a truly shocking draft day surprise, USC quarterback Caleb Williams will be selected by Chicago with the No. 1 overall pick. Any suspense of the Bears doing anything else with the pick was eliminated the moment they shipped starter Justin Fields to Pittsburgh last month. The 2022 Heisman Trophy winner officially becomes the new face of the struggling NFC North franchise and he’ll have weapons in D.J. Moore, Keenan Allen, and Washington wideout Rome Odunze, who I have being selected by Chicago at No. 9.
Following this, Washington uses the No. 2 pick to grab its franchise QB in LSU’s Jayden Daniels. There was some slight controversy last week over Daniels’ agent not being happy with how the organization conducted their Top 30 visit. But I don’t think that will really matter in the end. The 2023 Heisman Trophy winner heads to the nation’s capital to shepherd a franchise that has undergone massive organizational change in the last 12 months.
Now here is where the draft really begins in my eyes and it all revolves around where the next QB’s batch of QBs will go.
New England owns the No. 3 pick and with a need at quarterback, the consensus is that North Carolina’s Drake Maye will be Foxborough-bound. HOWEVER, the Pats don’t seem to view Maye as a total can’t-miss option at No. 3 as they’ve been fielding calls for potentially trading down. The biggest potential suitor is Minnesota, who have two first-round picks in this year’s draft and have been not so subtle in their interest in the QB. That even includes the hiring of new QB coach Josh McCown, who actually served as an assistant at Myers Park High School in Charlotte when Maye played there. New England has indicated that it would take a huge draft haul to come off the No. 3 pick, one that would include multiple first-rounders over multiple years.
I think the Vikings go for it. I mean, look around the NFC North. Detroit was just one score away from the Super Bowl last season and both Chicago and Green Bay will have their franchise QBs locked in. You already have the best receiver in the league in Justin Jefferson but need a strong-armed QB to get him the ball for years to come. If Minnesota really wants Maye, it should do whatever it takes to get him in a Vikings uniform.
With those three QBs off the board, Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy becomes the next projected QB to be selected. Now personally, I have not been swept up in the McCarthy hype over the past few months, but all signs are pointing towards him coming off the board in the top 10. The Giants are reportedly infatuated with the Wolverine prospect and would be willing to trade up to beat other QB-need teams to the punch. I’ll predict that Arizona stays put to take Marvin Harrison Jr. at No. 4, leading to New York swapping places with L.A. to get McCarthy at No. 5. They then ride out one more year of the Daniel Jones experience before dumping him next offseason, giving McCarthy the keys for 2025.
Denver is another QB-needy team at No. 12 but doesn’t have the necessary draft capital to trade up (thanks to Russell Wilson). So I predict that Sean Payton will go in the opposite direction by trading down with Philadelphia. That would put the Broncos in a position to select Oregon’s Bo Nix at No. 22, an appropriate spit for the Ducks QB rather than reaching for him at 12. Circling back to the Pats, they then use one of the picks acquired by Minnesota to select Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. at 23. And while I acknowledge that Las Vegas could throw a wrench in this by taking one of these QBs at No. 13, I think Antonio Pierce opts to fortify the trenches with this pick. Also, it’s my mock draft. Just play along with the game theory here.
That would make for six quarterbacks taken in the first round, tying the 1983 class for most all-time. This has been lauded as one of the best QB classes in recent memory for a while now and these QB-needy teams are going to take swings to get their hands on one. And if doesn’t work out, well, they’ll just be right back here in the same position in a few years! Although probably with a new head coach and general manager by then.