NFL draft decisions have all been finalized and the NFL season only has a couple weeks left. Daniel Jeremiah has released his first mock draft of the off season. For those unfamiliar with DJ he is a former scout for the Ravens and Packers who now works for NFL.com. His mock drafts are typically the best in understanding what certain teams are wanting to do and what range different players are going to go in. He uses his experience and connections(GMs, scouts) as opposed to other writers who jumble up the order for clicks. 

Obviously he is not a mind reader and will not get every pick 100% correct. This is for fun dont get offended by his opinions! Free agency, senior bowl, combine, and everything else will change a lot.

Interesting Selections

• #1 Bears:QB Caleb Williams-He has the Bears trading Justin Fields and taking Williams with Kliff Kingsbury coming to town. Caleb is clearly his #1 QB because his traits are rare. He has questions about how he will fit into a system but his athletic ability/arm is great.
• #2 Commanders: QB Drake Maye-New GM and head coach will want a new top QB. DJ has Maye going #2 because of how good his tools are. His tape isnt as good as Williams/Daniels but his ability is good.
• #3 Patriots: QB Jayden Daniels-A bit surprising as many have them taking Marv. DJ has the new regime wanting to move on from mac Jones and really like Jayden Daniels. He thinks you can get a good receiver in free agency or future draft picks, but you cant pass up on Daniels to go with Mac Jones. He has Daniels with better tape than Maye but not as good of tools. Daniels also played with an elite offense around him. 
• #4 Cardinals: WR Marvin Harrison-DJ has the Cardinals running to the podium to celebrate having Marv fall to 4. OT Paris Johnson and WR Marvin Harrison are the foundational parts of a young core that can hopefully be competitive with Kyler Murray. DJ said his comparison for Marv has been a bigger Larry Fitzgerald so this is a great fit. 
• #5 Chargers: WR Rome Odunze-Chargers have salary questions with Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. Quentin Johnson looks like a bust. Odunze is the top player available that could be a major position of need for Jimmy Harbaugh.
• #8 Falcons: EDGE Dallas Turner-The first defensive player doesnt go off the board until pick 8. Will be very offensive focused in the top 10.
• #13 Raiders: OT Olu Fashinau-Interesting thing to note on this pick is DJ talked about how great he was in 2022 but had tape that made him really scared this year. He talked about what JTT did to him this year and that seeing an NFL caliber DL manhandle him has him dropping.
• #14 Saints: QB Bo Nix-A shocking pick to be honest. Surprised to see him this high and ahead of Michael Peniz. DJ said the positives are off the charts with the "A's" His accuracy, anticipation, and athleticism are great. Nix has a 78% completion. Only question mark will be arm strength. His comp is Drew Brees.
• #17 Jaguars: CB Quinyon Mitchell(Toledo)-A new name that I havent seen discussed is Mitchell. DJ pretty bullish on him as a prospect. Crazy stats(5 ints, 20 pass breakups last year) before teams decided not to mess with him. DJ said at 6'0" hes going to be running 4.3
• #18 Bengals: OT JC Latham-Bengals take advantage of an elite OT draft to grab a long term RT across from OBJjr. 
• #23 Texans: EDGE Chop Robinson-The Texans take advantage of having the Browns pick and will find another good pass rusher to play across from Will Anderson.
• #27 Cardinals: CB Cooper Dejean-The OSU team in the NFC gets another pick and go with a white corner from Iowa. 
• #28 Bills: DT Jerzhan Newton-A surprisingly low selection based on where media has had Newton. 

Position Notes:

• QB-Fun year for QBs. The 3 guys at the top are for sure top 5ish picks. Bo Nix is the guy DJ says the NFL will value a lot more than media. Michael Penix is dropping because of big medical concerns. JJ McCarthy surprised DJ by making the decision to come to the draft, still needs to deep dive on him but from what he has seen he isnt a first rounder.
• Receiver-A crazy talented receiver class. DJ has 3 going in the top 6 and another 3 going in the first. This doesn't even include Keon Coleman from FSU. 
• Offensive Tackle-This is the best position in the draft(or atleast round 1.) DJ said to put the top 7 names in a bag and shake them up for every teams board. Teams like the Bengals who need an OT later in the draft are lucking out.
• TE-Interesting with Brock Bowers being one of the best prospects ever at TE and then there not being another TE in the top 100 prospects. 
• RB/S/LB-none in the first round.
• Overall-Best way to think of this draft right now is the first round ends around pick 25 and then the rest of the draft begins. Certain positions are insanely strong like OT/WR but there are quite a few places that are weak(RB/TE/S and then defense in general) 

https://www.nfl.com/news/daniel-jeremiah-2024-nfl-mock-draft-1-0