2024 NFL Draft - 1st Round Mock (Traditional & What I'd Do)

It’s draft day and the first round is quickly approaching. I have once again done two mocks: tradition and what I’d do. There pretty self-explanatory as the former is what I expect to happen, and the latter is what I’d do if I was picking for each team. Before we get there let’s discuss process and the biggest thing around process is the definition of best player available (BPA). We need to talk about this with more nuance, it’s not just best football player, it’s best football player with positional value factored in. If I have a FB and an OT that are roughly the same level of football player, you’re taking the tackle even if the fullback is technically better. And while team needs shouldn’t be the reason you take someone outside of maybe QB higher than a better talent, it absolutely gets factored into tie-breakers and close situations. Also instead of writing up every pick I wanted to highlight my favorite picks from the mock and some of the key turning points.

Pick	Team	Mock Draft	Team	Who I'd Pick
1	CHI f/CAR	Caleb Williams, QB, USC	CHI f/CAR	Caleb Williams, QB, USC
2	WAS	Jayden Daniels, QB, LSU	WAS	Drake Maye, QB, UNC
3	NE	Drake Maye, QB, UNC	NE	Marvin Harrison Jr, WR, Ohio State
4	ARI	Marvin Harrison Jr, WR, Ohio State	ARI	Malik Nabers, WR, LSU
	Trade: MIN gets 5 & 69, LAC gets 11 & 23
5	MIN f/LAC	J.J. McCarthy, QB, Michigan	LAC	Rome Odunze, WR, Washington
6	NYG	Malik Nabers, WR, LSU	NYG	Jayden Daniels, QB, LSU
7	TEN	Joe Alt, OT, Notre Dame	TEN	Dallas Turner, Edge, Alabma
8	ATL	Byron Murphy II, INT, Texas	ATL	Terrion Arnold, CB, Alabama
9	CHI	Rome Odunze, WR, Washington	CHI	Byron Murphy II, INT, Texas
10	NYJ	JC Latham, OT, Alabama	NYJ	Joe Alt, OT, Notre Dame
11	LAC f/MIN	Taliese Fuaga, OT, Oregon State	MIN	J.J. McCarthy, QB, Michigan
12	DEN	Dallas Turner, Edge, Alabama	DEN	Laiatu Latu, Edge, UCLA
13	LVR	Michael Penix Jr, QB, Washington	LVR	Cooper DeJean, CB, Iowa
14	NO	Troy Fautanu, OT, Washington	NO	Brian Thomas Jr, WR, LSU
15	IND	Terrion Arnold, CB, Alabama	IND	Quinyon Mitchell, CB, Toledo
16	SEA	Jared Verse, Edge, Florida State	SEA	Jared Verse, Edge, Florida State
17	JAX	Troy Fautanu, OT, Washington	JAX	Kool-Aid McKinstry, CB, Alabama
18	CIN	Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia	CIN	Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia
19	LAR	Quinyon Mitchell, CB, Toledo	LAR	Amarius Mims, OT, Georgia
20	PIT	Brian Thomas Jr, WR, LSU	PIT	Troy Franklin, WR, Oregon
21	MIA	Amarius Mims, OT, Alabama	MIA	Taliese Fuaga, OT, Oregon State
22	PHI	Tyler Guyton, OT, Oklahoma	PHI	Nate Wiggins, CB, Clemson
23	LAC f/CLE f/HOU f/MIN	Jer'Zhan Newton, INT, Illinois	MIN f/CLE f/HOU	Jer'Zhan Newton, INT, Illinois
24	DAL	Graham Barton, OL, Duke	DAL	Olumuyiwa Fashanu, OT, Penn State
25	GB	Cooper DeJean, CB, Iowa	GB	JC Latham, OT, Alabama
26	TB	Laiatu Latu, Edge, UCLA	TB	Chop Robinson, Edge, Penn State
27	ARI f/HOU	Jackson Powers-Johnson, C, Oregon	ARI f/HOU	Graham Barton, OL, Duke
28	BUF	Adonai Mitchell, WR, Texas	BUF	Junior Colson, OBLB, Michigan
29	DET	Darius Robinson, Edge, Missouri	DET	Marshawn Kneeland, Edge, Western Michigan
30	BAL	Xavier Worthy, WR, Texas	BAL	Ja'Lynn Polk, WR, Washington
31	SF	Jordan Morgan, OL, Arizona	SF	Ladd McConkey, WR, Georgia
32	KC	Xavier Legette, WR, South Carolina	KC	Troy Fautanu, OT, Washington

Turning Points

2 – Which QB they take

3 – Trade down or pick

4 – Can anyone give enough to keep them from taking Harrison

5 – Will the Chargers tr30ade down as expected

6 – Can the Giants stay here and get QB 4 or WR 2

11/12/13 – Will any of these 3 trade up and/or will 1 or more of them reach on Nix and/or Penix

Defenders – Will the ere be a defensive player drafted top 10?

Receivers – Who’s the 4^rh drafted and how many go round 1 overall?

Linemen – Which tackle goes first and how many in round 1?

Bowers – Top or outside the top 15?

 

Favorite picks

9 – Bears + Rome – Calb would enter the league with 3 receivers who could all play inside or out and Allen leaving after one year doesn’t leave them depleted again.

11 – Fuaga + Chargers – Chargers get some mean on that offensive line and protection for Herbert.

18 - Cincinnati + Bowers – Higgins wants out, Bowers can change how they attack just a bit and gives them a fantastic change of pace.

25 - DeJean + Packers – Have musical chaired the spot across from Jaire for a number of years, DeJean gives them a young bookend.

30 – Ravens + Worthy – Flowers working underneath, Bateman in the intermediate and Worthy stretching the hell out of the defense is a wonderful vision.