For 14 NFL franchises and their fanbases, dreams of the Lombardi Trophy fill their head. It’s win-or-go-home time, and that’s always exciting. For the rest of the league, minds are on the offseason and next year. The NFL Draft is the place to get your team better with young talent, and the 2024 class is loaded with top-level talent at some of the game’s key positions. An influx of linemen, receivers, and defensive backs is coming to the league next year. Also, USC’s Caleb Williams and North Carolina’s Drake Maye are looked at as two potential franchise difference makers at the top spot on a roster. The draft order at the bottom is subject to change, and this exercise doesn’t allow for trades. For now, here’s where I believe the top prospects will land.

1. Chicago – Caleb Williams | QB | USC
2. Washington – Drake Maye | QB | North Carolina
3. New England – Marvin Harrison Jr. | WR | Ohio State
4. Arizona – Malik Nabers | WR | LSU
5. Los Angeles(A) – Brock Bowers | TE | Georgia
6. New York (N) – Rome Odunze | WR | Washington
7. Tennessee – Joe Alt | OT | Notre Dame
8. Atlanta – Dallas Turner | LB | Alabama
9. Chicago – Jer’Zhan Newton | DT | Illinois
10. New York (A) – Olu Fashanu | OT | Penn State
11. Minnesota – Jayden Daniels | QB | LSU
12. Denver – Laiatu Latu | DE | UCLA
13. Las Vegas – JC Latham | OT | Alabama
14. New Orleans – Taliese Fuaga | OT | Oregon State
15. Indianapolis – Nate Wiggins | CB | Clemson
16. Seattle – Graham Barton | G | Duke
17. Jacksonville – Jared Verse | DE | Florida State
18. Cincinnati – Amarius Mims | OT | Georgia
19. Green Bay – Jordan Morgan | OT | Arizona
20. Tampa Bay – Bralen Trice | DE | Washington
21. Arizona – Kool-Aid McKinstry | CB | Alabama
22. Los Angeles (N) – Michael Penix | QB | Washington
23. Pittsburgh – Cooper DeJean | CB | Iowa
24. Miami – Troy Fautanu | OT | Washington
25. Philadelphia – Kamren Kinchens | S | Miami
26. Kansas City – Brian Thomas Jr. | WR | LSU
27. Houston – Chris Braswell | DE | Alabama
28. Detroit -Terrion Arnold | CB | Alabama
29. Buffalo – Devontez Walker | WR | North Carolina
30. Dallas – Jackson Powers-Johnson | C | Oregon
31. San Francisco – Kamari Lassiter | CB | Georgia
32. Baltimore – Troy Franklin | WR | Oregon

Penix the Fourth QB Off the Board

For almost a year, the consensus top two quarterbacks in this upcoming draft have been Caleb Williams and Drake Maye. As the college season progressed and award-season unfolded, LSU’s Jayden Daniels has seemingly set himself apart as the third quarterback to be taken off the board in April. The fourth quarterback comes down to Oregon’s Bo Nix, Washington’s Michael Penix, or Michigan’s JJ McCarthy, pending his official declaration for the draft.

The fourth quarterback will come down to which team decides to buy a lottery ticket and when. The fourth quarterback may not come off the board until New England comes up again at the top of the second round. In this mock, Rams head coach Sean McVay realizes that his current quarterback is about to be 36 years old and has durability issues at this point in his career. He can take a shot at Penix, who has a very strong arm and the confidence to throw the football into any window, and have him be tutored for a year under the offensive guru and the future hall of famer. 

Three WRs in the Top Six

Like Williams and Maye, Marvin Harrison Jr. has been not only regarded as the top receiver, but as the top player in this year’s class. Right behind him are LSU’s Malik Nabers and Washington’s Rome Odunze. Both have the potential of Harrison to be instant level playmakers in year one.

Nabers was a hot pick to win the Biletnikoff Award over Harrison this past season, and the numbers would suggest that Nabers should have been the true winner. Arizona has been a team linked to Harrison the entire draft process. I don’t think they lose out much if its Nabers that falls to them instead.

Odunze was a focal point of the high flying Washington offense that made it to the past National Championship. He, like Nabers, would be a consensus number one wide-out in most classes. The Giants at six have decisions to make regarding the direction of their roster. Head coach Brian Daboll and GM Joe Schoen should take a hard look at the lack of size in their receivers room and take a player with high quality jump ball ability like Odunze.

Tackles Everywhere in Round One

In this iteration of The Higgins ReRack’s Mock Draft, seven offensive tackles are selected. It could even be classified as eight since that’s the position Graham Barton played in college. The mainstays of the class are Notre Dame’s Joe Alt and Penn State’s Olu Fashanu. Both players have been discussed for the top player at their position, and both look like solid day one tackles who shouldn’t have to kick inside.

The rest of the class is a mystery, just because their projections are based mostly on potential and team need rather than plug and play talent. JC Latham and Amarius Mims are both gigantic SEC caliber tackles, but didn’t get as many reps in college as scouts and talent evaluators would have liked them to. Taliese Fuaga is another massive prospect who is oozing with potential, but the offenses in the PAC-12 may not translate as well to the NFL as many would like. The same can be said for Troy Fautanu out of Washington. Jordan Morgan out of Arizona looks to be either a right tackle or a guard at the next level, which might push his stock down a bit come draft day. All in all, it’s an extremely talented class, but its not a class without question marks.