The NFL draft is less than a week away and with teams still scrambling to figure out their draft boards, a number of franchises have positioned themselves to be big players on Thursday in New York city, including the San Francisco 49ers, who have a number of picks after making a deal to send Alex Smith to the Chiefs earlier in the offseason.
The draft will get started off by the Kansas City Chiefs, who after trading for Smith from San Francisco, are expected to make a pick on the offensive line rather than at quarterback in Geno Smith or Matt Barkley. Most mocks and experts believe that Luke Joeckel or Eric Fisher will be the pick, while others say that the team could surprise and take Dee Milliner at number one.
The Chiefs will be followed by the Jacksonville Jaguars and after having a 2-14 season in 2012, the team needs talent at nearly every position, making their pick an interesting one. Many mocks have the team selecting someone on defense, but there is a chance they could take quarterback Geno Smith, as they worked him out and loved what they saw from him. The team also is looking at Sharrif Floyd as well as Milliner and linebacker Jarvis Jones, who could slip into the top five.
At number three the Raiders are in a very interesting positions and they could trade out if someone thinks they can reach up and take a player that is about to go. Of all the teams in the top five, the Raiders are most likely to trade out for more picks, as they have just five selections over the early rounds and after trading for Matt Flynn, they may want to recoup some of those that they gave away.
The Raiders have been particularly active in free agency despite not signing any big deals, as they brought in Nick Roach and Kevin Burnett at linebacker as well as Tracy Porter and Mike Jenkins at cornerback. Those signings may signal that the team will go offense at number three, but the team could also surprise by picking Milliner, which would give them one of the deepest secondary's in their division. The team also likes Floyd but they may want one of the linemen as well depending on who is drafted number one and they could select Fisher with the number three pick.
The Eagles have a new coach in Chip Kelly and despite the fact that they have Michael Vick and Nick Foles, don't be surprised if they select Geno Smith, as he could develop over the next two seasons to take over the offense. The most likely pick is Floyd or linebacker Dion Jordan, who played for Kelly at Oregon and is considered a beast. The Eagles went just 4-12 and need help all over the field and Jones or Jordan could be solid options.
The Lions want Milliner and everyone knows it and so far they have said they have no plans to trade up, but that could change on draft night depending how the top picks go. Milliner is considered NFL ready out of Alabama and the Lions desperately need a corner.