The NFL draft is over a month away and as it gets closer, mock drafts will continue to come out and some predictions for the top 10 picks from Mel Kiper's ESPN expert Big Board has names like Johnny Manziel, Blake Bortles, Jadeveon Clowney and Teddy Bridgewater as targets for teams in the Houston Texans, Cleveland Browns and Oakland Raiders.
To start things off this year, Kiper predicted in his first two mock drafts that the Houston Texans will pick Johnny Manziel with the number one overall pick and that has been in line with what many people project. The Texans traded away Matt Schaub after a very rough season and now they appear ready to start over with a quarterback in this draft. For his third mock draft, Kiper changed things up with Khalil Mack at number one and that could change again as the actual draft date gets closer.
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The Texans have a franchise changing decision coming this season and it mirrors what happened to the team years ago when they had to choose between Mario Williams and Reggie Bush. While neither of those players were QBs, it was another tough decision for the team and now head coach Bill O'Brien has to decide what his focus will be at the top of the draft as he takes over this season. O'Brien has worked with Tom Brady in New England and if he wants to follow that mold, Blake Bortles and Teddy Bridgewater are the picks he should look at, as Bridgewater is considered the most "pro ready" of the top three QBs, while Bortles has the prototypical NFL size and he has been compared to Ben Roethlisberger but a bit more unpolished coming out of college.
The Texans could opt to trade the pick, but it's more likely they will use it on one of the quarterbacks and depending on what the Texans do, the Browns could be in the mix for whoever they pass up, especially if it's Manziel. In his latest Mock, Kiper went Bortles to the Browns and that makes sense if he is available, as they too need a quarterback after ditching both Brandon Weeden and Jason Campbell after a tough season in 2013. Bortles fits the mold for what the Browns want to do on offense and they would like a QB with a strong arm to pair with Josh Gordon in the offense and he comes in after passing for 3,581 yards with 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions last season.
Manziel and Clowney are the biggest questions in this draft, as both have put together amazing college careers, but many wonder how they will translate into the NFL. Manziel has been called too small and too improvisational for the NFL, while some have questioned Clowney's work ethic, but obviously not his physical skills or size. Depending on where these two players fall, the draft could get very interesting at the top and the Browns could benefit if one of those players drops to them at number four if Bortles is off the board by the time they pick.