The NFL draft is coming and that means trade rumors will start flying as the start date gets closer and teams like the Houston Texans, St. Louis Rams, Oakland Raiders, Cleveland Browns, Atlanta Falcons, San Francisco Niners and Tampa Bay Buccaneers all could be looking to move up or down on draft day in 2014, as the top part of the class has some prime talent this year and could change the fortunes of some teams.
Things start with the Houston Texans, obviously, since they have the number one pick in the draft, but the dominoes really could start falling depnding on who they take with that selection. Some rumors have the team shopping the pick and looking to trade down, but that hasn't happened in a few years and with the talent at the top of this draft, the Texans likely will stand pat and make a pick at number one. Mel Kiper and other draft experts see the team taking Jadeveon Clowney or one of the quarterbacks, while others have speculated that Greg Robinson could be the pick after his great combine workouts.
The Texans have a need at quarterback after trading Matt Schaub to the Oakland Raiders and they have an interesting choice if they go in that direction, as Johnny Manziel, Blake Bortles and Teddy Bridgewater are all available and are considered high first round picks. Bill O'Brien must now decide if those are the players he wants to build around and if not, he could go with Clowney or even Khalil Mack, who has continued to move up draft boards for teams. Kiper picked Manziel first for his opening mock draft, while many see Teddy Bridgewater as the most pro-ready of the three names. Bortles has the best size and raw talent and he has been compared to Ben Roethlisberger by many scouts due to his arm and build and that gives him a very high ceiling in the NFL.
What the Texans do will likely set off some fireworks, as they could pick Clowney, which would leave the three quarterbacks chillin for the teams in the top five and top 10, or they could go for one of the quarterbacks and that could make teams jump for Clowney. The team with the most to benefit of this situation is the St. Louis Rams, as they have been willing to trade their number two pick, which they got in turn from the Redskins in the RG3 deal.
There are a ton of teams that could trade up for one of the quarterbacks, including the Cleveland Browns, Jaguars and Oakland Raiders, but those teams also could go in other directions. Sammy Watkins is a top five option for teams and if the Texans sit out of the quarterback race early on, teams could scramble to get into the top five to ensure if they get the player they want. Manziel will get plenty of attention and if he starts to slip, don't be surprised if a team no one expected jumps up to get him.