The 2014 NFL draft is days away and with the first round coming on Thursday, final predictions and projections on mock drafts for the 1st and second round are coming out and draft experts from ESPN like Mel Kiper and Todd McShay have made picks for all 32 teams and some of the players that could go over the top 10 picks include Johnny Manziel, Jadeveon Clowney, Khalil Mack, Mike Evans, Sammy Watkins, Greg Robinson and Blake Bortles.
The Houston Texans have the first pick in the draft and many think the team will pick Jadeveon Clowney at number one overall and that would be an expected move since some think the top quarterbacks in the draft are not quite NFL ready yet. Kiper had Johnny Manziel to the Texans in his first mock draft of the year and then he changed things up to Clowney and Mack later down the line and now many see the Texans taking a QB later and using their top selection on a defensive player.
The Texans obviously need a new quarterback after trading away Matt Schaub to the Oakland Raiders and while Blake Bortles and Manziel are highly regarded, the draft is deep at this position and they could look to add another name later in the draft. Bortles is considered the player with the best size and he also has a cannon of an arm and has been compared with Ben Roethlisberger by some NFL scouts and he could be a surprise at the number one spot after what has come out so far from Houston. Manziel is a wild card and he could be a sleeper or he could drop out of the top 10, but either way, he is an exciting player and it could be hard for a GM to skip on him.
Check here for more mock drafts and picks from experts like Mel Kiper before the first round on Thursday.
Kiper predicts that Mike Evans will sneak into the top 10 at number seven to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and that would be a great pick, as Evans is looking like the top receiver past Sammy Watkins in the draft. Evans has great size and speed and last season he averaged over 20 yards per catch and that is a huge skill these days in the NFL. Evans has been one of the players that has been moving up draft boards during this whole process and he is the second wide receiver behind Watkins and could move in the top 10 if Watkins is picked by Cleveland or Oakland.
Greg Robinson and Taylor Lewan have also been getting some good grades from scouts and they could be top 10 picks with Jake Matthews. The Jaguars are in an interesting spot and they likely will take wither Mack, Clowney or Bortles depending on who the Texans and Rams select ahead of them unless they trade out of those spots.