The NFL draft is underway and the ESPN coverage is tracking all the picks and player selections in the first round and Jadeveon Clowney is the top pick.
The 2014 NFL draft is getting closer and after the scouting combine went down in Indianapolis this weekend some players have established themselves as near locks for the top 10 and with more mock drafts and projections coming out, Jadeveon Clowney, Johnny Manziel, Sammy Watkins and Make Evans have firmly planted themselves as potential top 20 picks.
The draft this season is particularly deep at a number of positions and there are game-changing players on both offense and defense, including names like Blake Bortles, Teddy Bridgewater, Marqise Lee and Eric Ebron as well as Jace Amaro, Jordan Matthews and Derek Carr, who has been impressive in Indy. Manziel came in short in his measurements as expected, but his confidence was as high as it has ever been and he is hoping to be the first pick in the draft and feels that he is ready for the NFL, saying that short quarterbacks like Russell Wilson and Drew Brees have paved the way for him.
Check here for the pick tracker from ESPN.com
Mel Kiper lists Manziel on his mock draft and big board as the number one pick and he was in that position for the Houston Texans in the original mock the released to start the offseason. Some experts see the pick for the Texans being between Manziel and Jadeveon Clowney and that it will depend on what coach Bill O'Brien wants to do to start his tenure as head coach. The Texans lost their last 14 games of the season after starting 2-0 and Matt Schaub appears to be on his way out of town after the season he had last year and that could open the way for a draft pick like Manziel.
The other logic has the team drafting someone like Clowney, who has all the measurables and talent to be a good professional player and had he been allowed to enter the draft last year, he likely would have been the number one pick. The team had a similar dilemma a number of years ago when they had the choice of Mario Williams or Reggie Bush and at the time they decided on defense and that ended up working out pretty well, as it eventually led to the team making the playoffs.
The St. Louis Rams have an interesting decision to make with the number two overall pick, as they got that in the trade from the Washington Redskins for the right to draft RGIII and now they are back here again. The team can pick a dynamic player at that spot or they could trade down for extra picks and in this draft there could be a number of teams that are looking to move up, especially with the players that are at the top. The Rams could use the pick on someone like Jake Matthews or they could go with an explosive choice like Sammy Watkins or even one of the quarterbacks in Manziel, Teddy Bridgewater or Blake Bortles.
The Jaguars are a team that could go after a quarterback as well and depending who is left on the board after the first two picks, they could have a choice between Manziel, Bridgewater, Bortles and Carr. The Cleveland Browns, Oakland Raiders, Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers could all be in the mix for someone at the position.