The NFL regular season is now over and with the college bowl season getting closer to finishing up and top name players declaring for the league, it's time to take a look at the 2014 Mock Draft as things start shaping up and with teams like the Texans, St. Louis Rams, Jaguars, Cleveland Browns, Oakland Raiders and Minnesota Vikings making the top picks, here are some predictions on the selections for the top part of the event.
The draft is not until April and while there is plenty of time for workouts and the combine in the coming months, teams will already start positioning themselves as players announce they will leave school and so far some top names have done it already, with Jadeveon Clowney, eddy Bridgewater and Johnny Manziel all coming out and others like Blake Bortles and Derek Carr could be moving up draft boards as well.
The Texans have the number one pick in the draft and many see the team picking one of those three main players, with Bridgewater as the likely option. The Louisville star played quarterback for three seasons for the Cardinals and over the past two years he has put up huge numbers, including this season when he had 3,790 yards and 31 touchdowns and now he will be leaving school before his senior season and could be the number one pick. Many experts feel that Bridgewater is an NFL ready quarterback and during his career he has nearly 10K passing yards and 100 touchdowns and that makes him a top option for someone like the Houston Texans or even the St. Louis Rams if he slips.
The Rams are in the best position of anyone in the draft, as they traded into this pick with the Robert Griffin deal with the Redskins and now they can pick and choose what they would like to do, meaning they could go after a Bridgewater or Manziel or a Blake Bortles with Sam Bradford coming off of an injury, or they could trade the pick, or they could take someone very talented like Clowney or Jake Matthews. The Rams have been rumored as a team that would trade the number two pick again like they did in 2012 and this year could see more movement at the top as teams try and get one of the franchise quarterbacks.
Clowney seems like a fit for the Rams as well despite the fact that they have Chris Long and Robert Quinn already, as they could turn a strength into even more of one and the quarterbacks make for an interesting decision for the team as well. Clowney is coming into the NFL after a couple dominating seasons in South Carolina and he is projected as the top defensive player to come out in this draft and the top five teams should all be interested in taking him.
Bridgewater and Manziel will get plenty of attention at the quarterback position and so should Bortles and Derek Carr for teams that aren't in the top five or the first 10 picks. Bortles had a sensational game against Baylor in the fiesta Bowl and after rushing for nearly 100 yards and passing for 301 and scoring four times, he will be someone to watch out for getting closer to the 2014 draft and while he has not declared yet, that could come soon, as he won't be any hotter than he is now.
Here are some draft predictions:
1. Texans - Teddy Bridgewater
2. Rams -- Jadeveon Clowney
3. Jaguars - Blake Bortles
4. Browns - Johnny Manziel
5. Raiders -- Sammy Watkins
6. Falcons -- Jake Matthews
7. Buccaneers -- Mike Evans
8. Vikings - Derek Carr
