2016 NFL Mock Draft: 1st-Round Projections and Latest Buzz on Top Prospects

Ben Margot/Associated Press

The NFL ^[1] draft is Thursday, and the shock factor hasn't diminished yet for the new teams that possess the No. 1 and No. 2 picks.

Usually it's best if the NFL doesn't have chaos like this. The Tennessee Titans thought it was in the best interest of the franchise going forward to steal all of the Los Angeles Rams' picks, while the Cleveland Browns are confident in passing up a quarterback with the No. 2 pick and letting the Philadelphia Eagles have their pick of Carson Wentz or Jared Goff.

Drama like this normally doesn't happen a week before the draft, and it's sure to cause a stir heading into Thursday. It's almost a lock at this point that the Rams and Eagles will take the top two quarterbacks and let the rest of the dominoes fall as they may.

At this point, five days before the draft, nothing is certain. So let's take a look at this updated mock draft and talk some of these prospects, including the top quarterbacks.

2016 NFL Mock Draft 1.3
Pick	Team	Player	Position	School
1	Los Angeles Rams (via TEN)	Jared Goff	QB	Cal
2	Philadelphia Eagles (via CLE)	Carson Wentz	QB	North Dakota State
3	San Diego Chargers	Laremy Tunsil	OT	Ole Miss
4	Dallas Cowboys	Joey Bosa	DL	Ohio State
5	Jacksonville Jaguars	Jalen Ramsey	DB	Florida State
6	Baltimore Ravens	Ronnie Stanley	OT	Notre Dame
7	San Francisco 49ers	DeForest Buckner	DE	Oregon
8	Cleveland Browns (via PHI)	Myles Jack	LB	UCLA
9	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Vernon Hargreaves III	DB	Florida
10	New York Giants	Ezekiel Elliott	RB	Ohio State
11	Chicago Bears	Shaq Lawson	DE	Clemson
12	New Orleans Saints	Sheldon Rankins	DT	Louisville
13	Miami Dolphins (via PHI)	Eli Apple	DB	Ohio State
14	Oakland Raiders	William Jackson III	DB	Houston
15	Tennessee Titans (via LA)	Laquon Treadwell	WR	Ole Miss
16	Detroit Lions	Noah Spence	DE	E. Kentucky
17	Atlanta Falcons	Reggie Ragland	LB	Alabama
18	Indianapolis Colts	Kevin Dodd	DE	Clemson
19	Buffalo Bills	Robert Nkemdiche	DE	Ole Miss
20	New York Jets	Connor Cook	QB	Michigan State
21	Washington Redskins	Will Fuller	WR	Notre Dame
22	Houston Texans	Andrew Billings	DT	Baylor
23	Minnesota Vikings	Jack Conklin	OL	Michigan State
24	Cincinnati Bengals	Keanu Neal	S	Florida
25	Pittsburgh Steelers	Emmanuel Ogbah	DL	Oklahoma State
26	Seattle Seahawks	Corey Coleman	WR	Baylor
27	Green Bay Packers	Jarran Reed	DT	Alabama
28	Kansas City Chiefs	Taylor Decker	OT	Ohio State
29	Arizona Cardinals	Leonard Floyd	OLB	Georgia
30	Carolina Panthers	Mackensie Alexander	DB	Clemson
31	Denver Broncos	Paxton Lynch	QB	Memphis

Jared Goff or Carson Wentz?

The Browns could've addressed their quarterback situation easily had they kept the No. 2 pick. Browns head coach Hue Jackson thinks the quarterback class goes deeper than Wentz and Goff.

"Everybody keeps talking about two of the best quarterbacks in the draft, no one knows that, right?" Jackson said, per Mary Kay Cabot ^[2] of Cleveland.com. "We'll see how it all unfolds here in two or three years and see if we were right or wrong. But I feel very good about where we are and what we're doing."

No doubt, the Browns came away with a huge haul in their deal with the Eagles, but the thought of them competing in the 2016-17 season was contingent on their quarterback play. The NFL world will have to wait and see what comes about it.

Nevertheless, consensus opinion among the CBS Sports ^[3] mock draft committee is Goff and Wentz will go one-two next Thursday. The question is, who goes where?

The Rams' easy choice would be Goff for a multitude of reasons. For one, Goff stays in California where he played his college football. He rings in a new era for the Rams and can step in right away and start. That case can be made for Wentz, too, but Los Angeles may think Goff is the more Hollywood pick.

Wentz seems to be more mechanically ready for the NFL, but there's the caveat of him jumping from FCS to the NFL, and that's something Chris Burke ^[7] of Sports Illustrated took into account:

For starters (and maybe this isn't totally fair), I do worry about the FCS-to-NFL jump for Wentz, especially when he is coming off a year in which he made just seven starts. He improved as a player from year to year, which is a critical factor, but the learning curve is going to be steep.

Whichever quarterback the Rams take, the Eagles shouldn't mind taking whoever's left. Much can change within five days, but right now, the Rams seem poised to take Goff, with the Eagles getting the future of their franchise in Wentz.

Cowboys "Forced" to Draft Joey Bosa?

For what it's worth, noting a team should be forced to draft a talent such as Joey Bosa should not be a bad thing.

The Ohio State defensive end is probably going in the top five. But the Dallas Cowboys, who take Bosa at No. 4 in this mock, aren't necessarily forced to take Bosa, according to David Moore ^[8] of the Dallas Morning News.

Young pass-rushers DeMarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory are both facing four-game suspensions for violating the league's substance-abuse policy, so the Cowboys will be down two critical pass-rushers for the first quarter of the season. But the Cowboys have options at their disposal, as Moore noted:

This isn't designed to argue why the Cowboys should or shouldn't take the Ohio State defensive end. It's simply meant to point out that the club has options.

One is Jason Jones. The veteran defensive end visited the Cowboys earlier in free agency. He visited Miami late last week and remains unsigned.

Jones started 31 games and recorded 9.5 sacks for Detroit over the past two seasons. If the DeMarcus Lawrence suspension comes down as expected from the NFL before the draft, the Cowboys could sign Jones to alleviate undue influence to select Bosa if a better option exists.

Jeremy Mincey, who started 30 games for the Cowboys over the past two seasons, is also available.

Here's another option. The Cowboys have the flexibility to swing Tyrone Crawford outside for a few games and select a defensive tackle in the second or third round to compensate for the loss of Lawrence and Randy Gregory if the club feels the need is that pressing.

The Cowboys also signed Cedric Thornton to bolster their defensive line, so that's something to keep an eye on.

While Dallas doesn't need to draft Bosa in the grand scheme of things, Bosa is a unique pass-rusher, and his athleticism means he is a difference-maker. That's the main difference between him and Oregon defensive end DeForest Buckner, who is a traditional pass-rusher who lines up on the outside. Bosa can line up on the interior or outside and even drop back into coverage.

The Cowboys desperately need playmakers beyond their linebackers. Bosa may not be an immediate need, and Dallas could very well take Jalen Ramsey and solidify its struggling secondary. But Dallas isn't in a position to rebuild but rather take the best player available. If Bosa is available at No. 4, that's who Dallas should go after.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this mock draft had Jamal Adams and Desmond King going in the first round. Both of those players are still in school and have not declared for the 2016 NFL draft. The mock draft has also been updated to reflect a more realistic prediction of the first round. We regret the errors.