USC

Williams has been the obvious pick at #1 since well before Chicago held this spot. He’ll step in day one with a chance to become the franchise’s all-time best signal caller. He’ll need to clean up some of his decision-making, but his improvisational nature and rare poise and awareness will fit in well with Chicago’s revamped offense.

LSU

This feels less certain than it did a week ago, but I still think Daniels ultimately ends up in Washington. Daniels likely starts from the beginning here over Marcus Mariota, and while it’ll be a struggle to translate his game to the NFL, he’ll have help from an underrated receiving duo of Terry McLaurin and Jahan Dotson. Perhaps offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury will rectify some of the mistakes he made with Kyler Murray in Arizona, too.

North Carolina

New England will take calls, but I think they stick here and take the uber-talented Maye. He’s got everything you want as far as arm talent goes, and is good at finding lanes to go when things break down, but he’ll need to reel in that arm and correct some of his decision-making–especially late in games. Ultimately, though, Maye should have a much better shot of being New England’s next franchise signal-caller than Mac Jones ever did.

Ohio State

Arizona will also likely listen to some offers here, but Harrison is too good to pass up. The Cardinals lost Marquise Brown in free agency, and as a result are left without any intimidating threat at the position–that instantly changes with the selection of Harrison here. Harrison does pretty much everything well (though he could be a bit better after the catch), and should make an impact immediately.

Michigan

TRADE!
Minnesota receives: 2024 Round 1, Pick 5; 2025 6th-round pick
L.A. Chargers receive: 2024 Round 1, Pick 11; 2024 Round 1, Pick 23; 2025 5th-round pick

Minnesota finds its' trade partner here in the Chargers, and they’ll select McCarthy, perhaps the most polarizing QB prospect of the bunch. Though there are obvious questions about his level of experience–he dropped back less than 800 times at Michigan–he still showed enough poise and arm talent to send him up draft boards throughout the spring. At his best, McCarthy has the potential to be a good if not flashy quarterback, essentially in the mold of… Kirk Cousins.

LSU

With the top 4 quarterbacks gone, New York will happily “settle” for Nabers and add a legitimate weapon to an offense that was severely lacking one. Nabers is a playmaker and led the country in yards-per-game last year. He also likely still has room to grow, as he won’t turn 21 until training camp. If 2024 is Daniel Jones’ last chance to prove his case in New York, throwing to Nabers will improve those odds a bit.

Notre Dame

This pick has felt pretty much inevitable ever since Tennessee landed their big-play receiver in Calvin Ridley last month. Alt – a former tight end – will get to play for legendary OL coach Bill Callahan, while Tennessee continues to improve a line that’s added key players in Peter Skoronski and Lloyd Cushenberry in the last 12 months.

Florida State

After three straight years of offensive skill players in the top 10, it’s time Atlanta focuses on the defense a bit, and they will here by making Verse the first defensive player off the board in this year’s class. It’s been a while since Atlanta had a star pass rusher on its defense, and Verse should change that quickly.

Washington

Chicago lands its best-case-scenario here by staying put at 9 and grabbing the last of the tier-one pass-catchers in this year’s draft. Odunze does a little bit of everything, and Caleb WIlliams will be happy to immediately step into an offense with a receiving corps of D.J. Moore, Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze, and Cole Kmet.

Georgia

“Tight ends don’t translate immediately in the league.” “Aaron Rodgers doesn’t throw to rookies.” Brock Bowers isn’t your average tight end prospect, and he won’t be your typical rookie. The Bulldogs experienced success moving Bowers around to multiple spots on the offense and utilizing his versatility in the passing game and the running game (193 rush yards and 5 TDs on jet sweeps in college.) He should make an instant impact in East Rutherford.

This connection has picked up steam in recent days, and the Chargers end up getting a phenomenal player in Latham, who conveniently is best suited to play right tackle in the NFL. Latham is durable, yet violent blocker who should play well opposite of Rashawn Slater, and should supplant Trey Pipkins as the starter very quickly.

Alabama

Denver will certainly make some calls about trading up for a QB, but once Minnesota gets it done, they’ll decide to stay put at 12 and fill an urgent need with Dallas Turner. Baron Browning and Jonathon Cooper have both shown flashes for the Broncos, but Turner gives them a bonafide No. 1 pass rusher that take the pressure of a full-time load off of those two.

Oregon State

Vegas could also explore a trade-up, but it makes more sense here to stick at No. 13 and take Fuaga, who becomes the long-term solution at right tackle. There’s no chance that Vegas is going to roll into 2024 with Thayer Munford as its’ starter there, and Fuaga is a plug-and-play solution.

Penn State

Fashanu’s stock has slipped a bit since last year at this time, but that won’t stop New Orleans from taking him here in the top half of the first round. The Saints’ tackle situation is bad–Trevor Penning has been immensely disappointing so far, and who knows if Ryan Ramczyk is ever going to play again–so Fashanu gives them some stability in that room. He needs to work on his run-blocking, but he’s still capable of stepping in day one and being a standout protector for Derek Carr.

Toledo

Mitchell ends up being the first defensive back off the board here, and for good reason–despite playing in the MAC, he showed out well enough against that level of competition to leave little question about his ability to hold up against NFL-level talent. He shined against fellow 2024 draft prospect Roman Wilson in their matchups at January’s Senior Bowl, and he has a resume as a big-play DB (including a four-interception game against Northern Illinois in 2022, where he returned two of those for touchdowns.)

LSU

TRADE!
Cincinnati receives: 2024 Round 1, Pick 16
Seattle receives: 2024 Round 1, Pick 18; 2024 Round 3, Pick 80

Cincinnati lost Tyler Boyd this offseason, and is prepared to lose Tee Higgins after this upcoming season, so it needs some long-term solutions opposite of Ja’Marr Chase. The Bengals will get that here in Brian Thomas Jr., a fellow LSU product, who has stood out over the last several weeks of the pre-draft process as the consensus No. 4 receiver in this class. Thomas is a physical, athletic receiver in the mold of George Pickens, or perhaps even the aforementioned Higgins, and stepping on to a team with a clear-cut No. 1 option in the passing game already–like he had at LSU–will allow him to get acclimated to NFL competition.