It's never too early to put out a mock draft, right? (The other side of that argument, of course, is that it's always too early because, invariably, they're wrong -- but that's not the point. Giving you a reason to waste time at work is the point. So you're welcome in advance.)
Maybe a better way to look at this is not as a mock draft -- "Here's who your team will take 51 weeks from now having no idea how the current roster and subsequent season unfolds" -- but as a guide to the college players you should keep an eye on during the 2023 season and for the 2024 NFL Draft. And while the '23 class of QBs was an improvement over the '22 version, Caleb Williams and Drake Maye could ramp up the expectations for fans of teams who'll be in the franchise QB market next January.
Again, to reiterate: This is less "mock draft" than "handy list of names to look out for in the fall." That said, we have to mention this: The current draft order is using SportsLine's Super Bowl odds but in reverse order. We know folks are going to be very angry about why we have their team picking so high, but it's not our fault! These are your team's odds of winning a Lombardi Trophy, as determined by the robots in our analytics department.
And, honestly, we should all be thanking them because the Texans and Cardinals currently have the longest odds of winning the Super Bowl ... but there's a twist for our purposes here: Houston traded their first of two first-round picks to Arizona as part of the deal that allowed them to move up and take edge rusher Will Anderson. And that means the Cardinals have the first two picks in this mock draft.
Does Arizona take Caleb Williams with Kyler Murray still under contract? Maybe they target otherworldly wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. instead and trade the other pick. Before the big reveal, one more thing:
We may officially be in the offseason but there is no such thing on With the First Pick, the NFL Draft podcast we host alongside longtime Vikings general manager Rick Spielman. You can watch us live twice weekly on the NFL on CBS YouTube channel. And you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
