The 2024 NFL draft is quickly approaching and mock drafts are in overdrive. We have been bringing a lot of draft coverage and have our opinions pretty well-worn at this point. That’s why for this mock draft, we decided to do something different.
Here, we took a step back and let Pro Football Network’s mock draft simulator take a stab at the full first round. It made a lot of trades and some interesting decisions. Four quarterbacks go in the top ten and there is a shakeup at wide receiver for the New Orleans Saints.
Here are the results:
1
Chicago Bears: Caleb Williams, QB, USC
PFN scouting report: Williams’ combination of creation ability and hyper-elite arm talent is his most marketable trait, and contrary to a prevalent belief, Williams doesn’t force passes or invite risk by nature.
As a passer, he’s actually fairly measured, with good discretion and risk propensity. He directs the RPO game well and takes calculated risks.
However, some of Williams’ negative tendencies — some of which contribute to him holding the ball too long — can naturally bring about situations where risk is elevated. Williams is a natural at navigating those situations, but even he isn’t averse to arm arrogance and ill-advised throws.
2
Washington Commanders: Jayden Daniels, QB, LSU
PFN Scouting Report: In a campaign that won him the Heisman Trophy, Daniels completed 236 of 327 attempts (72.2%) for 3,812 yards, 40 touchdowns, and just four interceptions. Meanwhile, on the ground, he rushed for 1,134 yards and 10 additional scores.
With little anticipation, Daniels ended up producing one of the most explosive dual-sided QB seasons in college football history. And not only did he forge a legacy for himself, but he also solidified his stock as a true first-round 2024 NFL Draft prospect.
3
New England Patriots: Drake Maye, QB, UNC
Succeeding current Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell in North Carolina’s offense, Drake Maye was a superior second act — and it’s something many expected.
The Tar Heels’ passer was a five-star recruit out of high school who jumped at the opportunity to play in Phil Longo’s high-production offense.
4
Arizona Cardinals: Malik Nabers, WR, LSU
PFN Scouting Report: In 2023, alongside Thomas, Nabers caught 89 passes for 1,569 yards and 14 touchdowns, placing as a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award. He broke LSU’s all-time career receiving yardage record, and his single-season figure placed third in program history behind Chase and Josh Reed.
Producing is half the battle, but producing at a verified WR factory like LSU is a different feat on its own. Nabers did that, and now, he’s one of the most exhilarating prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft.
5
Los Angeles Chargers: Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Ohio State
Harrison is the top overall prospect on my 2024 NFL Draft board. His grade rests on the cusp of the generational tier for his position group. Ja’Marr Chase was a superior run-after-catch threat as a prospect, but in my time evaluating the NFL Draft, Harrison is the most complete player on record at his position.
At 6’4″, 205 pounds, Harrison has all of the necessary physical tools and in excess quantities. His frame is long and streamlined. He’s incredibly explosive and agile, with more than enough speed to threaten vertically.
6
Minnesota Vikings (trade): J.J. McCarthy, QB, Michigan
Trade
Minnesota Vikings Receive: Round 1, Pick 6
New York Giants Receive: Round 1, Picks 11 and 23; 2025 3rd
PFN Scouting Report: A tremendous physical foundation is what buoys McCarthy’s profile in the first-round range. Though he sports a leaner build, he’s a high-level athlete and a high-level creator with an extremely loose and elastic arm.
His combined evasive ability, flexibility, and off-platform torque expand the possibilities with him on the field, and as a thrower, he has the ease of velocity and angle freedom to make all the throws.
7
Tennessee Titans: Olu Fashanu, OT, Penn State
PFN Scouting Report: He’s fleet-footed and malleable when matching rushers, and he has the combined independent hand usage, energy efficiency, and anchor strength to control rushers from start to finish on pass-protecting reps.
There are occasional lapses in balance on Fashanu’s tape, where he veers too high with his pads or is a bit late to recalibrate his base against power rushes. But overall, Fashanu has all-encompassing talent and technical refinement to be an impact starter at left tackle on Day 1 in the NFL. And at his ceiling, he can be an All-Pro player.
8
Atlanta Falcons: Rome Odunze, WR, Washington
PFN Scouting Report: As a route runner, Odunze flashes exceptional spatial awareness, hinge fluidity, freedom of motion, manipulation ability, and throttle control. And as a catcher, he’s an elite instinctive force with an awe-inspiring blend of patience, ball-tracking ability, and coordination.
Ultimately, any knocks on Odunze amount to minor nitpicking. He might not be as heavy as listed, and he’s not infallible working against contact. Additionally, there are some aspects of route running and release work where he can still keep building.
9
Chicago Bears: Terrion Arnold, CB, Alabama
PFN Scouting Report: As one might expect from a former five-star recruit, Arnold is a special mover. In short ranges, he has an incredibly uncommon mix of foot speed, hyperactive twitch, and fluidity. And as a vertical mover, he’s an instant accelerator with the long speed to recover ground.
Expanding on the physical foundation, Arnold has the traits to be a lockdown cover man and a devastating support presence.
10
New York Jets: Joe Alt, OT, Notre Dame
PFN Scouting Report: The physical traits are where it starts with Alt. At 6’8″, 315 pounds, he has a towering frame with impressive length, and his tape shows off uncanny athleticism and recovery capacity at that size.
Alt is an extremely explosive and free-flowing athlete with unnatural foot speed and agility. He couples that with absurd flexibility and bend.
11
New York Giants (trade): Brian Thomas Jr., WR, LSU
PFN Scouting Report: At 6’4″, 205 pounds, Thomas has all of the necessary physical tools in elite quantities. He’s an overbearing size threat with a massive catch radius, but he also carries his weight with effortless ease and has an exciting mix of explosiveness, speed, agility, and fluidity.
Thomas is still relatively raw as a WR, but his production in 2023 was extremely promising, and there are reassuring traits on tape. He’s a catch-point savant whose combined reach, body control, sense of timing, and proactivity can overwhelm defenders in the red zone and on the boundary, and his upside as a route runner is clear as day.
12
Denver Broncos: Taliese Fuaga, OT, Oregon State
PFN Scouting Report: Fuaga has a strong foundation with his balance, leverage acquisition, and ability to stay square. He’s disciplined with his footwork, and there are bright flashes of independent hand usage, combative synergy, and precision on his tape.
On tape, there aren’t too many glaring questions with Fuaga. His length, while exceptional, isn’t quite elite, and neither is his hip flexibility. But the biggest question will be whether or not he can switch to left tackle at the NFL level.
13
Las Vegas Raiders: Amarius Mims, OT, Georgia
PFN Scouting Report: The biggest question for Mims might be his durability and dependability early on in his career. He has just eight career starts to his name. In 2023, he missed several weeks due to an ankle injury requiring tightrope surgery and was rarely 100% on the field.
That said, if teams clear Mims medically, there’s little stopping him from going early in the 2024 NFL Draft. He’s an elite physical talent who’s still just 21 years old, checks boxes off the field, has left-right versatility, and already has traits like leverage acquisition and processing on his side.
14
New Orleans Saints: Dallas Turner, DE, Alabama
PFN Scouting Report: Turner came into the 2023 spring period in the 240-pound range, but he played the 2023 campaign at a listed 252 pounds, and his play strength looked visibly improved. Not only that, but Turner retained his freakish explosiveness, speed, and bend. And in little moments, we got to see what his ceiling could look like.
Even with hand-usage improvements, Turner can still strive for more consistency, both with his pass-rushing plan and overall hand precision. But Turner has one of the most complete physical pallets of any EDGE over the past five years, and it yields astronomical upside.
15
Detroit Lions (trade): Jared Verse, DE, FSU
Trade
Detroit Lions Receive: Round 1, Pick 15
Indianapolis Colts Receive: Round 1, Pick 29; Round 2, Pick 29; 2025 2nd
PFN Scouting Report: Verse’s production at Florida State was no accident. The requisite physical profile is there, but he’s also a rangy playmaker in pursuit and a capable hand-fighter, with the motor to sustain an impact across all three downs.
Not only has Verse shown that he can employ his traits in tandem to generate awesome amounts of power, but he can also work off of power exertions, multitask while prying around blocks, and manipulate blockers one-on-one with his hyperactive twitch, control, and patience.
16
Seattle Seahawks: Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia
PFN Scouting Report: Some prospects make evaluations easy, and Bowers is one who does that. From the very start of his collegiate career, he proved himself to be a cut above the average player. His constant production emphasizes that, and his tape only confirms his rare ability.
Bowers is around average size for a traditional tight end, but that’s one of the only knocks on his profile. Within his mold, he’s a true size/speed freak with the long-strider range to chew up space vertically and destroy tackling angles in space.
17
Jacksonville Jaguars: Quinyon Mitchell, CB, Toledo
PFN Scouting Report: The majority of Mitchell’s appeal as a prospect comes from his physical profile and playmaking ability. At 6’0″, 195 pounds, Mitchell has good play strength and proportional length — traits that are amplified by his elite explosiveness, closing speed, and twitch.
Mitchell has the physical foundation of a high-level playmaker, and he has the instincts of one, too. Particularly in off-man and zone, he’s adept at recognizing routes and breaking early on passes, and at the catch point, he’s coordinated, authoritative, and exhaustive with his length.
18
Cincinnati Bengals: Troy Fautanu, OT, Washington
PFN Scouting Report: Where Fautanu falls short isn’t with glaring flaws, but rather, with non-elite traits — and even then, he’s passable in all areas. He might not be quite as explosive, as powerful, or as strong as some of the elite physical prospects at the top of the OT class, and he’s also an older prospect — set to turn 24 next October.
Having said all this, it’s truly difficult to nitpick Fautanu’s profile. As one might expect from an older prospect, he has an incredibly high floor and also has the athleticism and flexibility to buoy an impact starter ceiling in the NFL. At either tackle or guard, Fautanu can be a difference-making presence early and often.
19
Los Angeles Rams: JC Latham, OT, Alabama
PFN Scouting Report: As crazy as it may seem, Latham could still be the third-best OT in the 2024 class, even with his blue-chip grade. Notre Dame’s Joe Alt and Penn State’s Olu Fashanu are just as good — but Latham provides a unique kind of upside with his elite explosiveness, power, and road-grading ability in the run game.
There isn’t a tackle in the stacked 2024 class who can generate the kind of push and displacement that Latham can, both with his power drive and his rotational torque. Not only is Latham extremely explosive and forceful, but he’s also incredibly well-leveraged. For a 6’6″ blocker, he’s extremely natural at reaching the proper pad level and loading his base.
20
Arizona Cardinals (trade): Byron Murphy II, DL, Texas
Trade
Arizona Cardinals Receive: Round 1, Pick 20
Pittsburgh Steelers Receive: Round 1, Pick 27; Round 3, Pick 71
PFN Scouting Report: Murphy has elite explosiveness, twitch, and energy as a rusher despite being 6’1″ and 308 pounds. He can win pass-rushing reps with his athleticism, heavy hands, and motor, but he also has incredible strength for being primarily a 3-tech.
In run defense, Murphy repeatedly prevents displacement against solo blocks and pullers with his sturdy base, leverage, and anchor. He also has the strength to absorb double-teams and combo blocks, and he can pry through extensions to make tackles in pursuit.
21
Miami Dolphins: Johnny Newton, DL, Illinois
PFN Scouting Report: At around 6’2″, 304 pounds, with middling length, Newton won’t fit the size threshold for certain roles. He can shade over 0-tech and 1-tech when he has more space to work from NASCAR packages, but overall, he’s best at 3-tech and outside.
Naturally, Newton’s lack of mass can be a problem against double-teams, and he can be displaced by combo blocks.
Still, Newton is a surgical disruptor in both run defense and pass defense, whose hyper-elite flexibility serves as a defining and dominating trait. With his combined burst, flexibility, hand strength, and angle awareness, he’s an unnaturally permeable force against run blocks.
22
Philadelphia Eagles: Nate Wiggins, CB, Clemson
PFN Scouting Report: Wiggins is a young and promising CB who has all of the tools to be a productive and multidisciplined cover man at the next level. At around 6’2″, 182 pounds, he’s a lean athlete with an enthralling mix of quickness, elite closing speed, fluidity, and ball skills.
Beyond that physical combination, Wiggins also has some of the best coverage instincts, eyes, reaction speed, and route recognition in the class. He can blanket WRs in off-man and click-and-close without giving up room. And on reps from space, he can transition from his pedal in zone and hawk in front of ill-fated passes.
23
New York Giants (trade): Kool-Aid McKinstry, CB, Alabama
PFN Scouting Report: McKinstry is the lower-ceiling counterpart to Arnold in Alabama’s secondary, but that’s more a nod to Arnold than it is a knock to McKinstry. McKinstry is still a very good athlete with exceptional explosiveness and fluidity, and his short-area twitch and foot speed serve as central components of his game.
In press-man and off-man, McKinstry has the urgent motion to effortlessly match receivers, and he channels that motion through keen spatial efficiency and awareness. He has a natural feel for matching technique and uses his technical discipline and precise, venomous targeted physicality to funnel WRs into corners.
24
Dallas Cowboys: Cooper DeJean,S, Iowa
PFN Scouting Report: At around 6’1″, 209 pounds, DeJean is an explosive, gliding athlete with stellar space management skills, zone awareness, route IQ, and reaction quickness. Beyond those intrinsic traits, he also has the rapid closing speed to trigger and wash in front of ill-fated throws.
With his mass, DeJean doesn’t quite have elite fluidity. He has exceptional corrective athleticism, but there are times when he struggles to sink on sharper transitions. He has good discipline and foot speed in press, and he’s physical — but his inconsistency with redirections may prove more difficult to counteract against comparable NFL athletes.
25
Green Bay Packers: Graham Barton, OL, Duke
PFN Scouting Report: Barton’s five-position versatility is one of the top differentiators on his profile. He has experience at both tackle and center, and his combination of athleticism, power, flexibility, footwork feel, anchor strength, football IQ, and physicality allows him to seamlessly transition between roles.
Of course, the question on everyone’s mind is, where does Barton translate best? His arm length is average at best, and that’s often been a factor when tackles move to guard in the NFL.
26
Pittsburgh Steelers (trade): Jackson Powers-Johnson, OC, Oregon
Trade
Pittsburgh Steelers Receive: Round 1, Pick 26
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Receive: Round 1, Pick 27; Round 3, Pick 98
PFN Scouting Report: Powers-Johnson doesn’t have elite length, but he’s still able to channel massive amounts of power and torque on his extensions, punches, and drive blocks.
The Oregon Duck has athleticism, strength, and power in high quantities. Powers-Johnson melds it all together with great natural leverage, angle awareness, anticipatory positioning, and nail-eating physicality through reps.
27
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (trade): Chop Robinson, Penn State
PFN Scouting Report: Robinson’s elite explosive athleticism and play speed can send tackles careening off the snap, and his high-end ankle flexion only makes his speed more potent. Robinson’s burst and bend are overwhelming qualities, and he can capitalize on those traits with active hands.
There’s still room for Robinson to further fill out his pass-rush arsenal and be more consistent with his power, but he’s ultimately a maniacal hot-motor attacker with the bedrock athletic traits to be an instant disruptor, and he can do so from all alignments. The flashes of combo work and combative hand usage invite excitement for his projection.
28
Buffalo Bills: Adonai Mitchell, WR, Texas
PFN Scouting Report: It’s ultimately up to what each team needs and how they intend to use their WR targets to decipher whether or not Mitchell is a fit. There’s also the question of inconsistent effort and how teams feel about his ability to maximize his output on a down-to-down basis.
Mitchell isn’t as variable as most receiver prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft, nor is he as much of a threat after the catch. But he has an elite athletic profile, and as an X-receiver, does two things at a very high level. Mitchell separates, and he catches the football.
29
Indianapolis Colts (trade): Keon Coleman, WR, FSU
PFN Scouting Report: Coleman’s most marketable phase of play is his catching ability. He can naturally box out and out-reach defenders at the catch point and expand beyond his pure size with extraordinary catch-point instincts, contortion ability, hand-eye coordination, and an extremely proactive alpha mentality.
Being an elite contested and red-zone threat, in and of itself, is a plus. But Coleman has exciting utility as a separator and RAC weapon, too.
30
Kansas City Chiefs (trade): Tyler Guyton, OT, Oklahoma
Trade
Kansas City Chiefs Receive: Round 1, Pick 30
Baltimore Ravens Receive: Round 1, Pick 32; Round 3, Pick 95
PFN Scouting Report: While Guyton is raw in some areas, his pass sets are surprisingly clean for his experience level. He has great knee bend, elbow load, and balance when matching rushers vertically, and his elite athleticism allows him to recover ground and erase rushing lanes wherever they appear.
Additionally, with his length, Guyton has near-elite raw power capacity, which he can use to slab defenders in the run game and shock them in pass protection with fast, heavy punches. There’s already some independent hand usage on tape, and while his timing and precision can improve, he’s visibly trending up.
31
San Francisco 49ers: Kingsley Suamataia, OT, BYU
PFN Scouting Report: Suamataia grades out as a top-50 prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft, who could earn late Round 1 consideration from NFL teams. At just 21 years old, Suamataia already has left-right versatility, two years of experience, and an elite physical foundation to build on.
At 6’6″ and 325 pounds, Suamataia looms over the competition, and his combination of elite explosiveness, mass, and high-end length grants him quantifiably elite power capacity. He can use that power to drive open lanes in the run game and shock rushers with violent punches in pass protection.
Relative to most other offensive tackle prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft, Suamataia’s game has more variance than his counterparts.
The high-end plays are awe-inspiring, but at the same time, he still has work to do with his leverage and pad-level maintenance, awareness, and overall operational consistency.
32
Baltimore Ravens (trade): Laiatu Latu, DE, UCLA
PFN Scouting Report: Latu is perhaps the most exciting pass rusher to watch in the 2024 NFL Draft EDGE class. Not only is he explosive, twitched-up, and insanely flexible for his size, but he also has deadly hand-fighting chops. He has a barrage of moves at his disposal, and he stacks combos and counters with elite quickness and reaction speed.
Latu is unique in that he doesn’t have one go-to move he sticks to. Latu has the ability to vary his attack in real time based on the leverage he encounters, and he can adapt just as quickly with his free-flowing athleticism and ruthless hand precision.