NFL mock draft 2024: Complete first round projections for next year’s class

With the 2023 NFL Draft now in the books, we can now begin the long march towards the 2024 NFL Draft coming live from Detroit, MI, next April. Because mock draft season never ends baby!

The current No. 1 overall pick odds from DraftKings Sportsbook suggests that USC quarterback Caleb Williams will be the top selection next year and that’s right on the mark. The 2022 Heisman Trophy winner will be one of the more anticipated QB prospects in recent memory and general managers of QB needy teams are already looking forward to his arrival.

Next year’s quarterback class is projected to be significantly stronger than its 2023 predecessor and we could see a handful of gunslingers taken early. North Carolina’s Drake Maye is expected to be taken after Williams in the top 10, while the likes of Washington’s Michael Penix Jr., Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, and Texas’ Quinn Ewers could all hear their names called in the first round.

Beyond the QB ranks, Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. will be a highly coveted game-changing prospect and could be the second player taken off the board. Edge rushers like Alabama’s Dallas Turner and Florida State’s Jared Verse could be the first defensive platers selected, while freakishly talented Georgia tight end Brock Bowers could go in the top 10.

Below, we’ve compiled our first 2024 NFL Mock Draft based on the reverse order of current DraftKings Sportsbook Super Bowl odds. We’ve accounted for teams who have acquired other team’s picks through prior trades. And for this exercise, we engineered a few first-round picks that are indicated by an asterisk. Take a look:

1. Atlanta Falcons (from AZ)* — Caleb Williams, QB, USC
2. Arizona Cardinals (from HOU) — Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Ohio State
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (from IND)* — Drake Maye, QB, North Carolina
4. Tennessee Titans — Dallas Turner, Edge, Alabama
5. Chicago Bears (from CAR) — Michael Hall Jr, DT, Ohio State
6. Arizona Cardinals (from ATL)* — Jared Verse, Edge, Florida State
7. Indianapolis Colts (from TB)* — Kool Aid McKinstry, CB, Alabama
8. Washington Commanders — Olumuyiwa Fashanu, OT, Penn State
9. New England Patriots — Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia
10. Los Angeles Rams — Emeka Egbuka, WR, Ohio State
11. Green Bay Packers — Joe Alt, OT, Notre Dame
12. Chicago Bears — Xavier Worthy, WR, Texas
13. Pittsburgh Steelers — Jeremiah Trotter, LB, Clemson
14. Minnesota Vikings — Michael Penix Jr., QB, Washington
15. Las Vegas Raiders — Denzel Burke, CB, Ohio State
16. Seattle Seahawks — Connor Colby, OL, Iowa
17. New York Giants — Leonard Taylor, DT, Miami
18. New Orleans Saints — JT Tuimoloau, DE, Ohio State
19. Houston (from CLE) — Zakhari Franklin, WR, UTSA (Transferring in 2023)
20. Jacksonville Jaguars — Javon Bullard, S, Georgia
21. Denver Broncos — Kingsley Suamataia, OT, BYU
22. Baltimore Ravens — Maason Smith, DL, LSU
23. Detroit Lions — Andrew Mukuba, S, Clemson
24. Los Angeles Chargers — Deshawn Pace, LB, Cincinnati
25. Miami Dolphins — Ja’Tavion Sanders, TE, Texas
26. Dallas Cowboys — Raheim Sanders, RB, Arkansas
27. New York Jets — Sedrick Van Pran, C, Georgia
28. Cincinnati Bengals — TreVeyon Henderson, RB, Ohio State
29. Buffalo Bills — Johnny Wilson, WR, Florida State
30. Philadelphia Eagles — Malachi Moore, DB, Alabama
31. San Francisco 49ers — Troy Franklin, WR, Oregon
32. Kansas City Chiefs — Zion Nelson, OT, Miami

First, we’ll explain what’s going on at the top of this mock. The Arizona Cardinals acquired the Houston Texans’ first-round pick in 2024 and if things were to go according to the DK Super Bowl odds, they would own both the No. 1 and No. 2 overall picks next year. That scenario could potentially create a dilemma where they elect to eat a bunch of dead cap and jettison Kyler Murray to take Williams No. 1. For this exercise however, the Cards stick with Murray and trades the pick the a willing bidder.

That bidder is none other than the Atlanta Falcons, who would jump up from No. 6 to No. 1 to take Williams. The Falcons have spent the past few drafts acquiring skill position weapons like Kyle Pitts, Drake London, and Bijan Robinson. A franchise QB like Williams would be the final piece and that would set the team up as a strong NFC South contender for years to come.

After the Cardinals use the No. 2 pick to nab Harrison, we have the Indianapolis Colts trading out of the No. 3 pick. They already got their QB of the future in Anthony Richardson and can leverage this spot for more draft capital. Trading with them at No. 3 are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who get their QB of the future in Maye. The Bucs chose to focus on the trenches in the 2023 NFL Draft and opted to not select a QB. Similar to their NFC South rivals in Atlanta, 2024 is the year where they decide to lock down their primary gunslinger.

Obviously, we are a full year out from the 2024 draft and a million things will change between now and then. But hopefully this mock put provided a brief introduction of some of the top names your favorite teams could be drafting in 12 months.