Watch Nick Wright of FS1's First Things First release his third NFL mock Draft of the off-season with the 2024 NFL Draft less than two days away.
Wright’s mock has four consecutive quarterbacks going in the first four picks, with Wright’s biggest surprise being J.J. McCarthy going no. 3 overall to the New England Patriots.
McCarthy, once thought of as late-first round afterthought, has become the Draft’s biggest rise after a 15-0 perfect season for the National Championship-winning Wolverines. Despite throwing for under 3,000 yards in his final season in college and tossing just 22 touchdowns, McCarthy did rank 3rd nationally in QBR.
Just last week, Wright told Colin Cowherd on The Herd that he ‘didn’t understand’ why McCarthy was vaulting so high on NFL mocks:
"At no point was I watching Michigan and was like ‘OH, MAN, AND THEY’VE GOT A TOP 5 PICK AT QUARTERBACK?!’ I’m not saying he can’t be a pro, but never in my adult life watching college football has there been a quarterback that I watched more that I was more confident on what their draft evaluation, which is a Day 2 pick.”
McCarthy is being selected in the top five in almost every mock draft, but most mocks have a team like the Giants, Broncos, or Vikings trading up into the top 10 to take McCarthy behind the big 3 of Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Drake Maye, but Wright has McCarthy over Maye of North Carolina.
Wright believes the Giants will send the Cardinals their no. 6 pick and a first-round pick in 2025 for the no. 4 pick for the right to draft Maye.
Wright’s next big trade comes just a pick later, with Nick saying the Bears will jump from no. 9 to no. 5 in a deal with the Chargers to draft star Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. to pair him with Chicago’s no. 1 overall pick Williams.
In the deal the Chargers would receive Chicago’s no. 9 overall pick and a second-round pick next year in 2025. Nick has the Chargers using the ninth pick to draft Washington WR Rome Odunze.
Other notable picks include the Jets drafting Georgia tight end Brock Bowers with the 10th pick, Toledo corner Quinyon Mitchell leaping all the way up to 11, and Heisman finalists Michael Penix Jr. and Box Nix both falling out of the first round.
Check out the full segment above.
1. Chicago Bears – Caleb Williams, QB, Southern California
2. Washington Commanders – Jayden Daniels, QB, LSU
3. New England Patriots – J.J. McCarthy, QB, Michigan
4. New York Giants **[trade with Cardinals]** – Drake Maye, QB, North Carolina
5. Chicago Bears **[trade with Chargers]** – Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Ohio State
6. Arizona Cardinals **[trade with Giants]** – Malik Nabers, WR, LSU
7. Tennessee Titans – Joe Alt, LT, Notre Dame
8. Atlanta Falcons – Dallas Turner, DE, Alabama
9. Los Angeles Chargers **[trade with Bears]** – Rome Odunze, WR, Washington
10. New York Jets – Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia
11. Minnesota Vikings – Quinyon Mitchell, CB, Toledo
12. Denver Broncos – Jared Verse, DE, Florida State
13. Las Vegas Raiders – Terrion Arnold, CB, Alabama
14. New Orleans Saints – JC Latham, RT, Alabama
15. Indianapolis Colts – Cooper DeJean, CB, Iowa
16. Seattle Seahawks – Troy Fautanu, LT, Washington
17. Jacksonville Jaguars – Brian Thomas Jr., WR, LSU
18. Cincinnati Bengals -- Jer'Zhan Newton, DT, Illinois
19. Los Angeles Rams – Taliese Fuaga, RT, Oregon State
20. Pittsburgh Steelers – Olumuyiwa Fashanu, LT, Penn State
21. Miami Dolphins – Byron Murphy II, DT, Texas
22. Philadelphia Eagles – Nate Wiggins, CB, Clemson
23. Minnesota Vikings – Laiatu Latu, DE, UCLA
24. Dallas Cowboys – Graham Barton, C, Duke
25. Green Bay Packers – Amarius Mims, RT, Georgia
26. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Chop Robinson, DE, Penn State
27. Arizona Cardinals – Kool-Aid McKinstry, CB, Alabama
28. Buffalo Bills – Adonai Mitchell, WR, Texas
29. Detroit Lions – Chris Braswell, DE, Alabama
30. Baltimore Ravens – Tyler Guyton, RT, Oklahoma
31. San Francisco 49ers – Jackson Powers-Johnson, C, Oregon
32. Kansas City Chiefs – Troy Franklin, WR, Oregon
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