Who will be picking first in the 2024 NFL Draft? Four shock teams to consider
Yes, the 2023 NFL Draft isn’t yet in the books, but with a flood of mock drafts rolling through all platforms it is safe to say we have a reasonable idea which players or at least positions teams will be invested in come April 27th.
At time of writing the Carolina Panthers are on the clock first this year (they aren’t trading away this opportunity now), but who will have first dibs on next year’s draft class?
Tennessee Titans
If I’d said a couple years ago this team would be in play for the worst record in the league in 2023/24, you probably would’ve been spamming offGrid’s Twitter feed baying for blood. But last year proved to be a testing one for Derrick Henry, Ryan Tannehill and the Titans.
Trading away AJ Brown proved to be devastating for an offense that was already heavily reliant on Henry, to make matters worse the Eagles and in particular their former star gave them a whupping on the road in December leading to a relative capitulation, finishing at 7-10.
With an ageing quarterback, lots of free agents signing that need to plug in and play, as well as a new GM it is to be seen whether Mike Vrabel can recover in 2022.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
How do you replace the GOAT? This season will be storied as the year after Tom Brady and nothing more, as this team which struggled to win with TB12 tries to recover with Baker Mayfield likely at the helm… just ask Browns fans, optimism will quickly die on that front.
The only consolation for the Bucs is that the NFC South is full of teams in transition. The Panthers are likely selecting their QB of the future at No.1 in 2023, the Saints have acquired Derek Carr to improve on the play of Jameis Winston last year (yet to be sold on this one), and the Falcons are likely to start a second year, unproven QB in Desmond Ridder.
On top of that we have seen veteran free agents fleeing the Tampa Bay area in recent weeks, most notably Leornard Fournette. It could be a rough few years down there on the west coast of Florida.
Good luck to you Todd Bowles.
Cleveland Browns
An unoriginal pick I know, having been lucky enough to pick at No.1 on five occasions the Browns are the team that is always touted for greatness and possibly even an AFC North title or two but alas they come up short time and time again.
Deshaun Watson is being paid a lot of money to make things happen in Cleveland, and there is a genuine sense of optimism around the state of Ohio and amongst NFL analysts that the Browns will improve this year.
However, there is reason to question that optimism. Watson was far from his elite best when he returned, the defense was struggling to keep teams out in the red zone throughout the 2022/23 season, and they only won half of their divisional games.
We have seen it all too many times before where the hype train runs through Cleveland, let’s hope for their sake their players buy a ticket this time.
Keep strong Browns fans.
Green Bay Packers
Moving on from Aaron Rodgers, backing Jordan Love, trading away your top wide receiver in Allen Lazard. Why not the Packers?
You have to look way back to 1992 for the last time this team didn’t have an elite quarterback leading them out on a Sunday (not that they were elite from day one).
Favre, Rodgers, now Love. Matt LaFleur is backing the second year man, and we don’t have a lot of real game time to judge Jordan Love. Despite the glowing words from the back office about his prospects and even Rodgers himself giving him credit, something that has been a rarity.
The reason for my pessimism lies in the Packers ability to self-sabotage when putting talent around their star players. Rodgers was begging for help outside in the passing game last year, and sure we saw rookies like Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs improve throughout the season, but they were hardly replacements for the departing Davante Adams.
This team will need a lot of help and for young stars to step up in order to compete this year, and ultimately prevent selecting high up in the 2024 draft.
