One of the benefits of sitting in the NFL newsroom is chatting about the draft with Daniel Jeremiah, the former Eagles, Browns and Ravens scout who dropped his Mock Draft 2.0 on Friday.
Jeremiah was embedded at last month's Senior Bowl to eye this year's crop of quarterback prospects up close. After what he saw, Jeremiah concluded that none of the signal-callers on hand deserved a first-round grade. Only West Virgina's Geno Smith -- a no-show for Senior Bowl week -- made the cut in Jeremiah's latest mock.
Jeremiah: Mock Draft 2.0
Who will the Chiefs take with the first overall pick? Where will Manti Te'o end up? Daniel Jeremiah projects the first round. **More ...**
Jeremiah has Kansas City nabbing Smith with the first overall pick, assuming the Chiefs re-sign offensive tackle Branden Albert. If they don't get that done, Jeremiah believes Andy Reid will select Texas A&M tackle Luke Joeckel.
Free-agent signings and roster shuffling can throw draft needs into the blender, and additional passers are likely to creep into the first round. These early mock drafts forecast where players should go. Quarterback-desperate general managers tend to make mincemeat of this process come April.
Ryan Tannehill and Brandon Weeden shot up the boards last season, and Jake Locker, Blaine Gabbert and Christian Ponder all went higher than expected in 2011.
Matt Barkley, Ryan Nassib and Tyler Wilson could ascend this spring -- we also like EJ Manuel, although he's raw. If the first round passes without a handful of these players off the board, expect a fever dream of quarterback picks in Round Two. Teams will not allow these young arms to stray far come April.
Follow Daniel Jeremiah on Twitter at @MoveTheSticks and Marc Sessler at @MarcSesslerNFL.
