New Year Mock Draft: Seven QBs, several shocking trades, and a defensive drought
By Hunter Haas
Happy New Year! As we turn the calendar over from 2023 to 2024, what better way to open the year than with a fresh first-round mock draft?
The college football season is all but over, with the National Championship contest between Washington and Michigan slated for Jan. 8. Additionally, the NFL enters its final week of the regular season, so the draft order, at least for non-playoff teams, will soon be finalized.
In today’s article, it is an all-out war at quarterback. Multiple teams move up the board to secure a signal-caller, while others choose to stock up assets for next year’s draft. A whopping SEVEN appear in the first round of NFLMocks’ latest mock draft.
You Get A QB, You Get A QB, Everyone Gets A QB In Updated Mock Draft
Going further, wide receiver continues dominating the early portion of the event. Marvin Harrison Jr., Rome Odunze, and Malik Nabers headline the pool of players, but another handful of pass catchers are featured in this mock draft.
The offensive line is another strong suit, with upwards of a dozen players in contention for a Round 1 selection. Olu Fashanu, Joe Alt, and J.C. Latham will likely go early, paving the way for the second tier of blockers to come off the board before the first round ends.
On defense, the unit falls short of the stacked offensive group. However, that doesn’t mean it’s lacking any top-end talent. Jer’Zhan Newton, Dallas Turner, and Kool-Aid McKinstry all lead their respective positional groups and should be instant starters at the next level.
We will use the current draft order at Tankathon for this mock draft exercise. Without further ado, let’s kick things off with an earth-shattering trade for the No. 1 overall pick.