The draft is upon us and now the Courier is providing one of it’s two mock drafts of the talent evaluation season. The final one will be next Thursday the morning of the draft.

1 Cleveland Browns– Sam Darnold QB, Southern Cal

Another year, another number one pick for the Browns. Hue Jackson needs to show some improvement soon or he’ll be out of a job. Darnold gives them the best chance to win and present a promising future.

2 New York Giants– Saquon Barkley RB, Penn St.

The Giants believe they have the roster to compete in the NFC East and Barkley is the home threat out of the backfield that they haven’t had since Tiki Barber. This is huge in prolonging the career of Manning.

3 New York Jets– Baker Mayfield QB, Oklahoma

Mayfield has the arm and the moniker of being a New York quarterback. His arm talent and efficiency will be necessary to challenging the Patriots in the AFC East. Todd Bowles had some solid play from his team last year. Now it’s time for them to go get their guy.

4 Cleveland Browns– Bradley Chubb DE, North Carolina State

The Browns build on getting their franchise guy by snatching the best pass rusher in the draft in Chubb. Pairing him with Garrett should keep the likes of Roethlisberger and Flacco up at night.

5 Denver Broncos– Josh Rosen QB, UCLA

John Elway knows that he can’t go much longer without a true plan for a franchise quarterback and while Case Keenum is a nice player, he’s a band aid long term. Enter Josh Rosen, who similar to Elway was noted for having an attitude coming out. The Broncos get my number one quarterback and best pure thrower of the football to come out since Andrew Luck.

6 Indianapolis Colts– Quenton Nelson OG, Notre Dame

The health of Andrew Luck is the most important thing for this franchise moving forward and Chris Ballard understands that. This pick is really a no-brainer if Nelson is on the board for this pick. The best offensive line prospect in almost 20 years.

7 Buffalo Bills (Trade /w Bucs)- Josh Allen QB, Wyoming

The cold weather of Buffalo demands a big, strong armed QB and Allen fits the profile perfectly for the Bills. In time he can develop for coach Sean McDermott but bust potential is huge in Allen. Approach with caution. He’ll provide them with their first franchise quarterback since Jim Kelly.

8 Chicago Bears– Mike McGlinchey OT, Notre Dame

The second Notre Dame offensive lineman to come off the board in Mike McGlinchey. He’ll be reunited with his college offensive line coach, Harry Hiestand. Ryan Pace has emphasized the importance of the development of Trubisky. He got his head coach in Nagy. It’s time to buy the insurance plan.

9 San Francisco 49ers– Denzel Ward CB, Ohio State

The 49ers are now in a division where Russell Wilson and Jared Goff reside. Getting help on the back end of the 24th ranked defense last year will be a big help in trying to recapture the division.

10 Oakland Raiders– Roquan Smith LB, Georgia

Denzel Ward would be the ideal pick here being that Oakland was horrible on the back end a year ago but Gruden shouldn’t be deterred from upgrading his defense. Smith gives this Oakland defensive staff the best sideline to sideline linebacker in the draft.

11 Miami Dolphins– Lamar Jackson QB, Louisville

Ryan Tannehill isn’t the answer in South Beach and after the failed Jay Cutler experiment last year Adam Gase is looking for answers. Lamar Jackson won’t be ready Day 1 but he can eventually inject some excitement into a franchise where it has been sorely lacking.

12 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Trade /w BUF)- Minkah Fitzpatrick S, Alabama

The best football player in the draft makes his way to Tampa and gives them some much needed help on defense.

13 Washington Redskins– Marcus Davenport DE, UTSA

Davenport is unbelievably raw for a top 15 pick however so was Ezekiel Ansah years ago and its paid off well. If Davenport hits, he’ll be a great to pair with Ryan Kerrigan.

14 Green Bay Packers– Harold Landry Edge, Boston College

When the Packers won the Super Bowl back in 2010 they were with the Pittsburgh Steelers as the top teams in sacking the quarterback. Landry could bolster this pass rush tremendously and give Rodgers the help to get back to the Super Bowl.

15 Arizona Cardinals– Derwin James S, Florida State

Honey Badger left a huge hole at safety for the Cardinals. Derwin James is the most athletic safety in the draft, drawing comparisons to Kam Chancellor. He could help the Cardinals get back to an elite level defensively.

16 Baltimore Ravens– Dallas Goedert, TE South Dakota State

Joe Flacco needs a target to go over the middle. Goedert can provide him the athleticism and catch radius to really start becoming a potent offense.

17 Los Angeles Chargers– Vita Vea DT, Washington

Pairing Vea with the likes of Joey Bosa, Melvin Ingram and Corey Liuget should have the offensive line coaches of the AFC terrified.

18 Seattle Seahawks– Will Hernandez OG, UTEP

Russell Wilson and the Seahawks were at their absolute best when they could dictate the tempo of the game with their run game. A road grader like Hernandez could get them back to that style of play.

19 Dallas Cowboys– Calvin Ridley WR, Alabama

It’ll be important to get Dak some targets on the outside now with the departure of Dez. Ridley can give them a crisp route runner with excellent speed.

20 Detroit Lions– Derrius Guice RB, LSU

Matt Stafford has had to carry the Lions for most of his career. Guice will help take off some of the workload for him and establish some physicality for new head coach Matt Patricia.

21 Cincinnati Bengals (Trade /w BUF)- Frank Ragnow C, Arkansas

The Bengals need help up front. Ragnow provides an athletic interior lineman for Cincy.

22 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Trade /w BUF)- Connor Williams OT, Texas

Protecting Jameis Winston has been an issue for the Bucs getting a former projected Top-10 pick in Williams will give them a piece to the protection.

23 New England Patriots– Mason Rudolph QB, Oklahoma State

Robert Kraft forced the hand of Belichick last fall when he traded Jimmy Garoppolo to the 49ers for a second round pick. Now he gets another quarterback to add fuel to the fire in New England.

24 Carolina Panthers– Christian Kirk WR, Texas A&M

Kirk, a little bit of a reach at 24, can provide Cam the speedster he hasn’t had since Steve Smith was catching passes in Carolina.

25 Tennessee Titans– Trumaine Edwards LB, Virginia Tech

This defense could use an athlete like Edwards, who can provide so much in terms of interior pass rush and run defense.

26 Atlanta Falcons– Taven Bryan DT, Florida

Dan Quinn goes back to his roots as a defensive coordinator at Florida and plucks Bryan for his defense. Bryan will provide help early and should become a force as his game becomes more refined.

27 New Orleans Saints– Isaiah Oliver CB, Colorado

You can never have too many corners when you’re in a division that has Mike Evans and Julio Jones. Oliver is the prototype for the modern desire for long corners.

28 Pittsburgh Steelers– Mike Hughes CB, Central Florida

Joe Haden is a nice player but adding a player like Hughes could really elevate the Steelers defensive backfield.

29 Jacksonville Jaguars– Leighton Vander Esch LB, Boise State

The retirement of Paul Posluszny hurts but adding the athleticism of Vander Esch in the middle of that defense will do wonders.

30 Minnesota Vikings– Courtland Sutton WR, SMU

This roster doesn’t have many holes and that’s a testament to Rick Spielman. Getting a Cousins another target to throw to is a good idea given that they have to play Aaron Rodgers twice a year.

31 New England– Kolton Miller OT, UCLA

The Patriots fill the hole left by Nate Solder by plugging in Miller. Tom Brady gets the protection he needs to try and get to another Super Bowl.

32 Philadelphia Eagles– Sony Michel RB, Georgia

Similar to the Vikings, the roster is simply stacked and getting Carson Wentz another weapon like Michel just doesn’t seem fair.