NFL Draft: Three Bold Predictions‏

The Sports Banter

1. None of the top 10 picks will be traded from this point forward (Rams already own the Redskins pick). For all the talk about teams moving up or down and about loving certain players, I think it's all a smokescreen. The price of moving up at the top of the draft is just too high for any team to sacrifice the picks that are now expected.

2. Jeremy Hill will be the first running back selected. I said earlier in the week that I think Carlos Hyde and Hill were the two best running backs in this class, but I think the consensus right now has Hill as the fourth or fifth back. I think a team will fall in love with his size/speed combo and grab him in the middle of round 2.

3. Aaron Donald will be a top 5 pick. Since I already predicted no trades would happen in the top 10, I'm looking at you, Oakland. The Raiders always do crazy things in the draft. Always. It wouldn't be a first round if they took a player everyone expected them to take. Donald seems like their type of player.


Rick

1. The Buffalo Bills trade up to select Sammy Watkins. Watkins has been connected to pretty much every team in the draft since the college football season ended. The Bills need weapons and they're one of many teams in love with Watkins. I have inside information Watkins was at a draft party hanging out with Andre Reed all night. Just connecting dots.

2. There will be at least 5 trades in the top 16. The rookie pay scale has drastically changed Draft Day. Teams are no longer scared to take chances on guys earlier in the draft, swings and misses are no longer decade long mistakes for organizations. If teams want a guy, they'll go get him. I expect a flurry of trades tomorrow night. But not for a certain position.

3. No quarterbacks will be taken in the top 10. None of these QB's are rated highly on anyone's boards, that's a fact. If you went best player available you wouldn't see a QB off the board until the 20's. No team wants to burn a 1st round pick on a QB they could get on day 2. The difference between the media's top 3 and the next 4-5 QB's isn't that drastic. QB needy teams aren't going to panic this year, not a great QB class.


Coop

1. No quarterbacks go in the top 10 picks. There are no home run picks at quarterback, and there is a slim chance that the teams at the top of the draft choose the best player available rather than draft for need. 

2. The 49ers trade up to take Mike Evans. There are a number of reasons for this: 1) They have 11 draft picks this year, 2) They need another playmaker at WR, and 3) They are feeling the heat from the Seahawks winning the Super Bowl. Rumor has it that they have an interest in Odell Beckham Jr., but they would be making quite a statement trading up for Evans who is a potential matchup nightmare for opposing defenses.

3. A personal favorite, 3 Notre Dame players go in the first round. This may not be as big a reach as I think, but Louis Nix III, Stephon Tuitt, and Zack Martin all hear their names called on Day 1. Would be a tremendous showing for the Irish on draft day.