Mel Kiper’s 2nd NFL mock draft has no DeShone Kizer in the 1st round

ESPN’s Mel Kiper released his second mock draft on Wednesday, and he is projecting most of the teams at the top of the draft — even the ones that need quarterbacks — to focus on defense. This may be part of the reason that DeShone Kizer was left out of the first round entirely.

An exception is the San Francisco 49ers. Kiper projects that the Niners will select Mitch Trubisky out of North Carolina with the second overall pick. Trubisky is a good fit with new head coach Kyle Shanahan’s scheme, so the pick makes sense.

Our Dan Kadar at Mocking the Draft agrees with Kiper, and in his latest mock he has Trubisky headed to San Francisco. Still, the Niners have a lot of glaring needs, and Kiper notes that San Francisco could trade back in the first round to get more picks.

The Browns have an obvious need at quarterback, but Kiper predicts that Cleveland will select defensive end Myles Garrett with the first overall pick. Kiper notes the Browns could use the top pick on a quarterback or trade it away to acquire a veteran signal caller, but says Garrett is the most sensible pick here.

“But Garrett is, right now, clearly the No. 1 player in this draft class and would be an immediate help at a position where having an elite player on a rookie contract is like stealing,” Kiper says.

Garrett is the overwhelming favorite to go to the Browns with the top pick in almost 99 percent of mock drafts right now.

The Bears are also in the market for a new quarterback, but that’s not the direction Kiper expects Chicago to go with the third pick in the 2017 draft. He thinks the Bears will go with Jonathan Allen, the versatile defensive lineman out of Alabama, instead.

There are only two other offensive players in Kiper’s top 10 in this mock draft. Kiper projects LSU running back Leonard Fournette to go to another quarterback-needy team, the New York Jets, at No. 6.

Kiper has Deshaun Watson out of Clemson going to the Buffalo Bills with the 10th pick in the 2017 draft. Obviously, there are a few variables at play in Buffalo, with Tyrod Taylor’s future with the team uncertain at this point. There are also questions surrounding how NFL ready Watson is, and it’s possible he won’t be an out-of-the-gate starter.

Interestingly enough, Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer isn’t a factor in Kiper’s mock. NFL.com’s Mike Mayock released his pre-combine rankings by position this week, and Kizer sits atop his quarterback rankings. Mayock has Watson ranked second, and Trubisky comes in third.

A lot will happen between now and the draft, and as rosters take shape during free agency, Kiper’s mock draft will likely change. For now, though, he expects defense to be the priority for most of the teams picking near the top of the draft.