2015 NFL mock draft: Mel Kiper shakes things up one final time
Miami’s Ereck Flowers breaks into the top 10.
The first round of the 2015 NFL Draft begins Thursday night. In advance of the draft, ESPN’s Mel Kiper has released his final mock draft of the year.
Kiper expects no immediate surprises at the top of the draft. Florida State’s Jameis Winston and Oregon’s Marcus Mariota come off the board at No. 1 and 2, respectively. Rather, Kiper sees the first big surprise of the draft occurring at No. 7 with the selection of Iowa offensive lineman Brandon Scherff to the Chicago Bears. While Chicago could certainly use a boost in the trenches, many expect the team to focus on landing a top receiver or impact defensive player for Vic Fangio’s 3-4 defense.
Another bigger surprise arrives at No. 9 where the New York Giants select Miami’s Ereck Flowers. While Flowers is a towering 6’6, 329-pound offensive tackle, he has not been discussed as a possible top 10 pick for the majority of the draft process. At the same time, the Giants need to improve the protection around Eli Manning and Scherff is already off the board.
When the San Francisco 49ers let longtime starting running back Frank Gore depart in free agency, it appeared that 2014 second-round pick Carlos Hyde would fill the void. However, Kiper projects the 49ers selecting Georgia tailback Todd Gurley with the 15th overall selection. This wouldn’t be the first time general manager Trent Baalke took a talented-but-injured ball carrier when his team didn’t necessarily need one. In 2013, he selected South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore in the fourth round. Lattimore’s injuries forced him to retire before playing a down for the 49ers, but Gurley’s injury (torn ACL) isn’t believed to be as severe.
Damarious Randall hasn’t been discussed as a top 32 talent too often, but like Mike Mayock, Kiper sees the Arizona State safety sneaking into the first round. He has Randall landed at No. 22 to the Pittsburgh Steelers, a team that could use some reinforcements in the secondary after the retirements of Troy Polamalu and Ike Taylor.
A notable omission from Kiper’s mock is defensive end Shane Ray. Missouri State Highway Patrol cited Ray Monday for possession of marijuana, as well as failure to drive in the right lane of a highway with two or more lanes. It’s unclear whether the violation or concerns about his playing ability contributed more to Kiper dropping him out of his first round.
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