JACKSONVILLE – We're well into the "what-if?" stage of the pre-draft season.
That appears true when you look at many recent mock drafts from respected NFL Draft analysts, with Top 10s – and even Top 2s and 3s – changing seemingly by the week.
So, consider this jaguars.com 2015 mock draft v4.0 something of a "what-if" version, too.
What if Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston and Southern California defensive end Leonard Williams do not go No. 1 and No. 2 overall? It is a question that has not been considered in the first three jaguars.com 2015 mock drafts. In each of those mocks, Winston has gone No. 1 overall to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Williams has gone No. 2 to the Tennessee Titans.
While Winston to the Buccaneers still seems very close to a foregone conclusion, there has been enough speculation about the Titans at No. 2 that it merits at least one "what-if" mock.
What if the Tennessee Titans select not Williams but Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota No. 2? Or what if the Titans trade the selection?
We stay away from trades in jaguars.com mocks because to insert un-finalized trades into a mock draft is to create confusion and speculation on a scale beyond the normal confusion/speculation created in the world of mock drafts.
Besides, it just feels like cheating somehow.
But we can offer up the scenario of the Titans selecting Mariota, and when we do, it raises some intriguing choices for the Jaguars at No. 3.
Do they choose Florida defensive end Dante Fowler, Jr., the consensus and near-unanimous choice for the Jaguars at No. 3 by many analysts since the NFL Scouting Combine in late February?
Or is Williams a special enough prospect that the Jaguars take him at No. 3 even though he's not technically the "edge rusher" so often listed as a Jaguars draft need?
Could Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper be a possibility?
The projection here and now – on March 30, a little more than four weeks from the draft – is that Williams would be very, very hard to pass in that scenario. Many consider him the best available player in the draft regardless of position, and while he's not a pure edge rusher he is a player who can penetrate and pressure the quarterback from a variety of positions.
So, in this "what-if?" version of the jaguars.com mock draft the projection is that if the Buccaneers select Winston and the Titans select Mariota the Jaguars will select Williams …
Unless, of course, they trade. If they do that …
Nah, that just feels like cheating.
Here's v4.0 of the jaguars.com 2015 mock draft:
Selection. Team| Player, Position, School
1.Tampa Bay | Jameis Winston, QB, Florida State
2.Tennessee | Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon
3.Jacksonville | Leonard Williams, DE/DT, Southern California
4.Oakland | Kevin White, WR, West Virginia
5.Washington | Dante Fowler, Jr., DE/OLB, Florida
6.New York Jets | Vic Beasley, LB, Clemson
7.Chicago | Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama
8.Atlanta | Shane Ray, DE/LB, Missouri
9.New York Giants | Danny Shelton, DT, Washington
10.St. Louis | Brandon Scherff, OT, Iowa
11.Minnesota | Devante Parker, WR, Louisville
12.Cleveland| La'el Collins, OT, Louisiana State
13.New Orleans | Randy Gregory, DE/LB, Nebraska
14.Miami | Trae Waynes, CB, Michigan State
15.San Francisco | Arik Armstead, DT, Oregon
16.Houston | Landon Collins, S, Alabama
17.San Diego | Todd Gurley, RB, Georgia
18.Kansas City| Dorial Green-Beckham, WR, Oklahoma
19.Cleveland | Breshad Perriman, WR, Central Florida
20.Philadelphia | Jalen Collins, CB, Louisiana State
21.Cincinnati | Andrus Peat, OT, Stanford
22.Pittsburgh | Bud Dupree, OLB, Kentucky
23.Detroit | D.J. Humphries, OT, Florida
24.Arizona | Melvin Gordon, RB, Wisconsin
25.Carolina | Ereck Flowers, OT, Miami
26.Baltimore | Jaelen Strong, WR, Arizona State
27.Dallas | Malcom Brown, DT, Texas
28.Denver | T.J. Clemmings, OT, Pittsburgh
29.Indianapolis | Cameron Erving, C, Florida State
30.Green Bay | Marcus Peters, CB, Washington
31.New Orleans | Maxx Williams, TE, Minnesota
32.New England | Eli Harold, OLB, Virginia
