
Pretty much every mock NFL Draft is an April Fools’ joke, since no mock winds up going according to plan. But here’s another first-round one for all 32 teams with trades!
Welcome to NFL Draft month, everyone. And to celebrate April Fools’ Day, Niner Noise is dishing out yet another full 32-pick mock draft to lay out some perspective on what will happen in Round 1.
This mock will be a bit different than what we’ve published recently, as it will include some trades within the rounds. Why? Well, trades have become just as big a part of the NFL Draft discussion as big boards themselves. Case in point, out of the last 11 quarterbacks taken in Round 1 of the draft, 10 were acquired via a trade. The only exception was Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield, who was selected No. 1 overall by the Cleveland Browns a year ago.
No need to make a trade up there, obviously.
This year’s quarterbacking class will have a significant impact on trade-ups and projections, as there are more QB-needy teams than quality first-round signal-callers. The top-drafting Arizona Cardinals are one of those teams, and there’s enough speculation out there to suggest they’ll want to grab Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray at No. 1 overall, too.
Whether or not that happens will have a direct effect on what the San Francisco 49ers do with the No. 2 overall pick.
And what happens with Murray could easily create a run on quarterbacks, which always seem to be the position teams trip over, in terms of draft-day trades.
So while there will be no true April Fools’ Day jokes here — all these projections are real with true intent — let’s celebrate the occasion by dishing out what will be Niner Noise’s final full Round 1 mock before the 2019 NFL Draft itself.
The Cardinals are officially on the clock.