2019 NFL Mock Draft

Last update: Thursday, Jan. 17, 2019. Major changes.
Next update: Occasionally. Follow me @walterfootball for updates.

The order of this 2019 NFL Mock Draft is based on the real 2019 NFL Draft Order.

NFL Draft Recent Links:

2025 NFL Mock Draft (UPDATED 11/20): Round 1 /Picks 17-32 /Round 2
Other 2025 Mock Drafts: Charlie Campbell (11/15)
2026 NFL Mock Draft (UPDATED 7/24): Round 1 /Picks 17-32
Other 2026 Mock Drafts: Charlie Campbell (10/26)
(More links to previous NFL mock drafts at the bottom of this page)

archived mock section

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Arizona Cardinals: Nick Bosa, DE, Ohio State
The Cardinals have just one viable edge rusher in Chandler Jones. Given that they’re in a division with Russell Wilson, Jared Goff and Jimmy Garoppolo, Jones isn’t nearly enough on his own. Fortunately for the Cardinals, they can remedy this problem by selecting the current favorite to go No. 1 overall, Nick Bosa.

Bosa has a tremendous skill set, and he was off to a great start in 2018 before injuring his knee. He’s the likely first-overall pick unless a team moves up for Dwayne Haskins.

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San Francisco 49ers: Quinnen Williams, DT, Alabama
It would be ideal for the 49ers to trade down with a team that needs a quarterback. Quinnen Williams is the best player available, but the 49ers aren’t filling a need with him. That said, he’s the likely pick if there’s no deal, as San Francisco can’t pass up on someone as talented as him.

Williams had a breakout performance this season, and sources Charlie Campbell spoke to early in the season believed Williams would be a high first-round pick. Williams is now a likely top-three selection.
New York Jets: Josh Allen, DE/LB, Kentucky
Some Jet fan e-mailers were furious that their team didn’t add an edge rusher in the previous draft. My response was that this was more than just a short rebuilding process, and I’m sure general manager Mike Maccagnan was well aware that the 2019 NFL Draft will be loaded with dynamic edge rushers.

Josh Allen counts as a dynamic edge rusher. He can basically play anywhere you want him to on defense. He’s a terrific player, as he was the primary reason why Kentucky was in contention for the SEC East title so late into the season. He’s compared to as a hybrid of Leonard Floyd and Zach Cunningham, as he can play in coverage and also rush the quarterback effectively on the edge.

Oakland Raiders: Rashan Gary, DE/DT, Michigan
The Raiders need to draft the best defensive player available, and there’s an argument that could be made for Rashan Gary. Oakland needs to address both the edge rush and the interior of the defensive line, so this pick makes a ton of sense.

Rashan Gary is an athletic freak. He wasn’t extremely productive as a freshman, but he recorded five sacks and 11 tackles for loss in 2017. His teammates believe he’ll be a top-10 pick.

Pick change; previously Ed Oliver, DT
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Jawaan Taylor, OT, Florida
If the Buccaneers did the smart thing and selected Derwin James after trading down last year, they could take Ed Oliver here as an upgrade over Vita Vea. Instead, they have to take a lesser player, although I’m sure Tampa fans won’t object to finding a sorely needed upgrade at left tackle.

Jawaan Taylor has some great feet for his size (6-5, 340) and could emerge as the first tackle off the board.

New York Giants: Dwayne Haskins, QB, Ohio State
It’s extremely unlikely that the Giants will land the top quarterback prospect in the class at No. 6 overall. Some team will trade up for him. Perhaps New York will do it, as it’s more feasible to move up now in the wake of its loss to Dallas, which Giant fans should thank Jason Garrett for. Had the Cowboys sat their starters, the Giants would have to trade more assets to move up for a signal-caller. It just goes to show how inept Garrett is.

At any rate, Giants ownership pushed for a quarterback prior to the 2018 NFL Draft, but general manager David Gettleman opted for Saquon Barkley instead. This looks to be the correct choice, but after what has transpired this year, I can’t imagine Gettleman going against ownership’s wishes again.

Dwayne Haskins has a tremendous skill set, but is not a finished product at the moment. However, with Justin Herbert going back to school, he’s far and away the top quarterback prospect in this class.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Daniel Jones, QB, Duke
The Jaguars need a franchise quarterback, as it’s obvious that they need to move on from Blake Bortles. But who knows, maybe they’ll give Bortles another extension this summer. If not, this would make sense.

I’ve had Drew Lock listed here during the previous few updates, but the Jaguars may not like him because of his poor field vision and accuracy. Plus, they already reached on a Missouri quarterback, so could they do it again?

Daniel Jones has positive arm strength and athleticism, and he could be the second quarterback off the board because of his upside. Some are comparing him to Carson Wentz.

Detroit Lions: Devin White, LB, LSU
The Lions have one of the worst linebacking corps in the NFL. They can’t cover anyone over the middle of the field. They need to add a player who can become the leader of their defensive unit at the position. If they do so, perhaps they’ll finally be able to compete with some of the top teams in their division.

Devin White was extremely productive this past season, logging 133 tackles. A projected running back, White is still learning the position, which is crazy considering how great he was in 2017. White is already generating a buzz for the 2019 NFL Draft, as Charlie Campbell reported in the NFL Hot Press.
Buffalo Bills: Ed Oliver, DT, Houston
The Bills are desperate for offensive play-makers and blockers, but I can’t imagine them passing up on Ed Oliver if he’s available. With Kyle Williams retiring, Buffalo needs a dominant presence in the interior of the defensive line, and Oliver can provide that.

Oliver was a highly productive defensive lineman for Houston, recording a ridiculous 22.5 TFLs as a freshman. He was a monster this season before getting hurt and currently projects to be a top-10 talent in the 2019 NFL Draft.

Pick change; previously Christian Wilkins, DT

Denver Broncos: Jeffery Simmons, DE/DT, Mississippi State
The Broncos could address their defensive front seven again if they get this sort of value, especially after surrendering 300 rushing yards to the Jets. Derek Wolfe’s health is always a concern, while Adam Gotsis has off-the-field worries.

Jeffrey Simmons is an extremely disruptive interior force, but was found guilty of simple assault charges. He could be a top-five pick if teams are fine with his off-the-field issues, as he has an amazing blend of power and athleticism.

Pick change; previously Jeffery Simmons, DT
Cincinnati Bengals: Cody Ford, OT/G, Oklahoma
The Bengals are always on the lookout for rare athletes, and this could qualify. Cody Ford is a massive, 335-pound right tackle who has great athleticism for his massive frame. The Bengals must continue to rebuild their offensive line, and Ford would be a tremendous addition to the unit.
Green Bay Packers: Clelin Ferrell, DE/OLB, Clemson
Clay Matthews could be gone this offseason, but the Packers will be targeting an edge rusher early in the 2019 NFL Draft regardless, as they struggled to get to the quarterback from the outside in 2018.

Clelin Ferrell has elite athleticism, and he could’ve been a top-15, or even a top-10 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft had he declared (perhaps No. 6 overall to the Colts.) Charlie Campbell has reported in the NFL Hot Press that teams aren’t as high on Ferrell this year, but he should still be taken in the 12-20 range.
Miami Dolphins: Kyler Murray, QB/WR, Oklahoma
NFL teams all soured on Russell Wilson leading up to the 2012 NFL Draft despite the fact that Wilson had more experience and was more accomplished than Kyler Murray over a longer span. While Wilson didn’t win the Heisman, he probably would have if he played in the Big XII. Instead, Wilson thrived in two conferences where teams actually play some sort of defense. Despite this, Wilson fell to the third round. Now, just because Wilson has been an exception rather than the rule, Murray is somehow expected to be chosen in the opening round even though he’s two inches shorter and 20 pounds lighter than Wilson!

None of this makes any sense, especially when factoring in Murray’s lack of starting experience, his extremely easy schedule this past season against all of the woeful Big XII defenses, his struggles against Alabama prior to garbage time, and the fact that teams may not be convinced that he’s going to dedicate himself to football with baseball being a possibility. All of these things are strikes against Murray, which was relayed to me by an NFC personnel man I spoke to on Friday afternoon. I asked him about Murray, and while he expressed concern about his size, it was his dedication to football that was the major concern.

“Murray should probably go on Day 2, but will probably go in the first round because he’s a hot name,” the personnel man said. “We assumed he was going into baseball because of Scott Boras, so no one wrote up any reports on him.”

Adam Schefter reported that general managers told him that Murray will be a first-round pick. This obviously came from general managers who didn’t want Murray; otherwise, they wouldn’t have said anything. Quite often, NFL teams don’t know what others are going to do. I spoke to an assistant general manager days before the 2017 NFL Draft and asked him what he thought the 49ers would do at No. 2 overall. He said he thought they would take Patrick Mahomes. Last year, Charlie Campbell spoke to a general manager who thought the Giants would go with Sam Darnold with the second pick. Both of these people we spoke to are great talent evaluators, but they simply didn’t know what other teams would do. Thus, the general managers Schefter spoke to were just guessing, like the NFC personnel man I spoke to. The possibility of Murray declaring has shocked the league, to say the least.

That said, the general managers Schefter spoke to were doing something else as well. They were building hype for Murray. We’ve already established that those general managers don’t want Murray, so they’re trying to raise his value so that some team in front of them takes Murray, causing a better player to fall to them. I coined the phrase, “bad teams make dumb picks” a long time ago, and this is a case where the good teams are trying to bait a bad team to make yet another dumb pick.

I then thought about it. Who could take Murray in the first round? Well, there’s no dumber owner of a bad team in the NFL than Stephen Ross. I’m sure he’s smart in real life, but when it comes to managing his football team, Ross has made countless blunders. Ross also loves hype. He constantly invites celebrities no one cares about to games to try to draw a crowd. This would be another instance of Ross trying to draw attention to the Dolphins. He may demand for his next regime to draft Murray because he thinks a 5-foot-9, 190-pound quarterback, who thrived in a conference where zero defense is played, won’t get half of his passes batted at the line of scrimmage somehow.
Atlanta Falcons: Christian Wilkins, DT, Clemson
The Falcons were expected to address their defensive line during the draft, but the spend too much energy doing it. They’ll need to make amends for that next spring.

Christian Wilkins has superior speed and athleticism as an interior disruptor. He was unstoppable in the national championship.

Pick change; previously Christian Wilkins, DT
Washington Redskins: Drew Lock, QB, Missouri
The Redskins weren’t in a position to select a quarterback in a previous update, but in the wake of the Kyler Murray news, the Redskins might be in a position to obtain a potential franchise signal-caller.

Drew Lock has a great arm and can make any throw, but he really needs to work on his field vision and accuracy. He should probably be taken in the second round, but we’ve seen teams reach for quarterbacks over the years.

Carolina Panthers: DeAndre Baker, CB, Georgia
If you’ve paid attention to the Panthers at all, you know that they’re sorely lacking in talent at cornerback. They can pair their one SEC cornerback with another in an effort to make a big improvement in that area.

DeAndre Baker had a terrific 2017 campaign, showing great athleticism. He’s been great this season as well, especially against LSU.

Go to 2019 NFL Mock Draft: Picks 17-32

Sorry for cutting this into two halves; I’ve received complaints about load times and putting the mock draft on two pages saves bandwidth.