Apr 26, 2016 7 min read

It’s finally here. The much-anticipated, highly controversial NFL Draft. It’s easy to figure out who the top 10 or so picks in this year’s draft are going to be. It’s a little more difficult to get them in the correct order of selection, especially if any more trades go down.

Figuring out who the Steelers are going to take all the way down at pick No. 25, that’s been even more difficult.

No matter how many times I do a mock, there are different scenarios that can be justifiably played out each time, leaving the Steelers with a different set of players from which to choose.

I truly believe the value in this draft – outside of those top 10 players – comes from players 10 to 60 or so. There are that many quality players available this year. And after those first 10 players, beauty will be in the eye of the beholder. So you could see guys that some people rank as second or even early third rounders taken much higher given a team’s need or scouting.

That’s why if I were Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert, I’d make a serious effort to trade my first-round pick to acquire an extra second or third rounder this year.

But, this mock draft assumes the Steelers stay where they’re at. And it is through about 5 p.m. on Tuesday, so any trades made after that are going serious mess things up.

Here we go:

1. L.A. Rams (from Tennessee) Jared Goff, QB, California: Super accuarate and though he lacks great size, Goff is the best QB in this draft.

2. Philadelphia Eagles (from Cleveland) Carson Wentz, QB, North Dakota State: Will the Browns rue the day they traded out of this spot to pass on Wentz, just as they are still paying for passing on Ben Roethlisberger? Possibly. But at least they don’t have to face Wentz twice a year.

3. San Diego Chargers, Jalen Ramsey, DB, Florida State: Laremy Tunsil would make sense here as well, but Ramsey could make San Diego’s secondary pretty darn tough.

4. Dallas Cowboys, Joey Bosa, DE, Ohio State: The Cowboys won’t be taking Tunsil, and Ezekiel Elliott will be in play here as well. But the Cowboys also have a big need for an edge rusher. Bosa fills that.

5. Jacksonville Jaguars, Myles Jack, LB, UCLA: Jack is such a talented athlete he was conference offensive and defensive freshman of the year a couple of years ago at UCLA. Yes, he is coming off a knee injury, but he’s a tremendous player and can play inside or outside.

6. Baltimore Ravens, Laremy Tunsil, OT, Mississippi: Tough choice between DeForest Buckner and Tunsil, but Ozzie Newsome gets lucky and gets a franchise left tackle.

7. San Francisco 49ers, DeForest Buckner, DE, Oregon: Chip Kelly recruited Buckner to Oregon. Now, he gets the big defensive lineman for the 49ers. In a run heavy division such as the NFC West, an anchor on the defensive line is much needed.

8. Cleveland Browns (from Philadelphia and Miami): Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Ohio State: Elliott both fills a need and gives Browns fans someone local to cheer on as they go 2-14 this season.

9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Ronnie Stanley, OT, Notre Dame: With the retirement of Logan Mankins, the Bucs’ offensive line is a little in disarray. Stanley will give them the option of kicking a tackle inside.

10. New York Giants, Daron Lee, LB. Ohio State: A Ryan Shazier clone. The Giants need youth and athleticism at linebacker.

11. Chicago Bears, Leonard Floyd, OLB/DE Georgia, The Bears have to face Aaron Rodgers twice a year.

12. New Orleans Saints, Sheldon Rankins, DT, Louisville: The Saints need defensive help badly, as always.

13. Miami Dolphins (from Philadelphia) Eli Apple, CB, Ohio State: A surprise here as Apple is the first corner selected. The Dolphins reportedly like Apple more than Vernon Hargreaves because of his better size. And they like him better than William Jackson because they believe he has more upside.

14. Oakland Raiders, William Jackson, CB, Houston: Another corner goes before Hargreaves. Again, this is a size issue for the 5-10 Hargreaves compared to the 6-0 Jackson.

15. Tennessee Titans, Jack Conklin, OT, Michigan State: The Titans need to protect Marcus Mariota.

16. Detroit Lions, Jarran Reed, DT, Alabama: With the Bears getting Elliott, the other three teams in the division all have top-notch ballcarriers. The Lions need to pump up the defensive front because of that.

17. Atlanta Falcons, Shaq Lawson, DE, Clemson: The Falcons desperately need to upgrade their pass rush.

18. Indianapolis Colts, Andrew Billings, DT, Baylor: The Colts could go offensive line here, but Billings might be too good to pass up to shore up the run defense.

19. Buffalo Bills, Paxton Lynch, QB, Memphis: The Bills will definitely take a QB sometime in this draft. Why not Lynch?

20. New York Jets, Vernon Hargreaves, CB, Florida: Purely a value pick here. The Jets likely would have preferred Lynch here, but settle for the value in Hargreaves. This is much lower than he has gone in any mock I’ve seen, but I see the cornerback-hungry teams above going for size.

21. Washington Redskins, Reggie Ragland, ILB, Alabama: The Redskins took care of their problem at CB. Now, they can concentrate on a run-stuffing three-down linebacker.

22. Houston Texans, Will Fuller, WR, Notre Dame: The Texans want a speed receiver opposite Andre Hopkins.

23. Minnesota Vikings, Laquon Treadwell, WR, Mississippi: A security blanket for Teddy Bridgewater.

24. Cincinnati Bengals, Corey Coleman, WR, Baylor: The Bengals have tried having big guys opposite A.J. Green. Now, they go for the litle speedster.

25. Pittsburgh Steelers, Karl Joseph, SS, West Virginia: The Steelers have done extensive research on Joseph. And this could be a Heath Miller-type pick. He’s a playmaker, big hitter and solid in coverage. If not for the torn ACL in early Oct., he might have been a top-20 pick. I think the Steelers take him over Keanu Neal or Mackensie Alexander because he’s the bigger playmaker, despite the injury. The Steelers also will consider Alexander, Neal, Vernon Butler and A’Shawn Robinson, but I get the feeling that Joseph is their guy. And no, I just don’t see Noah Spence being on their draft board. The only ecstasy the Steelers want to deal with on draft day is their own regarding their pick.

26. Seattle Seahawks, Taylor Decker, OT, Ohio State: The Seahawks have to be better at protection than they were last season.

27. Green Bay Packers, Vernon Butler, DT, Louisiana Tech: With the top inside linebackers gone, the Packers go for the big man.

28. Kansas City Chiefs, Mackensie Alexander, CB, Clemson: Can the Chiefs survive with the brash – and some say, abrasive – Alexander in the same secondary as last year’s top pick, Marcus Peters? I think they’ll be willing to try.

29. New England Patriots: Forfeited

30. Arizona Cardinals, Robert Nkemdiche, DT. Mississippi: Bruce Arians isn’t afraid to roll the dice on a player. He could be getting a top 10 talent here.

31. Carolina Panthers, Germain Ifedi, OT, Texas A&M: Ifedi has gotten some late first-round push. I can’t say I’m a huge fan, but athletic big men are hard to find. And the Panthers have to do a better job of pass protection.

32. Denver Broncos, Connor Cook, QB, Michigan State: I truly believe the Broncos, who have found the asking price for veteran quarterbacks too rich for their blood, will likely have to move up to keep a team at the top of the second round from jumping them for Cook.

Best remaining players: A’Shawn Robinson, DT, Alabama; Kevin Dodd, DE, Clemson; Keanu Neal, SS, Florida; Ryan Kelly, C, Alabama; Noah Spence, LB/DE E. Kentucky; Josh Doctson, WR, TCU; Derrick Henry, RB, Alabama; Artie Burns, CB, Miami