The dust has settled on the 2014 NFL regular season. For 20 of the 32 franchises, the offseason begins today with some head coaches and front office personnel getting the pink slip. For others, it is about reflecting on the journey and looking forward to charging once more at the challenge in a few months when the NFL Combine and free agency begin.
Of course, one of the main courses of the NFL offseason menu is the draft, which this year will take place in Chicago. The 2015 NFL Draft will run from April 30-May 2, and the order of the first 20 picks are set in stone. They are as follows:
1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2. Tennessee Titans
3. Jacksonville Jaguars
4. Oakland Raiders
5. Washington Redskins
6. New York Jets
7. Chicago Bears
8. Atlanta Falcons
9. New York Giants
10. St. Louis Rams
11. Minnesota Vikings
12. Cleveland Browns
13. New Orleans Saints
14. Miami Dolphins
15. San Francisco 49ers
16. Houston Texans
17. San Diego Chargers
18. Kansas City Chiefs
19. Cleveland Browns (via Buffalo Bills)
20. Philadelphia Eagles
It’s expected that Tampa Bay and Tennessee are going to be in the market for quarterbacks, after suffering through miserable 2-14 seasons. There is good news for both franchises, with Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston expected to be available come April (Winston still needs to officially declare himself eligible).
Looking at the rest of the top 10, we see some usual suspects. Jacksonville has been making a living at the top end of the draft. Incredibly, the Jaguars have drafted in the first 10 picks seven years in a row, with 2015 set to be the eighth. Why have they been there so often? Here are the picks in order, starting from 2008: Derrick Harvey, Eugene Monroe, Tyson Alualu, Blaine Gabbert, Justin Blackmon and Luke Joeckel.
Blackmon has talent but is constantly a headcase, failing to suit up once this season for a litany of off-field issues, including multiple drug arrests, per ESPN. Monroe is the only solid player of that group, and he’s on the Baltimore Ravens. Jacksonville has been horrifically bad for almost a solid decade, and has nothing to show for it.
Of course, what would the draft be without the Raiders picking early? In every year that Oakland has held its own first round selection since 2004, it has been in the top 10. Oakland traded down once and twice did not own the pick, but it has been in the first 10 slots. The Raiders have taken some infamously bad players, including Robert Gallery, and JaMarcus Russell.
With four months until the draft, plenty will change. Some bad teams will load up in free agency (beginning March 10) while a few good organizations will purge because of cap problems and need to nail their early picks.
It’s the NFL, where the offseason is a whirl of frenzied activity.
