Josh Edwards has rebuilt his 2027 mock draft after Week 7, and the top of it looks nothing like his last one. Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith goes first to the winless Los Angeles Chargers, Notre Dame cornerback Leonard Moore second to the Tennessee Titans, and Oklahoma State quarterback Drew Mestemaker third to the Miami Dolphins. Nine days earlier, in the version we covered on October 20, Mestemaker went first and Missouri’s Austin Simmons second.
The biggest story is the New York Jets. With their own pick plus the Colts’ and Cowboys’ first-rounders from the Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams trades, they pick at 7, 10 and 12, and Edwards uses the first of those on Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr, who was not in his previous mock at all.
Two new assumptions
Edwards changed how he built the board. His October 19 mock set the order by reversing sportsbook Super Bowl odds; the new one, posted Wednesday, October 28, uses current records with strength of schedule as the tiebreaker, the same method as our running draft order. He also swapped which quarterbacks he expects to stay in school. Last time it was Texas’ Arch Manning and Carr. This time it is Manning and Simmons, which removes the player he had going second overall and opens a spot for Carr.
Even without Manning and Simmons, five quarterbacks go in the first round: Mestemaker at 3, Carr at 7, Miami’s Darian Mensah at 8, Oregon’s Dante Moore at 26 and Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss at 32.
Edwards’ first round, October 28
| Pick | Team | Player | Pos. | School | His Oct. 19 pick |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles Chargers | Jeremiah Smith | WR | Ohio State | 3 |
| 2 | Tennessee Titans | Leonard Moore | CB | Notre Dame | 6 |
| 3 | Miami Dolphins | Drew Mestemaker | QB | Oklahoma State | 1 |
| 4 | Washington Commanders | Colin Simmons | EDGE | Texas | 5 |
| 5 | Houston Texans | Dylan Stewart | EDGE | South Carolina | 9 |
| 6 | Philadelphia Eagles | Charlie Becker | WR | Indiana | 8 |
| 7 | New York Jets (from Colts) | CJ Carr | QB | Notre Dame | Not in mock |
| 8 | Arizona Cardinals | Darian Mensah | QB | Miami (FL) | 4 |
| 9 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Trey’Dez Green | TE | LSU | 12 |
| 10 | New York Jets | Ashton Hampton | CB | Clemson | 10 |
| 11 | New Orleans Saints | Chris Cole | LB | Georgia | 19 |
| 12 | New York Jets (from Cowboys) | Will Echoles | DL | Ole Miss | 7 |
| 13 | Las Vegas Raiders | Cam Coleman | WR | Texas | 15 |
| 14 | Cleveland Browns (from Rams) | Yhonzae Pierre | EDGE | Alabama | 13 |
| 15 | Atlanta Falcons | Jordan Seaton | OT | LSU | 14 |
| 16 | Baltimore Ravens | Trevor Goosby | OT | Texas | 20 |
| 17 | Seattle Seahawks | Ellis Robinson IV | CB | Georgia | 11 |
| 18 | New England Patriots | Jadan Baugh | RB | Florida | 21 |
| 19 | Carolina Panthers | Greg Johnson | IOL | Minnesota | 16 |
| 20 | Dallas Cowboys (from Packers) | Xavier Gilliam | DL | Tennessee | 25 |
| 21 | New York Giants | David Stone | DL | Oklahoma | 17 |
| 22 | Jacksonville Jaguars | Kingston Lopa | S | California | 27 |
| 23 | Cincinnati Bengals | Lance Heard | OT | Kentucky | 29 |
| 24 | Pittsburgh Steelers | Kelley Jones | CB | Mississippi State | 26 |
| 25 | Detroit Lions | Boubacar Traore | EDGE | Notre Dame | 23 |
| 26 | Cleveland Browns | Dante Moore | QB | Oregon | 30 |
| 27 | Denver Broncos | Jamari Johnson | TE | Oregon | 24 |
| 28 | Chicago Bears | A’Mauri Washington | DL | Oregon | Not in Round 1 |
| 29 | Buffalo Bills | Brauntae Johnson | S | Notre Dame | 31 |
| 30 | San Francisco 49ers | Ryan Coleman-Williams | WR | Alabama | 32 |
| 31 | Kansas City Chiefs | Nick Marsh | WR | Indiana | 28 |
| 32 | Minnesota Vikings | Trinidad Chambliss | QB | Ole Miss | 22 |
The last column shows where the same player went in Edwards’ October 19 mock. Simmons (2nd) and Texas tackle Melvin Siani (18th) dropped out of the first round; Carr and Oregon defensive tackle A’Mauri Washington are new.
Leonard Moore at No. 2
Edwards calls Moore the cleanest prospect in the class after Smith, with no questions about his size, athletic ability or production, and says Texas edge Colin Simmons and South Carolina edge Dylan Stewart were also considered for Tennessee. Moore went sixth in the previous mock. He has five pass breakups this season after five interceptions as a sophomore, and Notre Dame announced this week that he is a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the nation’s top defensive back.
Smith stays the best prospect in Edwards’ view. He writes that a team needing a quarterback could look elsewhere, but if the Chargers stick with Justin Herbert they can simply take the best player available, and the bigger question for Los Angeles is who will be Smith’s head coach.
Mestemaker third, and a reset in Miami
Mestemaker is still the first quarterback off the board. Edwards says he has performed like the best quarterback prospect so far, adds that Malik Willis’ contract would not stop the Dolphins from starting over at the position, and describes Miami’s roster as arguably the most talent-deficient in the league. Mestemaker threw for 386 yards and four touchdowns in Oklahoma State’s 57-24 win over Colorado last Saturday.
The Jets’ three picks
At No. 7, Edwards gives the Jets Carr as their quarterback of the future, noting that the roster has added talent but the coaching staff has underperformed and that the right head-coaching hire could produce a big jump next year. At No. 10 they take Clemson cornerback Ashton Hampton, a long, physical corner for a team that finished last season without an interception and has one this year. At No. 12, with Dallas’ pick, they add Ole Miss defensive tackle Will Echoles, so the haul effectively replaces Gardner and Williams. Edwards says that trio “would certainly make next season interesting.”
Mensah eighth, a tight end ninth
Mensah slides from fourth to eighth, now to the Arizona Cardinals. Edwards admits he was relatively low on him coming into the season, but says Mensah has good size and is operating efficiently from the pocket: stepping up against pressure, throwing with touch and hitting all three levels of the field. He expects Miami to play high-leverage games later this season, which will matter in Mensah’s evaluation. Mensah completed 31 of 37 passes for 387 yards and four touchdowns against Pitt on Saturday.
The surprise of the top 10 is LSU tight end Trey’Dez Green at No. 9 to Tampa Bay. Green has missed nearly all of the season with a lower-body injury, but Edwards points to his 6-foot-7 frame and athleticism, saying “traits reign supreme in the NFL Draft” and that Green would give Baker Mayfield the kind of big target he had in Mike Evans.
Other moves
Houston takes Stewart at No. 5 even though, Edwards says, the Texans have bigger needs than pass rusher; he expects they would listen to trade-down offers and pictures Stewart as the heir to Danielle Hunter. Indiana receiver Charlie Becker goes sixth to Philadelphia to pair with DeVonta Smith.
Georgia linebacker Chris Cole jumps from 19th to 11th, to New Orleans, and Tennessee defensive tackle Xavier Gilliam, whom Edwards calls one of the biggest risers of the cycle, goes 20th to Dallas with Green Bay’s pick.
Cleveland picks twice, taking Alabama edge Yhonzae Pierre at 14 with the Rams’ pick and Dante Moore at 26. Edwards says Moore faces a fascinating decision with one season of eligibility left: returning to an Oregon team that has fallen short is less obvious than it was in January, but transferring into another poor situation could hurt his stock further, so he may be better off taking his chances in the NFL.
Chambliss goes last in the round to Minnesota, the league’s last unbeaten team, with Edwards writing that the Vikings are winning despite their quarterback play and that the defense has carried them.
For the three teams without a first-round pick, Edwards projects Arizona State receiver Reed Harris to the Colts at No. 42, Notre Dame guard Anthonie Knapp to the Packers at 49 and Texas A&M receiver Mario Craver to the Rams at 62.
How it compares
Smith at No. 1 to the Chargers matches all eight full mocks in our latest consensus count, and Mestemaker as QB1 matches seven of them. Leonard Moore at No. 2 is higher than most, and Carr in the top 10 runs against Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz’s new quarterback rankings, which have Carr fourth among passers and Mensah fifth.
No published comments yet. Start the conversation.