2015 NN community mock draft: The Texans, Chargers, Chiefs select ....

The 2015 NN community mock draft rolls along following yesterday's 49ers pick. We move on to picks 16, 17 and 18, with Todd Gurley coming off the board. Gurley is an interesting draft prospect. He is coming off a torn ACL in the middle of last season, which means he probably will start training camp on the NFI list for some team. I do think Gurley is a talented running back, but is he worth a first round pick with the wait? For the right situation he is. Some here have suggested him to the 49ers, but I know I'm not the only person excited to see what Carlos Hyde can do.

Here are the first 15 picks:

1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon
2. Tennessee Titans - Leonard Williams, DT, USC
3. Jacksonville Jaguars - Dante Fowler, Jr., OLB/DE, Florida
4. Oakland Raiders - Kevin White, WR, West Virginia
5. Washington - Vic Beasley, OLB, Clemson
6. New York Jets - Jameis Winston, QB, Florida State
7. Chicago Bears - Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama
8. Atlanta Falcons - Shane Ray, DE/OLB, Missouri
9. New York Giants - Randy Gregory, DE/OLB, Nebraska
10. St. Louis Rams - Brandon Scherff, OT, Iowa
11. Minnesota Vikings - Landon Collins, S, Alabama
12. Cleveland Browns - Danny Shelton, DT, Washington
13. New Orleans Saints - Alvin Dupree, OLB, Kentucky
14. Miami Dolphins - DeVante Parker, WR, Louisville
15. San Francisco 49ers - La'el Collins, OG, LSU

With the 16th pick of the NN community mock draft, Elpato and the Houston Texans select...Arik Armstead, DT, Oregon

Alternates: OT Andrus Peat,  OT TJ Clemmings, OT D.J. Humphries

Through extensive draft research, scouting, and computer number crunching, I did my due diligence for the Texans and scouted the best possible player for them. This included Mel Kiper Articles, Pie Charts, discussions with Bill Walsh from the grave, and yes, The Psychic Friends Network. The team hurt for an offensive tackle. They needed an offensive tackle if Brian Hoyer was ever going to survive this season. Everything pointed to one man: Andrus Peat.

But I didn't like him. So I went with Arik Armstead. The idea of having a pass rusher like Oregon's Armstead playing alongside J.J. Watt and Jadaeveon Clowney is just too juicy to pass up. Add him in and you have potential for maybe the best D-line in football. Getting a guy ranked in the top 10 on some boards at 16 seems like good value as well.

As for Peat? He would work really well in the Texans offense and been great for B-Hoyer. He's pro-ready out of all the OTs and could immediately help out Hoyer on the line. Beyond Peat though, Clemmings and Humphries seem like people with enormous ceilings and potential, but could maybe struggle in their first year. Armstead is ready to go and makes that defense outright scary to go up against. I think there are still some very good OTs later in the draft that can make some great impact on day one and it won't be as huge as a drop-off as one might expect.

With the 17th pick of the NN community mock draft, cgun and the San Diego Chargers select...Todd Gurley, RB, Georgia

Alternates:  DT M Brown, RB M Gordon, Trea Waynes (CB)

Todd Gurley is the best player in the draft at a position we targeted for draft in 1-3. Graded Gurley as a better compliment to Oliver, Woodhead and Brown than Gordon, with more size, speed, athletic ability, and hands. He has an opportunity to be special in this offense.

M Brown was the highest overall rated player on the board, very low risk selection, and very difficult to pass on. It was almost a push due to depth at RB and another player we targeted in Rd 2. In the end, the ceiling with Gurley was too high to pass on. Trae Waynes is a high risk pick, tremendous impact possibilities, but wasn't in serious consideration with the other two picks.

The trade that didn't happen: Demarco Murray-less Dallas Cowboys. We would be happy to swing right into their draft pocket, so give me a call Jerry.

With the 18th pick of the NN community mock draft, Zach_The_Gamecock and the Kansas City Chiefs select...Trae Waynes, CB, Michigan State

Alternates: Cameron Erving, C, Florida State; Andrus Peat, OT, Stanford; T.J. Clemmons, OL, Pittsburgh

John Dorsey has shown that he is going to take the best player available. All that leaves to be said is this: who is the best player in this scenario?

You could argue that the Chief's need on the offensive line is greater than their need in the secondary. But why spend a pick on Erving or Peat when they could grab quality depth at the position in the later rounds.

I think most of us would agree that this is a very "meh" cornerback class. It's going to be hard to find any quality depth in the later rounds if the Chiefs don't address this 'need' early. Alex Carter of Stanford and Kevin Johnson of Wake Forest are decent prospects, but I don't believe either is worth the risk this early in the draft.

The pass rushing is there for Kansas City defensively. Building a killer secondary to accompany them would be brutal. Waynes' pressing ability, on-ball aggressiveness, speed, and length is the perfect recipe for a corner in Andy Reid's defense.