2017 NFL Mock Draft: Palm Beach Post’s Joe Schad | Version 1.0

March 23, 2017

| Filed in: 2015 Offseason

Missouri Tigers defensive end Charles Harris could be an excellent fit for the Miami Dolphins in the 2017 NFL Draft. (Photo by David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Some of the most enjoyable moments of my career include broadcasting college football games as a sideline reporter. There was Ohio State-Michigan, Florida-Florida State, Oklahoma-Texas, USC-UCLA, Alabama-LSU. And there were many outstanding bowl games and national championship games.

I’ve been asked who the best players I’ve seen at field-level between 2005-2015 were and it’s a who’s who of college football. Tim Tebow. Johnny Manziel. Cam Newton. Adrian Peterson. Reggie Bush. Vince Young. Ndamukong Suh. Leonard Fournette. Robert Griffin III.

For the record: 1) Tebow 2) Bush 3) Young 4) Manziel 5) Newton.

One of the best parts about returning to NFL coverage is re-connecting with many of the players I got to know in college. It was fun, for example, to chat with Laremy Tunsil and Kenyan Drake in the Miami Dolphins locker room and recall how I had interviewed them after their final college games.

VIDEO: Laremy Tunsil caught a touchdown at the Sugar Bowl.

VIDEO: Kenyan Drake returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown in the national championship.

And now it’s fun to create my first-ever mock draft. It’s fun to know in 2017 I’ll see again some of the players I observed when broadcasting about 25 college games each season. Hopefully the in-person scouting evaluation (and many pregame meetings with coaches) will give me a better feel for who should be drafted where.

Probably not. But here’s my best effort:

1. Cleveland Browns: Myles Garrett, DE, Texas A&M

2. San Francisco 49ers: Solomon Thomas, DL, Stanford

3. Chicago Bears: Jamal Adams, S, LSU

4. Jacksonville Jaguars: Leonard Fournette, RB, LSU

5. Tennessee Titans: Jonathan Allen, DL, Alabama

6. New York Jets: Deshaun Watson, QB, Clemson