2015 NFL Draft Predictions: No.1-5

  The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are on the Clock!
  
The NFL draft is only two months away and the NFL combine has come and gone. The players still have pro-day and private workout's ahead of them. The draft this year looks to be filled with a lot of young promising talent.

I love the NFL drafting process, I would say it's my favorite part of the off season. I've decided to do a mock draft of my own.

These are my NFL draft predictions for draft picks 1-5:

 1. Tampa Bay:
 Jameis Winston, Quarterback

  This is almost the same story for every draft. You have the No.1 pick, you take the best player on the board. Winston has done everything in college football there is to do. He has a national championship (2013), won the Heisman trophy (2013), and he walked away with only one loss, giving him a college career record of 27-1. His only loss of his college career was to the Oregon Ducks in the newly acquired, college football playoffs. Winston was criticized about being out of shape, months before the combine. When he showed up to the combine, he not only looked to be in great shape, he performed great. Winston showed on the field that he's deserving of the No.1 overall pick, I believe his attitude shows the same. I believe Bucs' head coach, Lovie Smith will finally get his franchise quarterback.

 2. Tennessee:
 Leonard Williams, Defensive End

  Let's face it. The Titans are in serious trouble in a couple of spots. The don't have a sure quarterback of the future, the "Jake Locker project" is now done in Tennessee after four years, the receivers there show flashes and a lot of promise, and the defense had a hard time stopping almost everyone last season. Leonard Williams is a freak-of-nature and true defensive end. He is a physical specimen and his toughness is just what that defensive front needs to get going. He can stop the run, chase down any quarterback (as he had the fastest 40-time of every defensive lineman). This should be a very productive draft for them, they need a lot of pieces. But in order to compete with the Colts in their division, they have to stop Andrew Luck. Williams will help them do that.

 3. Jacksonville:
Shane Ray, Defensive End/ Linebacker

  It seems like every year the Jaguars are in the same position. And it's been that way for about half of a decade, or so. They've usually had a top-5 draft pick and failed. Gus Bradley may have broken that pattern, last year. After drafting quarterback, Blake Bortles out of the University of Central Florida in 2014 there seems to be a lot of positive things to look forward to. However, they've taken care of the offensive side, acquiring a lot of young pieces. Bradly is still a defensive guy and I believe that he's still missing a few pieces to defensive puzzle in Jacksonville, he can solve that puzzle with one player, Shane Ray. Ray, who won 2014 defensive player of the year in the SEC, is a very physical, fast and explosive pass-rushing linebacker-lineman hybrid player. With 14.5 sacks in 2014 at Missouri that is highly impressive and I don't think this is a player that he can pass up with the no.3 draft selection.

 4. Oakland: 
Amari Cooper, Wide Receiver

  It isn't very hard to figure out which position the Raiders should go after with their first-round selection. It's more of a question of, who should they take? This early in the draft, you have to take the best pure receiver ... that is... Amari Cooper. Cooper was a Heisman finalist (2014), Biletnikoff award-winner (2014), SEC offensive player of the year (2014). That a pretty solid resume, in my opinion. In 2014, Cooper had 124 receptions (1st in NCAA), 1727 receiving yards (2nd in NCAA), and 16 receptions for touchdowns (2nd in NCAA). Stats via ESPN.com. He did all of this while at a school known for its defense. Cooper has to be your pick here. He went into the combine and performed how they believed he would, he still has his pro-day ahead of him but I'm positive he'll perform at high level on that day, too. They have a solid quarterback to build around, in Carr. Cooper is the piece that is missing to this offense. Well, one of the many pieces, but he's a good piece to start with. If Oakland doesn't draft Cooper, they'll be dropping the ball. Literally.

 5. Washington:
Dante Fowler Jr., Linebacker

  Head Coach, Jay Gruden, entering his second season has to start making some better decisions. He had, what looked to be like a very good off-season, last year, with the acquisition of Desean Jackson from the Eagles, and a returning, "healthy" Robert Griffin III at quarterback. This was a team sure to win the NFC East, right? Wrong, this team may have been the most disappointing of 2014. Gruden still has some pieces in place to make this thing work, but he has to take some positive steps to do so. His first positive step could be helping to fix this defense, which has struggled for some years now. With Brain Orakpo being very injury-prone it's time to move on from him and go younger. Linebacker, Dante Fowler Jr., should be the best defensive player on the board at that time. I believe he's right behind Shane Ray, on a talent level. He has the toughness and all of the physical attributes this defense needs to get turned around. Granted, Florida didn't have the best season last year, but they had a few bright spots. One of the bright spots was Fowler. He can do anything from rushing the passer to cover. He's the ideal height and build for a pro linebacker and he had an AMAZING combine performance. Gruden has some things to fix in Washington, but if he wants to keep his job, drafting a player like Fowler will surly help him clean up the "mess" in Washington.