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Mel Kiper's Final NFL Mock Draft

ESPN draft analyst and Baltimore native Mel Kiper put together his final mock draft prior to the actual one later this evening. It's part of ESPN Insider, so unless you have forked over some bucks to the worldwide leader in sports, you'll have to take my word for it.

Kiper did just the first round and he has a couple of surprises that I'm not of the opinion will turn out correct, starting with the Minnesota Vikings taking LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne with the third pick. I'm sticking with the bigger need of protecting their second year QB, Christian Ponder and therefore taking USC tackle Matt Kalil. It's not that big of a deal in that the Cleveland Browns are still projected by Kiper to take Alabama running back Trent Richardson and then the Tampa Bay Buccaneers select Kalil to even things out from that point on.

The good news is that Mel projects that the Ravens will be able to grab 'bama ILB Dont'a Hightower with the 29th overall pick, although many mocks have him either going a lot earlier, say to the Pittsburgh Steelers at #24, or the ravens having to give up additional picks to move up and take him.

(Click on the 'Jump' to read all of Mel Kiper's picks in the first round of his final Mock Draft)

1. Indianapolis Colts: Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford

2. Washington Redskins: Robert Griffin III, QB, Baylor

3. Minnesota Vikings: Morris Claiborne, CB, LSU

4. Cleveland Browns: Trent Richardson, RB, Alabama

5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Matt Kalil, OT, USC

6. St. Louis Rams: Justin Blackmon, WR, Oklahoma State

7. Philadelphia Eagles: Fletcher Cox, DT, Mississippi State

8. Miami Dolphins: Ryan Tannenhill, QB, Texas A&M

9. Carolina Panthers: Luke Kuechly, LB, Boston College

10. Buffalo Bills: Michael Floyd, WR, Notre Dame

11. Kansas City Chiefs: David DeCastro, G, Stanford

12. Seattle Seahawks: Chandler Jones, DE, Syracuse

13. Arizona Cardinals: Melvin Ingram, DE, South Carolina

14. Dallas Cowboys: Mark Barron, S, Alabama

15. Jacksonville Jaguars: Stephon Gilmore, CB, South Carolina

16. New York Jets: Quinton Coples, DE, North Carolina

17. Cincinnati Bengals: Cordy Glenn, G/T, Georgia

18. San Diego Chargers: Riley Reiff, OT, Iowa

19. Chicago Bears: Whitney Mercilus, DE, Illinois

20. Tennessee Titans: Dre Kirkpatrick, CB, Alabama

21. Cincinnati Bengals: Stephen Hill, WR, Georgia Tech

22. Cleveland Browns: Brandon Weeden, QB, Oklahoma State

23. Detroit Lions: Doug Martin, RB, Boise State

24. Pittsburgh Steelers: Dontari Poe, DT, Memphis

25. Denver Broncos: Michael Brockers, DT, LSU

26. Houston Texans: Coby Fleener, TE, Stanford

27. New England Patriots: Courtney Upshaw, OLB, Alabama

28. Green Bay Packers: Shea McClellin, OLB, Boise State

29. Baltimore Ravens: Dont'a Hightower, ILB, Alabama

30. San Francisco 49ers: Kevin Zeitler, G, Wisconsin

31. New England Patriots: Harrison Smith, S, Notre Dame

32. New york Giants: Bobby Massie, OT, Ole Miss