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