Day 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft is in the books. It was a record-setting night, with 23 offensive players coming off the board, including six quarterbacks in the top half of the first round. But there are still two more days of the draft remaining, and more than 200 players still to be selected.
Friday night will bring us Rounds 2 and 3, and there is plenty of intrigue about what will happen. That’s why we’re here with our bold predictions for Day 2. Enjoy.
Early wide receiver run
While there may have been a couple surprising(-ish) wide receivers selected at the end of the first round in Florida’s Ricky Pearsall and South Carolina’s Xavier Legette, there are still a ton of wideouts on the board to be selected early and often on Day 2. We should expect AD Mitchell, Ladd McConkey, and Keon Coleman to come off the board early, while each of Troy Franklin, Roman Wilson, Malachi Corley, Ja’Lynn Polk, Jermaine Burton, Jalen McMillan, Malik Washington, Devontez Walker, Brenden Rice, Javon Baker, and Johnny Wilson could go at some point as well. Receiver is arguably the deepest position in the draft, and we’ll see that throughout Friday night.
Only one quarterback off the board
There were an incredible SIX quarterbacks selected on Day 1, with each of Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, Michael Penix Jr., J.J. McCarthy, and Bo Nix going within the top 12 picks. That leaves pretty slim pickings remaining at the quarterback position. In the CBS Sports NFL Draft Prospect Rankings, we have only two quarterbacks pegged as Day 2 picks: South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler and Tulane’s Michael Pratt. But with so many teams going QB early, there just aren’t as many looking for one on Friday night. The guess here is that Rattler comes off the board in the third round, while Pratt has to wait for Day 3 to hear his name called.
No running back in Round 2
In a bit of a change of pace, the running back market in free agency this offseason was pretty robust. Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs, Tony Pollard, D’Andre Swift, and more got pretty decent-sized deals. At least part of that had to do with the fact that this is not considered a particularly strong running back draft class, and that the player who would have been the consensus top prospect at the position (Texas’ Jonathon Brooks) is coming off a torn ACL. So despite some heavy speculation that we could see a running-back run toward the back half of Round 2, we’re guessing it doesn’t come until Round 3.
So many defensive backs
Go take a look at our Day 2 mock draft. You will see 11 cornerbacks and six safeties in there. That’s 17 of the 68 picks scheduled for Friday night — or 25% of all available picks. And obviously, it’s entirely possible we see more. But we have each of Max Melton, T.J. Tampa, Tyler Nubin, Kool-Aid McKinstry, Cooper DeJean, Jaden Hicks, Kris Abrams-Draine, Mike Sainristil, Kamren Kinchens, Cole Bishop, Renardo Green, D.J. James, Javon Bullard, Caelen Carson, Andru Phillips, Ennis Rakestraw, and Dadrion Taylor-Demerson all hearing their names called on Friday evening.
Many expected Philly to move up the board in Round 1, presumably to land a quarterback. But Quinyon Mitchell fell into their laps, so the Eagles didn’t have to do that. Armed with picks No. 50 and 53, Howie Roseman can jump up the board to land either Lane Johnson’s eventual successor at right tackle, or a linebacker to help what is now the team’s weakest position group after they filled their need at corner.
Despite all the rumors surrounding Aiyuk, it actually seems more likely that it’s Samuel who gets traded. If Aiyuk were to go, he probably would have cost a first-round pick. Due to Deebo’s contract, age, playing style, and injury history, he can probably be acquired for less. And with the Niners selecting Ricky Pearsall (Aiyuk’s former college teammate) on Thursday, it seems like the writing is on the wall for one of them to be moved. Meanwhile, the Bengals have been adamant that they won’t trade Higgins, and with one of the most receiver-needy teams (the Panthers) jumping into Round 1 and few obvious fits remaining, the guess here is that he plays the 2024 season on the franchise tag before hitting the open market a year from now.
