With only four teams left to contend for a victory in Super Bowl LVIII , there are 28 teams looking ahead to next year. Of course, the journey to Super Bowl LIX starts with the NFL draft . Currently set for April 25 in Detroit , there is a litany of elite offensive talent ripe for the taking.
Need a quarterback? There are five projected to go in the first round. Need a receiver? There are three that could go in the top-ten and six that could go in the first round. There's even an elite tight end prospect on par with the likes of T.J. Hockenson and Noah Fant from a few years ago.
Here's where some of those top prospects are projected to land.
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Bleacher Report : New England Patriots
UNC's Drake Maye has been considered a top-three pick for a long, long time at this point. However, nobody is quite sure where he will fall. While the consensus around Maye was that he was right up at the top alongside Caleb Williams for most of the 2023 college football season, the emergence of Jayden Daniels as well as the potential for the Chicago Bears to draft wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. with the first-round pick (unlikely, but still possible), has put Maye's top-three status in question.
According to most mock drafts though, Maye seems destined for either the New England Patriots (3rd overall) or the Washington Commanders (2nd overall). While we are unsure what the new-look Patriots and Commanders coaching staffs will want their offenses to resemble, Maye would be a great addition to either squad, but the Commanders would probably be a better fit.
As great as Maye is, he certainly benefited from having a few solid outside threats to play with. Teammate Devontez Walker is expected to be drafted on Day 2. Junior receiver J.J. Jones provided some big play ability for Maye as well. The Washington Commanders would be able to give Maye two solid weapons immediately with Terry McLaurin and former first-round pick Jahan Dotson . Even the back-end options like Curtis Samuel and Logan Thomas are players capable of making clutch catches. New England does not have that level of talent among their pass-catchers.
The New England Patriots would be a better fit for Jayden Daniels. With a strong offensive line, solid running back room, and subpar wide receivers, having a quarterback who can extend plays and gain yards with his legs as effectively as Daniels would be a strong addition. New England does not have any extra picks in the first five rounds, meaning they likely would not be able to supply Maye with the tools necessary to have him succeed immediately. Of course, with a new head coach Jerod Mayo in the fold, the Patriots could make a big move by trading up for a top tier first-round receiver, which would make selecting Maye all the more favorable.
CBS Sports : Arizona Cardinals
Bleacher Report :Arizona Cardinals
It's pretty well known that Marvin Harrison Jr. will be the first non-quarterback taken in the 2024 draft. The only question is whether or not the Chicago Bears will trade the first overall pick away to a team that wants the greatest wide receiver prospect since Ja'Marr Chase and draft Harrison with the first pick, or draft Caleb Williams.
As more news emerges of Chicago's thoughts on the first overall pick, it seems more and more likely that the Bears will take Caleb Williams. That opens the door for the Cardinals to grab Harrison. The addition of Harrison would be huge for a team that expected Marquise Brown to take a big step in 2023, but failed to elevate to that true WR1 level the Cardinals expected when they traded for him. Harrison would immediately slot into the team's No. 1 role, while Brown could serve as a deep threat.
Harrison, alongside Brown, Rondale Moore , Michael Wilson , and Trey McBride would give the Cardinals one of the better pass-catching groups in the NFL. Head coach Jonathan Gannon was able to turn Josh Dobbs into a hot trade commodity last season. The team's offensive game plan elevated James Conner to new heights. Imagine what they could do with Harrison.
Bleacher Report :New York Giants
Malik Nabers is not as polished a route runner as you'd like a top-ten receiver to be. However, his raw speed was all he really needed to dominate defenses in college. With that in mind, the Tennessee Titans at 7th overall seem like a better fit than the Giants. The Giants do not have a receiver capable of consistently creating space. Perhaps Jalin Hyatt could develop into such a receiver next year, but that's too much of a question mark to bet on. Asking Nabers to provide such a role in his rookie season is a recipe for disaster.
The Tennessee Titans are a much better fit. Not only does the team already have DeAndre Hopkins to pair with Nabers, but the team could also lose star running back Derrick Henry . The team will be forced to rely on their passing attack more than ever, so adding another top-tier wide receiver would take a ton of pressure off second-year quarterback Will Levis . With how strong Levis' arm is as well, Nabers and Levis could play into each other's strengths perfectly.
Of all the elite offensive skill position prospects, Bowers appears to have the widest range of outcomes. Depending on who you ask, Bowers could wind up a top-ten, top-20, or back-end first-round pick. Bowers is absolutely worth the top-five pick that some project though.
Bowers has succeeded at every level he has played. He was an immediate impact player for Georgia and has only improved since his outstanding freshman season. Bowers has rightfully drawn comparisons to the likes of Kyle Pitts as a prospect. In Pitts' short time in the NFL, we have seen flashes of a superstar, but the Atlanta Falcons never used Pitts appropriately to maximize his talent.
The Los Angeles Chargers are in need of another threat in the passing game. As great as Keenan Allen was this season, he is going to be 32 years old next year. Mike Williams is a free agent after 2024, and the Chargers could opt out of his contract this offseason. 2023 first-round pick Quentin Johnston did not pan out as well as the Chargers had hoped either. Bowers would give Herbert the first elite tight end option of his career. In 2023, we saw several games where Gerald Everett was leaned on heavily in the passing game. In fact, between Weeks 14 and 17, Everett recorded four straight games with at least eight targets. Of course, most of those games were without both Herbert and Allen, but it shows that the tight end position could be heavily leaned on in future seasons if Mike Williams leaves and Keenan Allen starts to decline.
While Bowers would be a tremendous addition to the Saints or Buccaneers, it seems unlikely that the league would allow such a high-end tight end prospect to fall out of the top-ten.
Bleacher Report :Chicago Bears
With both Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd going into free agency, the Cincinnati Bengals will unquestionably be looking to add a top tier receiver in the draft. The 18th overall pick may be too far down the draft board to grab Odunze. That said, Odunze would be a phenomenal fit with Cincinnati.
Odunze's biggest strengths are his size and his ability to create space. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow loves trusting his top receivers with jump balls and go routes. Odunze has the size and weight to bully opposing DBs, giving him the skill set to slide into the role that Tee Higgins could leave almost instantly. However, his ability to create separation from opposing corners could make him a better fit for the New York Jets.
Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers loves having great receivers and Garrett Wilson likely won't be enough to carry the team's aerial attack. Odunze's ability to separate is what made the pairing of Davante Adams and Aaron Rodgers so dangerous in Green Bay. Odunze provides a similar skill set, which is scary to think about. The only question is whether or not Odunze will fall to the tenth overall pick. Many people expect the Chicago Bears to take Odunze with the ninth overall pick. The Bears could go defense though.
Chicago's addition of Montez Sweat at the trade deadline this season instantly breathed new life in the the Bears' defense. Pairing Sweat with one of the class's top defensive linemen like Dallas Turner or Byron Murphy could elevate Chicago's defense to a new level. Even adding someone like cornerbacks Nate Wiggins or Terrion Arnold to play opposite of Jaylon Johnson would potentially make the Bears one of the toughest defenses in the NFL. We saw in 2023 that DJ Moore and Cole Kmet were more than enough to carry Chicago's passing attack. While adding Odunze would obviously help potential quarterback Caleb Williams, the veteran presences of Moore and Kmet will likely be a much bigger help to Williams than a rookie like Odunze would be.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 2024 NFL mock drafts: QB projections and top offensive players
