Over the past couple seasons, there's been little question as to which player was going to be drafted with the first overall pick in the draft. The top player was always obvious and the top-picking team happened to have a need at the crucial position.
This time around, the Kansas City Chiefs have "earned" the top pick, and they certainly have no shortage of needs. But the top pick is still in question, and early mock drafts around the Internet are somewhat divided.
Dan Kadar of SB Nation released his latest mock draft on Monday, and we're going to take a look at how it compares to the latest mock draft from Rob Rang of CBS Sports. His latest mock went up on Wednesday.
SB Nation's mock has the Chiefs taking Geno Smith, the quarterback from West Virginia. He's flawed, but Andy Reid will likely want to get things started off with the quarterback in place to maximize development going forward. Rang seems to disagree, however.
Rang has the Chiefs taking offensive tackle Luke Joeckel out of Texas A&M. Rang isn't crazy about the top-end talent at the quarterback position this year and thinks it would be a mistake for Kansas City to draft Smith, or any other signal caller with the top pick.
The next two picks are very similar, but it's at No. 4 for the two differ again. Funnily enough, it's a simple flip, as Rang has the Philadelphia Eagles taking Smith, while SB Nation's mock has Joeckel going to Philly in the same spot.
As usual, the quarterbacks muck things up again a bit later on in the mock. SB Nation has Tyler Wilson of Arkansas going to the Arizona Cardinals at No. 7, and Ryan Nassib from Syracuse going to the Buffalo Bills right after at No. 8.
Rang, on the other hand, has Matt Barkley from USC going to Arizona, and Wilson going to the Bills. Rang thinks that Barkley's stock will rise as the draft gets closer, ans that he will be the best option to get Arizona away from guys like Ryan Lindley and John Skelton.
Going through the rest of the picks, there's a lot of similarities between the two mocks. Some key differences include the placement of quarterbacks further: SB Nation has no more in the first round, while Rang has the Dallas Cowboys taking Mike Glennon out of N.C. State.