Chicago, Washington and New England are staying putt and selecting quarterbacks in Mel Kiper Jr.’s newest mock draft for ESPN. The veteran draft insider has the Bears taking Caleb Williams followed by Jayden Daniels to the Commanders and Drake Maye to the Patriots.
The next quarterback off the board in his mock is J.J. McCarthy at No. 5, but it’s not the Chargers taking him. Kiper is predicting the Minnesota Vikings to give up three first-round picks to move up to five and get their quarterback.
“OK, here we go with my first projected trade of the 2024 cycle,” Kiper explained.
“I have to believe there was a reason the Vikings made the deal last month with Houston to acquire a second first-rounder (No. 23). They needed extra capital to move up. With this trade, Minnesota would send Nos. 11 and 23 along with a first-round selection in 2025 to Los Angeles, who could drop six spots and still get an offensive tackle. The Chargers and new coach Jim Harbaugh have multiple needs to fill.”
Kiper doesn’t think the Vikings will be able to get one of the top four quarterbacks without trading up. That falls in line with what draft insider Todd McShay said Tuesday when he predicted that things could get wild after the Bears take Williams and that he expects the top four quarterbacks all gone within the first five or six picks.
The rest of the first round in Kiper’s mock goes without more quarterbacks, but he does have the Giants and Rams trading up early in the second round to take Bo Nix and Michael Penix Jr., respectively.
