Shedeur Sanders headlines 5 prospects mock drafts can’t agree on

Greg Auman

NFL Reporter

Throughout the spring, mock drafts are everywhere, a ubiquitous part of the ever-popular buildup to the actual draft, barely two weeks away now on April 24-26.

They’re absolute catnip for football fans. Writers churn out multiple updated permutations, sites allow fans to create their own mock drafts, while other sites track literally hundreds of online mocks to build a consensus board and monitor trends.

NFL teams aren’t sure who’s going where right now, so even the most well-connected writers are offering their best guesses, maneuvering through smokescreens and misdirection to find morsels of truth in what’s privately shared by teams and agents.

With two weeks left and nearly all pro days completed, with NFL free agency largely over, much of the perceived rising and falling is done, and teams are finalizing their own draft boards now. So who are the players who are hardest to predict, who continue to show up all over the map in mainstream mock drafts? There are key players with injury flags, with character concerns, and in a draft where no first-round picks have been traded yet, it’s hard to anticipate how active teams will be in moving up or down when on the clock.

So here are five players who remain the most divisive in mock drafts. Someone will be right, but it’s hard to know who right now.

Shedeur Sanders, QB, Colorado
Mock Draft Range: From second overall (Browns) to 21st (Steelers)

While Miami‘s Cam Ward seems firmly entrenched as the top quarterback and a near lock to go No. 1 to the Titans, Sanders’ landing spot is much more up in the air. Few things have been more consistent in the draft than QB-needy teams using high draft picks or even trading up to get quarterbacks at the top of the draft, but there’s uncertainty whether that will continue in this draft.

So you have recent mocks with Sanders near the top — FOX Sports’ Rob Rang has him going second to the Browns, and NFL.com’s Chad Reuter and Daniel Jeremiah have him third to the Giants — but then there are many mocks that foresee a much longer wait. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. has Sanders falling to ninth and the Saints, and Yahoo’s staff mock has him falling clear to the 21st pick and the Steelers. Other mocks anticipate a trade somewhere between No. 9 and 21, with teams trading back up to get him ahead of Pittsburgh.

Joel Klatt on Shedeur Sanders’ draft stock and the traits that separate him

Armand Membou, T, Missouri
Mock Draft Range: From third overall (Giants) to 16th (Cardinals)

For much of the draft process, LSU’s Will Campbell has been seen as the best tackle (and offensive lineman) in the draft, but there’s been a late push for Membou. He’s extremely athletic, running a 4.91 40 at 332 pounds at the combine, and recent mocks from Yahoo and The 33rd Team have him going third overall to New York, even ahead of one of the draft’s top two defensive prospects in edge Abdul Carter or corner/receiver Travis Hunter. The middle ground is the other New York team, with Kiper, Jeremiah and NFL.com’s Rhett Davis all picking him to go seventh to the Jets. He has only played right tackle and is a bit short at 6-foot-4, so he still has some doubters. CBS’ Pete Prisco has Membou going 16th to Arizona in his latest mock draft.

Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Arizona
Mock Draft Range: From fourth overall (Patriots) to 31st (Chiefs)

McMillan’s size (6-foot-4, 219 pounds) and ball skills have him usually seen as the best receiver in this class, but that’s hardly a lock. You’ll still see him regularly mocked in the top 10 or so picks, often the Saints at 9 or the Cowboys at 12. But opinions vary on him and on this receiver class as a whole. SNY’s Connor Hughes boldly picked McMillan to go to the Patriots at fourth overall, while others don’t have him as the first receiver off the board, with Texas’ Matthew Golden a steady riser in recent weeks. There was a time you didn’t see McMillan last into the teens, but recent mocks have him much lower. FOX’s Rang and Pro Football Network have him going 29th to the Commanders, and NFL.com’s Lewis has him falling to the Chiefs at 31.

Will Johnson, CB, Michigan
Mock Draft Range: From ninth overall (Saints) to 23rd (Packers)

Johnson missed six games with a toe injury last year, so that’s a concern, but he’s generally seen as the No. 2 corner in this class behind Colorado’s Travis Hunter. Where that puts him overall is hard to peg. The 33rd Team is high on him, matching him with the Saints at 9, with ESPN’s Kiper close behind at 11. Texas’ Jahdae Barron, who ran a 4.39 40 with a 35-inch vertical at the combine, is projected to go ahead of Johnson occasionally. Most mocks will have Johnson in the low teens, but CBS’ Prisco and NFL.com’s Maurice Jones-Drew had him falling to the Packers at 23rd overall.

Walter Nolen, DT, Ole Miss
Mock Draft Range: From 13th overall (Dolphins) to missing the first round entirely

Interior defensive linemen can be tough to project because the position is rarely valued that highly in the draft process. The Eagles have the two highest-drafted DTs in the past three drafts, and could be picking another this year. So you’ll see mocks where Nolen isn’t even included in the first round — Kiper had him 39th in his two-round mock, and The Athletic’s Nick Baumgartner didn’t have him in his last mock. Others are big advocates for Nolen, with FOX’s Rang and CBS’ Prisco matching him to the Dolphins at 13th overall. The Eagles’ penchant for drafting DTs — and a need to replace Milton Williams — makes them a frequent match for Nolen at the end of the first round.

Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.

Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!