Since so much stock in football is placed on quarterbacks and edge-rushers, Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa seems like a natural selection for the first overall pick. 

As a sophomore, Bosa was named the Big Ten’s Defensive Player of the Year and a unanimous All-American. He led the Big Ten with 13.5 sacks and 21 tackles for loss. He also had four quarterback hurries and four forced fumbles. His game-winning sack against Penn State in overtime was one of the highlight plays of the 2014 season. 

“I think he should be the best D-lineman in America,” Ohio State head coach Meyer told Bill Bender of the Sporting News. “He’s got a tremendous work ethic. He and [defensive line coach Larry] Johnson have a tremendous chemistry right now; the way they are working. He’s trying to take his game to the next level, which we all know is pretty high.”

Bosa is going to get the J.J. Watt comparison, but he’s his own great player. 

Forget Shawn Oakman—OK, don’t forget him, but you get the point—offensive lineman Spencer Drango’s return to Baylor in 2015 was the biggest victory for head coach Art Briles. 

Drango is a stalwart along the Bears offensive line with 35 career starts. He’s received All-American and All-Big 12 honors and was an Outland Trophy semifinalist for the nation’s top lineman.  

Drango was Sporting News’ top returning offensive lineman for 2015. He’ll be a huge reason why Baylor will be in the running for a third straight Big 12 title. 

There were a handful of freshmen running backs who burst on to the scene last season—perhaps none more recognizable than Georgia’s Nick Chubb. 

The circumstances of Chubb’s stardom are well-documented. 2014 was supposed to be Todd Gurley’s Heisman push, but an NCAA-related suspension and torn ACL derailed those hopes. Chubb took over without missing a beat, however. Appearing in all 13 games, Chubb rushed for 1,547 yards and 14 touchdowns. Now the full-time starter for good, Chubb enters 2015 as a Heisman hopeful himself. 

Chubb has it all: power, speed, hands, vision. He’s about as complete a back as you’re going to find, and he’s only a sophomore. Anyone looking for an offensive staple of the non-quarterback variety will pick up Chubb quickly. 

Michigan State defensive end Shilique Calhoun could have been a first-round NFL draft pick if he left this year. Instead, he decided to come back for his senior season and will be a cornerstone of one of the better defensive lines in the country.

According to Spartans linebackers coach Mark Snyder, Calhoun was “unblockable” in the team’s spring game earlier this month with 2.5 sacks (h/t Mike Griffith of MLive.com). That’s about par for the course for Calhoun, who was a semifinalist for the Lombardi Award and Chuck Bednarik Award last year. Recently, Calhoun was named to the watch list for the 2015 Lott Trophy, an award given to the nation’s top defensive player. 

As far as edge-rushers go, there are very few who are more advanced technique-wise than Calhoun. 

There are a handful of quarterbacks in this mock draft, so picking up a signal-caller right away isn’t a necessity. However, if you’re in the market, TCU’s Trevone Boykin would be an excellent draft choice. 

A year ago, putting Boykin anywhere near this list, let alone in the top 10, would have been absurd. Boykin had been splitting time with Casey Pachall and was constantly running for his life behind a makeshift O-line. 

What a difference a great offensive hire makes, though, huh? TCU’s co-offensive coordinators Doug Meacham and Sonny Cumbie have opened up the playbook, and Cumbie specifically has done an outstanding job developing Boykin. Last season, Boykin led the Big 12 in total offense with 354.5 yards per game. 

Boykin is no longer an athlete playing quarterback; he’s a bona fide Heisman contender on one of the most potent offenses in the country. He’s always been a gifted runner, but now he’s making tremendous plays with his arm. 

You’d be hard-pressed to find a better dual-threat quarterback in college football. 

Virginia Tech cornerback Kendall Fuller is an absolute stud. He’s only going to be a junior in 2015, and he’s been one of the top players at his position for two years already. 

Last season, he led the ACC with 15 pass breakups, even though he was quietly battling a wrist injury. That injury has kept him out of spring practices, but he should be 100 percent by the time the season rolls around in the fall. 

Fuller has it all—the size (6’0″, 197 lbs), the smarts, the production and the bloodlines (his three older brothers played for the Hokies). If you need a true shut-down corner, Fuller is your best pick. 

Remember when former 5-star running back Joe Mixon was supposed to be the breakout star for Oklahoma in 2014? Because of a season-long suspension stemming from a misdemeanor assault incident, Mixon never saw the field for the Sooners last year (he did, however, rejoin the team this spring). 

That, coupled with a foot injury to Keith Ford, paved the way for freshman Samaje Perine to take the Big 12 by storm. Perine led the Big 12 with 1,713 yards rushing and 21 touchdowns. In November, he broke Melvin Gordon’s one-week-old, single-game FBS rushing record with 427 yards against Kansas. 

The days of the every-down running back may be limited in the NFL, but some of college football’s brightest stars line up in the backfield. Perine is definitely among them. 

If you want to know why Baylor finds itself at or near the top of Big 12 post-spring power rankings, don’t look at the wide receivers and quarterback. Rather, look at what the Bears have going on in the trenches. 

Baylor’s defensive line is experienced and athletic in what is one of the more absurd combinations in college football. The big name in that defensive line is defensive end Shawn Oakman.

Oakman’s become an Internet sensation for his size—he’s listed at 6’9″ and 280 pounds—but he’s no joke as a pass-rusher. Last season, he finished tied for second in the Big 12 with 11 sacks. For being a redshirt senior, Oakman is actually still growing as a player; he’s really only a second-year starter. As a result, he’s still tapping into what he can do. 

Oakman’s a freak, no doubt about it, and someone’s going to pick him up at the right time in his career arc. 

Florida State loses so much star power from their 2014 team, but one guy who is returning is defensive back Jalen Ramsey. 

As a sophomore, Ramsey was an All-American and All-ACC selection. He led the team with 12 pass breakups and forced three fumbles. With so many new faces on both sides of the ball, Ramsey assumes one of the leadership roles for the Seminoles in 2015.

His value is also determined by his versatility. He played FSU’s “star” position a year ago but has made the move to cornerback because of turnover. However, he’s been back and forth between the two positions this spring. Without a doubt, he’ll play both this season. 

If you’re looking for a player in the secondary who’s all over the field and can be physical as well as fast, Ramsey is a great place to start. 

You could get amazing value for Ole Miss defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche around this spot. The former blue-chip recruit made the move from defensive end to defensive tackle in 2014, and the stat sheet took a little bit of a hit. As a sophomore, Nkemdiche posted four tackles for loss and two sacks. 

That was a matter of learning a new position, though, and just because a player doesn’t light up a stat sheet, it doesn’t mean he’s not doing his job. That said, it sounds as though he could be on his way to a huge year. 

“If you watched us practice this spring, I’m feeling really, really good about Robert,” Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze told Michael Carvell of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I hope that’s because he has continued to develop. I think moving inside was a little change for him. That takes a learning process. I see him understanding it more and more and more as he plays in it.”

Nkemdiche has experience playing both the interior and edge of the defensive line. He’s a ridiculous athlete who could be a touch under the radar. 

You could do worse—a lot worse—than drafting Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook at No. 11. A redshirt senior, Cook will be a three-year starter in 2015, so he’s been there, done that. At 6’4″ and 220 pounds with a nice arm and better-than-advertised mobility in the pocket, Cook has all the physical tools you want. 

The thing about Cook is that he plays in an offense that values the run. If you look at the numbers from 2014, the Spartans went almost exactly 60-40 on run-pass plays. That’s not a knock on Cook per se; it’s what the offense does. 

However, Cook averaged nearly nine yards per pass attempt and had a decent touchdown-to-interception ratio (24-8). If Cook had declared for the NFL after last season, he would have been in the conversation for that No. 3 quarterback selection after Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota. 

UCLA’s Myles Jack gained notoriety as a freshman in 2013 when he acted as a two-way player for the Bruins as a linebacker and emergency running back. Jack still contributed at running back some last season, and he still gets some versatility points for that. 

However, his true calling is as a defender. Jack has racked up 153 tackles over two seasons, and he’s easily one of the Bruins’ most versatile players with seven pass breakups and eight tackles for loss. 

Use him as a linebacker, or use him as a running back. You could get a lot of snaps out of Jack, and he’d be productive on both sides of the ball. 

By now, you probably know about Texas A&M’s sophomore defensive end Myles Garrett. In 2014, Garrett had 11.5 sacks, breaking SEC’s freshman record previously held by Jadeveon Clowney at South Carolina. He also led A&M with 14 tackles for loss and 10 quarterback hurries. 

Now that former LSU assistant John Chavis is leading the Aggies defense, Garrett should be even better. 

Garrett is only graduating from being what coaches call a young pup. Several times last season, Garrett relied on his freakish athleticism to get into the backfield. While he’s good enough to use that athleticism, he’s also still growing at the edge-rusher position. He’s already productive, but the scary thing about Garrett is that his best days are ahead of him. He’ll be drafted high on that alone. 

If you’re looking for a pro-style quarterback—understand that not everyone is at the college level—then one of your best bets is going to be USC’s Cody Kessler. 

There were few quarterbacks last season who were more efficient than Kessler. One of them was some guy named Marcus Mariota, who won the Heisman Trophy. As a junior, Kessler completed nearly 70 percent of his passes while averaging 8.5 yards per attempt. He threw 39 touchdowns to just five interceptions. 

Granted, Kessler’s numbers were significantly more average against Associated Press-ranked teams. Additionally, some of USC’s 32 sacks were on him. But Kessler is a productive and low-risk pick. 

This phrase gets used often, but really, no other quarterback came out of nowhere and took college football by storm like Ohio State’s J.T. Barrett did in 2014. 

With Braxton Miller sidelined for the season with a nagging shoulder injury, Barrett not only stepped in to manage the offense, but he outperformed Miller’s 2013 stats. However, Barrett sustained his own season-ending injury, a fractured ankle, in the regular-season finale against Michigan. 

He’s still recovering from that injury but should be 100 percent by the time preseason camp rolls around, according to ESPN.com. Of Ohio State’s three quarterbacks, he’s the one who’s played the most recently. He’s a natural leader as well. If you trust that he’ll be fully healthy for 2015, Barrett is an unbelievable pick here. 

Baylor fans nervous that they hadn’t seen a Bears wide receiver in the mock draft can rest easy. Junior Corey Coleman is here—wait why haven’t you taken him? Draft him now. 

Freshman K.D. Cannon may have been the breakout star of the Bears’ receiving unit last year, but Coleman pulled in a team-best 64 receptions for 1,119 yards and 11 touchdowns.

And he missed the first three games of the season—in nonconference play during Baylor’s easiest stretch—with a hamstring injury. 

Amazingly, though, Coleman is the lowest-ranked Baylor player in this hypothetical draft. That should tell you that head coach Art Briles has done more than simply recruit lightening-fast skill players. 

Look at all those job titles. Sophomore Adoree’ Jackson is already developing into a star at cornerback, but his biggest value at the moment is his versatility as a utility player. He does a little bit of everything, and he does them all well. He had two kickoff returns for touchdowns a year ago and was tied for second on the team with nine pass breakups.

That, plus the fact that he hasn’t reached his full potential yet, is why he’s getting picked here. He’s not quite proved enough to warrant a top-10 pick, but there’s no doubting his upside. 

“We’re going to have to be very strategic when we go into games of exactly how we’re going to use him,” head coach Steve Sarkisian said, via Michael Lev of the Orange County Register. “It will be different than it was a year ago because he has more volume. He has more offense that he can understand. We can do more with him on defense [as well]. That doesn’t mean he can go out and play 180 plays. … We just have to be smart with him.”

Similar to his teammate Cardale Jones, Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott caught fire at the right time. Long overshadowed by other Big Ten running backs such as Melvin Gordon at Wisconsin and Ameer Abdullah at Nebraska, Elliott finished with at least 200 yards in each of the Buckeyes’ final three games. 

In the Big Ten title game against Wisconsin and the Sugar Bowl against Alabama, Elliott averaged at least 11 yards per carry. In the national title game against Oregon, he had four touchdowns and wore down the Ducks’ defense with 36 rushing attempts. 

Regardless of who plays quarterback for the Buckeyes next year, Elliott will get his touches. He’s coming off wrist surgery in February but should be good to go for the season. Without a doubt, he projects as the Big Ten’s best running back. 

Now is as good a time as any to say Florida cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III has been taken off the board. 

Hargreaves has been one of the SEC’s best shutdown corners since arriving on campus in 2013. As a freshman, he led the team in pass breakups and interceptions, and he tied for first in the SEC in the latter category as a sophomore in 2014. 

Hargreaves has decent size for the cornerback spot and is as smart as they come in regard to knowing how to play. At this point, he’s the best player available. 

If you need an anchor for your defense, Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright III is probably one of the first names you should consider. 

Put in the simplest of terms, nobody recorded more tackles in 2014 than Wright. The junior-to-be had 163 takedowns, nine more than the next-closest defender (Zach Vigil of Utah State). Along the way, Wright was named a unanimous All-American and won just about every defensive award imaginable. 

If Wright has another season even close to what he had a year ago, it’s hard to imagine him not turning pro. So enjoy him while you can, and scoop him at a great value here. 

Just a few months ago, the possibility existed that Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones was headed to the NFL draft. And what a ride that would have been, too. In a matter of months, Jones went from third-string quarterback to leading the Buckeyes to a national championship because of injuries. Now that he’s chosen to stay for another year, Jones could be Ohio State’s starting quarterback in 2015.

Or, not. That’s the fascinating part. Braxton Miller or J.T. Barrett could still win the starting quarterback job as well. 

While Jones’ three-game win streak as a starter in the Big Ten championship, Sugar Bowl and national championship was impressive, the fact remains he’s a bit of a wild card. Experience is an issue, obviously, and his spring-game performance wasn’t his best, according to head coach Urban Meyer, via The Lantern‘s James Grega, Jr. 

But, goodness, does Jones have a cannon for an arm; he threw it a modest 74 yards during Ohio State’s spring game. Plus, he’s a bruising downhill runner at 6’5″ and 250 pounds. Someone’s going to take a chance on him. It’s just a matter of where. 

Centers are supposed to be some of the smartest guys on the field. Certainly, you could say that for USC center Max Tuerk. 

The senior has started 13 games in each of the past two seasons and started five games as a freshman. He’s played pretty much every single position along the offensive line. According to USC’s website, Tuerk has 33 career starts broken down as follows: 14 at left guard, 13 at center, five at left tackle and one at right tackle. 

He’s the unquestioned leader for USC in the trenches this year, and he’s athletic enough to put him wherever you want him. Those two qualities alone make him an intriguing draft choice. 

This was a tough one—so much potential but serious questions as well. 

Clemson sophomore quarterback Deshaun Watson has injury issues. He missed a few games last season with a hand injury and then tore his ACL in the final regular-season game of the year against South Carolina. Speaking to Zac Ellis of Sports Illustrated, Watson said he’s still recovering from his injury but is on track to play in Week 1 against Wofford. 

In eight games as a freshman, Watson threw for nearly 1,500 yards and accounted for 19 touchdowns. If you can look past his injury-riddled freshman campaign, Watson is as talented as any quarterback you’re going to find. He’d be a higher pick if he weren’t hurt so much, so he’s a steal at No. 25. 

For as loaded as the 2014 NFL wide receiver draft class was, the 2015 class with guys such as Alabama’s Amari Cooper and West Virginia’s Kevin White wasn’t too shabby, either. For the college level, that means there isn’t a lot of star power at wide receiver. 

However, Oklahoma senior Sterling Shepard is a proven playmaker. In 2014, he led the Sooners with 51 grabs for 971 yards and five touchdowns—and he nursed a groin injury for the last month of the season. Additionally, he was essentially the only legitimate receiving option for that offense. 

Not to directly compare his game to Tyler Lockett’s at Kansas State, but Shepard’s role in Oklahoma’s offense shares some similarities. He’s not the biggest guy on the field, but he’s the primary target, is super productive and knows how to get open. 

The amazing thing about linebacker Jaylon Smith’s 2014 season with Notre Dame is that he was only a sophomore and essentially learning a new position (he moved from outside linebacker to inside). Yet, he led the Irish with 111 tackles. 

“He’s thinking about others now, so that’s one of the great signs of being a leader,” head coach Brian Kelly told J.J. Stankevitz of CSNChicago.com. “I think he’s much more comfortable with his own position where he can start to influence others.”

Now a junior and more comfortable in defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder’s scheme, Smith should take the next step in his already productive career. If you’re looking for a defender who’s a tackling machine but still hasn’t hit his full stride yet, Smith is an interesting late-draft option. 

Because there are still plenty of excellent players who went “undrafted”—if you will—here’s a bonus section of players who just missed the cut. To fall in line with the NFL draft order, here are the unofficial picks for spots 32-26.

No. 32: Ole Miss Wide Receiver Laquon Treadwell

He’s coming off a gruesome season-ending leg injury that hurt his draft stock. Still, he caught 48 passes and five touchdowns in nine games last season, and at 6’2″ and 229 pounds, he’s a huge target. He has great value here. 

No. 31: Tennessee Linebacker Curt Maggitt

The redshirt senior is a centerpiece of the Vols defense. He led the team with 11 sacks last season. 

No. 30: USC Defensive Back/Linebacker Su’a Cravens

Cravens is an absolute beast who moves around a lot for the Trojans defense. He led the team with three interceptions, one of which was a pick-six.

No. 29: Pitt Running Back James Conner

The guy had more than 1,700 yards rushing and 26 touchdowns. Holy stats, Batman. However, at 298 carries, he’s pushing the mileage button a bit.

No. 28: South Carolina Wide Receiver Pharoh Cooper

Cooper is one of those rare offensive weapons who does a little bit of everything for the Gamecocks—and excels at each of them. He catches passes, throws passes and picks up some occasional rushing yards. 

No. 27: Ole Miss Offensive Tackle Laremy Tunsil

The fact that there are two injured Ole Miss players on this list who could be ranked much higher should tell you about the awful luck the Rebels had last year. Tunsil is a monster up front but sustained a nasty leg and ankle injury in the Peach Bowl against TCU. He’s only started walking under his own power again last month, according to The Clarion Ledger‘s Riley Blevins.

No. 26: Mississippi State Quarterback Dak Prescott.

Prescott is No. 26 for a reason. He missed the top 25 by this much. And, to be honest, we’re taking some chances on quarterbacks ahead of Prescott that the Bulldogs faithful probably won’t be happy about. For this, we apologize. Prescott’s an amazing player who is the perfect fit for Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen’s offense. 

If there’s someone you think should have been drafted and wasn’t, well, we’re out of explanations. It would have been amazing to draft another dozen or so players, but there simply aren’t enough spots. Believe me—some of these picks were agonizingly difficult. Several were second-guessed, if not third-guessed. 

All the same, if you feel we missed anyone, feel free to add them in the comments section below. 

Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All stats courtesy of cfbstats.com. All quotes cited unless obtained firsthand.