Full 2019 NFL Mock Draft: Raiders and 49ers land defensive studs

With the 2019 NFL Draft set to kick off tonight, here is our final 2019 NFL mock draft with both the Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers addressing defense early on.

The wait is over. After months and months of anticipation, endless speculation, and countless mock drafts, the 2019 NFL Draft is finally here.

Well, almost here.

Before the draft kicks off tonight, we decided to run through and predict one final mock draft, this time encompassing all 32 first-round picks. The stakes are high and no one quite knows exactly what’s going to happen which should make for an entertaining night of drafting.

The Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers each hold top-four selections in this year’s draft, with the Raiders also possessing two later first-round picks as well. Both teams are sure to be key players in this year’s draft and have the draft capital to show for it.

While there will certainly be a fair number of first-round trades — this year more so than before — this mock draft will not possess any trades for the sake of simplicity. As such, we are essentially guaranteed to be woefully wrong so apologies in advance.

With that, let’s jump right into our first selection and begin the final NFL mock draft of the 2019 draft season.

There has been some chatter recently about the Cardinals going in a different direction here, but ultimately the first overall pick is the same it’s been for quite some time now. New head coach Kliff Kingsbury is reportedly enamored with Kyler Murray and it seems unlikely at this point that anything different will happen.

The 2018 Heisman Trophy winner has the highest upside out of any quarterback in this class and has traits that could make him a star at the next level. There will be issues to overcome such as schematic changes in the NFL and, of course, the height concerns, but in a QB class full of question marks, Murray is the one with an exclamation point attached to the end.

With Murray off the board, it’s hard for the 49ers to go wrong with their No. 2 overall selection. While Alabama’s Quinnen Williams would be intriguing to pair up with budding star DeForest Buckner in the interior, the greater need is at edge rusher.

Nick Bosa is an ideal fit in the 49ers 4-3 front and already comes in as a much better pass rushed than both Arik Armstead and Solomon Thomas. Given that he also excels at defending the run, this should be considered a home run pick, even with the prior injury concerns.

The Jets could really use an edge rusher here but it may ultimately be impossible for the team to pass up on a talent like Quinnen Williams. Viewed by some as the top overall player in the class, Williams is an elite interior defensive line talent who excels at both defending the run and providing interior pressure.

Pairing him up with former first-round pick Leonard Williams in the interior is an intriguing option that could maximize the talents of each of them. If the Jets were to switch over to 4-3 defense, Leonard Williams could shift over to a three-technique role and Quinnen Williams could slot in as an ideal one-technique defensive tackle giving the team one of the best young defensive tackle pairs in the league.

It’s been very interesting to watch the cycle of Ed Oliver‘s draft stock over the last few months. Originally viewed as a consensus top-three player in the class, Oliver saw his stock drop after a lackluster 2018 campaign and due to concerns about his size.

However, recent reports have him back as a top-five prospect in the eyes of NFL teams and the Raiders could be the team that pulls the trigger and takes him there. While Oakland desperately needs help on the edge, the combination of Oliver and rising star Maurice Hurst in the middle could be too appealing to overlook.