2017 NFL Mock Draft: Projecting First Three Rounds before Scouting Combine

Even with Casey Hayward, the Los Angeles Chargers (that’s still weird to say) need to keep bolstering their secondary if they’re going to compete in the AFC West. Ohio State’s Malik Hooker should be able to help with that.

Hooker has the best ball skills of any safety in this draft class, doing a great job of reading the quarterback’s eyes and jumping in front of the pass. He has great speed and can break downhill when needed, allowing him to cover a lot of the field.

Although Hooker is still working on cutting down his missed tackles, the Ohio State prospect is still fairly young and his upside is through the roof. With Hayward and Hooker in the same secondary, opposing quarterbacks could throw a lot of interceptions against the Chargers next season.

As much as I think that the Carolina Panthers could stand to wait on a running back and take a defensive prospect in the first round, I also understand how hard it’s going to be to pass up on a guy like LSU’s Leonard Fournette.

An ankle injury slowed Fournette down this year, but the tape from the past couple of seasons has shown that he is an absolute wrecking ball when healthy. He has great size at 6-foot-1 and 235 pounds with a violent running style and a nasty stiff arm. Jonathan Stewart isn’t getting any younger, and putting Fournette in the same offense as Cam Newton could open up a lot of opportunities for big plays in the Panthers’ offense.