2024 NFL mock draft: Random names out of a hat edition

The best 2024 NFL first-round mock you’ll ever see: The Complete Randomized Edition:

With NFL mock draft season coming to a close, it’s time to conclude the pre-draft process with the most important mock you’ll read: our annual Random Names Out of a Hat NFL mock draft, 2024 edition.

This tradition goes all the way back to 2013, when site founder Sean Yuille set out to answer a very important question: Could a completely randomized draft produce better results for the Detroit Lions than when Matt Millen was general manager?

When Sean stepped down in 2015, I was happy to pick up the tradition as a way to poke fun at the ridiculousness of mock drafts in general.

But now I believe this randomized mock draft has taken on a new meaning. Lions general manager Brad Holmes has proven to be quite unpredictable in his time as Lions general manager. That has left a lot of us scratching our heads as to what the Lions may do this year with the 29th overall pick. So perhaps a randomized mock draft has just as likely of a chance at being right as an informed opinion.

So let’s see.

Here’s how the randomized mock draft works. I wrote down the top 32 players on Arif Hasan’s 2024 Consensus Big Board on individual pieces of paper. I threw those pieces of paper into my trusty Lions hat, and the order in which I pulled out each random piece of paper matched up with the NFL Draft order. Obviously, there were no trades.

Before we get into the picks, if you’re interested in the results from previous years, here are backlinks all the way to the original concept:

• 2023 Random Hat Draft
• 2022 Random Hat Draft
• 2021 Random Hat Draft
• 2020 Random Hat Draft
• 2019 Random Hat Draft
• 2018 Random Hat Draft
• 2016 Random Hat Draft
• 2015 Random Hat Draft
• 2014 Random Hat Draft
• 2013 Random Hat Draft

Last year, we only correctly predicted Anthony Richardson to the Colts. Here’s a look at this year’s draft:

2024 NFL mock draft: Randomized edition

1. Chicago Bears — CB Kool-Aid McKinstry, Alabama
2. Washington Commanders — DT Byron Murphy, Texas
3. New England Patriots — C Jackson Powers-Johnson, Oregon
4. Arizona Cardinals — QB Drake Maye, North Carolina
5. Los Angeles Chargers — EDGE Jared Verse, Florida State
6. New York Giants — WR Ladd McConkey, Georgia
7. Tennessee Titans — G Troy Fatanu, Washington
8. Atlanta Falcons — CB Nate Wiggins, Clemson
9. Chicago Bears — OT Taliese Fuaga, Oregon State
10. New York Jets — WR Brian Thomas Jr., LSU
11. Minnesota Vikings — QB Caleb Williams, USC
12. Denver Broncos — OT Olumuyiwa Fashanu, Penn State
13. Las Vegas Raiders — EDGE Chop Robinson, Penn State
14. New Orleans Saints — OT Amarius Mims, Georgia
15. Indianapolis Colts — CB Terrion Arnold, Alabama
16. Seattle Seahawks — C Graham Barton, Duke
17. Jacksonville Jaguars — WR Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State
18. Cincinnati Bengals — EDGE Darius Robinson, Missouri
19. Los Angeles Rams — WR Adonai Mitchell, Texas
20. Pittsburgh Steelers — DB Cooper DeJean, Iowa
21. Miami Dolphins — EDGE Dallas Turner, Alabama
22. Philadelphia Eagles — DT Johnny Newton, Illinois
23. Minnesota Vikings — TE Brock Bowers, Georgia
24. Dallas Cowboys — CB Quinyon Mitchell, Toledo
25. Green Bay Packers — WR Rome Odunze, Washington
26. Tampa Bay Buccaneers — EDGE Laiatu Latu, UCLA
27. Arizona Cardinals — OT JC Latham, Alabama
28. Buffalo Bills — OT Joe Alt, Notre Dame
29. Detroit Lions — QB Jayden Daniels, LSU
30. Baltimore Ravens — QB J.J. McCarthy, Michigan
31. San Francisco 49ers — OT Tyler Guyton, Oklahoma
32. Kansas City Chiefs — WR Malik Nabers, LSU

While I don’t like this mock’s chances of correctly picking the Lions’ pick, there are a few randomized selections that could match. Amarius Mims to the Saints is a nice match but maybe a tad early for him, Seattle could very well target Graham Barton, and I think Pittsburgh is a sneaky landing spot for Cooper DeJean.

What randomized pairing do you like the best?