2017 NFL Mock Draft: Full first round predictions

The NFL Draft is coming up next week, April 27, and teams are zeroing in on prime targets.

The green room at the Philadelphia Museum of Art will feature a heavy Louisiana State contingent, while the Pac-12 will be dominating with seven players scheduled to attend the first night of the NFL draft.

The NFL announced Thursday night the 22 prospects and 13 college coaches confirmed for the first round April 27.

No college will have more prospects attending than LSU with running back Leonard Fournette, safety Jamal Adams and cornerback Tre'Davious White. Coach Ed Orgeron also will be with his Tigers.

ALSO SEE: Full viewer guide to 2017 NFL Draft

Jabrill Peppers perhaps played out of position at Michigan last season, lining up as a linebacker even though he seemed most suited to play safety in the NFL.

He made enough plays to become a Heisman Trophy finalist as a junior and to determine he was ready to play in the league.

Timing might work against Peppers, though, because he's projected to be taken after LSU's Jamal Davis and Ohio State's Malik Hooker. Those two safeties are expected to be among the top selections next week, and no one appears to be sure when Peppers will be taken.

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Bleacher Report NFL analyst Chris Simms said Peppers was the "most overrated ," prospect in the draft last week and the proud player fired back the next day on Twitter.

"I played out of position (LB @ 200lbs) pounds, and still became an All American," Peppers tweeted . "How many players can/ARE WILLING to do that for their team?"

The 5-foot-11, 213-pound Peppers declined an interview Saturday while walking up the tunnel out of Michigan Stadium after the school's spring game. But he acknowledged last month that it is fair to question where he will play in the league because there isn't a lot of tape of him at safety. Peppers was primarily used as a nickel cornerback as a sophomore in 2015.

Coach Jim Harbaugh had him return punts and kickoffs and play on offense, putting him in as a wildcat quarterback, running back and wide receiver.

"I've had one team tell me they want me to play linebacker," Peppers said in March at Michigan's pro day. "One team told me they thought I should play offense. Other than that it's, 'you're a safety.' ... No one's come into a room and said, 'Jabrill, we don't know what to do with you.' "

Speed, it seems, will be an asset for Peppers.

He ran a 4.46 40-yard dash at the scouting combine, showing off the form that helped him in high school become a New Jersey state champion in track. In games, whether returning a punt for a touchdown or a fumble on a 2-point conversion, he simply looked like a blur at times.

Peppers didn't play in Michigan's 33-32 loss to Florida State in the Orange Bowl because of an injured left hamstring, but has proven he's healthy during a string of visits with NFL teams.

He led a team stacked with NFL-caliber players with 16 tackles for losses last season and ranked third with 72 tackles. He also had four sacks, one interception and forced a fumble. On offense, Peppers had 27 carries for 167 yards, caught two passes and scored three touchdowns. He returned a punt for a score in a win over Colorado, averaged a Big Ten-best 14.8 yards on punt returns, and gained 26 yards per kickoff return.

He won the Hornung Award as the nation's most versatile college football player, and the Lott Trophy, which honors a defensive player for character and performance.

"Whatever team takes me, it's going to be a steal," Peppers said. "I don't care what the draft experts — and things like that — what they have to say. I only care about what these GMs and coaches think about me. I just need the opportunity. That's it.

"I didn't play safety, but I'm going to be a safety."

Joe Haden has watched the tape and arrived at an easy decision: Myles Garrett.

Cleveland's front office may still be weighing its options with the No. 1 overall pick in next week's NFL draft, but Haden has made up his mind and wants Texas A&M's Garrett, a 6-foot-4, 272-pound freight train in shoulder pads.

"I would be super-excited if they took this guy Myles Garrett," said the star cornerback.

Haden didn't need much prompting to blurt out Garrett's name, and he didn't hold back while urging the Browns, coming off a 1-15 season, to snag the defensive standout considered the cream of the crop in a defense-rich draft.

Haden's job description doesn't include talent evaluator, but if he was putting together a mock draft, Garrett would be his first — and only — choice.

"If it was my draft, then he would be," Haden said with a smile. "But don't get me in trouble."

It would seem the Browns, who have a checkered draft history, can't go wrong if they take Garrett, who dropped jaws at the NFL combine with a 41-inch vertical jump and 4.64-second 40-yard dash.

He's the consensus top player available, and the Browns will have first crack at him.

Haden, the No. 7 overall pick in 2010, is convinced Garrett can change Cleveland.

"Watching him on tape I just feel like he'll be an immediate impact player," said the two-time Pro Bowler, "and I just feel like he'll be a guy that we could have rushing the passer for years to come. You know that timing in a quarterback's head, that knowing that he's about to get hit and being able to get there and get that pressure on him, it helps out the secondary big time."

Garrett is presumed to be Cleveland's top choice as well, and the team has done its homework on the 21-year-old, putting him through a private workout and getting to know him on a personal level. He had dinner with coach Hue Jackson.

In three years with the Aggies, Garrett made 31 sacks and 47 tackles for loss.

The Browns also own the No. 12 overall pick, a selection they could use to find that elusive franchise quarterback, and five of the first 65 picks. Those assets could help turn around a franchise that hasn't been to the playoffs since 2002 and endured 12 double-digit-loss seasons since.

The abundance of high picks is nice, but for Haden, the first one is the only one that matters.

"After that one, that Myles, then I really don't care," Haden said. "After No. 1, I'm good. They can just do whatever they gotta do."

Haden is fully recovered from a serious groin injury that limited him last season and required surgery. The losing — and criticism about his play — took a toll. He couldn't wait to put the worst season of his career behind him.

"I think I can be the best corner in the game still," he said. "This is my eighth season, I just turned 28, I'm ready to get after it. Without the injuries, without the stuff — it's been a lot, it's been tough, trying to fight through it, but I feel like when I'm out there healthy, can't nobody mess with me."

Haden has also been re-energized by the arrival of new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who has lived up to his no-nonsense reputation already. Best known for his involvement in the New Orleans bounties scandal, Williams wasted no time in laying out his expectations to Haden and Cleveland's other defensive players.

"It doesn't matter when you got drafted or who you are, he's going to be in your face no matter what," Haden said. "You've just got to accept it. You've got to make plays to be out there on the field. The biggest thing is just the accountability thing of calling you out, being in your face, and there's really nothing you can do about it."

Williams' brash style isn't for everybody. Haden welcomes it.

"It's a shock, but that's what we need," he said. "We need somebody that's going to switch it up, change it up, tell us something, cuss us out, scream at us, let us know that we're sorry right now and we've got to be better. I'm excited about having him here, because I feel like it's a new energy and, shoot, we need that."