NFL Draft 2017: Latest Order, Mock Draft Predictions Entering Wild Card Weekend

All it takes is one quick glance at the playmakers who are set to take the field in the playoffs to understand how important the NFL draft is in the team-building process.

The Dallas Cowboys are the No. 1 seed in the NFC thanks largely to rookies Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, while the New England Patriots occupy that spot in the AFC with their sixth-round pick from the 2000 draft in Tom Brady.

Those 20 teams that did not make the playoffs this season have already turned their attention toward the draft with the hopes of adding enough talent to be part of the field next year.

With that in mind, here is a look at a first-round mock draft before the playoffs start. Chris Burke of Sports Illustrated said the top 20 selections of the draft are set, and the rest will be determined in the playoffs. Like Burke’s, the 21-32 picks in this draft are set by playoff seeding (with record as a tiebreaker when needed).

Much of the focus going into a draft centers on the players who are expected to go in the top 10 picks, but there is enough talent in the 2017 edition that players taken in the 20s and 30s will make an immediate impact at the next level.

Here are a few of them.

Kansas City Chiefs: Zach Cunningham, LB, Vanderbilt

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The Kansas City Chiefs were largely built on defense this season and reached the playoffs behind a unit that finished seventh in the league in points allowed per game (19.4).

However, the Chiefs could use reinforcements at linebacker moving forward, especially since veteran Derrick Johnson is 34 years old and suffered a season-ending Achilles injury. Enter Vanderbilt’s Zach Cunningham, who has the production and talent necessary to merit a first-round pick.

According to Sports-Reference, the Commodores star posted a head-turning 125 tackles this season, 16.5 for a loss. He anchored the team’s defensive unit on a …

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