Free agency and the scouting combine are still on the horizon, but people are still hungry for 2012 NFL Mock Drafts. Plenty can change between now and April, but here are my initial thoughts on how the first round could shake out.

A lot of people have been predicting trades in the top five for teams hoping to land Robert Griffin III. I am well aware of this possibility, but chose not to include trades to make things less complicated. I don't have sources, nor do I own a crystal ball, so my ability to forecast trades is less than stellar. That being said, I think the Skins will end with RG3, if I had to strike a guess.

With that being said, here is my first mock draft of the season. Plenty of changes to come between now and the big day, so stay tuned and be sure to rip me apart in the comments.

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With the NFL season officially over, we move into full swing off-season mode. This of course means, it's mock draft season! (ok, don't all of you sigh at once...) I'm not really a big fan of doing mock drafts before the combine and free agency, but I thought I'd give it a go today as a way to kick off the off-season.

(Note: I was hoping to continue my Ryan Tannehill series today, but the site I use for footage has taken down their Tannehill stuff for whatever reason. So I thought my first attempt at a mock draft would hopefully hold you over.)

1. The Indianapolis Colts select: Andrew Luck, Quarterback, Stanford.

After the past few weeks of this Peyton Manning and Jim Irsay... lets say, altercation, it's hard to imagine Peyton being the Colts starting quarterback next year. The most obvious choice to replace him is Andrew Luck. I'm not 100% sold that Luck won't try and dictate the team he wants to play for, but at this stage of the process, Luck has to be the pick.

Trade - The Washington Redskins give up their 1st and 2nd round picks in 2012, along with their 1st round pick of 2013 to get to number 2 overall.

2. The Washington Redskins select: Robert Griffin III, Quarterback, Baylor.

The Redskins are tired of mediocrity at the quarterback position which they've suffered with for at least the last decade. Head Coach Mike Shanahan decides to pull the trigger and go up and get his guy. Griffin offers a unique blend of an elite physical skill-set along with great intangibles which gives him the potential to challenge Andrew Luck for the number one selection. Griffin III draws comparisons to Michael Vick because of his size and athleticism, but he's a much more accomplished thrower than Vick was back in 2001. Griffin III completed 72.4% of his passes this season, with 37 touchdown passes and just six interceptions. Griffin III also has one of the best deep throws I've seen from a quarterback prospect in a long time and should help stabilize a franchise that is in desperate need of stability.

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Now that the Senior Bowl is over and only the Super Bowl remains, some player values and team needs are beginning to be set. So now seemed like a good, overdue time to release my first mock draft since November. Some of the picks remain the same, namely the top four. But others have changed dramatically.

Some of the picks I experimented with to gauge reaction. That wasn't done to generate buzz and I don't think any of the picks were reaches. But always seeing a defensive tackle to the Carolina Panthers, for instance, seemed boring. As is the case with all the mocks I do outside of April, this is a projection of what I think should happen and not necessarily what will happen. After all, we have free agency which will unquestionably change how a team drafts.

Also, don't fret teams flipping a coin for their pick or Giants fans. In situations where the pick isn't set, I went in alphabetical order. Check out the mock draft after the jump and let me know what you think.

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It' is officially draft season, which also means it's mock draft season. When it comes to mock drafts, none garners more attention than that of Mel Kiper's He released a new mock draft today, which you can read here. Note: It's In$ider content.

Skipping over the first pick should be commonplace. What isn't is who the Rams get projected to take second overall. Kiper goes with Oklahoma State Justin Blackmon. I can't agree with the pick. Blackmon, while very good, isn't a transcendent player because of size or athleticism and comes out of a pass-happy offense with the Cowboys.

The Rams could sign a free agent from the loaded group of wide receivers who will be available that would have the equivalent production and impact of Blackmon. They won't be able to sign a player who would have the same impact as offensive tackle Matt Kalil — which is, of course, assuming they don't trade out of the No. 2 overall pick.

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Trades in mock drafts are funny business. They tend to be unrealistic, done so only to make the mock maker's job easier. Personally, I stay away from trades in my mock drafts. One person who did not is Andrew Perloff of Sports Illustrated/The Dan Patrick Show.

He projects the Cleveland Browns to trade their two first-round picks to the St. Louis Rams in order to draft Baylor's Robert Griffin III second overall. The Rams are then projected to take Oklahoma State wide receiver Justin Blackmon fourth and North Alabama (via Florida) cornerback Janoris Jenkins with the 22nd pick. Although there are questions about Jenkins' character, this is a scenario Rams fans would have to love.

Perloff's mock drat is rife with surprises, which is a nice change. Among them, he has the Jaguars taking Penn State defensive tackle Devon Still seventh, which is somewhat unlikely. He also has the Seattle Seahawks using the 12th pick to get Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill. That's a possibility given quarterbacks always rise in the draft and Seahawks certainly need one.

One draft dropper in Perloff's scenario is Alabama running back Trent Richardson, who goes 17th to the Cincinnati Bengals. He later gives the Bengals South Carolina cornerback Stephon Gilmore. If Stanford guard David DeCastro is off the board when the Bengals pick, expect them to go running back/cornerback with their first two picks.

Read Perloff's full mock draft here.

Todd McShay of ESPN's Scout's Inc. released his first mock for the 2012 NFL Draft today. (Sorry some/most of you, this is In$ider content)There are few surprises at the top — Andrew Luck, Matt Kalil and Morris Claiborne fill the top three.

The first pick that really stuck out was McShay putting North Carolina defensive end Quinton Coples in the top five, to the Jacksonville Jaguars. If you've read this site at all during the 2011 season, you know my feelings on Coples. He's a very good power end who may not have the initial burst to beat quick tackles to edge.

From a greed standpoint, I also wanted to compare my mock with McShay's. After all, I imagine he gets paid quite a bit to do this. To my surprise, McShay and I had 11 picks the same, though some of them were guys I had in the second round. That includes running back David Wilson to the Lions and quarterback Landry Jones to the Seahawks.

My favorite thing about mocks (and McShay's is no different) is the comments. If you don't have an agreeable pick, instantly you're a hackish, unintelligent, knuckle-dragging a-hole who obviously not only doesn't watch college or pro football, but you enjoy ballet and some other unmanly endeavor.

So, check out McShay's mock draft here. Show your Internet toughness in the comments here and there. If you do it and tell them you came from Mocking the Draft, Santa will give you an extra manly gift this year.

After not updating my own mock draft since late October, now seemed to be a good time to do so. I can't speak for anyone else who does a mock draft, but these are quite time consuming. This edition of the mock draft is two rounds (you're welcome New Orleans and Atlanta) and took probably four hours of research and typing out.

The hardest choices were those made for Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, Arizona and Kansas City. Each of those teams is currently in a poor spot for what their needs are. Unfortunately for them, my mock drafts don't include trade scenarios — they're too hard to make realistic. But when the real draft comes around, expect many. In fact, the first four picks may all be shopped around next year because of the new rookie wage scale.

Find the mock after the jump and let me know what you think. The order is the same as the draft order I put up last week. (Also make sure to check out the pre-bowl mock from Pick256)

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The main reason behind doing the mock draft spotlight is to showcase draft sites and writers that I enjoy. One of my absolute favorite draft people is Rob Staton of Seahawks Draft Blog. He as thoughtful and intelligent as anyone around.

Among other things, he was far ahead of the curve on Wisconsin center Peter Konz and Southern California quarterback Matt Barkley. Both are those players are featured in his latest mock draft.

Barkley is mocked fifth overall to the Washington Redskins and Konz is sent to the New England Patriots at No. 24. Both are sensible.

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