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USA TODAY Sports

What will happen when the 2014 NFL draft officially begins? Which prospects will your favorite team add? Where will your favorite college player line up next season?

Hundreds of people will try to tell you what will happen when the 2014 draft kicks off, but my job in this seven-round mock draft is to tell you what should happen—based on team needs, my player rankings and trends in the draft.

That's an important distinction to make. This mock draft isn't a prediction of what will happen Thursday night—even if some of the picks line up with what each NFL team might do. This seven-round mock is the result of looking at each team's current roster and future needs, and matching those to find the player who best carries the traits needed for the team's scheme and coaches.

So who comes off the board first?

All NFL Scouting Combine numbers are courtesy of NFL.com. An asterisk denotes a compensatory pick.