Well, another NFL Draft has came and went and all it has done is make me miss football season all the more. Seriously though, the off season in the NFL feels so damn long sometimes for someone who enjoys it as much as I do. Don’t get me wrong, it’s certainly justified. This is a highly physical contact sport and players are going to need a lot of time after a season to heal, train, and recover but man. The draft always gets me excited for the next season and then I remember that the last season ended not terribly long ago actually and there’s still like 5 months before kickoff and I get sad, but we’re not here to talk about sad boy Eli today, we’re here to talk about some of the moves in the draft.
I feel like reporters couldn’t help themselves but continually talk about Shedeur Sanders for the entirety of the draft. At first it was “where is Shedeur going to land?’ and then he began to slide further and further down the draft order, and then they couldn’t quit talking about that, until he was finally nabbed by my Cleveland Browns. I won’t lie, I was one of the doubters of Sanders coming into this draft, I don’t know what it was, but I didn’t buy the hype and felt he would be overvalued in the draft. At least I wasn’t buying the hype that he was a top prospect, first round QB that was NFL ready-to-go, but as the draft went on round after round and he was still on the board he started to feel like an undervalued steal, and I’m not upset at all with the pick by Cleveland when they made it. The only thing that made it feel a bit head scratching was that they selected Dillon Gabriel (another QB) just 50 picks earlier so I guess there will be a bit of a duel at the QB position in the coming seasons potentially. They made one thing very clear this draft and this off season so far as a whole, they seem to be attempting to move on from Watson as quickly as possible. I am a Browns fan (I’ve loved them and the Cowboys since I was a kid. I know, my friends have roasted me for years, but I’ve grown accustomed to it), but I will be the first to tell you that now that the dust has settled on DeShaun Watson as a Cleveland Brown…that was one of the worst, most foul, ill-advised, poor timed, bone headed deals in the history of the NFL, but guess what, it happened, and all we can do now is attempt to move on from that GIANT hit to the salary cap. Whatever, I expect Flacco to probably start off the season regardless, but their QB room is getting pretty cramped so I’m not sure where they go from there. Mason Graham was a huge pickup as well, having him and Myles Garrett on the line together should be nasty and Carson Schwesinger should be a huge move at linebacker, so the Browns defense could be a piece of work this coming season hopefully. Quinshon Judkins is the hopeful answer to the hole in our hearts that Nick Chubb is going to leave at running back as well, so I’m not at all mad at the Browns this draft surprisingly.
Not to only talk on them though, the Jags also made a big move, trading up in the draft with the Brownies to get dual threat player, Travis Hunter. Travis seems like a good guy, and I think he could be a dynamic player for sure, but I’m not sure how long he will or should play on both sides of the ball. If he can do it, that’s fantastic, but that’s also higher risk for injury and everything else as well, and if he’s an important piece of the offense then they won’t want to risk that. I think Cam Ward has the potential to be a special player as well, he has a great arm. It stinks that he got stuck on the Titans as they’ve been a bit of a revolving door at that position lately, but that’s what happens when you’re the first pick of the NFL Draft, I suppose you don’t always land in the best situations. Abdul Carter was potentially the best overall athlete and football player in the draft, and I think he’ll probably hit the ground running in the league on the Giants. The Giants killed it this draft in general, landing Abdul Carter (a dynamic edge defender), Jaxson Dart (their hopeful, eventual consistent starting QB), and Cam Skattebo (a strong, dynamic steal at RB). My Cowboys did pretty well for themselves too. I was at first upset by the Tyler Booker pick, but after seeing his personality some after the fact and how happy he was to be drafted by them, he kind of won me over already. Plus, Zack Martin retired this offseason and will be sorely missed on the offensive line so it’s nice to address that problem immediately. I’m kind of bummed that they didn’t go for a WR because giving Ceedee some help would’ve really been nice, but Donovan Ezeiruaku (an edge defender) and Shavon Revel (a cornerback) were great value picks and should add a level to the defense, and Jaydon Blue is the hopeful answer to the Cowboys RB woes of recent years. The Raiders needed to do well for themselves too this year and they did, landing potentially the most dynamic RB in the draft, Ashton Jeanty and adding a high-level receiver in Jack Bech.
The Panthers got another hopefully smart and consistent receiver to help out Bryce Young in Tetairoa McMillan, they drafted Xavier Legette last year and I think he still has a lot of promise, just has to solve the drops problem of his rookie season. The Panthers are adding more and more offensive weapons though and Chubba Hubbard is a great RB, so I think that offense has the potential to look the best it has in years this coming season. The Packers drafted a much-needed big time WR in the first round as well with Matthew Golden, I’m a Cowboys fan so call me butt hurt but I’ve never been very into the Packers, that being said I feel like they’ve been right on the cusp of having a well-oiled offense, but they’ve just lacked reliable receivers so that was a nice pickup. The Seahawks had a notably good draft as well, adding a strong lineman on their offense and some exciting young receivers in late round potential steals. Not to mention Jalen Milroe in the 2nd round, who could be their QB to develop for the future. I was personally excited to see Quinn Ewers scooped up by the Dolphins late in the draft, I have been a fan of his for a while for some reason and want to see him get a chance to grow and hopefully find success in the NFL. Don’t get me wrong, I’m as excited to see the potential of Arch Manning as the next guy, but Quinn kind of felt unfairly rushed in development once Arch was officially a Longhorn.
I mean I could talk all day about this year’s NFL Draft, but there’s just not enough time to cover everything. That’s what makes it so exciting to keep up with the draft every single year. 257 young men got to live out a dream this past week and that in itself is pretty awesome regardless of what any analyst or fan thinks about their team making the right pick or not. You never truly know until you give things a chance to play out on the field. Every single draft, there are sleeper picks that end up rising far above expectations. Picks in the 4th rounds and later that end up outperforming guys drafted in the first round and that’s the truly exciting part about football and the draft. It’s tough, you have to rise to the occasion, but everyone gets the chance to prove themselves if they’re good enough to get drafted and they stay committed, and the young men that we see out there week in and week out during the season are the absolute best and most gifted players in the sport who rose to the occasion. We will see how things play out, I’m just excited for the season to get rolling again and to see some of these fresh faces out on the field. It can’t come soon enough now. Until next time though, be good to one another out there and thanks for reading.
