What you may have missed this weekend: NFL Draft

This was a big weekend for the National Football League, and I want to make sure nobody missed the significant moments of it. That’s why this week we will have two different “What you may have missed” articles. This one is only going to reflect on the NFL draft. There were a lot of moves that shocked us all. Let’s take a look.

“Eli Manning” by Keith Allison is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

 

How about those trades that impacted the draft?

We already know about the Odell Beckham Jr., Amari Cooper and Antonio Brown trades, but other trades impacted draft picks throughout the weekend.

• Pittsburgh Steelers received 66th, 141st pick for Antonio Brown. Those picks were WR Deionte Johnson and TE Zach Gentry.
• Oakland Raiders’ 27th pick (Safety Jonathan Abram) was received from the Amari Cooper trade to the Dallas Cowboys.
• Oakland Raiders’ 24th pick (RB Josh Jacobs) and 196th pick (trade to New York Jets) were part of the Khalil Mack trade to the Chicago Bears.
• New York Giants’ 17th pick (DL Dexter Lawrence) and 95th pick (LB Oshane Ximines) were part of the Odell Beckham Jr. trade to the Cleveland Browns.
• Denver Broncos trade for QB Joe Flacco with the Baltimore Ravens for 113th pick (RB Justice Hill).
• Seattle Seahawks trade EDGE Frank Clark and 84th pick (DT Khalen Saunders) to Kansas City Chiefs for 29th (DE L.J. Collier), 92nd (trade to New York Jets) and 2020 second rounder. Chiefs extended Clark’s contract to 5 years, 105.5 million dollars.
• Pittsburgh Steelers traded up to 10th (LB Devin Bush) with the Denver Broncos and gave up the 20th (TE Noah Fant), 52nd (trade to Bengals) and 2020 3rd round pick.
• Denver Broncos traded with Cincinnati Bengals to move up. Broncos received the 42nd pick (QB Drew Lock). Bengals receive No. 52 (TE Drew Sample), No. 125 (DT Renell Wren) and No. 182 (RB Trayveon Williams).
• The Bengals moved up later to draft QB Ryan Finley with the 104th pick. They traded with the San Francisco 49ers, who received the 110th (P Mitch Wishnowsky) and 183rd (T Justin Skule).
• After drafting EDGE Rashaan Gary with the 12th pick, the Packers moved up from 30 to 21 and selected DB Darnell Savage. The Seattle Seahawks received multiple picks which they used to trade later on in the draft. Those picks were No. 30 (trade to Giants), No. 114 (trade to Minnesota), No. 118 (trade to New England).
• That Packers trade sparked several trades late in the first round as the Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens swapped picks. The Eagles drafted OT Andre Dillard 22nd overall. The Ravens drafted WR Marquise “Hollywood” Brown with the 25th pick. They also received the 127th (CB Iman Marshall) and 197th picks (QB Trace McSorley).
• The Washington Redskins traded back into the first round after drafting QB Dwayne Haskins 15th overall.  The Redskins received the 26th pick (Edge Montez Sweat) from the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts receive 46th pick (traded to the Browns), and a  2020 second-round pick.
• The New York Giants also traded back into the first round and selected CB Deandre Baker with the 30th pick. The Seahawks received even more picks, No. 37 (trade to Panthers), No. 132 (S Ugochukwu Amadi), and No. 142 (LB Ben Burr-Kirven).
• The Atlanta Falcons weren’t done either. After a surprising pick with the 14th overall (OG Chris Lindstrom), they wanted to trade up and draft another surprising OL with the 31st pick (OT Kaleb McGary), they also received the 203rd pick and selected WR Marcus Green. The Los Angeles Rams got a few picks back in return. The 45th (trade to Patriots) and the 79th (DB David Long)
• After the Jacksonville Jaguars landed EDGE Josh Allen with the 7th overall pick, they were looking to get the guy they wanted all along, and they traded up earlier in the 2nd round. With the 35th pick, the Jaguars got OT Jawaan Taylor (1st round projected). They also added the 140th (Ryquell Armstead) and 235th (DT Dontavius Russell). The Raiders received the 38th, and 109th picks which were later traded.
• With all the news about QB Cam Newton’s health being in question, the Carolina Panthers look to help protect him.  They did so by trading up in the 2nd round to take OT Greg Little at 37. The Seahawks received the 47th pick (DB Marquise Blair) and 77th (trade to Patriots). The Panthers also drafted QB Will Grier in the 3rd round in late of Newton’s health and maybe ended of a career with Panthers.
• As part of a big run of drafting offensive linemen, the Buffalo Bills had their eyes on trading up to draft OT Cody Ford with the 38th pick. The Raiders would receive the 40th pick (DB Trayvon Mullen) and 158th (trade to Dallas).
• The Cleveland Browns had a quiet draft this year after the trade to get WR Odell Beckham Jr. and adding RB Kareem Hunt to the team, but they wanted to get “greedy” and traded up to get CB Greedy Williams with the 46th pick. The Colts received the 49th (LB Ben Banogu) and 144th pick (S Marvell Tell III).
• The Kansas City Chiefs and LA Rams made a desperation trade as the Chiefs moved up to take WR Mecole Hardman with the 56th after finding out about WR Tyreke Hill’s video that leaked. The Chiefs may be in trouble if Hill is found guilty, but Hardman is a poor man’s Hill, and the two could play off one another if Hill can play. The Rams received the 61st (DB Taylor Rapp) and 167th pick (traded to Philadelphia).
• The Rams would later trade up to take RB Darrell Henderson with the 70th pick. That is a move that could prove to be valuable with the status of RB Todd Gurley up in the air right now. In return, the Buccaneers received the 94th (DB Jamel Dean) and the 99th picks (S Mike Edwards).
• After both QB Kyler Murray and Daniel Jones were taken in the top six, Miami passed on QB Dwayne Haskins and drafted DL Christian Wilkins with the 13th overall pick. They also traded for former 1st rounder QB Josh Rosen later in the evening on Thursday to secure their QB spot. The Miami Dolphins received Rosen from the Arizona Cardinals for the 62nd pick (WR Andy Isabella) and 2020 fifth-round pick.

 

Players who fell in the draft?

• The Washington Redskins drafted Dwayne Haskins at 15th and Montez Sweat at 26th. Haskins was a projected top 10 pick with several teams having interest in trading up for him. Sweat’s late injury put a bit of worry on the faces of some teams. But the Redskins saw the opportunity and grab it.
• One of the top five offensive linemen fell to the second round and drafted by the team that mocked him going. That was Jawaan Taylor and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
• One of the top five WRs wasn’t even the top 10th picked in the draft. The Seattle Seahawks traded up into the second round to draft him. That player was D.K. Metcalf, and the Seahawks drafted him in light of whether this may be WR Doug Baldwin’s farewell after battling injuries over the last couple of seasons.
• OL Cody Ford also dropped out of the first round after being a possibility for the Houston Texans and Atlanta Falcons who surprised us with other picks.
• DB Taylor Rapp was likely a late first to an early second rounder, but he fell to the Los Angeles Rams in the late second.
• WRs Hakeem Butler and A.J. Brown were expected off the board earlier than where they ended up. Both of these could likely be stars in the NFL and their teams right away. The Arizona Cardinals drafted Butler and Brown was drafted by the Tennessee Titans.
• Let’s also not forget to mention this year’s Mr. Irrelevant, TE Caleb Wilson from UCLA. Wilson was selected as the last pick of the 2019 draft by the Arizona Cardinals.

 

Players who rose in the draft?

• As certain players fell, others raised, and QB Daniel Jones was the biggest one of them. With the 6th pick in the draft, the New York Giants selected Jones as the potential heir to Eli Manning. Now I saw them drafting Jones at some point in the draft because he has ties to the Manning family, but I didn’t think it would be 6th.
• The Oakland Raiders selected DL Clelin Ferrell instead of drafting EDGE guys like Josh Allen, Rashaan Gary or even Ed Olivier. Ferrell was also surprised about the pick at 4th overall. The Raiders continued to select players from both Alabama and Clemson for most of the night.
• The Atlanta Falcons surprised us all by going with OG Chris Lindstrom at 14, but trading back into the first round to take OT Kaleb McGary was a big shock. Although, after listening to an interview by Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff, it was the guys they wanted and felt that if they waited too long for McGary in the second or third, he wouldn’t have been able. So let’s see how this one plays out.
• The Green Bay Packers wanted to be “Savage” on defense and traded up to get DB Darnell Savage in the 1st round. For the sake of the Cheese heads, I hope this pick works out.
• Also, DL Jeff Simmons, he was drafted by the host city, Tennessee Titans in the first round and he wasn’t on the board as a first rounder. The Titans did make up for it with other picks like A.J. Brown later in the draft, but let’s see how this one works.

 

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What do you think about the NFL draft? How did your team’s draft go? Do you approve? Let us know in the comments!