This week’s buy or sell will be a reflection on three teams who had two or more first round draft picks in the 2019 NFL draft. Join Aman, Joel and I as we determine if these teams made the right decisions with their first round picks.
For the Giants, it’s a question of whether they reached on one specific player who they probably could’ve gotten later in the round. The Falcons drafted heavily on one side of the ball. Others thought they would continue to go the other way, but was it a wrong move? How about Joe Gruden’s Oakland Raiders? After giving us the first biggest surprise in the draft, people thought they wasted all three of their picks.
Let’s find out what we think.
Rahim: The New York Giants reached too high on Daniel Jones
Joel: I 100% buy the Giants reaching too high on Daniel Jones. They reached way too high! First off, Jones is a guy who was consistently mocked in the mid to late first round. I don’t think I once saw him mocked going in the top 10, let alone one pick outside the top five.
The Giants probably could have got Jones with their second first round pick (17th). They could have at least traded back a couple of spots and picked up some more draft picks. The value in Jones at No. 6 is terrible in my opinion. We’re talking about a guy who didn’t even complete 60% of his passes in his college career, never threw for 3,000 yards and threw for 20+ TDs in three seasons. Doesn’t sound worthy of the sixth pick if you ask me.
Aman: Yeah…buy. It’s tough to say otherwise, and this season won’t go well for the New York Giants.
Their offense was already doomed to be weak, and their second pick won’t do them any favors. His stats will even look dismal to Giants fans themselves, especially the low completion rate.
Aman: The Atlanta Falcons made the wrong move by going for OL Kaleb McGary when their biggest problem last season was defense
Rahim: This one could go either way in my opinion. It depends on what kind of football fan and team you want to cheer for.
If I was a die-hard Falcons fan who thinks the defense needed to get another first round pick because guys like Vic Beasley aren’t what we expected after four years of inconsistency, but I believe that with coach Dan Quinn running the defense, Beasley and all the current Falcons will play better.
They did address their defensive needs later in the draft with CBs
Kendall Sheffield and Jordan Miller. They also drafted DE John Cominsky. All three of these guys were decent picks.
But I’m going to sell that McGary and Lindstrom was the wrong move, as I look at it from a football fan living in Atlanta. The biggest talk around Atlanta is how to get Matt Ryan back to the MVP status he was when he led the Falcons to the Super Bowl three years ago.
The ironic thing about it is, he posted better numbers last year despite all the injuries. But where the Falcons went wrong was on the small yard players. Whether or not RB Devontae Freeman missed most of the season last year, the Falcons have always struggled to get that extra one yard for the first down. Failing to get that yard meant the defense was on the field more often than usual.
However, with the addition of both Lindstrom and McGary, the Falcons’ offensive line will be more aggressive, and that is good for both the RBs and QB Matt Ryan. Since being drafted, Ryan has been sacked more than any QB in the league, and he is now approaching mid 30’s. If the Falcons want to have him for another five seasons, this was a move that needed to be done, so I sell it being a bad decision.
Joel: I buy the Falcons making the wrong move by taking Kaleb McGary, but not because the defense was their biggest problem last season.
I buy this as making the wrong move because of where they drafted McGary. Nobody had this guy going in the first round. I don’t think they needed to trade back into the first to get him.
I’ll also throw Chris Lindstrom in here. Nobody had him going in the first round, yet he went 14th. It’s not bad for the Falcons to try to get better up front, but I don’t like the value of where they got their guys. They could’ve waited and got them later on.
Joel: The Oakland Raiders wasted their three first round picks
Aman: I sell the Raiders completely wasting their draft picks. Maybe it wasn’t the strongest draft, but the Raiders needed to bring new light to their defense, and they’ve done just that.
They showed that intent with the pick of Clelin Ferrell, who recorded 11.5 sacks last season, compared to the Raiders’ combined 13. Sure, there is debate as to whether players like Josh Allen or Ed Oliver would’ve been better draft picks, but Raiders believe Ferrell will get the job done for them.
Despite Jonathan Abram being a safety, he has experience playing as a CB who can cover threatening WRs, as witnessed throughout his Mississippi State college career.
The third pick, RB Josh Jacobs, makes 100% complete sense to me. The Raiders will need to patch the RB spot after the announcement of Marshawn Lynch’s retirement.
Rahim: I also sell this one! Although the Raiders surprisingly took DE Clelin Ferrell over EDGE Josh Allen, I still think the picks are decent. With what Gruden and the Raiders plan to do on defense, Ferrell could work out better for them.
The Raiders added several key pieces on defense in free agency, like LBs Brandon Marshall and Vontaze Burfict. They also signed FS LaMarcus Joyner from the Rams.
I know what your next question is, so why draft Safety Jonathan Abram? Well, Abram can play alongside both Joyner and SS Karl Joseph as a nickel corner, or he could be an additional CB.
The RB selection of Josh Jacobs was an obvious one that we all saw coming once RB Marshawn Lynch announced he’ll be retiring again. The Raiders did sign Isaiah Crowell in free agency, but he will likely the entire season after tearing his ACL. But the Raiders are looking for a back of the future who could pound and ground. I don’t believe that Jalen Richard is the pound and ground RB for them. Richard is more of a catching back, and we could see the two of them playing alongside one another well.
So despite the shocking turn of events in the first round of the draft, I sell the Raiders wasting their first three picks. The thing I didn’t like was that they drafted four players from the National Championship game last year because some of them weren’t the best player available at the time.
And there you have it! Now, what do you think?
- Did the New York Giants reach too high on Daniel Jones?
- Did the Atlanta Falcons make the wrong moves?
- Did the Oakland Raiders waste their three first round picks?
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