Well, the second round passed without a QB in sight, making this draft just the third in the past 30 years to only see one quarterback selected in the first two rounds. And perhaps even more surprisingly, Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder went ahead of projected favorite Malik Willis, who the Seahawks passed on. Ridder went to the Falcons to back up Marcus Mariota with the 74th pick, and Willis will be heading to the Titans behind Ryan Tannehill following the 85th pick.
It may be the lack of excitement about this QB class, it may be the insane offseason trade cycle punctuated with major QB trades, and it may be concerns with these kids that the rest of us aren’t privy to, but the further they fell, the higher our eyebrows raised. Matt Corral went to the Panthers at 94.
To be fair, there are still a few options on the board for teams like the Lions and the Seahawks who may be looking for someone to, at the very least, compete for the starting job. Baker Mayfield is getting shopped around, and Jimmy Garopollo’s future in San Francisco is less than certain. But despite how largely dull the lead-up to this year’s draft was, the QB drama has not disappointed.
Georgia LB Nakobe Dean also inexplicably fell to the third round, where he was taken by the Eagles at 83. Now I’m no NFL scout, and I know it, but come on. This guy was a key piece on one of the best defenses in CFB history. The narrative floating around at the moment is “medical issues.” NFL Network was reporting a pec strain, but a fall that far from a projected late first-round pick feels like there may be more concerns behind the scenes.
The Bears — again, inexplicably — apparently hate Justin Fields and waited until the third round to add anyone to their severely lacking receiving corps. Sure, they filled some defensive needs in the second round with Kyler Gordon at 39 and Jaquan Brisker at 48 — but George Pickens and Skyy Moore were still on the board! Come on, Poles! They went with WR Velus Jones Jr. with their third round pick. Sure, I get not prioritizing the draft as your primary roster building tool, but it just feels like an oversight. Alas.
Remaining on the board for Saturday’s rounds are Sam Howell, Daniel Faalele, and, of course, the Punt God himself, Matt Araiza, who every GM has been too cowardly to sign as of yet.
The NFL can keep doing their try-hard televised gimmicks, but this year’s draft is bringing all the drama without the manufactured excitement. In fact, it kind of ended up doing the opposite of what they needed — former NFL player and Blue Mountain State actor Ed Marinaro got up to announce a Vikings pick and ended up doing a two minute monologue-slash-standup routine and had to be prompted by some poor producer to actually read the name on the card.
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