It was a much anticipated night as the NFL hosted their annual draft, but this year was a little different than others though. The NFL went full virtual draft, much like the WNBA did last Friday with theirs. Thursday kicked off the first round where GM’s and coaches were wheeling and dealing and making selections from the comfort of their homes in a process that went rather smoothly. So with that being said, let take a look at some of the biggest moves of day one.
Cincinnati and Miami get their Franchise Quarterbacks
In a not so surprising move, the Cincinnati Bengals went with the unanimous number one overall pick in LSU Quarterback Joe Burrow. The Ohio native is set to take the helm for an ever so struggling Bengals franchise who went 2-14 a year ago.
Pick 5 is where we had questions. The lead up to the draft consisted of the heavy debate of which QB Miami should take, either Tua Tagovailoa or Justin Herbert. Tua coming off an injury was the biggest question mark and many thought he would fall, but Miami would end up taking Tua in what is thought as the best pick for the team moving forward into a new era.
Wide Receivers Slide out of Top 10
One of the big focal points of this years draft was how stacked this years wide receiver class is, and the effect showed on this years Free Agency class. The question was, who would come off the board first, Alabama’s Jerry Jeudy or Oklahoma’s CeeDee Lamb? Well, the answer is neither. The first receiver to come off the board was at number 12 and that was to the Las Vegas Raiders who selected the other Alabama WR, speedster Henry Ruggs III. Top Alabama WR Jeudy would come off the board three picks later to the Denver Broncos. Maybe the biggest shock is the fall of top WR CeeDee Lamb who fell right into the Dallas Cowboys hands at number 17, a pick Cowboys fans should be very excited about. Giving their QB Dak Prescott a new weapon and one of the top receiving corps in the league. Minnesota would then take fast rising LSU receiver Justin Jefferson at 22.
Packers Shock the Draft and Move Up for a QB
In a move that was shocking to many, the Green Bay Packers made a move up from 30 to 26 to select Utah QB Jordan Love. That move could signal the end of Aaron Rodgers sooner rather than later. This move allows the Packers to place Love behind Rodgers for a season or two to get the hang of things before throwing him into the starting role.
The Patriots Made a Patriots Move
For New England fans all eyes were on pick 23. With rumors flying left and right about trading up for an offensive weapon or quarterback, the team did neither. In fact they traded out of the first round with the Chargers and now own the 6th pick in the second round of Fridays draft, they also received another third round pick, putting them at four in that round. Director of Player Personal Nick Caserio stated that Patriots were prepared to pick at 23. He admitted that “We had a handful of players we were discussing and then the opportunity came up with the Chargers that we thought made sense”. Caseiro also mentioned the flexibilty of the four third round picks in tonight’s draft and the possibility of moving up once again into the second round. Ultimately the Patriots figured they could get a player of similar value in the top half of the second round compared to pick 23.
All in all the Patriots have a lot of good choices left to pick from. From the likes of defensive players such as DE- Yetur Gross-Matos, LB- Zach Baun, S- Grant Delpit, S-Xavier Mckinney. Or they could go an offensive route of WR- Michael Pittman Jr. WR- Denzel Mims, QB- Jalen Hurts or TE- Cole Kmet, RB- Jonathan Taylor and so on. The options are aplenty for teams in what should be a stacked second round.
One thing to look out for as stated early is for the Patriots to move back into the second round after making their first pick a 37 (6th overall) tonight. This is when the Patriots are at their best. 2nd round and on, it should be an interesting next two days for sure.
Catch day 2 (Rounds 2-3) of the NFL Draft tonight starting at 7pm on NFL Network, ESPN/ESPN Radio and ABC. Chris will have recaps of Friday and Saturdays draft results.
