The 2020 NFL Draft and the first ever virtual NFL draft is now complete. Every team has made the picks that they feel will help their franchise not only next season but for future seasons.
In a virtual draft which has worked out better than anticipated with no glitches, lets have a look at the teams that have made the most interesting business – particularly in round one.
The first three picks went pretty much as expected with the Cincinnati Bengals, Washington Redskins and Detroit Lions making the logical moves. Joe Burrow, Chase Young and Jeff Okudah were the first three names picked but it was the fourth pick that surprised a few, including myself.
Many like me were expected Dave Gettleman and new head coach Joe Judge to draft Jedrick Wills or Isaiah Simmons but instead it was Andrew Thomas who was picked fourth overall.
Isaiah Simmons ended up going eighth overall to the Arizona Cardinals. Whilst there were other positions that were more of a need, I feel that Simmons is a can’t miss prospect and is one that Arizona simply couldn’t have missed out on.
Another pick that intrigued me was the Jaguars’ pick at 20th overall in linebacker K’lavon Chaisson. The youngster certainly has high confidence of himself and was quoted as saying:
“When you hire somebody, do you want to hire someone who speaks one language? Or do you want to hire somebody that speaks three languages?
“I speak three languages. I can pass rush, drop in coverage and cover anybody you want me to cover, and I can play the run. No offensive lineman will ever just move me off the ball and bully me.”
From the tape he looks to be a brilliant pass rusher and looks to have the physicality to make the step up to the NFL.
Jaguars are in rebuild but with a defensive back such as Chaisson, if he lives up to his own words, then their future could be bright.
There was a big wide receiver presence coming into the 2020 NFL Draft with this being said to be one of the best ever wide receiver classes. Henry Ruggs III, Ceedee Lamb, Jerry Jeudy and Justin Jefferson were seen as the four best prospects.
Ruggs was the first to be picked at 12th overall by the Las Vegas Raiders while Jerry Jeudy was taken with the 15th overall pick of the draft by the Broncos.
Jeudy was seen as the most likely to be picked first so it came as a surprise to me that he was picked at 15 when teams with wide receiver needs such as the New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers were ahead of the Broncos.
Ceedee Lamb was taken at 17th overall by the Dallas Cowboys to give Dak Prescott another weapon and Justin Jefferson was taken by the Minnesota Vikings at 22nd overall.
The Eagles took wide receiver Jalen Reagor just before Minnesota at 21st overall and this again, surprised me. What with all the talk of Jefferson’s abilities it seemed apparent that he would be the fourth receiver off the board.
The Packers caused the biggest talking point of round one with quarterback Jordan Love taken by the Packers at 26, despite their quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, being a future NFL hall of famer and still one of the best around.
Rodgers may be 36-years-old but he isn’t exactly on the decline and is still performing well. Rodgers has never had the weapons around him offensively and with a wide receiver class so deep, you would have expected the Packers to have taken a wide-out.
Whilst I appreciate that they are looking for a replacement for Rodgers, who is a similar age as Brett Favre was when the Packers drafted Rodgers, they have bigger needs short term. This will only continue to add to Rodgers’ woes and the absolute crime that he has only been to one Super Bowl.
The final player I wanted to talk about was the 32nd overall pick by the Kansas City Chiefs in Clyde Edwards-Helaire from LSU, the first running back taken in this year’s draft.
I heard a podcast taken from The Herd hosted by Colin Cowherd where Peter Schrager from Good Morning Football told Colin that when Patrick Mahomes was asked which running back he wanted, Mahomes simply said “Clyde”.
The NFL draft may have been through webcam and whilst there were not as many trades as anticipated, it was produced very well and we saw plenty of good players taken in the first round.
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