Friday, April 28, 2017

Winners and Losers of the NFL Draft First Round

            The first round of the NFL Draft has come and gone, with many trades occurring and lots of fanfare going about. Which teams won the night and which teams flubbed badly?

Winner: San Francisco 49ers: John Lynch made some impressive trades in the first round, fleecing the Bears by gaining more picks in exchange for their No. 2 pick (Which ended up being Mitch Trubisky) and making another with Seattle. The 49ers established an identity of wanting to build on defense, picking DE Solomon Thomas from Stanford and LB Reuben Foster from Alabama.
Winner? Cleveland Browns: I'd say that the Browns are winners here, considering that they made like the 49ers and gathered picks (Three in the first round!!). However, it's hard to call Cleveland winners here considering their recent misfortunes with first round draft picks. Still, picking DE Myles Garrett from Texas A&M, versatile LB Jabril Peppers from Michigan, and TE David Njoku from Miami seems like a good draft since at least one of these picks can't possibly be a miss.
Winner: New York Jets: While the Jets do need a quarterback, they also need a playmaking safety and that's what they got with Jamal Adams from LSU. Named by some pundits as the best player in the draft, Adams carries a lot of range, great 1-on-1 tackling ability, and spectacular coverage skills. Besides, not all great quarterback wind up being taken in the first round (See Russell Wilson and Tom Brady) and the Jets don't have a solid history of drafting 1st round quarterbacks.
Loser: Chicago Bears: 


I love to kiss tittiess
— Mitchell Trubisky (@Mtrubisky10) December 28, 2011

Hell yeah, Go Packers
— Mitchell Trubisky (@Mtrubisky10) January 11, 2015

This is your "Quarterback of the Future" that you took a sizable mortgage on, Bears fans.
Loser: Jacksonville Jaguars: The Jaguars did get a good third-down running back in Leonard Fournette, but it won't mean a thing if he has blockers opening up holes for him. Granted, there were no solid offensive linemen to be had in this draft. But it's imperative that Jacksonville rectifies this mistake through free agency in the future.
Loser: Green Bay Packers: Could trading out of the first round when you had a chance to get local boy and brother of JJ, T.J. Watt, come back to haunt the Packers? Considering that the Packers look to be faltering defensively, it looks like a possibility. However, the Pack usually find ways around such issues in order to make themselves a playoff team year in and year out.

Photo Courtesy of NYJetFuel.com

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