Lot of stuff going on; baseball, NHL/NBA playoffs, but tonight I focused on the first round of the NFL Draft.
— Before we start talking football, let me vent for a second; I’m in my 60’s, since 2019 I’ve had three operations on my right eye. The eye is fine now, thanks to my two surgeons, but I’m still a stickler for taking good care of your eyes.
It drives me nutty when I see people wearing sunglasses indoors; take care of your damn eyes!!! Why were several guys at the draft wearing sunglasses inside? It is nonsensical.
— Chicago Bears had the first pick in this draft, the first time since 1947 they had the first pick; they took USC QB Caleb Williams, then later took Washington WR Rome Odunze with the 9th pick. Bears have never had a QB throw 30+ TD’s in a season, or for 4,000+ yards in a season; they seem determine to break those trends.
In two years at USC, Williams took only seven snaps under center (as opposed to the shotgun) but lot of college QB’s have gone thru that recently, so no big deal there.
— Commanders/Patriots followed by doing the expected, taking QB’s Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye; this was the 4th time since 1971 that the first three picks in a draft were QB’s.
— Before the draft, Eagles signed WR AJ Brown to a 3-year extension worth $96M, with $84M of that guaranteed.
— NFL commish Roger Goodell had back surgery 3-4 weeks ago, so his greetings on stage with guys who got drafted were a little more subdued this year.
By the way, they estimated that there were 275,000 people at the draft in Detroit. Must have been a solid night for the pickpockets in the crowd.
— Atlanta Falcons stunned lot of people (including newly acquired QB Kirk Cousins) by drafting Washington QB Michael Penix with the #8 pick. Penix has already torn his right ACL twice, and separated both shoulders; he wasn’t even at the draft, but went with the 8th pick.
— Vikings traded up one spot and drafted Michigan QB JJ McCarthy; they later traded up again and took Alabama LB Dallas Turner.
To get Turner with the 17th pick, Vikings gave Jacksonville a 5th round pick this year, plus 3rd and 4th round picks next year- they must really like him.
This was the earliest the Vikings have ever drafted a QB; in 1999, they took Daunte Culpepper with the 11th pick in the draft.
— Denver drafted Oregon QB Bo Nix with the 12th pick; Mel Kiper said Nix reminds him a little bit of Drew Brees. Nix started 61 games at Auburn/Oregon, the all-time record for college starts; he gets to learn from Sean Payton, one of the better QB gurus.
— Famous birthdays for April 26th:
Carol Burnett, 91
Gary Cuozzo, 83
Doug France, 71
Phil Olsen, 66
Kevin James, 59
Cole Beasley, 35
Joey Wendle, 34
Aaron Judge, 32
— One of the surprising things about the Falcons drafting a QB is that they need defense; over the last three years, Atlanta has a total of only 81 sacks, least in the NFL.
— Apparently, Vikings/Patriots both called the Chargers and tried to trade for QB Justin Herbert; both were told to take a hike.
— Cardinals drafted WR Marvin Harrison Jr; he is the 5th first round pick ever whose dad was an NFL Hall of Famer.
— Two LSU receivers went in the first round:
Giants took Malik Cabers, Jaguars took Brian Thomas.
Last three LSU receivers drafted in the first round:
2021- Ja’Maar Chase
2020- Justin Jefferson
2014- Odell Beckham
— First 14 players drafted play offense, which is an all-time record.
— Lot of media people are obsessed with “Who won the trade?” but it is possible for both teams to win (or lose) a trade.
— Rams had their first 1st round pick since 2016 (Jared Goff); they took DE Jared Verse of Florida State, who played his first two college years at I-AA Albany, where I went to school. With Aaron Donald retiring, Rams need to bolster their defense.
— Last month, Steelers traded a 6th round pick for QB Justin Fields; word comes out that they’re not going to pick up his 5th-year $25M option next winter, since they also acquired Russell Wilson.
— Six of the first 12 picks were quarterbacks, tying 1983 for the most QB’s taken in the first round; for what its worth, four of those six players transferred during their college careers.
— Draft continues Friday, with the 2nd/3rd round picks happening then.
