It was barely two weeks ago that the buzz around the NFL was that Notre Dame OT Ronnie Stanley was in the process of slipping out of this year’s top 10 because of concerns about his work ethic and lack of physical play. Now with literally just hours before the first picks start coming off the board, the buzz around the league is that Stanley is hot again; indeed, there are reports that he actually could go ahead of Ole Miss OT Laremy Tunsil to be the first offensive lineman selected on Thursday. There are also reports out of San Diego that Stanley could be in play when San Diego gets on the clock for the 3rd pick overall. And whether its Tunsil or Stanley, Chargers’ GM Tom Telesco may have let the cat out of the bag that San Diego was leaning toward taking an OT with the third pick rather than a defensive star like Florida State DB Jalen Ramsey or Oregon 5T DE DeForest Buckner when he suggested that one of the team’s primary goals at the draft was to juice up the run game. Still, taking oe of the OTs is not necessarily a done deal for the Chargers in that they recently extended both starting OTs, although neither LT King Dunlap nor RT Joe Barksdale are going to anybody’s Hall of Fame anytime soon. Plus Dunlap is coming off an injury plagued season. Certainly, Dallas would be happy if the Chargers selected Tunsil as that would mean that Florida State DB Jalen Ramsey would still be on the board when the Cowboys make the 4th pick.
At the same time, along with Notre Dame’s Stanley other players who could go earlier than is generally projected in Thursday’s opening round include Georgia OLB Leonard Floyd, Michigan State OT Jack Conklin, Houston CB Will Jackson, Alabama C Ryan Kelly and TCU WR Josh Doctson. On the other hand, players who could slip a little on Thursday include Florida CB Vernon Hargreaves, Ohio State OLB Darron Lee and the Alabama duo of LB Reggie Ragland and DT A’Shawn Robinson.
Meanwhile, other players who have reportedly made late moves up draft boards around the league include West Virginia FS Karl Joseph, Illinois DT Jihad Ward, Oklahoma WR Sterling Shephard, Appalachian State DE Ronald Blair, Alabama CB Cyrus Jones, and OLBs Joe Schobert of Wisconsin and Maryland’s Yannick Ngakoue. Joseph, for example, has a chance to be the first safety off the board this week and could even sneak into the latter part of the opening round despite missing most of the 2015 season with a torn ACL. Before being injured, though, the ball-hawking Joseph had led the nation with 5 picks in just 4 games. At the same time, the other guys on the list all now look to be at least solid second-day prospects.
What others are saying … There be some drama right until the start of the draft as to which QB Los Angeles ultimately selects with the #1 pick as the Rams aren’t even going to tell the players whose going #1; like the rest of us they’ll have to wait until the card goes up to the commissioner’s table. Meanwhile, there have been reports that Cleveland isn’t done dealing after the Browns traded the 2nd pick to Philadelphia for the 8th selection late last week. However, Browns’ director of football ops Sashi Brown appeared to throw cold water on that during a local radio interview when he said the Browns have decided on which player they’ll be taking at that spot. “We’re set, locked in, know who we’ll be taking” although Brown added that “if that player’s not there, or if we get another offer that just blows our socks off.”
