So in reality the league has supposedly skimmed the cream off the top of the 2016 NFL Draft. And to a great extent that is true, but.. As we all know this is far from an exact science, which in essence means that the 98 players selected so far are not necessarily the absolute best of the huge group of prospects to be culled through.
Let’s start our reflection on the highlights and low lights of Round 2 Friday night. The second round began with a couple of teams taking a gamble on future greatness with a couple of high character players who are trying to recover from serious knee injuries suffered during the 2015 football season: JAYLON SMITH & MYLES JACK. SMITH is of course the guy waiting for nerves around his injured knee to regenerate so he can return to full strength and function in that knee area. The COWBOYS made the decision to select SMITH with the hopeful expectation that he will be back at 100% by 2017 and turn into the Pro-Bowler most scouts expected him to be prior to the injury. JACK appears to be medically healthy for now, but faces eventual issues from anticipated joint degeneration possibly leading to dreaded stress fracture surgery. The JAGUARS rolled the dice on Mr. JACK. In essence we are looking at one guy whose immediate future is in question, while the other may be looking at a relatively short career as his knee deteriorates with time.
Round 2 belonged to ALABAMA as 4 players who might have been expected to be selected in Round 1 were all snapped in due time. By PIck 49 when JARRAN REED/DT was snapped up by the SEA HAWKS all 4 players had new homes in which to begin their NFL careers. Perhaps the most irony of the 4 player selections was the use of Pick 45 by the TITANS to take DERRICK HENRY/RB, who happened to win the HEISMAN Trophy in 2015. He joins QB/MARCUS MARIOTA, THE 20154 Heisman winner, in the TITANS backfield. Back-to-back Heisman winners selected by the same team has never happened before in Draft history.
If you haven’t noticed yet then you need to get your head around the concept that the TITANS are committed to running the ball a lot this season. This off-season so far the team has added VFA RB/DEMARCO MURRAY to the fold, as well as HENRY, and in Round 1 took the best run blocking OT in this DRAFT in JACK CONKLIN. You don’t have to read between the lines here on the team’s intent.
The JETS pulled a shocker to most with the selection of QB/CHRIS HACKENBERG, in Round 2. Given the current stalemate the team has with last year’s starting QB RYAN FITZPATRICK it leaves the team depth chart with GENO SMITH, BRYCE PETTY & HACKENBERG. Don’t rule out the return of FITZGERALD, on the JETS terms, when Training Camp begins. But the odd man out if that happens could quickly become GENO SMITH, who clearly has fallen out of favor with the fans and team in the Big Apple. In reality, this Pick represents a long term investment for the JETS with most everyone agreeing that the talented HACKENBERG needs a serious makeover mentally to be ready to actually compete at an NFL level. Stay tuned for an ongoing saga in the JETS world, perhaps best titled as “As the QB Turns”.
I am a strong believer in the Draft as a team’s number one avenue to build their roster. And within reason I believe in the Best Available Athlete as the primary criteria when each high pick comes up. But most times I find it hard to believe that once we get past the top dozen players in any given Draft, there isn’t an almost imperceptible difference between multiple players at any given Pick. Therefore, I really appreciate it when a team with clear needs takes steps to address those needs. And by the end of Round 2 I am prepared to heap some Draft Luv on the STEELERS. Their team secondary has been a disaster in recent seasons especially after the departure of cornerstones TROY POLAMALU & IKE TAYLOR. THey started to attempt a rebuild last year, but suffered a setback when SLOT CB SENQUEZ GOLSON was lost for the season to injury. He should be back for 2016. And in the first two rounds of this Draft the STEELERS have been single minded drafting CB/ARTIE BURNS in Round 1 and S/SEAN DAVIS in Round 2. Way to get after it STEELERS.
I think we are seeing some early indications of the BROWNS trying to assimilate some early concepts of football Money Ball in this Draft. The team has been trading out and back at a dizzying pace. I thought DANIEL JEREMIAH of NFLN had a great cautionary tale of warning to the team though Friday morning. IN principle the further back you go the less likely you are to find impact players. So Jeremiah’s words of wisdom were that if you keep trading back to amass volume remember that 5 dimes still does not equal a dollar. For all of their maneuvering and trading the BROWNS have made 5 Picks in 3 Rounds, which feels to me like less than I expected. WE shall see what they do today. But clearly owning the entire 7th Round is not worth 3-4 Picks in Round 4 & 5 most of he time. How many second Round Picks do the woeful 76ers posses these days with another NBA Draft coming up soon?
Luv KEVIN FAULK throwing a little dart at the NFL and GOODELL/VINCENT as he announced the PATS 2nd Round Pick with a BRADY jersey under his sport coat and saying it was the PATRIOTS & TOM BRADY selecting CYRUS JONES/CB/PR. From that point on NFL exec TROY VNCENT ddi not accompany FAULK to the rostrum to announce additional PIcks. The cold war is heating up between PATRIOTS Nation and Roger Goodell’s NFL.
IMO Round 3 really put a new slant on the 2016 QB class and this Draft. After 98 Picks CONNOR COOK, DAK PRESCOTT, CARDALE JONES & KEVIN HOGAN are all still on the Board. But already taken are some guys I did not have rated particularly high on my Board. With Picks 91 and 93, the PATS & BROWNS respectively selected JACOBY BRISSETT & CODY KESSLER. I have been fooled again.
For those of you not paying attention closely to the real AMERICA’S TEAM that resides in Wisconsin, not that ‘whole ‘nother country’ team, staid GM TED THOMPSON jumped up in Round 2 to Pick JASON SPRIGGS/OT Pick 48. After a monster performance at the Combine SPRIGGS seemed to be right on the cusp of Round 1, but clearly a few teams backed off on that ranking after heading back to the game film of SPRIGGS. Clearly THOMPSON still held him in high esteem. The trade cost WHITEY his 4th Round Pick at 125. But he still owns 2 Compensatory PIcks in Round 4 today @ 131 & 137. After two days of drafting one has to consider the PACKERS near the top of the talent addition heap on the basis of their first 3 Picks:
KENNY SMITH/DT/UCLA
JASON SPRIGGS/OT/INDIANA
KLYER FACKRELL/OLB/UTAH STATE
One more team that has really flashed before my eyes with their work is the SEA HAWKS. Clearly, GM JOHN SCHNEIDER & HC PETE CARROLL have really gotten serious again for this Draft after kind of putzing around the past two years IMO. They traded back to the end of Round 1 and began accumulating extra Picks. THey have also made some excellent choices with those Picks. THey have added some beef along both lines and added ate blooming RB/CJ PROSISE from Notre Dame to a backfield they need to rebuild with the retirement of a guy named LYNCH.
Hey, guess what? After taking Friday off, the RAMS are back in the mix today with 4 Picks to help build that thin roster of theirs around JARED GOFF.
Now let me give you my list of the next 25 best prospects still available to be selected as Round 4 and he final day of the 2016 NFL Draft gets under way in less than an hour:
1) ANDRWW BILLINGS/NT/BAYLOR
2) CONNOR COOK/QB/MICHIGAN STATE
3) JOSHUA PERRY/LB/OHIO STATE
4) ALEX COLLINS/RB/ARKANSAS
5) PHAROH COOPER/WR/SOUTH CAROLINA
6) MILES KILLEBREW/S/SOUTHERN UTAH
7) KENNETH DIXON/RB/LA TECH
8) SHELDON DAY/DT/NOTRE DAME
9) DEVONTAE BOOKER/RB/UTAH
10) JEREMY CASH/S/DUKE
11) JERALD HAWKINS/OT/LSU
12) JALEN MILLS/DB/LSU
13) DAK PRESCOTT/QB/MISSISSIPI STATE
14) DEANDRE HOUSTON-CARSON/S/WM & MARY
15) ERIC MURRAY/CB/MINNESOTA
16) SHAWN OAKMAN/DE/BAYLOR
17) TYVIS POWELL/S/OHIO STATE
18) CHARONE PEAKE/WR/CLEMSON
19) JERELL ADAMS/TE/SOUTH CAROLINA
20) ALEX LEWIS/OT/NEBRASKA
21) KJ DILLON/S/WEST VIRGINIA
22) MALCOLM MITCHELL/WR/GEORGIA
23) CHRIS WESTERMAN/OG/ARIZONA STATE
24) CHARLES TAPPER/DE/OKLAHOMA
25) CARDALE JONES/QB/OHIO STATE
Later Draftniks!
Pigskin
