Monday morning draft week buzz … Used to be not all that long ago that on the final weekend before the draft the Sunday papers would be full of draft-related material. For some reason, not so much anymore; in fact, with just 4 days to go until the picks start coming off the board, the league is shut down pretty tight. What we are hearing is a real question whether Kentucky QB Will Levis may have supplanted Ohio State’s CJ Stroud as QB2 in this year’s draft class behind Bryce Young of Alabama who appears to be on his way to Carolina with the first pick overall. The big issue with Stroud, who has plenty of arm talent and will shred teams when given a clean pocket, is whether he is going to be able to make plays when the pocket breaks down around him as he isn’t a great athlete and appears to be somewhat robotic. Levis, on the other hand, has the same kind of arm talent, but is a better athlete with the potential to create on the move … And speaking of questions about the draft that will be answered on Thursday night, a lot of people around the league are curious as to where Texas RB Bijan Robinson end up. Most personnel people around the league would likely agree that Robinson is one of the 4-5 best players in this year’s draft, but the position has been so devalued in recent years that no one would be shocked if he was still on the board deep into the opening round. There is a little buzz out there that Atlanta could be interested with the 8th pick, while a lot of mocks have him going to the Eagles at #10. We would also think that Houston would have trouble passing on Robinson with their 2nd first rounder (#12), but other than that it does not appear that there are a lot of teams looking for a RB in the early going … On the other hand, one player we keep hearing a lot of top 10 (or at least near top ten) buzz is Iowa DE Lukas Van Ness. He is a late bloomer from the Bosa-Watt school of getting to the QB; he’s not a super athlete, but he’s relentless, has an array of pass rush moves and knows how to set them up … There are also some whispers that New England, which picks 15th, could be something of a dark-horse possibility to move up and grab a QB on Thursday night. The Patriots probably would have to give up too much to get into the top 2-3 picks, but if a QB should start to slide they could be very tempted … Meanwhile, Las Vegas also let it be known at their pre-draft presser that they haven’t ruled out taking a QB to compete with veteran QB Jimmy Garropolo; the Raiders, who pick 7th, also wouldn’t rule out trading up … There also have been some whispers out of the nation’s capital that nobody should be totally surprised if the Commanders took a flyer on Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker with the 16th pick if he were still available at that point. Right now, the Commanders are listing 2022 5th rounder Sam Howell, who has all of 19 career pass attempts, as their starter with veteran journeyman Jacoby Brissett as back-up and that’s not likely going to get it done in a division in which the other starting QBs include Jalen Hurts, Dak Prescott and Daniel Jones … Word out of Baltimore is that the Ravens, who currently have only 5 picks, including just 2 in the first three rounds, would be more than happy to trade away the 22nd pick for some extra picks, especially if they didn’t have to move too far down. Stay tuned!
