It certainly has been a fascinating week on the path to the draft and one can make a pretty good case that some of the early picks are at least starting to come into focus. In particular, for those that have been out of the universe we have witnessed a magical mystery QB tour of sorts with the teams with the top three picks cris-crossing the country checking out the top QB prospects. To review in no particular order:
1 Cleveland Browns: Had a traveling group that included the team’s G.M., head coach and owner which traveled to LA where they held a private workout with Josh Rosen; then took him to dinner; also went to dinner with Sam Darnold and attended his pro day and held a private workout with him. Held a private workout at Oklahoma with Baker Mayfield and today will attend the pro day of Josh Allen at Wyoming and will hold a private workout with him.
Emerging consensus on what the Browns will do with the #1 pick: Its now pretty much conceded that Cleveland will be taking a QB with the pick, most likely Darnold (the fact that the owner spent the better part of his pro day sitting with his parents may be the most telling tell!) The Browns could then grab one of the top non-QB prospects with the #4 pick and while Saquon Barkley appears to be the fan favorite, we keep hearing that the Browns might actually be leaning toward Bradley Chubb.
2 NY Jets: After moving up to the 3rd pick from the 6th the Jets had both their GM and head coach on the road where they had a private workout with Rosen, attended Darnold’s pro day and will be at Allen’s today.
Emerging consensus on what the Jets will do with the #3: After making the deal to move up to #3, maybe the biggest lock in the draft is that the Jets will take a QB, their top choice of whoever is left of Darnold, Rosen and Allen. In fact, there are unconfirmed reports that they are still angling to try and move up into the top 2.
3 NY Giants: The Giants actually may have had the biggest contingent on the QB-tour this week including head coach Pat Shumer, QB-coach Mike Shula, asst GM Kevin Abrams, director of college scouting Chris Mara (who may also double as an ownership rep) plus a handful of other scouts. Pretty much like the Browns the Giants held a private workout with Josh Rosen and then took him to dinner; they also went to dinner with Sam Darnold and attended his pro day and held a private workout with him. Held a private workout at Oklahoma with Baker Mayfield and today will attend the pro day of Josh Allen at Wyoming and will hold a private workout with him.
Emerging consensus on what the Giants will do with the 3rd pick: Haven’t a clue; wily old Dave Gettleman ain’t tipping his hand; but it looks more and more like its going to be Barkley; or it could be Chubb; or Nelson; if they’re not waiting for the mother-of-all-trade downs! Makes sense to me.
