NFL Draft Recap And Analysis
- By Shaki N. Wilson
- May 1, 2016
- 4 min read
The 2016 NFL Draft has concluded and that means plenty of "experts" have already graded each team and have given their opinions on the winners and losers of the draft, as if they can tell.
Let's get the obvious out of the way. Both the Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles made big moves to their man, quarterbacks Jared Goff and Carson Wentz, respectively. Both organizations believed they needed a franchise quarterback, both gave up plenty of draft picks to get them. It's no telling when Goff and Wentz will play, but in this case we will assume the future is now. The top two picks were the only assurances for last weekend's draft. Then the San Diego Chargers were on the clock.
The "experts" with their mock draft 3.0, 5.0 and 7.0, had the Chargers drafting talented Florida State corner back Jalen Ramsey. Of course San Diego goes with Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa, who in those same mocks, was a sure fire Dallas Cowboy. This pick started all the fun and agony that is the NFL Draft. So with their pick of Ramsey or running back Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas chose to go with the latter instead of solidifying a secondary with many question marks. Orlando Scandrick is coming off a torn ACL, Morris Claiborne, a 2012 first round pick, has not lived up to his potential, despite the Cowboys moving up eight spots to draft him sixth overall. And there's the big free agent signee Brandon Carr, who restructured his salary taking a pay cut from $9.1 million to $5.5 million. Ramsey, along with 2015 first round pick Byron Jones, would have been a sweet combination at least for the next five years, plus strengthening a weak spot on an already fragile Dallas defense.
Elliott is an exception. In an era when the running game has become less important (Lord only knows why), it is viewed as a wasted pick drafting a running back so high. Trent Richardson was the third overall pick in 2013 and will be with his fourth team since. Besides the NFL flings the ball now and running backs are viewed as non-essential. Elliott proved at Ohio State that he is a dependable back with multiple skills that will keep him the game all four downs. He has the speed to go 80 yards at any time and the power to wear down defenses in the fourth quarter. Elliott is a very good pass catcher and has the size to block in passing situations. Dallas could not go wrong either way.
Speaking of going wrong, the video of Ole Miss offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil smoking a bong while wearing a gas mask, could not have surfaced at the worst time. The consensus best offensive lineman in the draft, went from potential number one overall pick, to dropping out of the top ten. The Baltimore Ravens took Tunsil off their board after the video came out, instead going with Notre Dame tackle Ronnie Stevens, even though they had Tunsil rated higher. The Miami Dolphins at pick 13, selected the athletic tackle and have strengthened a weak spot. Another player with marijuana issues was Robert Nkemdiche. The Arizona Cardinals chose him with the 29th pick. Nkemdiche has freakish ability and should do just fine surrounded by leaders such as Calais Campbell, Patrick Peterson and Tyronn Mathieu.
The Denver Broncos entered the draft needing a quarterback and they got one, trading up five spots to get Paxton Lynch. Lynch will have every opportunity to win the starting spot competing against Mark Sanchez, who signed with the Broncos as a free agent. That was just day one.
Day two began with plenty of standout defensive players available including UCLA linebacker Myles Jack, Alabama defensive tackles A'Shawn Robinson and Jarran Reed, and Notre Dame's Jaylon Smith, who tore both his ACL and LCL in January playing in the Fiesta Bowl. Jack, a top five talent, was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars, pairing him with Ramsey, whom they chose in the first round. The Cowboys needing defensive end help instead went with another surprise pick and went with Smith. The pick was controversial only in that Smith is not expected to play this season. According to those same experts, had Smith not been injured, he would have been a top five pick at the very least.
The quarterback selections began with the Oakland Raiders trading up 14 spots to select Connor Cook. The New York Jets drafted Penn State signal caller Christian Hackenberg, their fourth quarterback drafted in the last four years. Will this mean the end of the Ryan Fitzpatrick era or will head coach Todd Bowles have an open competition? The Cowboys came into the draft with quarterback as a priority. They failed to trade back into the first round for Lynch and the Raiders jumped them to get Cook. Dallas found their guy in the fourth round selecting Mississippi State's Dak Prescott. The Cowboys familiarized themselves with Prescott at the Senior Bowl and brought him to their practice facility multiple times for workouts. Four picks later the Buffalo Bills picked former Buckeye Cardale Jones.
Some feel good choices occurred in day three of the draft. Navy quarterback Keenen Reynolds was chosen in the sixth round by the Baltimore Ravens. The Midshipman is college football's all-time leader in touchdowns. Two spots before Reynolds, the Minnesota Vikings selected Moritz Boehringer, a wide receiver who played in a football league...in Germany. Boehringer stated he learned football watching Youtube videos of Adrian Peterson. The Cowboys continued their surprise theme when they drafted Rico Gathers from Baylor. Gathers was a power forward for the Baylor basketball team and never played a down on the gridiron for the Bears. Gathers hopes to join Tony Gonzales, Antonio Gates and Jimmy Graham as players who made a successful transition. Gathers is 6'8" and 275 pounds so size isn't an issue.
Overall the draft was had its share of surprises and trades. Ohio State set a record with 12 players chosen in the first four rounds. Although Alabama had just one first round pick (center Ryan Kelly, Colts), seven total Crimson Tide players were drafted. The SEC continued to be the dominant conference with 53 players selected. And with all the anticipation, the NFL draft is over just like that. Let the 2017 mock drafts begin.
photos courtesy gridironexperts.com, sportingnews.com,oregonlive.com, si.com, bleacherreport.com,cleveland.com, and upi.com
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