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About half an hour before the resumption of the NFL draft on Friday night, Giants General Manager Dave Gettleman found the excerpt that he had saved from the April 1 st edition. of United States today on his desk. Columnist Dan Wolken was the author. Duke and Kentucky had just been ousted from the NCAA tournament.
"I got it here," Gettleman said. "I want you to listen to this, the last paragraph of this article, it talks about Duke and Kentucky, excellent coaches, two awesome coaches, two major programs. But since everything is done, they have won only one championship each. "
He read it.
As long as [Mike] Krzyzewski and [John] Calipari coach, they will receive more than their share of the best rookies each year because of the way they set up for the NBA. But both programs discovered in the tournament that elite recruitment and building a good alignment did not mean the same thing.
It had been less than 22 hours since Gettleman set a new course for the next decade or two of Giants football, picking quarterback Duke Daniel Jones in sixth. Subsequently, Gettleman had a point to make.
"I do not know how to say that, but it's because of our current crop," said Gettleman, "where 'Albert Breer is the best thing since sliced bread and if the Giants do choose not Albert Breer, they have damage to the brain. "It's the culture we're experiencing right now, it's a matter of talent acquisition, talent gathering, it's not about that." That's part of it. is the construction of the list.
"Look, I've been to seven Super Bowls, kiddo. And I saw how it feels, what's happening and what it tastes. And that's what these teams had. These were well-built formations and the culture was there, and obviously the level of talent was there. It must be a match of the two. So Daniel was for us the guy, clear and simple.
Of the four quarters expected in the first round of the 2019 project – only three were resumed Thursday night – Jones was the most polarizing (in a series of polarizing perspectives). Some evaluators felt that he had the most potential among all the QBs of 2019. Others felt it was a third or fourth round talent, destined to become a replacement, whose the stock exploded in a year in which the supply failed to meet the NFL's consistent demand for smugglers.
Anyway, for Gettleman, it was not about how the rest of the league saw Jones, good or bad.
It was about – and only about – how he was going to the Giants.
The project is now, finally, in the rearview mirror. And we cover you from all angles (including a couple pointed towards 2020). including:
• How Miami skilfully swept Josh Rosen Cardinals at the sight.
• What I know now the class project that will be in Vegas next April.
• My point of view on how the leaders dealt with the Tyreek Hill situation.
• How the Bengals, Panthers and Broncos had the quarters ranked.
• Why the Raiders appreciated Clelin Ferrell at the level that they did.
And much more. But we start with the flagship franchise of the NFL that has made the biggest waves with a movement expected in one way and totally unexpected from another.
The fact that New York took Jones – given the links between Duke coach David Cutcliffe and Eli Manning (who played for Cutcliffe when he coached the Ole Miss coach) and the Giants – was not A suprise. That he dropped with the sixth choice, and not the 17th, was a big one.
So, how did it happen? For Gettleman, it all started with the best advice Ernie Accorsi, former Giants CEO, had received after Accorsi's validation of Manning in 2004, and at the time when the current CEO was the director of the selection. professional team: Make sure you are exposed to any high-end quarterback you plan to recruit..
Gettleman was unable to do so before the 18 draft because the university season ended before he was hired. So & # 39; 19 was different. He was at the Big 10 title at Indy to see Dwayne Haskins of the Ohio State. He was in Morgantown, West Virginia the week before to meet Will Grier, West Virginia, and Kyler Murray, Oklahoma. Two weeks ago, he had seen Justin Herbert (who had ended up staying at school) in Oregon playing Utah in Eugene.
And for the first time in his 32-year career in Scouting, he extended his January stay in Mobile, Alabama. During the Senior Bowl week, most scouts arrive on Sunday and leave after Wednesday's practice. This year, Gettleman stayed for the game on Saturday, as it would give him the chance to see eight more live quarters.
Jones was one of them and was well worth the extra three nights spent at a hotel.
"What convinced me as a player, is the Senior Bowl," Gettleman said. "I watched [Jones’] three series. The first set, he was three years old and up. Series 2 and Series 3, he takes them directly to the field for the touchdowns. And he just looked like what a professional quarterback should look like.
A formal interview in Mobile, plus this exposure to the game, were the first but not the last points of contact between Gettleman and Jones. On the way, Gettleman:
• Interview with Jones at the combine.
• Take a trip to Durham, separate from the work day, to sit down with Jones.
• Designated Coordinator Mike Shula and University Recording Manager Chris Pettit will accompany Chris Mara, Senior Vice President of Player Personnel, to Jones' Professional Day, which Gettleman was unable to attend due to conflicts with the owners' meetings.
• Was Jones in New Jersey for a "30" visit this month?
And as these boxes have been checked, a thread has become obvious. "He was still the same guy," said Gettleman. "We talked with him at the Senior Bowl, I talked to him at Indy. We had him here for a visit at 30. I went to Durham to visit him, not to settle him, but to visit him. He was the same guy every time. The same mature boy. "
What did it mean for the giants in the end? This is what it meant.
Jones would be fine in a pressure cooker. As Gettleman said, not all situations are the same, and "being a quarter in New York is not easy." Add to that the fact that the next quarter was going to be – and that the Giants looked at Haskins, Murray and Drew Lock (Jones). "Quarter quarter senior) this way – would eventually replace a franchise icon, and makeup would always be important.
"It's part of the choice of a quarter: being able to manage your environment," coach Pat Shurmur told me. "That's what will happen with playing here. But again, you stay in the moment. Here is your locker, here is your helmet, here is the iPad, here is the game notebook, here are your coaches, let's get to work. Stay in this area, do not worry about other things and be very sincere in your approach.
"It's something we really saw at Daniel's."
He could handle the bumps. The Giants appreciated the fact that Jones, like Baker Mayfield last year, was moving from college to NFL first choice. "He had to fight for everything at Duke's," said Gettleman. "Nobody gave him anything." And even after being imposed as a starter, he spent many Saturdays during which he found himself in an untenable situation for most quarters.
"It's Duke playing Clemson, and the guys from Clemson are hitting him, and he's been tenacious and persevering," said Gettleman. Shurmur added, "What's good with Dan is that he has had to deal with some adversity. When you do that, you develop a mechanism that will allow you to later manage things. "
The team would prepare for a smooth transition. When I asked Shurmur how Cutcliffe had described Jones, he replied, "It's private, but how competitive he is, and do not misunderstand his calmness to not be able to pursue him. I think that's a good thing. I told Shurmur that it looked like Eli. "In a way, yes," he replied. "In many ways, actually."
The end is usually not beautiful with franchise quarters, especially if there is a designated successor on the list. And this is what Shurmur and Gettleman see as an added bonus to the fact that Jones and Manning have a pre-existing relationship: there is a very good shot that the Giants avoid embarrassing in the manner of Rodgers / Favre.
"It's because of the two people we're talking about," Shurmur said. "First, I think Eli does a remarkable job staying in the present moment and caring about the task at hand. Right now, he's worried about getting ready for the 2019 season. That will be his goal. And then, I think Daniel will come and try to learn as much as you can, and get ready to play.
"Along the way, if they respect each other, they can both do their work. As I told Eli, it's not up to Eli to form Daniel Jones. It's Eli's job to do what he needs to do to get ready for the season and help us win games. "
Or, as Gettleman said, while the Giants were at the clock, "I was on the phone with Eli. I said, "You're our quarterback, let's go. And by the way, we're recruiting Jones, and your job is to be the best quarterback possible and help us win. It's up to him to explore your fanny and learn. "
For all the speeches about form, the giants make believe in Jones' talent, by the way. Gettleman and Shurmur both increased their speed by 4.65. And I'm told he was the No. 1 quarterback on the team's board, ahead of Murray and (as was obvious in the repechage) all the others. At the end of the day, it's not going so much that the evaluators do not think he's lucky enough to be really, really well.
This allowed Gettleman to create the biggest surprise: taking Jones with the sixth choice instead of the 17th choice (which he got from Cleveland in Operation Odell Beckham). Part of that was the information that the Giants had that two other teams (Washington was one, I believe) could take Jones. Another was that they felt too strong about Jones to risk this.
Jeff Haynes / AP / REX / Shutterstock
So, in essence, they traded Josh Allen, who would have been their choice at age 6 (he went to 7 in Jacksonville), against Dexter Lawrence, whom New York got at age 17, against the assurance they would get their type.
"People can speculate all day," Oh, nobody would have taken it. "You do not know," said Gettleman. "There is no guarantee. In the end, if you believe that this child can lead you to the promised land, why wait? You must trust what you do. You create players. The team will be better.
"Now what happens next year? And if you do not take it this year, and next year, you choose 22? You will have to move the sky and the earth. This is the closest we will get. It was the most logical.
For its part, the general manager knows that many people do not agree with this and also do not think that the team will be much better than in 2018. But the strength of Gettleman when & # 39; He was general manager in Carolina was his willingness to do what could he was not popular – this is the way he cleaned the fire from a dumpster of a wage cap situation – and he obviously did not give in to the caving around doing the same thing on the New York market.
Do I think that he could land Allen and Jones with a minimum of maneuvers? I think that it is possible. But I know the reality of the situation as well as him.
That is, if Jones succeeds, the choice of 11 choices to make sure that Gettleman gets his man will not seem at all prohibitive. And if Jones does not do it, everyone will be gone anyway.
IN THE INTERIOR OF THE ACTION JOSH ROSEN CARDINALS-DOLPHINS
The Dolphins knew Josh Rosen well, having evaluated the quarterback before the draft of last year. But as explained to me, they went deeper into Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen, because it seemed at the time that these two were more likely to go to age 11, where they had to choose in 2018, than Rosen or Sam Darnold.
That's one of the reasons why Friday was fantastic for Miami General Manager Chris Grier with an unsolicited call after an unsolicited call on QB Cardinals 2018.
"It was all day Friday," Grier said late Saturday night. "It was just weird. They were people we knew and even after the transaction, they said, "Really good, good guy, you'll love being with him." They told how he had changed in his life, since all the different coordinators for whom he played. People talked a lot about him and we recommended him.
So, Grier and the dolphins took over on Rosen, which was planned for the previous 24 hours. And that's exactly what it was, a swing, which we'll explain in a minute. First, from Grier's point of view, this is how it became:
• Miami started working on Rosen around the combine, and that was not because they knew what the Cardinals would do. It was more simply to hear what the rest of us did. "People were saying that after Murray weighed -" Oh, he's taller than I thought, "and you kept hearing the rumors," Grier said. "We just said, hey, we're going to watch it on our side, internally. We watched a movie and studied, and every time Arizona opened the door to talk to people, we did it. Grier and Cardinals chiefs Steve Keim spoke briefly to Indy, but Keim did not wear Rosen's name, and Grier generally asked Keim to keep him informed of any players who might become available.
• Grier became aware of a report about 20 minutes after Murray's capture, but long before the Dolphins chose Christian Wilkins at 1 pm. He called Keim and asked him what his reason was for Rosen. They would talk again later in the night, but both sides were entrenched in their position. Keim and Grier agreed to keep the lines of communication open.
• Then, as Grier recalls, "we really did not get along until the end of the afternoon, when all the stories started to fade and we said we had an agreement to negotiate. [Miami’s second-rounder]. We laugh because we never spoke to each other. I'm sure Steve was doing the same thing. But we were in the building going, "where did it come from? Forty-Eight? We did not even talk today. "
The teams re-entered at the start of the second round. Both resisted and Miami advanced with another plan for the 48th pick. "We received calls from some people asking if we were willing to turn around in the second round," Grier said. "Our goal before the draft was that if we could get a first or second in 2020, we would take that into account. But we were more than willing to take a player at 48 years old. There was a player we really liked. And we had some calls. In the end, the Saints gave Miami the second game of 2020 that they wanted, plus a six this year, to drop second-round picks. New Orleans got the 48th; the dolphins would have 62.
As the project progressed in the 1950s, the cardinals and dolphins started talking again. Having obtained real value on 48 with this future second-round player, Miami was ready to move 62 for Rosen. But obviously, the 62nd choice is different from the 48th choice. So this new negotiation went to ring. "We were ready to choose at age 62," said Grier. "And I'm telling you, Steve insisted on getting what he wanted, and so did we. So we were at a point where I did not know if it would be done or not. "
In the end, it was enough to throw a fifth round pick with the 62 to push the deal over the goal line – and give the Dolphins a quarterback that is only 82 days older than Dwayne Haskins and 178 days more than Kyler Murray. exactly three months less than Lock.
Even better, Rosen, 10th choice last year, has a price that will not prevent Miami from recruiting Tua Tagovailoa or Justin Herbert next year, or Trevor Lawrence the following year. As we said earlier, it's a swing. You may remember that Seattle had found Russell Wilson taking swings (Charlie Whitehurst, Matt Flynn).
"All teams in the league are looking for the guy who will take them to the championships," Grier said. "And for us, we're in a position where we're trying to find that guy, like a lot of teams in the league. So yes, it was an easy decision. And that does not stop us from doing anything in the future. Who knows? If things are going well and we think he's the guy, who knows? But that does not stop us from doing anything. "
In the current state of affairs, if you add this change to Ryan Tannehill's business (which Miami has intelligently anchored by taking some of Tannehill's money in 2018), Miami is coming out of this season off with this net result:
ABANDONED: Quarterback Ryan Tannehill, choice of second round 2019 (48), choice of sixth round 2019 (188), choice of fifth round 2020.
EU: QB Josh Rosen, occupational therapist Isaiah Price (choice 202), FB Chandler Cox (choice 233), choice of second round of 2020, choice of fourth round of 2020.
They enter in 2020 with two choices of second, fourth, sixth and seventh rounds, and a probable compensation for Ja'Wuan James and Cam Wake. On the field, Grier said, "Josh will have to enter and compete. Nothing will be given to him. "
If he crushes it, Miami can build around it with all that capital. If it does not, dolphins can use it to position themselves for the month of April next. Not a bad place to be in.
THE CHEFS AND TYREEK HILL
With all the new drafts, we do not want to ignore the horrible Tyreek Hill audio that KCTV5 released just before the start of the draft Thursday night.
In case you missed it, the authorities held a press conference Wednesday to announce that even though they thought that a crime had been committed earlier this year (when the police were called twice at Hill's home and the arm of his three-year-old son was broken), they lacked sufficient evidence to accuse an author. The audio that was made public the next day seems to include Hill's fiancée, Crystal Espinal, asking her why her son said, "Daddy did it."
In the audio, Hill denies having broken the boy's arm; when Espinal points out that their son is terrified of him, Hill replies, "You must also be terrified by me, b —-." Since then, the leaders have banned Hill's access to their establishment while the Criminal case was reopened. .
The safety of Hill's fiancée and son is the first concern here. When it comes to football, the big problem is consistency.
You may not know who Trumaine Brock is, but that's a good example. On April 7, 2017, the 49-year-old neighborhood was arrested for suspicion of serious domestic violence, in an incident that left the alleged victim, his girlfriend, without any visible injuries. The Niners cut Brock the following afternoon and praised it.
You may remember that chiefs were similarly commended in November for acting the same way when the video showed that Kareem Hunt was hitting a woman at a hotel in Cleveland last February. Although Hunt was not arrested (because the police were not able to determine if a crime had been committed), the video proved that she had lied to the incident. And it was good to see Kansas City take the deal seriously and act.
So why did not they react so quickly in Hill's case? Easy. He is too good a player to drop everything. It's reality. You can bet that if he was not one of the best leaders in the league, the Chiefs would quickly move away from a player who already has a horrible history of domestic violence – he was expelled from the state from Oklahoma for choking Espinal while she was pregnant.
Process in good standing? Hunt did not last long in a drastically planned situation.
The most applicable comparison is Brock's. Four months after the Niners cut him off, he was cleared by the authorities. Six months later, he was cleared by the league, just when Rueben Foster, first choice of the Niners in 2017, was accused in a domestic violence case. Foster got the normal Niners procedure, unlike Brock, because Foster was a more valuable player than Brock. To be fair, the Niners had reason to believe Foster. But he still has room for maneuver that others would not want.
Hill has this margin now, and for very obvious reasons. Hunt did not understand it either. And if you think it's just a boss deal, think again.
Why did not Ray Rice have another chance after the 2014 video hitting him against his fiancée went public? I would say it was more of his average carry (3.0 yards per game in 2013) than the crime. It was no longer worth the bad publicity it would bring to an owner. Greg Hardy and Adrian Peterson, if you remember, were worth the bad publicity.
We come to the point, clearly, where Hill will no longer be worth the trouble of the Chiefs. But it's a mess we're not already there.
A look never too early on the 2020 draft
Because I know you guys love As I do with the draft, I spent five little things that I already know about next year's class organization.
Samuel Stringer / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
• Quarterbacks are better. An officer told me that Herbert, as a potential candidate, is already good enough to be ranked in the area that Mayfield and Darnold were last year. A handful of other people have said that Herbert would have been the first quarterback of the council this year had it declared (and perhaps if Kliff Kingsbury did not hold the first choice). And you know Tagovailoa, which Alabama coaches compared to Drew Brees for scouts coming from Tuscaloosa. Georgia's Jake Fromm and possible surprises (remember, Haskins and Murray started a year), and the coming year should be good.
• The recipient's crop should be as good as this year's crop was fragile. Tee Higgins of Clemson, Laviska Shenault of Colorado, and Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs and Devonta Smith of the Alabama group are all promising for the 2019 season, and the teams know it. Take what the Colts, with the need of a receiver, have done this offseason as evidence: sign Devin Funchess for a one year contract with Band-Aid, knowing what could happen.
• There are some guys who should benefit from returning to school, as Allen did in 2018 in Kentucky. Herbert is one, although for developmental reasons he does not want to strengthen his representative position. Raekwon Davis of Alabama and Derrick Brown of Auburn are two more.
• Ohio State has another great defensive team on the road, after Nick Bosa finished second. Since arriving on campus in the summer of 2017, Chase Young, a true junior, has been ranked among the top five picks in 2020 by coaches. He will have another year to develop with D channel guru Larry Johnson.
• Another defensive back of the LSU could compensate for Greedy Williams' crash on draft day – safety Grant Delpit. The NFL has been watching Delpit for a while now, and last fall he was only the ninth All-American unanimously in the school. It is an explosion to watch and should be high in the 2020 project.
TEN TRAVEL
1. The treatment of Rosen by the Cardinals as an asset deserves the study he receives. The idea that teams that touched the early bases (Dolphins, Redskins, Giants, Chargers) would be equally interested on the first day of the repechage, with their plans stretching out over several months that night, is downright stupid. Friday morning, Haskins was a Redskin, Jones a Giant and the warm interest of the Chargers for Rosen was gone. That left Arizona with only one contender for a player considered a true prodigy as a true freshman at UCLA, and one of the top 10 picks despite a host of questions before the 2018 draft. like the Kliff Kingsbury vs. Kyler Murray game, and I think he has a chance to succeed in the NFL, which would not make it all that much more than the way the Cardinals got there . But getting away from Rosen with Andy Isabella and a fifth round next year is pretty crazy. (For more information, read about Robert Klemko's story about Rosen, with some pretty remarkable details, on the MMQB today.)
2. After seeing Joe Flacco's early work in the Denver post-season program and considering the draft against the team's needs, the Broncos General Manager, John Elway, decided not to pass the 10th overall pick at quarter. Who, it seemed, would kill his long-standing connection to Drew Lock (I'm told it's the # 1 quarterback of his board). Then things started to happen. The Broncos would probably have taken Devin Bush to 10, if the Steelers had not presented an aggressive offer – placing the 52nd overall and a third in 2020 on the table to win 10 places. And with this capital, the buzz raged in the repechage room that Elway, who constantly bore Lock's name on behalf of Lock, could return to the first round later (after the team grabbed Noah Fant in 20 years) to look for his type. This was not the case, but these murmurs had weight. By taking the 52nd pick and packaging fourth and sixth round picks, Denver managed to battle for the No. 42 Bengals, who seldom deal with the choices. So, with back-to-back choices (Elway was trading at 41), the Broncos had Lock and a great man to protect him, in K-State's Dalton Risner. There is a good lesson here too for all of us. Elway was everywhere in Lock during Senior Bowl week, before the hype machine project was launched in 2019 and the season of lies began. Sometimes the most reliable rumors are the most reliable. And the way the Broncos have acted also has an added advantage. As for Miami using a second round on Rosen, as Denver has not spent more than a second in Lock, there is no reason why the Broncos can not accept another quarter in 2020 if they lose a. And now they have this additional third round as capital, if they need to move forward to do it.
Mark Humphrey / AP / REX / Shutterstock
3. Speaking of long-standing affections, The love of the Panthers for the child of the region, Will Grier was well documented. Combien l'ont-ils aimé? On me dit qu’il était le troisième quart du conseil de Carolina, derrière seulement Lock et Haskins. Et ce travail est également un bon exemple de l’équipe qui joue ses choix compensatoires. Les Panthers ont laissé marcher le prometteur Andrew Norwell en mars dernier et ont obtenu le centième retour en mars en compensation. Cela leur a donné la possibilité de déplacer leur troisième rangée pour se qualifier au second tour, passant de 47 à 37, et d'obtenir Ole Miss LT, Greg Little. Et cela signifiait qu'ils étaient repartis après avoir répondu à leurs deux principaux besoins (ils avaient obtenu le premier rôle, Brian Burns au premier tour) aux postes premium, tandis que again En obtenant le quart de sauvegarde, ils ont observé tout le temps, sachant que Lock et Haskins étaient hors de portée. Pas mal.
4. J'espère que vous avez tous apprécié les chroniques de rumeurs et de rumeurs de la semaine dernière, mais je vais me tromper d'épée pour le raté de lundi dernier: les Bengals ont emmené Haskins, et je pense qu'ils avaient déjà décidé de ne pas prendre le quarterback avec le 11ème choix (bien que je crois qu'ils ont aimé la perspective dans l'état). Ma compréhension est que les Bengals avaient les yeux rivés sur Ryan Finley de N.C. State parce qu’ils avaient l’impression qu’il serait là tôt le 3e jour. Les Bengals l’avaient classé cinquième, soit derrière les quatre premiers quarts à venir et avec une note comparable à celle de Lock. Mon sentiment est que Andy Dalton a fait une bonne première impression sur le nouvel entraîneur Zac Taylor, ce que les actions du jour de draft de Cincy permettraient de sauvegarder.
5. Nous remercions les Jaguars d'avoir été confrontés à quelque chose d'inattendu qui se serait produit jeudi …Kentucky, Josh Allen, en chute libre. Les deux joueurs que Jacksonville envisageait à 7 ans, selon moi, étaient Iowa TE T.J. Hockenson et Jonah Williams, ergothérapeute de l'Alabama, dans l'espoir que Allen serait parti. J’ai eu l’impression que Hockenson aurait probablement été le choix. Mais quand un déchiqueteur bleu tombe du ciel, vous l'attrapez. Et c’est ce que Tom Coughlin, Dave Caldwell et Doug Marrone ont fait. En passant, ils ont finalement abordé les deux autres positions lors des tours 2 (OT Jawaan Taylor) et 3 (TE de Josh Oliver, de l'État de San Jose).
6. Pendant un mois, nous avons associé Devin White à Oakland en tant que quatrième choix possible. Et la raison pour laquelle les autres équipes m'ont confié l'amour du directeur général Mike Mayock était liée à une chose que Mayock m'avait dite en février au sujet de la définition d'un ton organisationnel: «Que recherchez-vous dans un pilote Oakland? Et je pense que les équipes qui gagnent systématiquement sont les plus cohérentes dans cette philosophie. Choisissez une équipe. Vous regardez la façon dont les Corbeaux ont rédigé au fil des ans avec Ozzie [Newsome], ou Kevin Colbert et les Steelers de Pittsburgh. OK, ces gars-là savent à quoi ressemble un Steeler de Pittsburgh et le sent. Peu importe qui est l’entraîneur principal, le type d’enfant est très similaire. »Et de draft en draft, ils obtiennent leur genre de kid. Et je pense que c’est ce que [Gruden] et je lutte pour. Il est probablement un peu plus agressif et je suis probablement plus conservateur. Et je pense que nous allons nous retrouver quelque part au milieu. »Pour moi, qui explique le choix de Clelin Ferrell (et les deux autres premiers joueurs des Raiders) parfaitement. C’est la raison pour laquelle j’ai entendu dire, et que j’avais écrit dans la colonne de rumeurs de ma rédaction de jeudi, que Mayock voulait Ferrell. Je ne pensais pas que c’était avec le quatrième choix, contre White et Allen. Mais j’applaudirais en agissant avec conviction, comme ça.
7. En dehors des cinq joueurs défensifs d'élite, voici quelques joueurs du premier tour qui, après des dizaines et des dizaines d'appels à des entraîneurs et à des dépisteurs, ont semblé aimer (mise à l'écart de la valeur de position et des examens médicaux): Bengals OT Jonah Williams, Vikings C Garrett Bradbury, Lions TE TJ Hockenson, Raiders RB Josh Jacobs et Ravens WR Hollywood Brown. Et un autre gars que je mettrais dans ce groupe, ou au-dessus: Titans DT Jeffrey Simmons. À peu près toutes les personnes à qui j'ai parlé le considéraient comme Nick Bosa, Quinnen Williams, White et Allen (et, pour certains, Ed Oliver) à partir d'une cassette. En ce qui concerne les autres problèmes liés à Simmons, jetez un coup d’œil à ma colonne des notes du vendredi pour comprendre pourquoi le Tennessee se sentait bien de le rédiger à sa place.
8. personne really sait comment ces classes de brouillon vont se dérouler, mais Seahawks, directeur général, John Schneider Jedi sh– va de quatre choix au début de la semaine à onze à la fin du projet. Et oui, je sais qu’il a dû échanger Frank Clark pour le faire, mais les Seahawks n’allaient pas le payer à long terme (avec Russell Wilson maintenant signé et Bobby Wagner sur le pont) de toute façon. Rappelez-vous également que c’est le choix de deuxième tour de cette année qui a été la pièce maîtresse de l’entente qui a amené Duane Brown à Seattle, ce qui a tout changé pour cette ligne offensive.
9. Pourquoi un seul commerce dans le top 10? Teams were loathe to part with draft capital to get into that area this year, for one reason or another. Through all my calls last week, I didn’t hear of a single team willing to deal a 2020 first-round pick to get up into the top 10 this year. In lieu of that, I know of at least two teams that were offering star veterans on big contracts (both teams, by the way, were able to fill their needs without moving). Making a player trade is tough this time of year, because so much cap space is used up, and teams in the top 10 are looking at having players on contracts worth between $5 million and $8 million per for the next four years with those picks. As we said in this space the other day, maybe if the draft were before free agency, those sorts of moves would happen. But, for business reasons (the draft is awesome business for the league, and dragging it out is smart), that won’t be happening anytime soon.
10. I really like what the Redskins did this weekend, and not just because they picked two Buckeyes. But unbiased as I can be, I will say that I think, in 10 years, we’ll look back and see Terry McLaurin, the 71st overall pick, as one of this draft’s best values. He’s Matthew Slater as a special-teamer. He has real potential as a receiver. And as you could see in the video I tweeted out Saturday, he’s one of the best leaders in this draft class. Since that video elicited a big response from D.C., I figured I’d hit up Ohio State coach Brian Hartline about McLaurin in that regard. “After watching that video, and you can take this how you want, I think it’s important to say he’s not a huge vocal guy,” Hartline said. “But he always does it at the right time. That’s why everyone listens. And it just comes from such a genuine place—like with how excited he gets when someone else in his receiver room makes a play. That’s because he doesn’t lack confidence in himself, and he thinks cheering for his position group is good for everyone. He’s not threatened by anyone, because he has confidence in who he is and how he operates.” The other thing I asked Hartline about was how McLaurin continued to dominate on special teams as he improved as a receiver. “That’s because he cares,” Hartline said. “He cares to his core.” The Redskins are getting a stud.
… OF THE WEEK
QUOTE
"It will happen. I promise you it will. I have never felt so certain about something in my life."
Colts owner Jim Irsay on winning another Super Bowl in his lifetime. And I’d say Irsay has every reason to be optimistic. GM Chris Ballard drafted two First Team All-Pros (Quenton Nelson, Darius Leonard) last April, has another potential star coming back to full strength in 2017 first-round pick Malik Hooker, and has a franchise quarterback finally healthy again. Coach Frank Reich orchestrated a six-win improvement in his first year. And after some maneuvering, the draft class Indy put together included three second-round picks, headed up by one (Temple CB Rock Ya-Sin) whom many figured could’ve gone in the top 20. The Colts could be good for a long-long time to come.
“I’d rather just wait to dive into that further until I receive further instructions.”
New Patriot DE Chase Winovich, when asked about his pre-draft contact with his new team. New England generally likes heady players. And this would qualify as a heady move by the ex-Michigan star.
TWEET
How quickly I forgot that the AAF Championship was this weekend in Vegas. Did anyone else here catch it?
Ex-Cardinal Tyrann Mathieu sending good vibes to his fellow ex-Cardinal Josh Rosen, and it’s well-placed too in recognizing the message the quarterback was trying to get across—with an emphasis that there was nothing personal between him and Murray.
A half-million fans is crazy—even if Nashville does this pretty regularly. (My wife and I went there for our anniversary last June, and it happened to fall on the weekend of the CMAs there, and Broadway looked pretty much the same.)
Just an amazing tweet.
This was pretty good too, from my buddy Field Yates.
Final tally for the Raiders: Three Clemson Tigers (Ferrell, Trayvon Mullen, Hunter Renfrow) and one Bammer (Jacobs).
CLIP
D.K. Metcalf was never the prospect he was made out to be, thanks to a viral-sent photo that made him look like Johnny Bravo and a starry combine performance that kicked the hype train into overdrive. And maybe that’s actually why he was so emotional here—he was made to believe he was going higher than he would (most teams I talked to didn’t think he was a first-rounder). But I don’t know how you could watch this and not have it hit you a certain way, especially when Metcalf said, “Why’d y’all wait so long?”
And there was a nice little side benefit to all this, in that we all got to hear the story of a shirtless Pete Carroll in Indy:
I’m one of two boys, and I’ve got two boys of my own now, so this one really got me too.
Yes. Yes, Quinnen Williams did.
Looks like Haskins wants to make the Giants pay. He’ll have the chance to, twice a year now.
MEME
That’s not nice, Will. But while we’re on the age thing … Kind of interesting that Josh Rosen is just three months older than Haskins and Jones, and six months older than Murray. And he’s actually younger than Lock.
Love it. Ed Oliver embracing his new home instantly.
Maybe most impressive was that N’Keal Harry kept his feet after the breaking the glass, to the point where he could do the cocky step-back in their faces.
S/O TO …
The Ravens, for doing this …
New GM Eric DeCosta looks like he’s genuinely emotional over it. (And in case you wanto see the actual draft card, it’s right here. Good work, Baltimore.)
SIX FROM THE SIDELINES
1. I know the tech at the end of the game is going to get all the attention, but man, was that step-back 3 from Steph Curry in the final minute of Warriors/Rockets a thing of beauty.
2. The Celtics are finally coming together … I think? Maybe?
3. Separate from whether college football players should be paid (and I think there are absolutely ways to do it that the NCAA ignores), I do think it’s silly to argue that the big-time coaches aren’t worth what they’re making, in the wake of Dabo Swinney’s 10-year, $93 million deal at Clemson. Blue-blood football programs change admissions standards, keep non-revenue sports afloat and can alter the perception of a university. That doesn’t mean there isn’t enough money to go around. There absolutely is. But those coaches are very, very valuable to the universities.
4. All the best to UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton in his recovery. Last summer, when I was looking ahead at this year’s quarterback class, I remember how Trent Dilfer couldn’t stop talking about Milton, whom he saw as an A-plus in every category but size.
5. And just to look ahead this year, when we were doing our draft show last week my esteemed colleagues Andy Staples and Dan Rubenstein told me to keep an eye on Utah State quarterback Jordan Love for the 2020 draft. So I’ll be keeping an eye on Utah State quarterback Jordan Love.
6. Shoutout to our whole MMQB team for the draft coverage over the last couple months—I’m really proud of the work our site did. And Kalyn Kahler was fantastic captaining our coverage going back to the fall. I’m pumped we could bring you this kind of coverage all the way through.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
We don’t know much about the 2020 draft yet. Partly because the teams themselves don’t know much about the 2020 draft—most scouts you talk to will say that while they’ve watched and heard about next year’s prospects, they haven’t studied many them yet. And I’ll use my 2019 mock from last summer, which I ran by a bunch of evaluators, as proof.
I actually feel decent about it—three of my top 10 went in the top 10, and seven went in the first round. But Greg Little (who I mocked as the third pick) and Greedy Williams (ninth in my mock) wound up being second-rounders, and Jarrett Stidham (No. 7 in my mock) went in the fourth round. Stidham, by the way, was the only quarterback I had in the top 10 (Lock and Herbert were in the “players to watch” section).
Of course, at that point, Haskins and Quinnen Williams had yet to make their first career starts, and Murray hadn’t been officially named QB1 at Oklahoma (and was a first-round pick of the Oakland A’s). Josh Allen was returning to Kentucky because he probably would’ve gone in the third round if he’d declared, and most NFL types couldn’t pick Tytus Howard out of a lineup.
Point is, a lot of things change in 12 months. And that gives all of us a lot to look forward to.
Question or comment? Email us at [email protected].
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