We got through it. At times it was fun and exciting. At other times it felt like slogging through knee-deep mud. I think I whipped through the third day in about 90 minutes and even then it felt way too long.
So instead of my normal draft recap where I go through every team and put them on the Mayock Scale (TM), I will do things differently. I’m just going to go through some of the draft goings-on and the highs and lows and maybe some winners and losers. That’s about it. I can’t bring myself to evaluate every team. I think I would go nuts doing that. Her we go!
- The highlight of the draft, in my opinion, was Ryan Shazier walking to the stage to announce the Steelers’ first round pick. He has come a long way since that scary injury last season. And for people who were pissed off that some of the announcers and Roger Goodell were letting the cat out of the bag early so to speak, just give it a rest. It was a nice moment. Not everything has to be a complete shock to the system. That’s what the Cleveland Browns at the NFL Draft are for.
- And that pick that Shazier announced? Terrell Edmunds, brother of Tremaine who had been drafted earlier. So two brothers going in the first round. That’s also insane. That’s a lot of cool stuff for one pick at the NFL Draft. Made up for a lot of the mundane bullshit that happens there.
- Baker Mayfield going number one I can handle. I don’t think that’s too big of a stretch. He won a lot in college so that has to count for something. I still would have went Sam Darnold but whatever. The Johnny Football comparisons for Baker are way off-base and just people trying to stir the pot for attention and page views.
- As for the Browns next pick, I don’t think it was a good one. Not saying Denzel Ward isn’t good because he is. But the chance to draft Bradley Chubb was right there and they passed on it. Not a good look.
- To be honest (hindsight being 20/20), if I had been the Browns I would have drafted Barkley first and probably still would have got Mayfield at #4. All of a sudden, the Browns would have been hailed as instant draft winners. Now, not so much.
- David Akers trolling Dallas fans is this year’s Drew Pearson taunting Eagles fans. I hope this doesn’t mean that the Cowboys will win the Super Bowl this year because none of us can handle that.
- I see Lee Corso donned a Mel Kiper head during College Gameday. I thought he was supposed to pick winners (Hi-yo).
- I thought the NFL Network did a pretty good job with their coverage. The foursome of Rich Eisen, Charles Davis, Daniel Jeremiah and Mike Mayock is about as good as they come. Nothing seemed overdone or gimmicky.
Winners
- Let me preface both the winners and losers list with this one indisputable fact: it’s really too early to tell. So this is off of what many people observed so far with these picks.
- Baltimore – The Ravens did quite well. They got Lamar Jackson with their second pick of the first round. They also picked Orlando Brown and Mark Andrews far below where they probably should have gone. I don’t think any of their picks were reaches so they, by all accounts, had a good three days in Ozzie Newsome’s final draft.
- Buffalo – I know I will get flak for this but I think the Bills did a pretty good job. I know Josh Allen wasn’t a popular pick but a good one in that spot since the Bills need a quarterback whose name doesn’t rhyme with Dathan Meterman. Also, getting Tremaine Edmunds and Harrison Phillips will be huge additions to an already stellar defense.
- Denver – They somehow got Bradley Chubb at the five spot. I still don’t get how. Then they got Courtland Sutton, Josey Jewell and TWO good running backs. I say Elway grabbed a good haul there.
- NY Giants – Saquon Barkley and Will Hernandez? That’s all you have to say there.
Losers
- New Orleans – I don’t care what anyone thinks: trading that many draft picks for Marcus Davenport? It’s the same as the Mitch Trubisky situation last season. Unless Davenport has a good first year this will look like a dumb move from Saints’ management.
- Seattle – This will be another extremely unpopular pick. But other than drafting Shaquem Griffin (a feel-good story who should have been drafted about a round earlier), they didn’t quite hit the bullseye on most of their picks. Rashaad Penny is huge risk-reward here. If he ends up killing it in the league the Seahawks will look like geniuses but they could have had them with their next pick probably easily.
- Kansas City – Part of this is them parting with picks to move up to get Patrick Mahomes last year. So can’t totally fault them for that.
- Detroit – Funny how everyone is lauding the Frank Ragnow pick in the #20 spot considering I saw almost no mock drafts having him that high.
Which brings me to mock drafts in general. Almost no mock had Mayfield #1 until like a day or so before the draft when that seemed to be the consensus. Then everyone’s mock had it. What bullshit. I am going to cut down my mocks to three (at most) next year if not less. It’s a fruitless endeavour and I sometimes feel it is a complete waste of time.
So yeah there were other winners and losers (I guess) from the draft and other cool things happening but I think I have put too much effort towards it now. For doing this in my spare time it felt like I put way too much of myself and my time into it. Don’t get me wrong, I liked live-tweeting it. I love live-tweeting during actual college football season. Keeps me engaged. This, on the other hand, was great at the start but by midway through the first round I was getting tired. In general and of being on Twitter.
Again, this is about making this blog better but also about doing the things I like and enjoy and want to spend time on and less on the stuff I am liking less and less. It’s a work in progress. I make it sound like some grand piece of gallery art when it’s absolutely not.
Anyway, soon enough it’s the most important games list meaning we are getting close to being only double-digit amount of days away from college football season (as of right now we are at a sad 117 days away). Have a good week everyone.
Bossman's Blog 