In fifteen minutes the LA Rams will be on the clock, finally. It seems like each year we are waiting longer and longer for the NFL draft. The truth is, we just start talking about it earlier and earlier.
At this point, you are sick of mock drafts and you have a name or two that you hope gets announced when your team is on the clock. I am no different. As a life long fan of the New Orleans Saints, I am hoping the Saints can add a player tonight that will improve the team enough to give Drew Brees another run at a championship. We all want the same thing. We want a player that will be the rookie of the year and an all-pro and a champion. That’s why we obsess so much.
Anyway, I will be here tonight blogging and talking and tweeting. I will also be watching Penguins vs. Capitals, and following along with the Pearl Jam show in Philadelphia. My podcast co-host will also be blogging and if you want to follow along with him you can at:
http://thesportscasters.blogspot.com
Just for fun, here is my best guess at the top 10:
1. LA- Jared Goff
2. Philadelphia- Carson Wentz
3. San Diego- Ronnie Stanley
4. Dallas- Ezekiel Elliot
5. Jacksonville- Jalen Ramsey
6. Baltimore- Laremy Tunsil
7. San Francisco- Deforest Buckner
8. Cleveland- Joey Bosa
9. Tampa Bay- Vernon Hargreaves
10. New York Giants- Miles Jack
8:20- The Rams make us all wait almost their full amount of time and the surprise no one by picking Goff. He is a California kid and will have a lot of pressure as the first QB of the NEW Rams.
8:23- The Eagles stick to the script and pick Cason Went. It blows my mind that the second pick in the NFL draft could be a kid that didn’t even play D1 football the year before.
8:25- I had hoped to keep each half hour of the draft contained in one post. The problem with the plan is that there aren’t any formatting options on mush or mosh or whatever. So I will do three picks at a time and then move on.
8:30- The Chargers pass on an offensive tackle and select Joey Bosa. I think he has a chance to be a huge stud in the league, but he is slow and I do worry he could be a bust. I would be shocked if the Cowboys didn’t take Elliott now.
8:32- 1-0 Capitals. Burakovsky scoops up a rebound and taps it into the wide-open net. I could have had that one.
8:36- The Cowboys use every single second to pick and its officially a run on players from Ohio St.
8:44- The television says the Jaguars pick is in and it has said so for a few minutes now. Instead of the Commissioner announcing the pick we have Cowboys analysis. Last year the television broadcast was three picks behind at one point. There is no reason for this. When a pick is in the Commish should come out of his hole, take his boos, and announce it.
8:45- Roger finally emerges and the Jaguars select Jalen Ramsey. I think Jalen is the best player in the draft. The Jaguars are loaded with young talent on offense and took a DL at 2 last year. The Jaguars are building something special in Jacksonville.
A live look at my draft room in beautiful Buffalo, NY.
8:53- The Raven pick Ronnie Stanley and he looks absolutely thrilled. Rarely will you see a guy so miserable to be picked sixth overall.
9:00- The 49ers select DeForest Buckner from Oregon. It might not be sexy but the dude is huge and teams can’t resist a guy like him.
9:03- The Browns figure they would pick a bust anyway and bail out by trading their pick to the Titans. I wonder if they are moving up to grab a LT to protect the QB they picked last year.
9:05- Sure enough, the Titans pick Jack Conklin. That means that Tunsil is plummeting down draft boards. I think the first 50-60 mock drafts I checked out this year all had Tunsil going first overall. Fast forward to draft night and two tackles have been picked and he hasn’t.
9:12- We have more trading. The Buccaneers move out of nine and the Bears move up to pick LB Leonard Floyd. I am waiting for details on these traded but I haven’t seen anything on ESPN yet. Admittedly, my attention is split about seven different ways. As I type this, I see that the Bears only had to give up a fourth round pick to make the move. To get your guy, that is totally worth it.
9:17- The next pick is in but for some reason we are going to commercial.
9:22- We are back and the Giants pick Eli Apple from Ohio St. I didn’t see that pick coming. The Giants absolutely needed a DB. Drew Brees had 7 TD passes against them in one game last season. I just didn’t expect Apple to be the second DB off the board.
9:30- The Buccaneers are clearly pumped that the Giants took Eli Apple and not Vernon Hargreaves III. They rush their card up and pull the trigger on the DB from Clemson.
9:31- The Saints are on the clock and I expect them to do one of three things:
1. Trade back.
2. Pick Shaq Lawson
3. Pick Laquon Treadwell
I hope they don’t:
1. Pick a QB
2. Pick a project.
3. Pick Sheldon Rankins
9:32- In the blink of an eye the Penguins just scored two goals to take a 2-1 lead. Malkin got the second goal but I didn’t even see the first goal.
9:33- In Philadelphia, Pearl Jam just finished In My Tree and are playing Jeremy right now. Periscope is changing the concert game. I have watched every Pearl Jam show on this tour on periscope. It isn’t a substitute for being in the building but if you aren’t in the building it’s awesome.
9:35- TJ Oshie scores for the Capitals and we are tied at 2. Awesome hockey game in Washington.
9:37- The Saints select Sheldon Rankins from Louisville. Yuck. The Saints need a defensive lineman. The pick certainly fills a need. I would have preferred something that didn’t feel as safe as that pick does. They did use almost all of their time so I am guessing they were trying to move out of that spot.
9:43- The Dolphins stop the free fall and pick Laremy Tunsil. It has been an awful night for the kid but in the end there is no shame in being the 13th pick in the NFL draft. Mel K. says he is the number 1 player in the draft and for the Dolphins that is fantastic value.
9:50- The Oakland Raiders select S Karl Joseph. Awesome pick. This guy was born to be a Raider. Cleveland is on the clock. Will they actually pick? Will the pick be a bust? Probably
9:51- Tammy has had enough and is tapping out to get to sleep. Pregnant people are awful assets in a draft room.
9:56- The Browns pick is in. THE BROWNS ARE ACTUALLY GOING TO MAKE A PICK. Roger strolls out to another chorus of boos and announces that the Browns pick Corey Coleman from Baylor. The king of all Baylor football players, RGIII, is probably stoked to have the chance to throw the ball to a burner like Coleman. I think Treadwell is the best WR in this draft but the Browns got seduced by Coleman’s speed.
10:00- The Lions waste little time and select Taylor Decker an OT from Ohio State. I am sure all of their fans in Michigan are thrilled to have their team select the fourth Buckeye in the first round.
10:07- The Falcons pick Keanu Neal. BUST. He looks like a 50 year old-man. His highlight reel is filled with hard hits and that sounds great in theory but they don’t allow hard hits in the NFL anymore.
10:11- The Colts select Ryan Kelly a center from Alabama. Im surprised it took this long for a player from Alabama to be picked.
10:17- TJ Oshie scores again and the Capitals have a 3-2 lead. You might remember Oshie from the Olympics and his heroic performance against Russia. Maybe you don’t.
10:18- Pearl Jam is playing Oceans. Damn. My brother is a lucky bastard.
10:19- Everything is happening. The Bills select Shaq Lawson. That is an awesome pick. I wish the Saints would have picked him at 12.
10:25- The Jets pick Darron Lee a LB from…wait for it… OHIO STATE. Is anyone not from Ohio St? I am surprised that the Jets didn’t pick Myles Jack but they must have been scared off by his injury. Schefter just tweeted that Lawson is going to need surgery on his shoulder at some point and it will keep him out 4-6 months. That might be why he was available for the Bills at 19.
10:28- The Redskins trade their pick to the Houston Texans. The Redskins get a free sixth round pick to let the Texans pick ahead of them.
10:29- The Penguins score. Justin Williams has a shot tipped a few times and it beats Holtby. 3-3 with 10 minutes left in the third period. Tonight would be a great night for overtime.
10:31- The talking heads all seem to think the Texans will take a WR and that makes sense to me. There are still 3 good ones left. They pick Will Fuller from Notre Dame and make the fellas on ESPN look ultra smart. I like Fuller and I assume Brock Osweiler will as well.
10:40- The Redskins select Josh Doctson a WR from TCU. You have to think that the Redskins wanted to pick a WR and didn’t have a huge preference between Doctson and Fuller. In the end they get a WR and an extra pick next year. You like that? You like that?
10:44- The Vikings should rush their card up and pick Treadwell. Teddy needs a weapon on the outside and Treadwell might not have the speed that some of the other guys do but he is awesome.
10:46- The Vikings do the right thing and pick Treadwell. He is going to be a fantastic player. If I were a Vikings fan I would be thrilled with how this worked out.
10:50- End to end action to end the third period in Washington but we are going to OVEEERRRRTIME.
10:52- The Bengals pick is in but ESPN is talking to Treadwell and his daughter so we have to wait. The Bengals probably wanted a WR but I don’t think anyone is left at that position. They should take anyone capable of remaining composed at the end of a playoff game.
10:54- The Bengals pick William Jackson III a CB from Houston. This gives us an opportunity to find out what Mel Kiper thinks of his ball skills.
10:56- The Steelers waste no time and select Artie Burns a DB from Miami. Mel immediately discusses his ball skills. I am a huge fan of the comic, Artie Lange. I don’t think they are related.
10:58- The Broncos trade up with the Seahawks and will probably pick a QB. The pick is in but ESPN will instead go to commercial. I am going to twitter to see if the pick has leaked. I found out that the Broncos gave up a third round pick for the right to move up but it doesn’t look like the pick leaked. While I was on twitter I also learned:
1. Shaq Lawson denies the report about his shoulder injury.
2. There has been a ton of drama with Tunsil tonight. I am going to have to catch up with it all later but it sounds like this dude has had a long night.
11:02- The Broncos select Paxton Lynch a QB from Memphis.
11:04- Overtime has begun in Washington. If the Capitals win, ill take Oshie to finish off the hat-trick. If the Penguins win, ill take Kris Letang to get the winner.
11:06- 5 picks left.
11:09- The Caps are all over the Penguins.
11:11- With the 27th pick the Packers take Kenny Clark a DT from UCLA. I am sure all of their fans wish they would have taken a risk on Myles Jack.
11:16- ANOTHER TRADE. The 49ers move back into the first round and I have to think they did it to take a QB.
11:18- Umm… The 49ers pick a guard from Stanford named Joshua Garnett. Piper is underwhelmed by the pick and I will admit I have almost no idea who he is.
11:20- The 49ers gave up 3 picks for the right to move back into the first round to pick Garnett. I am sure that will fire up the fan base.
11:21- The Capitals appear to have won the game on a TJ Oshie wrap around goal. The Penguins don’t think so and the play is being reviewed. I have no idea how the ref thought this was a goal. It didn’t look like it was even close to a goal.
11:24- NBC finds a look that appears to show a good goal. Oshie wins it with a hat-trick goal just like I told you he would.
11:26- Meanwhile, the Cardinals pick Robert Nkemdiche a DT from Ole Miss. I refuse to type his name again it is far too difficult.
11:31- What the hell is going through Tunsil’s agent’s head?
11:33- The Panthers pick Vernon Butler a DT from Louisiana Tech. I don’t think the Panthers needed a DT but a team that went 15-1 usually doesn’t show up at the draft with a ton of holes.
11:34- The Seahawks haven’t made a first round pick since 2012. It seems like they might just end that streak now.
11:37- The pick is in but we are watching commercials.
11:39- The Seahawks end the first round by picking Germain Ifedi an OT from Texas A&M. Gruden rips the scheme at Texas A&M, seems to mock Ifedi’s conditioning, but then says he likes the pick. The Seahawks needed a lineman so that makes sense.
11:41- The first round is over. There is still a ton of talent on the board including Myles Jack. In the words of Jack Buck, we will see you tomorrow night.
