Teams took big swings in around the NFL Draft. And we don’t mean by the combined 13 feet and 714 pounds of offensive linemen the New York Giants and Jets added between them with first-round picks Andrew Thomas and Mekhi Becton.
Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals struck it rich in the first round with Clemson’s Isaiah Simmons. He will have company in the linebacker corps with sixth-rounder Evan Weaver. The Cal product enters the NFL fresh off a consensus All-American season as a senior, in which he led the country with 182 tackles and added 2.5 sacks and two forced fumbles. Weaver may also have the quote of the draft: “I hit people as hard as I possibly can. (I like) really taking the soul out of people. Once you get in the third, fourth quarter, they don’t want to play anymore, because they just don’t want to hang with you.”
Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons’ seventh-round pick punter Sterling Hofrichter is thrilled to be headed to Atlanta. The Syracuse product grew up an Atlanta Braves fan and wore No. 10 in college as an homage to his favorite baseball player, former Braves star Chipper Jones.
Baltimore Ravens
It has been documented but worth repeating the Baltimore Ravens signed an undrafted free agent with big pro wrestling genes. Kennesaw State running back Bronson Rechsteiner is the son of Rick Steiner and nephew of Scott Steiner. They famously paired as the Steiner Bros.
Buffalo Bills
Kicker Tyler Bass was selected on the final day of the 2020 NFL Draft. Bass went in the sixth round to the Buffalo Bills, who took him with the 188th overall pick. Bass joins former Georgia Southern kicker Younghoe Koo (Atlanta Falcons) currently playing in the NFL.
Carolina Panthers
The Panthers used all seven of their picks in the NFL Draft on defensive players, the most in the common draft era to be made all on defense, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. Carolina tied the 1985 Cleveland Browns for the most picks on one side of the ball. The Browns used all seven picks on offense.
Chicago Bears
Khalil Mack likely will be in the same locker room the next time Ledarius Mack puts on a helmet and uniform. GM Ryan Pace said the Bears are expected to sign Ledarius — who like his brother was an edge rusher at the University of Buffalo — as an undrafted free agent. Ledarius Mack spent the past two seasons at Buffalo, appearing in 27 games and recording 10 sacks and four forced fumbles.
Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals took Wyoming LB Logan Wilson in the third round. This marks the fifth time in six years Cincinnati has used a third-round pick on a linebacker.
Cleveland Browns
Former Princeton QB Kevin Davidson is signing with … the Browns. Coach Kevin Stefanski went to Penn. GM Andrew Berry went to Harvard. Another Ivy League connection with Davidson.
Dallas Cowboys
Tyler Biadasz had the opportunity to meet Travis Frederick when Wisconsin played in the 2017 Cotton Bowl. Biadasz could only hope to come close to honoring the legacy that his fellow Wisconsin native left behind at center. Four years later, after a successful Wisconsin career of his own, Biadasz was drafted by the Cowboys in the fourth round after Dallas traded up to acquire him. He’ll be joining the Cowboys in the same offseason in which Frederick retired from a likely Hall of Fame career with Dallas.
Denver Broncos
The Broncos have a history of undrafted players finding success, as an undrafted rookie has made the team’s initial 53-man roster in 15 of the last 16 seasons. This year’s group includes: Western Michigan RB LeVante Bellamy, Texas Tech S Douglas Coleman III, Vanderbilt QB Riley Neal, Wake Forest WR Kendall Hinton, Tartleton State WR Zimari Manning, Central Arkansas T Hunter Watts and Wake Forest DB Essang Bassey.
Detroit Lions
Jeff Okudah was the 11th Ohio State cornerback drafted in the first round since 1999, and the first taken in the first round by the Lions since 1998, when they took Terry Fair of Tennessee 20th overall. That made it two straight after Bryant Westbrook of Texas fifth overall in 1997.
Green Bay Packers
The Packers chose Jon Runyan Jr. with the first of their three sixth-round picks (No. 192 overall). Runyan is the son and namesake of former Pro Bowl right tackle Jon Runyan, a fourth-round pick in 1996 who played in more than 200 NFL games with Houston/Tennessee, Philadelphia and San Diego. Jon Jr. was in the stands during the fourth-and-26 game between Green Bay and Philadelphia, a playoff loss that lives in infamy for many Packers fans.
Houston Texans
During the last four rounds, Bill O’Brien made trades with Miami, the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans. O’Brien sent the 111th pick that came from Miami in the Laremy Tunsil trade back to the Dolphins for two lower picks in the fourth round, 136th and 141st overall. To get the 126th pick so he could draft North Carolina tackle Charlie Heck, O’Brien gave the Rams the 136th selection and his last two compensatory picks in the seventh round, 248th and 250th. Then, O’Brien traded his last pick, 240th overall, to New Orleans for a sixth-round pick next year.
Indianapolis Colts
The Colts drafted Washington’s Jacob Eason with the 122nd pick overall in the fourth round. Eason marks the first quarterback selected by Indianapolis since 2012. That year, they chose another Pac-12 QB, Andrew Luck, first overall in the first round. They also chose Northern Illinois’ Chandler Harnish in the seventh round, 253rd overall, that year.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Laviska Shenault Jr. had an amazing year as a sophomore at Colorado. In 2018, he was a first-team all-conference selection after being the only player in the country to have five rushing and receiving touchdowns, catching 86 passes for 1,011 yards and six touchdowns and also adding 17 carries for 115 yards and five touchdowns. The No. 42 overall pick had149 catches for 1,943 yards (13.0 average) and 10 touchdowns as a Buff.
Kansas City Chiefs
At the end of the first round, the Kansas City Chiefs selected LSU running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire with the 32nd overall selection. That means he went from the college football champs to the Super Bowl champs.
Las Vegas Raiders
Now that the Raiders are in Vegas, gambling rules … even their draft picks. Per the Review-Journal: Alabama receiver Henry Ruggs, the Raiders’ first first-round pick at No. 12, was rated behind wideouts Jerry Jeudy and CeeDee Lamb at Las Vegas sportsbooks. And Ohio State cornerback Damon Arnette, their second selection at No. 19, was a heavy favorite (-550) to not be taken in the first round. Circa Sportsbook reported a small win on the first round despite losing a big decision on Ruggs, who was a 6-1 long shot to be the Raiders’ first pick and +375 to be the first receiver drafted.
Los Angeles Chargers
The Chargers used a first-round pick on Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert. It marked the first time the Bolts took a QB in the first round since they drafted Eli Manning out of Ole Miss with the first pick in the first round in 2004. Their first-round QB before that came with the second pick in 1998 when they chose Ryan Leaf out of Washington State. The Chargers have to hope Herbert works out better for the franchise.
Los Angeles Rams
The Rams used a sixth-round pick on Ohio State safety Jordan Fuller. Hollywood and entertainment are close to the Buckeye’s heart. His mom is songstress Cindy Mizelle and his uncle is the comedian Sinbad. “Usually, whenever I had a break, I would go to my Jersey home, then spend half and half in Jersey and L.A.,” Fuller said. “Very accustomed to that area and can’t wait to get out there.”
Miami Dolphins
An MGM bettor outside of Nevada won a $14,000 wager (-104) that the Dolphins would draft Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
Minnesota Vikings
Justin Jefferson is the eighth receiver selected in a first round by the Vikings and first LSU player drafted in a first round by the Vikings. The last five wideouts taken in the first round by Minnesota have come from SEC schools. The most recent time they went outside the conference for a first-round pick was 1998 when they picked Randy Moss out of Marshall.
New England Patriots
The Patriots need a kicker to replace Steven Gostkowski. They thought it was a safe selection by choosing Marshall’s Justin Rohrwasser. And then social media noticed his tattoos. Choosing a kicker has not created such immediate controversy in a long time.
New Orleans Saints
Quarterbacks became the theme after the draft and around it. Drew Brees is heading into his final year. Jameis Winston is going to be on the team. Taysom Hill has a new contract and Sean Payton traded back into the seventh round to choose Tommy Stevens, a QB who transferred from Penn State to Mississippi State.
New York Giants
The Giants went to Athens in the first and last round. They chose Andrew Thomas, an offensive tackle, with the 10th overall pick in the first round and dipped back into the Georgia Dawgs for Tae Crowder, a linebacker, with the 255th and final pick in the process.
New York Jets
The Jets picked up a punter in the sixth round. In 2018, Texas A&M’s Bradon Mann won the Ray Guy Award, which is awarded to the best punter in college football. Mann is also a capable open-field tackler. “I used to play middle linebacker when I was younger. I like to get in on it” Mann said.
Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles shocked the world … okay, the football universe — when they chose Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts. They then added another QB as a UDFA in Arizona’s Khalil Tate. Tate is thought of as a wide receiver but … his mentor, Donovan McNabb, spent the bulk of his career playing for the Eagles. McNabb trained Tate during the run-up to the draft.
Pittsburgh Steelers
After Khalil Davis was selected in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, his twin brother, Carlos, was drafted in the seventh round by the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Davises played at Nebraska. The won eight letters apiece as college football and track athletes. It marked the first time any Nebraska student-athlete had won eight letters in a career in a half-century.
San Francisco 49ers
Busy, busy, busy. That is what the Niners were. They added the 13th overall pick from Indianapolis by sending DeForest Buckner to the Colts. They moved back a slot and picked South Carolina’s Javon Kinlaw and then chose Arizona State WR Brandon Aiyuk 25th. Oh, and they landed a Pro Bowler in Trent Williams from Washington in another deal.
Seattle Seahawks
This is just the second time under John Schneider and Pete Carroll that Seattle opted not to take a secondary player in the draft. In 2016, the Seahawks had 10 picks but their only defensive selections were interior linemen Jarran Reed and Quinton Jefferson.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Antoine Winfield Jr.’s dad played nine years for the Minnesota Vikings after playing five years with the Buffalo Bills at cornerback. Over the course of his career, Winfield was selected to the Pro Bowl three times from 2008-2010. The elder Winfield picked off Bucs quarterback Tom Brady in Week 9 of the 2001 NFL season. Antoine Winfield was selected in the 1999 NFL Draft at No. 23 overall out of Ohio State, a year before Brady was taken in the sixth round out of the University of Michigan – meaning they played against each other in college.
Tennessee Titans
The Titans dipped into the SEC and Georgia for their first-round pick, offensive tackle Isaiah Wilson. The 6-foot-7, 350-pounder comes from an area not usually associated recently with great football: Brooklyn, N.Y. “We all went crazy,” high school teammate Tegha Egbiri, who was on a Zoom call with several of his former teammates at the time Wilson was picked, told The New York Post. “We were in shock, honestly.” “My phone was blowing up,” Wilson’s Poly Prep coach, Kevin Fountaine, said. “It’s very exciting.”
Washington Redskins
Washington picked up LSU TE Thaddeus Moss, who was undrafted. Moss had big games in the playoff run and has a father who knew how to catch passes, Hall of Famer Randy Moss.
