One of the best parts of the drafts are the surprises. Surprises are awesome even if they are bad surprises. Of course, the Raiders gave everyone the first surprise of the draft.
The Raiders drafting Clelling Ferrell
There wasn’t one mock draft in the Milky Way galaxy that had Ferrell going to the Raiders at the fourth pick in the draft. The Raiders probably could’ve landed the Clemson Edge with their second first-round pick. This was a bit of a reach. Sending all the scouts home was a great idea.
Daniel Jones at No. 6
David Gettleman has a plan! That plan is to reach for the fourth best first-round quarterback. The Giants could’ve picked Jones later. They should’ve have drafted a defensive stud with the sixth pick, and then used the 17th pick and one of their 10 other picks to trade up if they thought Jones wouldn’t be there at 17.
Josh Allen falling to the Jaguars
The Jaguars just picked the best player available. The fact that Allen fell when a lot of other teams ahead of Jacksonville needed an Edge is a bit of a shock. The Jaguars defense is going to be a problem again.
The Redskins didn’t have to do anything to land Dwayne Haskins
Normally if a team wants to land the consensus best pocket passing quarterback in the draft, they have to trade up. Not so for the Redskins who had Haskins drop to them at 15.
The late round trades
Everyone was kind of willing to shuffle around. The Broncos dropped back. The Packers traded up giving the Seahawks two fourths to take Darnell Savage. The Eagles traded up instead of back to select Andre Dillard. The Redskins traded back into the first round trading with the Colts taking Montez Sweat. The trades weren’t done. The Seahawks traded back again and the Rams and Falcons made a trade for 31.
There wasn’t a running back or wide receiver taken until 24
The only offensive skill position taken — outside of quarterbacks — were tight ends. T.J. Hockenson went eighth to the Lions. Noah Fant went 20th to the Denver Broncos. The first running back or receiver taken was Josh Jacobs who is now going to Oakland and eventually Las Vegas.
Tytus Howard going in the first round
No one had Howard going in the first round but the Texans decided he was the answer to their offensive line woes even when Jawaan Taylor was still on the board. Taylor was considered one of the top tackles in the draft and some mocks had him going in the top-15. The Texans obviously fell in love with Howard during the pre-draft process.
The Patriots picked a wide receiver.
The Patriots chose N’keal Harry from Arizona State. The Patriots never take wide receivers with first round picks.
