The morning coffee hadn’t really kicked in yet, but suddenly I was jolted awake by a notification of something written exactly four years ago today. It’s a stark reminder of how important good draft decisions are, as well as the critical nature of seeing through the all the smoke that happens at this point in the draft season every year.
On this date, April 11, 2017, Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that the Browns were seriously considering selecting North Carolina QB Mitchell Trubisky instead of Texas A&M DE Myles Garrett with the No. 1 overall pick. Schefter wasn’t the only one, not even close; some in the Cleveland media had been advancing the theory for weeks. It was a topic we had to cover several times, unfortunately.
It all proved for naught. Garrett was the pick and the Browns lived happily ever after. Trubisky somehow managed a Pro Bowl berth and a playoff berth as the starting QB in Chicago despite uneven play, but he played his way out of the position and is now the backup QB in Buffalo. That’s a terrible return on investment for the Bears, who traded up a spot to No. 2 overall to select him.
There’s a lesson here in believing all the reports you see at this time of year. Schefter and others were merely repeating what was told to them. I do that as well, but always try to clarify that it’s just one person’s or source’s take. The motivation behind those sources is the key, and that can be very difficult to ascertain. I’ve been doing this a long time and I still “get had” on some things like that, unfortunately.
Keep that in mind as you see all the reports that seem crazy in the final weeks leading into the draft. Remember the conviction with which some tried to sell you that Trubisky was indeed going to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft right up until Roger Goodell announced,
“With the first pick in the 2017 NFL draft, the Cleveland Browns select Myles Garrett.”
