Round 11. Cleveland Browns QB Baker Mayfield - Oklahoma Mary Kay Cabot and the Plain Dealer were right. Browns continue to amaze no matter who they hire as GM and coach. Unfairly to Mayfield this has a Johnny Manziel sort of vibe. Incredibly productive cocky college player that lacks top NFL measurables, skills. Mayfield is not a freak athlete like Michael Vick and will no longer be facing Big 12 defenses. Cleveland, where QBs go to die. The rest of the QB class can't be too disappointed.
2. New York Giants RB Saquon Barkley - Penn St Great player. Incredible physical specimen. Is this too high for a RB? Especially for a team with an aging QB in steep decline. Barkley's ability as a receiver, pass protector and kick returner does set him apart from the usual dominant college feature back.
3. New York Jets (from Indianapolis) QB Sam Darnold - USC Swung for the fences moving up from 6 to 3. Hit the lottery. Every QB in this and every draft is a gamble. Darnold has all the attributes to succeed. Could even get some time to develop behind Josh McCown and Ted Bridgewater.
4. Cleveland Browns (from Houston) CB Denzel Ward - Ohio St Undersized corner over dynamic edge rusher. Excellent player, just not in Chubb's class as a future difference maker. A very Browns sort of move. Hiring of John Dorsey doesn't seem to have changed anything. Steelers (and Bengals and Ravens) fans can breath easier.
5. Denver Broncos OLB Bradley Chubb - North Carolina St Were reportedly going to trade down with Bills before Chubb was surprisingly available. The best player at a premium position (arguably first or second best to Barkley in entire draft) fell into their laps. They pulled the trigger. Hard to argue. Pairing Chubb with Von Miller a scary proposition.
6. Indianapolis Colts (from NY Jets) OG Quentin Nelson - Notre Dame High for an interior offensive lineman. No matter. The safest player in the draft to help protect Andrew Luck. Makes a ton of sense.
7. Buffalo Bills (from Tampa Bay) QB Josh Allen - Wyoming Use a pair of second rounders to move up for their QB of the future, probably present. Not a surprise. Size, mobility, arm strength and big hands should work well on the banks of Lake Erie.
8. Chicago Bears ILB Roquan Smith - Georgia The newest Monster of the Midway. Originally I had Nelson penciled in to the Colts and Smith to the Bears. Switched at the last minute. Obviously a mistake on my part.
9. San Francisco 49ers OT Mike McGlinchey - Notre Dame Beat the cross-bay (at least before the move to Santa Clara) Raiders to McGlinchey. This surprised me a little with a bigger needs in the interior line, on the defensive side of the ball. Not sure McGlinchey is an upgrade over Trent Brown on the right side or if either can move inside in the short term. Probably means Joe Staley will be moving on after this coming season.
10. Arizona Cardinals (from Oakland) QB Josh Rosen - UCLA First time in the modern era (whatever that means) that four QBs are taken in the first ten picks. No brainer move for the Cards. Only had to trade a third and a fifth to swap the fifteenth pick for the tenth. Obviously neither injury prone Sam Bradford nor Mike Glennon were the QB of the future. For some reason teams that sign Mike Glennon keep trading up for QBs.
11. Miami Dolphins S/CB Minkah Fitzpatrick - Alabama Reportedly didn't want to take a QB. Thanks to Cards didn't have to consider Rosen.
12. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (from Buffalo/Cincinnati) DT Vita Vea - Washington Been looking for a partner inside for Gerald McCoy for years. Added Jason Pierre Paul and Vinnie Curry on the edge. Defensive line is now extremely scary. Still surprised like Mel Kiper and Louis Riddick on ESPN that they passed on James.
13. Washington Redskins NT Da'Ron Payne - Alabama Needed to address interior run defense. Miss out on Vea, settle for Payne.
14. New Orleans Saints (from Green Bay) DE Marcus Davenport - Texas San Antonio Had to part with next year's first rounder to move up this high. Edge rushers are always at premium, but this is a huge gamble on a raw prospect.
15. Oakland Raiders (from Arizona) OT Kolton Miller - UCLA Said to have been enamored with Miller. Trading down with McGlinchey gone and still getting Miller was a nice move.
16. Buffalo Bills (from Baltimore) OLb Tremaine Edmunds - Virginia Tech Wheeling and dealing. Having a nice night. High upside athletic LB for Sean McDermott.
17. Los Angeles Chargers S/CB Derwin James - Florida St Best player available. Value over immediate need. Like this pick a lot.
18. Green Bay Packers (from New Orleans) CB Jaire Alexander - Louisville Loved the trade down to 27 for a 2019 first rounder. Not sure they needed to move back up for Alexander. At least they only needed to part with a third rounder to make this move.
19. Dallas Cowboys OLB Leighton Vander Esch - Boise St Jerry Jones milks the clock, savors the moment. Wastes my time. Said to be high on Vander Esch, it was not a smoke screen.
20. Detroit Lions C Frank Ragnow - Arkansas Fast riser. This is high. News breaks that Martavis Bryant was traded to Raiders for a third rounder. Nice value for a player that was never going to resign after this season. Now receiver is a definite Steelers need.
21. Cincinnati Bengals (from Buffalo) C Billy Price - Ohio St Back-to-back centers, can't believe that has ever happened before in the first round. Reach for need. Actually thought there were a couple of better centers available than Ragnow and Price.
22. Tennessee Titans (from Baltimore/Buffalo/Kansas City) ILB Rashaun Evans - Alabama Mike Vrabel jumps Bill Belichick for the immediate replacement for free agent loss Avery Williamson. Wish the Steelers would have made this move, although trading with Ravens may not have been possible.
23. New England Patriots (from LA Rams) T/G Isaiah Wynn - Georgia Has five position versatility. Lacks length, but has the athleticism to stick at left tackle.
24. Carolina Panthers WR DJ Moore - Maryland First receiver taken. Advisory board told Moore he should stay in school. They were obviously clueless.
25. Baltimore Ravens (from Tennessee) TE Hayden Hurst - South Carolina Traded down twice. Took a former Pirates 17th round pick that developed Steve Blass disease. Overaged prospect. A rare complete three down TE.
26. Atlanta Falcons WR Calvin Ridley - Alabama Nice value. Had nothing behind Julio Jones, Mohammad Sanu.
27. Seattle Seahawks (from Green Bay/New Orleans) RB Rashaad Penny - San Diego St Joins Marshall Faulk as only Aztec RBs taken in the first round in the modern draft era. Damn. Biggest reach so far. Need a RB. Plenty of better available. Desperate for offensive line and defensive backs. Could have used the day two pick they got for trading down on a back, likely Penny.
28. Pittsburgh Steelers S Terrell Edmunds - Virginia Tech First round brothers for the first time. Huge reach. Massive letdown. Fast riser after jumping through the roof at the combine. Should win the Steelers the broad jump and verticle leap gold medals. Wait, that isn't part of a foothall game? Damn it. Could versatility push him to inside linebacker like his brother? Probably in sub-packages at least. At least the Penguins eased my pain by erasing a 2 goal third period deficit and coming back to beat the C(r)apitals.
29. Jacksonville Jaguars DT Taven Bryan - Florida Value over immediate need. Would have been thrilled if the Steelers had followed this course and taken Bryan or a corner.
30. Minnesota Vikings CB Mike Hughes - Central Florida Another player I would have been thrilled if the Steelers selected over Edmunds. Short, but has the build to hold up outside. Might be even better in the slot. Return ability a bonus.
31. New England Patriots RB Sony Michel - Georgia Most versatile of the backs sans Barkley. Rumors of a knee condition causing him to fall proved unfounded. Of course Belichick doesn't care if his knee can't hold up through a second contract. If Michel succeeds Belichick wouldn't pay him what it would take to sign him to a second contract anyway.
32. Baltimore Ravens (from Philadelphia) QB Lamar Jackson - Louisville Give Ozzie Newsome an "A" for effort in his last year running the draft room. I am just not a fan of Jackson. Had to do something to try to eventually replace Joe Flacco. I just don't think this move is going to work. So Mayfield and Jackson were the QBs added to the AFC North. I am not impressed.
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