My Thoughts on the First Round of the NFL Draft

Even though the Patriots didn’t pick last night, I still watched the whole first round of the NFL Draft. I’ll be the first to say that I hate how the draft doesn’t start on the weekend anymore, but that doesn’t make me not want to watch. I really enjoy the drama that comes with it, and last night’s NFL Draft was one of the more eventful ones in recent memory. Here’s my take on the biggest headlines of the night:

The Browns did Something Right for Once
Cleveland finally got one right. I didn’t buy into the talk of Trubisky going first, because to me there’s no way you can pass up on a guy like Myles Garrett. He’s a stud and will immediately start for a team that had one of the worst defenses in the NFL last year. They also grabbed Jabrill Peppers and David Njoku at the end of the round, which were great picks. These guys should be able to come in and help immediately. Good job, Cleveland.

Chicago Traded Up One Spot for…
I died laughing when I saw this pick. What on earth was Chicago thinking when they traded up one spot for Mitchell Trubisky? For starters, they got absolutely fleeced by San Francisco’s first year GM John Lynch. They gave up three picks in this year’s draft and one pick next year to move up ONE SPOT, just to take a guy who I don’t think the 49ers were even going to take. John Lynch must have one hell of a poker face if he got Chicago to believe they were taking Trubisky. But then again, this is the same team that thought Jay Cutler was a franchise quarterback, so it couldn’t have been that hard.

I also feel like this pick wasn’t planned very well. We saw them go out and sign Mike Glennon to a huge contract this offseason, so why did they feel compelled to give up valuable picks for another QB? That says a lot about how Chicago feels about Glennon. Why would they sign him to the kind of money they did if their plan was to draft their potential quarterback of the future a few months later? Something tells me everything about this pick was very last minute. They also didn’t call him until after he walked on the stage, which was a weird move. Overall, this selection just confuses me.

Deshaun Watson was the Third QB Taken for Some Reason
To me, Watson is the best quarterback in this draft. Other than his college numbers (which were great), Watson is a fantastic leader with plenty of experience to back it up. Oh, and he beat Alabama in the National Championship game. The fact that Patrick Mahomes was taken before him made no sense to me, but I would much rather see Watson in Houston than Kansas City. He has a higher chance of playing this season in Houston, and even though Bill O’Brien said Tom Savage is the current starter, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Watson in Week One.

Offensive Linemen Were Not a Hot Commodity in Round One
Last night the Broncos took the first offensive lineman off the board at 20th overall when they selected Garrett Bolles. That is the latest the first offensive lineman has gone in a draft in NFL history. At the top of this year’s draft we saw A LOT of skill players go, but only two offensive linemen. Maybe the league is trending in a new direction? Or the offensive linemen this year just aren’t as talented as they usually are. I’m going with the latter.

Takkarist McKinley Might be Crazy 
I was legitimately concerned when McKinley took the stage last night. He was carrying a huge portrait of his late grandmother when approaching the stage, which I must respect. But when he started screaming to himself at the camera, I couldn’t believe it. I get that he was excited to be drafted and fulfill his promise to his grandmother, but this man needs to take a chill pill. He also got away with a huge F-bomb on live television, which was awesome. I know one thing for sure, I wouldn’t want to be lined up opposite of this guy. Watch the video for yourself above.

Big Names who Slipped
Guys like Marshon Lattimore, Jonathan Allen, Gareon Conley, and Reuben Foster slipped way past their draft projections last night. Each team that took a chance on one of these kids should have walked out of last night feeling good. In my opinion, their upsides all outweigh the risks that they might be taking by with these kids. If the Pats were in the first round I would have loved to see them take Foster, but oh well.

Overall, last night was a pretty good night in the NFL. We saw some great kids get drafted and hopefully they all pan out at the next level. The draft continues again tonight, and the Patriots finally are making a selection. I’ll be looking forward to it.

Written By: Nick Cherico (@NickCherico2)