Credit to the Cleveland Browns for going out and getting the best QB in the draft. I didn’t think it was likely that I would type that sentence, but I’m on board with their Baker Mayfield selection. Out of all the quarterbacks, I think he has the least concerns. I was most worried about how his personality fits a team but for Cleveland it works well. They need someone extremely confident to change that team’s culture.
Quenton Nelson was a really solid pick for the Indianapolis Colts. As a Titans fan I’m more than happy to see them miss out on Bradley Chubb though (thanks Denver!).
An underrated move of the night was Chicago quietly grabbing Roquan Smith. I think many had Smith rated extremely high but I didn’t give much consideration to him ending up a Bear.
One of the earlier editions of this post mentioned Marcus Davenport and its no secret I had him as a top-15 pick. He’s a player with both production and potential. I can’t understand the Saints moving up for him though. I think its quite likely we look back on that pick next year and compliment the player Davenport has become...but then question if it was worth the cost of moving up. The Saints are clearly remaining aggressive while their Drew Brees window remains open.
I don’t know what Jon Gruden is doing. In my opinion, most of his roster moves as Oakland head coach have been head-scratchers. That continued with selecting UCLA tackle Kolton Miller 15th overall.
Rashaan Evans is a Titan and that is a darn good thing. I wrote about his versatility before the Combine and now I am really, really curious to see how this defense works. How they rotate Woodyard, Brown and Evans inside will a storyline to watch all through camp.
Did anybody have Rashaad Penny going in the first? To his credit I’ve heard mostly positive things about him all throughout the draft process. That was when he was rated as a second or third round pick...
For the second straight year a fun, mobile QB went to a team I despise. Last year it was Deshaun Watson and now this year its Lamar Jackson. Joe Flacco has (at most) one year left as the starter now in Baltimore. Think of how different the two quarterbacks are. They are going to replace one of the most boring, average quarterbacks in the league with an absolutely electric prospect. For Jackson’s sake, I hope they are ready to renovate that whole offense.
Let’s talk Titans targets going into the second and third round tonight. Obviously I still have Harold Landry as my top prospect, but there are two questions I have now. First, there is very clearly a medical concern with him. In a weak edge rusher class, I can’t buy that he fell that far just for his on-field play this season. The second question is if Mike Vrabel wants to use Rashaan Evans as an outside rusher on certain downs. My hunch is that we see this occasionally this year, and if that’s the case then edge rusher may get pushed down the list a bit.
Here would be a few of my top prospect targets for the Titans’ second round selection: Justin Reid, Ronnie Harrison, Uchenna Nwosu, Jessie Bates, Sam Hubbard and Josh Sweat. I would be very interested in Josh Jackson too, but I’d be stunned if he is on the board much longer. Ideally I’d love to add a safety with the second round selection.
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