NFl draft

By: Lucas Kochevar

        The NFL Draft has come and passed. The draft held some very exciting picks as many quarterbacks were selected along with some players that could be essential to the future. The first ten picks went something like this:

1. CLE - Baker Mayfield, QB Oklahoma
2. NYG - Saquon Barkley, RB Penn State
3. NYJ - Sam Darnold, QB USC
4. CLE - Denzel Ward, CB Ohio State
5. DEN - Bradley Chubb, DE NC State
6. IND - Quenton Nelson, G Notre Dame
7. BUF - Josh Allen, QB Wyoming
8. CHI - Roquan Smith, LB Georgia
9. SF - Mike Mcglinchey, T Notre Dame
10. ARZ - Josh Rosen, QB UCLA

          These picks are all very impactful and can change the shape of the future. The first pick was Baker Mayfield out of Oklahoma. There was much speculation about who the Browns would select such as Darnold and Allen. In the end, however, they went with the former Heisman winner. The Browns selected Mayfield due to the fear that the Patriots would trade up to the #2 pick and select him. The second pick was the best player on my board in Saquon Barkley. Barkley is the most talented running back to come out since Adrian Peterson. Barkely should provide some very talented plays and take pressure off Eli Manning. 

         The franchise QB at number 3 was Sam Darnold. Darnold was thought to be the best QB in the draft, but I believe that he is the second best, but he has the highest ceiling. Darnold is the highest draftred QB for the Jets since Mark Sanchez, Darnold should be a very nice building block as he does need more weapons around him in order to unleash his full potential. The other QB selected was Josh Allen. Allen was a very intriguing prospect as he has all the tools, but his accuracy could be an issue heading forward. He has the strongest arm in the draft and should be an interesting player heading forward. The other QB was Josh Rosen. Rosen is the other QB that has the potential to be franchise changing. Rosen has all the smarts to be an NFL QB and he was my most NFL ready QB. He has the potential to bring back Arizona to relevance. He has some talented tools with Larry Fitzgerald and David Johnson

          Some other interesting moves include the Saints movement to the fifteenth pick. They drafted monster D-lineman Marcus Davenport. Davenport was the most high risk, high reward player as he comes from a small school and is very unknown. Learning under Cameron Jordan could prove to be very beneficial for him. Another interesting pick was S Derwin James from Florida State slipping all the way to the Chargers. The Chargers loaded up their already fantastic secondary. More picks include WR D.J. Moore to the Panthers and Calvin Ridley to Atlanta. These teams add some offensive power as Cam has a new WR and Matt Ryan adds Ridley to his arsenal of dangerous weapons. The first round concluded with Lamar Jackson finally being selected by the Baltimore Ravens as he will most likely be the successor to Joe Flacco as his career has started to slip. 

           The NFL Draft is always a fun time as many kids dreams come true and this year was no exception as dreams were fulfilled.