The Ever Changing First Round

The one thing that is certain about the NFL Draft is that nothing is certain until the draft begins a week form Thursday. We can look at all the pre-draft predictions we want and they all are meaningless. All 32 NFL clubs keep getting relevant information until shortly before the start of the draft. As information comes in, raft boards can change and remember, no two draft boards are alike. Last week we had the big trade between The Rams and the Titans. That trade changed how the top five and more than likely the top ten will come off the board. The other event that could have a drastic effect on how the players come off the board was the medical re-checks in Indianapolis last Thursday and Friday. Let’s look at the trade first. With the Rams now holding the first overall selection, we know one thing and that is a quarterback will be selected first. What we don’t know is who that quarterback will be. It could be Carson Wentz or it could be Jared Goff. The other thing that is certain is that the second pick will most likely be the quarterback that the Rams don’t select. AT this time, I’m hearing that Cleveland want Goff, so id Goff goes first, Cleveland will try and trade out of the second pick. Teams around the league are wondering what it will be like dealing with the Browns when it comes to draft day trades. The Browns front office is very inexperienced when it comes to draft day deals and no club has a clue right now how a deal will come about. That said, it would not surprise me if the Browns trade out of number two before the draft begins. If the draft falls the way I think it will, with Goff and Wentz being the first two selections, it’s anyone’s guess as to who the to five falls. Does San Diego select Leremy Tunsil who a week ago looked like a safe bet to go number one? Or do they stay with a defensive player as they originally planned? That pick could be the key to how far Tunsil falls because it’s safe to say that Dallas won’t be selecting an offensive lineman at number four. Getting back to the quarterbacks, if in fact Goff and Wentz are the first two picks, when does Paxton Lynch get selected? Will a club with a quarterback need trade up into the top 10 or 12 to take Lynch? Before the trade went down, I thought it was a safe bet that Lynch would go at 15 to the Rams. I felt that was the floor for Lynch. Now I am thinking it could very well be somewhere between 6 and 12. After the medical re-checks, it was revealed that some teams are not good with UCLA linebacker Myles Jack knee. The question is not if Jack can play this year, but rather how sound is his knee and will his injury prevent him from having a healthy career. Arthritic conditions can have a huge effect on a player’s longevity. Having sat in on numerous pre-draft medical meetings, I know and understand how each team can look at an injury differently. There will be some clubs who downgrade Jack because of his condition, others will say he is good to go. We won’t know how they really feel until the night of April 28th when he actually gets selected. If Jack does not go in the top five, then clubs are truly worried about his knee. We still have 10 days to go before the draft and the top half of the first round already looks much different than it did a week ago. I can guarantee one thing, between now and April 28th it will change even more>

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