David Hunter
Just a week away, the 2015 NFL Draft is coming with a host of storylines largely centering around the first and second picks in the NFL Draft: Tampa Bay and Tennessee, do they select QBs Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota or do they trade down? Does one of them try to pull a trigger on San Diego’s Philip Rivers (refuses to play in Los Angeles) in a draft day deal? Does a team in the latter single digits try to move up to acquire highly regarded WRs Amari Cooper and Kevin White? How far does OT Brandon Scherff out of Iowa fall (does he transition to RT or inside to Guard?) and where does injured recovering RB Todd Gurley out of Georgia land? Here is the place to delve a little bit deeper.
The Fallout of the First 8 Picks
A lot of speculation has QBs Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota going with the first two picks to Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tennessee Titans respectively. The biggest question is what Tennessee does with the 2nd pick. Rumors are already out that they could deal the 2nd overall pick to the San Diego Chargers (with 4 picks inside the top 120, they definitely have the ammunition to move up) for Philip Rivers and some picks. Also on the radar screen are the Philadelphia Eagles with Chip Kelly now obtaining full roster control. While Philadelphia only has the 20th pick in the 1st Round, they do compare favorably to San Diego with 4 picks in the top 120 and Sam Bradford as a potential trade piece.
The next big step belongs to the Jacksonville Jaguars and Oakland Raiders at picks 3 and 4. The Jaguars are largely expected to go defense with DE/DT Leonard Williams although some names such as OLB Dante Fowler Jr. and OLB Vic Beasley have been gaining steam and could also lead the Jaguars to deal down. If Williams isn’t taken, that leads to a bit of a conundrum for the Raiders who’ll have to decide between anchoring the interior of their defense or trying to help young QB Derek Carr by adding a valuable weapon at WR with either Kevin White or Amari Cooper.
Credit to LATimes.com
Washington Redskins and New York Jets follow with the Jets likely opting for whichever WR does not get selected prior to them. The Redskins could go a myriad of ways from OT Brandon Scherff to one of the OLB not selected (quite probably Vic Beasley out of Clemson). A possible sleeper for Washington could be CB Trae Waynes out of Michigan State.
The New York Giants have strongly been linked to OT Brandon Scherff with the 9th pick. Needing some defensive help, the Atlanta Falcons with the 8th pick could go for either DT Danny Shelton out of Washington or possibly Trae Waynes if he slips past Washington. At 7th, the Chicago Bears could go in any direction with a sleeper choice being DE Bud Dupree out of Kentucky to bolster their pass rush in a strong QB division.
Where Does RB Todd Gurley Fall? What Effect Does It Have on Melvin Gordon?
Largely viewed as the top RB prospect since Adrian Peterson, Gurley had surgery which has hampered his stock from being a probable top 5 selection to a prospect that could fall anywhere from pick 12 (Cleveland Browns) to the early 20’s if fellow RB Melvin Gordon out of Wisconsin goes ahead of him.
Possible destinations for Gurley range from Minnesota and Cleveland at 11 & 12 to Cleveland trying to do what they did with Johnny Manziel last year and snag Gurley with their second pick, the 19th overall selection. A possible dark horse team to select Gurley could be the Houston Texans with the 16th pick as Arian Foster has gotten older and Bill O’Brien is no stranger to leaning on multiple running backs for success of the team.
If Gurley is gone in the teens, Melvin Gordon becomes the next back up. Assuming San Diego doesn’t trade up, they could be a good fit for Gordon with the 17th pick and same for Cleveland 2 spots later. If, for whatever reason Gordon continues to slip, a dark horse team could be the Carolina Panthers with the 25th pick.
Where’s The Hype for the Defense?
A lot of the hype in the draft has been around the offensive skill positions even within the first part of this article. While the interior of the defense has a few big names for 3-4 defenses (Danny Shelton, Malcolm Brown out of Texas, and Eddie Goldman out of Florida State) most of the names will revolve around the edge including at defensive end and outside linebacker.
Credit to Bloguin.com
Randy Gregory out of Nebraska was once being talked about as a top 10 surefire pick only to see his stock taking a hit (largely aided by failing a Marijuana drug test at the NFL Combine) and rumors are swirling he could go anywhere from New Orleans Saints with their 13th pick to falling as far as the mid 20’s and landing as a potential middle linebacker for a team like the Baltimore Ravens with the 26th pick or the Dallas Cowboys with the 27th pick.
Other strong names to remember are OLB Shane Ray of Missouri, SS Landon Collins out of Alabama, and CB Marcus Peters of Washington. Peters has struggled with character concerns, including being kicked off the team entirely, making him potentially fall to the 2nd Round and be a possible steal down the road for the team which selects him.
Risers and Fallers
Currently DT Arik Armstead of Oregon has been talked about as going anywhere from the early teens to quite possibly the 20th pick belonging to the Philadelphia Eagles and former Oregon HC Chip Kelly. Another late riser in NFL Draft circles has been WR Breshad Perriman, the son of former Detroit Lions WR Brett Perriman, capable of being the 3rd WR selected in the late teens possibly to a team such as the Kansas City Chiefs with the 18th pick.
Another name to keep an eye on is Kevin Johnson, a cornerback out of Wake Forest in competition with Peters to be the 2nd cornerback off the board after Trae Waynes. Johnson could go as early as the Minnesota Vikings with the 11th pick to the Miami Dolphins with the 14th pick.
Some fallers include WR Dorial Green-Beckham, a very talented beast of a receiver who’ll likely go in the 2nd Round (or possibly even the 3rd Round if he gets bypassed by talent such as Jaelen Strong of Arizona State and Nelson Agholor of USC) due to past character concerns stemming from his days at Missouri.
ILB Benardrick McKinney out of Mississippi State will likely go in the 1st Round, possibly to the Cincinnati Bengals with the 21st pick or the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 22nd pick but he was initially perceived as being a likely top 15 and borderline top 10 selection as the offseason and draft talk began.
Credit to USATodayHSS.com
Shaq Thompson out of Washington has been touted as going from a late 1st round pick, possibly by the New Orleans Saints at 31 or the New England Patriots at 32 but he’s a bit of a player without a position currently lacking the ideal bulk to play OLB much like Lavonte David with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Shaq does display enough athleticism that an experimental coach could also try him as an in the box safety.
So who do you think your team selects? Which prospect has the best chance at a Hall of Fame career? Discuss below in the comments section!
