Tag: 2017 NFL Draft

Garett Bolles makes PFF’s list of Top 101 players in the NFL

Congrats to Broncos left tackle Garett Bolles for making PFF’s list of the top 101 players in the NFL!

Before the NFL’s new year began on March 13 with the official opening of the free agent tampering period, Pro Football Focus released its list of the top 101 players from the 2023 season. Only one Broncos player made the list: left tackle Garett Bolles.

Although Bolles made the list at No. 99 out of 101, PFF praised the 2017 first-round draft pick.

“Bolles was an iron man for the Broncos, playing more than 1,000 snaps at left tackle and earning excellent PFF grades in the process,” Sam Monson wrote on PFF’s website. “He posted an 83.8 PFF pass-blocking grade, the second-best mark of his career.”

Bolles has been a stalwart member of the Denver offensive line since he was drafted. Bolles had severe holding issues at the beginning of his career, but eventually, coaches saw enough improvement in his play to reward him with a four-year, $68 million extension in November 2020. That deal will expire after the 2024 campaign.

Do the Broncos keep Bolles around after 2024, or will he be another veteran casualty of a rebuilding franchise? Only time will tell.

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The case for Ravens DB, Marlon Humpery, as the best corner in the NFL

Marlon Humphrey has quietly been one of the best defensive players in the NFL

When you think of the great Alabama defensive backs, names like Minkah Fitzpatrick, Trevon Diggs and Patrick Surtain come to mind. Yet, it often feels like [autotag]Marlon Humphrey[/autotag] doesn’t receive that same recognition despite being arguably the best of the group. Humphrey was a two-year starter for the Tide leaving after his junior year and was ultimately selected No. 16 overall in the 2017 NFL draft.

Since arriving in the NFL, Humphrey has been the staple of the Ravens defense which is almost always at the top of the NFL ranks. Part of it might be the flash of Lamar Jackson, or the great coaching of John Harbaugh, but Humphrey flies under the radar as potentially being the best defensive back in the NFL. Now, before you call this an unreasonably bold take, here are some of his numbers.

Since 2019, Humphrey has started 59 of 60 games for the Ravens, and we all know that availability is the best ability in professional sports. Outside of a torn pectoral muscle in December 2021 that ended his season, he has been one of the most reliable players in the NFL.

In that four-year span, Humphrey had 276 total tackles, broke up 45 passes, snagged eight interceptions and even led the NFL in forced fumbles in 2020 with eight. He’s been named a three-time Pro Bowler and a First-Team All-Pro in 2019 for his efforts, quietly a very impressive resume for the 26-year-old star.

However, 2022 might have been his most impressive season as he was in coverage for 664 snaps and allowed zero touchdowns, the most snaps of any player without surrendering a score. With Lamar under a new deal and a better roster in place for Baltimore, expect the Ravens and Humphrey to be one of the scariest teams in the AFC this season.

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27 Days, 27 Picks: TE O.J. Howard

Today’s player in our 27 Days, 27 Picks series is the first one in the series who no longer plays for Tampa Bay:

In 27 Days, 27 Picks, Bucs Wire will analyze the last 27 Tampa Bay Buccaneers first-round draft picks, one for each day leading up to the 2023 NFL draft. We’ll take a look at the player’s college stats, their pre-draft numbers (either via the NFL Combine or their Pro Day), their NFL stats, some player footage and analysis at the end on whether the pick itself was a good one.

We’ve already done a rundown on TE [autotag]O.J. Howard[/autotag] recently, but we’ll go a bit more in-depth here. Howard was lauded as one of the top prospects in the NFL draft in 2017, but what initially appeared as a boon for the Bucs turned into a guessing game of what could have been.

Check out the rundown on Howard down below:

Patrick Mahomes wanted to be a Chicago Bear, according to his father

Old wounds were ripped open on Monday as Patrick Mahomes’ father confirms the Bears told the star QB they were picking him back in 2017.

It’s been over five years since the Chicago Bears traded up one spot to select quarterback Mitchell Trubisky second overall, passing up on superstar Patrick Mahomes in the process. Mahomes of course was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs eight picks later and is now headed to his third Super Bowl in four years, while Bears fans everywhere have been left to wonder what could have been.

Rehashing the past gets old after a while and Bears fans have done their best to move on, but thanks to a new revelation by a member of Mahomes’ family, those old wounds were ripped open.

Fresh off celebrating the Chiefs’ 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship game, Patrick Mahomes Sr. joined 670 The Score’s Parkins & Spiegel. After talking about the win, the conversation steered towards the infamous draft decision and Mahomes Sr. not only confirmed reports of the Bears’ interest in his son, but said he was told he would be going to Chicago.

“They told him they were going to draft him,” Mahomes Sr. said. “We thought he was going to be the third pick overall and go to Chicago. He had a great meeting when he went there and liked all the guys that were doing the stuff there and thought he was going to be a Bear. Then once they traded up and got Mitch, it kind of hurt him. It really did. He always knew that Kansas City had told him that they were going to come up and get him. They just didn’t know how far they’d have to go. But initially, he thought he was going to be a Chicago Bear.”

The Bears’ interest in Mahomes had already been documented, thanks to an in-depth piece on Bleacher Report that broke down the 2017 NFL Draft by Kayln Kahler in 2020. But hearing it from his father hits differently, especially knowing that he wanted to be a Bear.

“He definitely wanted to be there,” Mahomes Sr. said. “He liked everything about it and he was looking forward to going there. Who doesn’t want to be the first quarterback taken in the draft? It was definitely a situation where he thought he was going to be there and be there for a long time.”

The draft process that season was all over the place, with then-GM Ryan Pace reportedly going rogue by drafting Trubisky and not running the decision by his staff, including then-coach John Fox. Mahomes Sr. couldn’t identify which members of the Bears his son met with, just that he had met with multiple personnel over the course of the pre-draft process.

The sting of picking Trubisky over Mahomes will always be there for Bears fans in some way shape or form. Mahomes is likely on his way to winning his second Most Valuable Player award and is breaking records every season, all while still being just 27 years old. Trubisky, on the other hand, lasted just four seasons with the Bears with mixed results and is now a backup for the Pittsburgh Steelers. But Mahomes Sr. likes what he sees from the Bears’ current quarterback Justin Fields.

“Ya’ll got a good one there,” Mahomes Sr. said of Fields as the hosts pined over the revelation. “He’s going to do some things. I like everything that he does and I think he’s going to be a hell of a quarterback.”

Fields isn’t in the same stratosphere as Mahomes and may never get there, but he showed flashes in his second season that at least helps ease the pain of missing on a generational quarterback five years ago. Mahomes and Fields are set to square off in 2023 for the first time in the regular season as the Bears will visit the Chiefs at some point next fall.

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Former Tiger signed by Kansas City Chiefs

Congrats to the former Clemson great who got another shot at playing at the next level.

A former Clemson Tiger is getting another shot at playing at the next level.

Former Clemson running back Wayne Gallman was signed to the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad on Wednesday. Gallman, who played with the Tigers for three seasons (2014-16), most recently played with the Minnesota Vikings (two games) and Atlanta Falcons (six games) back in 2021.

The Georgia native was drafted by the New York Giants in the fourth round (No, 140 overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft and played four seasons (2017-20) in New York. Through 61 NFL game appearances (14 starts), Gallman has garnered 366 carries for 1,548 yards and nine rushing touchdowns along with 81 receptions for 519 yards and two touchdown receptions.

In his time at Clemson, Gallman became one of the Tigers most decorated running backs, recording 3,429 rushing yards on 676 carries for 34 touchdowns over the course of 42 games (37 starts). Gallman finished his career third overall in Clemson history in rushing touchdowns and fifth in rushing yards.

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Bleacher Report re-grades Giants’ 2017 draft haul

Five years later, Bleacher Report re-graded the Giants’ 2017 draft haul.

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We’re five years down the road on the 2017 NFL draft and it’s more than enough time for pundits to go back and re-grade that draft class.

Maurice Moton of Bleacher Report did just that. New York Giants fans will be surprised when they see that this class – although all have moved on – wasn’t that bad.

Moton grades the class a B-, which is surprising considering there are no “roster cornerstone” in the six-player group of tight end Evan Engram, defensive lineman Dalvin Tomlinson, quarterback Davis Webb, running back Wayne Gallman, defensive end Avery Moss and offensive lineman Adam Bisnowaty.

Engram became a Pro Bowler after years of inconsistency and painful drops but it wasn’t enough for incoming general manager Joe Schoen. He was signed by Jacksonville this offseason.

Tomlinson had a solid four years with the Giants, starting every game but was not re-signed and was quickly scooped up by Minnesota.

Webb is actually back with the Giants after stints with the Jets and Buffalo. He is their third-string quarterback and is only here due to his knowledge of new head coach Brian Daboll’s offense.

Gallman played well as a committee back for the Giants but he bounced around with three teams last year and is currently a free agent. Moss and Bisnowaty both had short NFL careers.

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Bleacher Report re-grades Chris Ballard’s first draft haul

B/R re-graded the Colts’ draft haul from 2017.

It has been five years since Chris Ballard conducted his first draft as general manager of the Indianapolis Colts.

A lot has changed since that first draft, which included eight selections within the first five rounds. Only one of them remains with the team, and that wound up being defensive tackle Grover Stewart.

Bleacher Report recently decided to look back on the 2017 draft hauls for each team. Here’s how they re-graded the Colts’ group of eight selections:

Malik Hooker may have produced a lot more if not for injuries. Despite missing 28 games with the Colts, he showed glimpses of his ball-hawking skills, logging 11 pass breakups and seven interceptions in 36 outings (35 starts). Indianapolis declined his fifth-year option and allowed him to leave in free agency last year.

Marlon Mack held the lead role in the backfield for consecutive seasons, rushing for 1,999 yards and 17 touchdowns in 2018 and 2019. In Week 1 of the 2020 campaign, he tore his Achilles, and Jonathan Taylor took over the top spot.

In 2021, Indianapolis re-signed Mack, but he hasn’t rediscovered his pre-injury form. Now, the 26-year-old is in contention for the lead spot with the Houston Texans.

Grover Stewart and Anthony Walker Jr. earned prominent roles in the front seven. The former signed a three-year extension during the 2020 season. The latter made 12 starts with the Cleveland Browns in 2021.

The Colts’ 2017 group doesn’t have any star power, but the front office deserves credit for finding three starting-caliber talents on Day 3. The whiffs on Day 2 hurt the overall grade though.

Grade: C+

While Hooker never truly panned out in the long run as the Colts had hoped, they did get some solid production from a number of players in the class. Cornerback Quincy Wilson offered close to nothing but wound up being the player traded for the pick that resulted in cornerback Isaiah Rodgers.

Stewart is the crown jewel of the class. He has quietly become one of the best one-techniques in the NFL, and he’s proven to have a strong impact in the middle of the defensive line.

Mack turned out to be a solid starter before Jonathan Taylor came along while Anthony Walker Jr. was a strong leader and made an impact on early downs.

A lot has changed since this draft, but it will always be somewhat significant because it gave us our first look at how Ballard conducts the front office through the pre-draft process.

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