Tag: 2018 NFL Draft

Packers QB Aaron Rodgers on Lamar Jackson: ‘You just knew’ he’d be good

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers saw all the right traits in Lamar Jackson back in college to know he’d be good.

In the 2018 NFL Draft, the entire league passed up the chance to select quarterback Lamar Jackson. It’s two years later and quite a few of those teams are currently paying quite a high price for it as they’re left with question marks at the position and their seats are getting hotter by the day.

In the two years since Jackson was taken by the Baltimore Ravens with the final pick in the first round, he’s supplanted Joe Flacco as the team’s franchise quarterback, won an MVP award, and shattered both franchise and league records.

Jackson’s draft turmoil has been well documented. Not everyone was sold on the idea of Jackson even playing quarterback in the NFL, much less ever getting to the level he’s currently at. But according to Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, he saw the right traits in Jackson all the way back in college.

“As talented as Lamar is athletically — I mean, the guy is one of the fastest guys in the league — but you watch him in college and he can sling that thing. I mean he can really sling the ball,” Rodgers said on the Pat McAfee Show. “Big-time arm, I mean, throwing it 75, 80 yards. So you just knew . . . One, he’s supremely athletic. Two, he can really throw it.”

Coming into the 2018 NFL Draft, Jackson was heavily critiqued for being more mobile than your average quarterback. The speed and electric plays were in abundance but there were rightfully plenty of questions about Jackson’s inconsistencies and mechanics, leading many to wonder if he’d ever translate to the NFL or if he’d be a dud.

But the way Rodgers tells it, getting the footwork figured out was just a matter of time.

“So footwork wise, he’s going to figure it out,” Rodgers continued. “With coaching and getting in that offense and timing up his feet with the drops, to me that wouldn’t have been a big issue, you can just see the athletic ability and the things you can’t coach.”

Rodgers’ points echo what Baltimore has said about Jackson from Day 1. Both of Jackson’s offensive coordinators, Greg Roman and Marty Mornhinweg, have talked up Jackson’s ability to read defenses and play great football from the time the Ravens drafted him. Both were also willing to overlook some of his early issues with mechanics, citing them as temporary things they could fix. In the two years since Jackson was drafted, he’s proven his supporters right more often than not.

Rodgers is likely to find his way into the Pro Football Hall of Fame one day. But if he’s this great at scouting quarterbacks, Rodgers might find his way to a front-office position after he hangs up his cleats.

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Report: NFL executives doubt Jets could land 1st-round pick for Sam Darnold

Jets would reportedly receive a similar return to that of Josh Rosen if they elected to trade Sam Darnold, according to league executives.

As speculation over the 0-4 Jets’ future plans with a potential No. 1 pick continues to swirl, many are wondering what the team could get for Sam Darnold if New York decided to move on.

If Trevor Lawrence is on the board in April, it’s hard to see the Jets not picking the Clemson product. In that case, they would try to trade Darnold.

The Jets would find themselves in a situation similar to the one their Week 5 opponents — the Arizona Cardinals — recently found themselves in. One year after trading up to select QB Josh Rosen in the same draft the Jets landed Darnold, the Cardinals used the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 draft on QB Kyler Murray. They then turned around and traded Rosen to the Dolphins for second and fifth-round picks.

If Gang Green elects to go down this similar path, NFL executives believe the Jets would likely get back a similar package for Darnold, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The sentiment around these opposing NFL GMs is that Darnold has struggled and is displaying the same elements that plagued him in college. Still, it only takes one team to fall in love with his potential.

As Darnold sits on Sunday with a shoulder injury, the third-year quarterback is off to a less than ideal start to his 2020 season. In four games, Darnold has completed 59.4% of his passes for 792 yards with three touchdowns and four interceptions. When he gets back in the lineup, he’ll need to show a bit more, whether the Jets plan on keeping him or not.

Former Chiefs DE Breeland Speaks signed to Raiders practice squad

The former Chiefs draft pick has a new team after being released ahead of the 2020 season.

The Kansas City Chiefs might get a chance to play against one of their former players later in the 2020 NFL season.

Former Chiefs DE Breeland Speaks has signed to the Las Vegas Raiders practice squad according to the NFL’s official transaction report. Speaks, the former No. 46 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, was released by Kansas City in final roster cuts ahead of the 2020 NFL season. Chiefs GM Brett Veach claimed that Speaks’ release was due to a combination of factors, from the depth of the position group to Speaks showing up out of shape for training camp back in 2018.

Speaks has bounced around, visiting a bunch of teams since his release including the Seattle Seahawks and the Minnesota Vikings. He hadn’t signed with any teams since his release back in September despite visiting a few teams. His most recent visit was with the Raiders and it seems to have gone well, resulting in this practice squad contract.

Speaks played two games against the Raiders in 2018, notching a tackle in each game. His lone career sack came against an AFC West opponent, the Denver Broncos, bringing down Case Keenum in Week 8.

You have to think that the prospect of playing the Chiefs twice a year made the Raiders an appealing option for Speaks. He could possibly have a chance to prove his old team wrong if he were to be called up to the active roster. Las Vegas, like many teams around the league, has been struck by the injury bug. Most recently their first-round draft pick, CB Damon Arnette, was placed on injured reserve today with a thumb injury and is expected out anywhere from 6-8 weeks.

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Report: Ravens cut WR Jaleel Scott

The Baltimore Ravens have cut wide receiver Jaleel Scott, marking the 2018 NFL Draft a bust at the position for the team.

The Baltimore Ravens have all but finalized their wide receiver corps for the 2020 NFL season. According to Aaron Kasinitz of Penn Live, the Ravens have cut wide receiver Jaleel Scott.

Scott was one of two wide receivers Baltimore selected in the 2018 NFL Draft, joining fifth-round pick Jordan Lasley. The Ravens parted ways with Lasley early last year at training camp after he failed to develop. Baltimore hoped the 6-foot-5 Scott would take a leap forward this year and they could find a way to keep him on the team. However, a hot-and-cold training camp that saw Scott improve his play on special teams but often fall short of making big receptions. With just one reception for six yards over two seasons in the NFL, anything less than a perfect training camp was likely going to end his tenure in Baltimore.

The 2018 NFL Draft was the first where the Ravens spent two picks at the position. The 2019 NFL Draft saw Baltimore select Marquise Brown and Miles Boykin, who are both in line for massive starting roles this year. The Ravens added Devin Duvernay and James Proche in the 2020 NFL Draft and saw both play well throughout training camp.

With five wide receiver spots already sorted and Chris Moore expected to return soon from a broken finger, there simply wasn’t any room for Scott to make the Ravens’ 53-man roster.

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Despite 10-year deal, Bills should have least regret passing on Patrick Mahomes

Re-visiting the Buffalo Bills, 2017 draft, and Kansas City Chiefs trade with Patrick Mahomes.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes already might have been the new “face” of the NFL. That theory could have been solidified on Monday.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Chiefs and the Super Bowl MVP are in agreement on a 10-year contract extension that will carry the QB through the 2031 season. It will be the richest contract in NFL history.

The deal is worth $450 million, which can reach up to $503 million, which tops Mike Trout‘s contract from MLB. The baseball star signed a $430 million contract over 12 seasons last year. Mahomes’ contract is an investment many saw coming. In fact, even though Mahomes’ deal marks the first time in North American sports that an NFL player has sports’ most-expensive contract, there’s still few that are surprised.

So now let’s get to the Buffalo Bills. Dots can be connected from this $450 million pay day to the folks in Orchard Park. Most reading this will know how.

At the 2017 NFL Draft, there are 10 other clubs that could have had a chance at signing Mahomes to this contract. That’s how many teams passed on him, and included in that bunch at the No. 10 spot is the Bills. At the time, Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott had only been on the job for a short time and decided to trade the No. 10 pick at that draft to Kansas City. McDermott has a past with Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, so the connections there were pretty clear.

Even though Reid now has the most expensive player in all of sports under his wing in KC for the next decade, there’s no reason the Bills should feel upset much about missing out on Mahomes. In reality, the other nine teams that passed up the opportunity to draft Mahomes have more reason to be upset about it.

First we’ll start with the Bills. In trading that pick, the Bills moved from pick No. 10 to 27, nabbing LSU cornerback Tre’Davious White. The successes for this move by Buffalo needs little explaining. Sure, the Bills might’ve passed up the best quarterback in this trade, but we’ve seen a lot more lopsided deals in sports history. In return, the Bills ended up with perhaps the best defensive player in the entire NFL in White. Plus, there’s more.

Ramifications of the trade were felt again one year later. Along with the 27th pick, the Bills landed a future first-round pick in 2018. Buffalo used the pick it acquired from the Chiefs to orchestrate a trade up. The Bills jumped from pick No. 22 to pick No. 16 to select Virginia Tech linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, who now serves as the quarterback of Buffalo’s stout defense. Plus, Edmunds himself, like White, is a Pro Bowler already in his career. He’s just looking for an All-Pro season like White to catch up.

So technically, if we’re looking at this in one way: In this trade, thus far, the Bills and Chiefs each earned two Pro Bowl selections. White and Edmunds each have one while Mahomes has two. Of course… there’s MVPs and titles Mahomes has as well. But still, all-in-all, hindsight is 20-20, and no one knew exactly how good Mahomes would be. Just ask the other nines that also decided Mahomes wasn’t worth drafting in 2017. Again, by comparison, the Bills should feel the least bad of any of these teams that they didn’t select the 24-year-old QB.

In factoring in why the Bills should feel “less bad” about it, we’re also going to bring in another player: Josh Allen. Let’s do a little comparing, shall we? Here’s an evaluation of picks one to nine in the 2017 draft , how they went, and some insight into why the Bills have fared better:

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Taven Bryan listed amongst players who could shed ‘bust’ label in 2020

Taven Bryan flashed in 2019 and had a low-key type season. 2020 could be even better season for him as the Jags will sprinkle in 3-4 looks.

Due to the team’s lack of success over the last couple of years, a lot of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ recent draft additions have been highly scrutinized. None of Dave Caldwell’s picks on the roster currently may be as scrutinized as 2018 first-round pick Taven Bryan, who hasn’t met expectations in the early stages of his career.

Since being drafted, Bryan has only registered nine starts, 53 tackles, and three sacks, which are figures that won’t appeal to fans when considering the team passed on Lamar Jackson, who came off the board three picks later. That said, with Caldwell and coach Doug Marrone being on the hot seat, 2020 is going to be a big year for Bryan and one that will determine whether or not the team picks up his fifth-year option in 2021.

Some believe he’ll rise to the occasion this upcoming season due to being an extremely raw prospect in the draft. Others feel he won’t improve all that much, which would mark another first-round selection that could’ve been used elsewhere. Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine believes the former may be what fans witness as he listed Bryant amongst his list of players who will shed their label of being a bust after having a better season than the stats showed.

First, there was a step up in improvement for Bryan in 2019. He started eight games, posted the eighth-highest run grade among interior defenders in November, per Pro Football Focus, and finished the season with a respectable 75.6 overall grade. That’s all while taking a much bigger role than he had in his rookie season. He went from playing 29 percent of the defensive snaps in 2018 to 46 percent in 2019.

I agree with Ballentine as Bryan was a player we caught on to during the first quarter of the season and a few games beyond. He especially made his presence known in the backfield during Weeks 4 through 6, which involved two playoff opponents in the Tennessee Titans and New Orleans Saints.

Bryan also finished the season on a high note flashing against All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson and the Indianapolis Colts. When adding in the fact that the Jags will be moving to more 3-4 looks, Bryan could be right at home in 2020 being that the Florida Gators utilized it during his time in Gainesville.

The Hurry Up Podcast: Danny Kelly of The Ringer on Browns, Seahawks Rumors

Danny Kelly of The Ringer joins host Mac Robinson to discuss the Browns-Seahawks trade rumors and more

Host Mac Robinson is joined by Danny Kelly from The Ringer to talk all of the Browns-Seahawks rumors, from Superstar Russell Wilson possibly traded to the Browns in 2018 to Myles Garrett’s rumored trade to Seattle earlier in the week. Kelly also broke down the Browns draft and some of his favorite picks, along with some of the best storylines for the Browns schedule heading into the 2020 season.

Mac also breaks down the offseason comparisons of players, Browns offensive line coach Bill Callahan’s comments regarding the offseason and Jedrick Wills’ transition from right tackle to left tackle, as well as the Baker Boot Camp taking place in Texas!

Be sure to follow Mac (@MacRobinson95) and the podcast (@HurryUpPodcast) on Twitter for all of the latest news and notes surrounding the podcast, the Browns, and all things football! Feel free to support the podcast today by becoming a patron!

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Ranking Ryan Pace’s 5 best draft picks as Bears GM

Let’s look at the studs that Ryan Pace has drafted in his five years as Bears GM.

With the 2020 NFL Draft upon us, Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace will be bringing in a new crop of talent that he hopes will have a positive impact on this roster moving forward.

When you examine Pace’s draft history, it’s filled with some studs and some duds. Luckily, here, we’re going to be looking at the gems that Pace has drafted in his five years as Bears GM.

Let’s take a look at Pace’s five best draft picks, which include a pair of All-Pros and some playmakers on this Bears roster.

5. LB Roquan Smith (1st Round, 2018)

Stacy Revere/Getty Images

In just two seasons, Roquan Smith has shown the potential to become a cornerstone of this Bears defense at inside linebacker. And he could wind up being one of Pace’s best picks, when all is said and done. Smith had a solid rookie season — where he tallied 121 tackles, five sacks, five passes defended and one interception.

While he got off to a slow start in his sophomore year, he was playing some of his best football late in the season before a torn pec ended his year early. Last season, Smith notched 101 tackles, two sacks, two passes defensed and an interception. Assuming Smith returns to form following his torn pec, he could be primed for a breakout season in 2020.

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The Lions failed 2018 trade for Gronk fully revealed

Details of the Lions and Patriots trade worked out in the 2018 NFL Draft for Rob Gronkowski, but Gronk smashed the deal

Now that superstar tight end Rob Gronkowski has agreed to come out of retirement and accept a trade from the New England Patriots to the Detroit Lions, the details of the last time the Pats attempted to deal Gronk have come out.

That was during the 2018 draft and the other team was none other than the Detroit Lions. Widely reported at the time, the deal fell through when Gronk told the Patriots he would retire rather than not play with Tom Brady as his quarterback.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted out the exact details of the agreed-upon trade between the Lions and Patriots that Gronk smashed.

The Lions drafted Frank Ragnow with the No. 20 pick. Ironically enough, the Patriots wound up trading No. 43 overall to the Lions for No. 51 and the Lions’ 4th-rounder, No. 117 overall. Detroit drafted Kerryon Johnson with the acquired pick. The Patriots wound up trading both picks they got in the deal.

What to expect from Seahawks 2018 draft class in 2020

The Seattle Seahawks still roster seven of their nine selections from the 2018 NFL draft. Here is how they are expected to fare in 2020.

The Seattle Seahawks have taken the approach of more = better in the last few NFL drafts.

The 2017 draft class saw the Seahawks select 11 players, with only six of them still on the roster just three years later.

Things went better in the class of 2018, with seven of their nine selections on the roster heading into the 2020 season. Of the two who are not, one of them is sixth rounder Jacob Martin, a wiry pass rusher who was sent to the Texans in the trade for Jadeveon Clowney.

The other is quarterback Alex McGough, a seventh rounder whom the Seahawks attempted to groom as an eventual replacement for Russell Wilson.

Here is a look at the seven who still remain, and what kind of role they are expected to have in 2020.

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