Draft
This year, to make the draft even more special, Press Row will be broadcasting live from 3-6 p.m. tonight from Beef O’Brady’s in Ooltewah in advance of tonight’s first round. That’s right, get your pre-draft Co-Cola with Press Row blaring in the background.
We’ll go ahead and throw out the rules to the Feeling the Draft (with a draught) Draft Contest, and we are ready to make our picks.
* Who will be Titans’ first pick? Laremy Tunsil (after trading up with Jacksonville at No. 5)
* Who will be the Falcons’ first pick? Darron Lee
* How many SEC players go in round 1? 8
* How many quarterbacks are drafted in round 1? 4
* Who is the 31st pick of round 1, currently owned by Denver? Connor Cook
We will have a draft chunk each day this week. Of course we will, we love the draft. Let’s unload final first-round mock draft that will inevitably be worthless sooner rather than later, and potentially by the first pick if the Rams zig when everyone believes they will Goff.
1. Los Angeles – Jared Goff, Cal. You don’t move that many players unless you believe you have your franchise guy.
2. Philadelphia – Carson Wentz, North Dakota State. The Eagles hope this is their Donovan McNabb of the next generation.
3. San Diego – DeForest Buckner, Oregon. Physically he’s a monster. Yes, Jalen Ramsey is a tempting and tackle is a big need, but Buckner’s physical gifts and the league’s craving for pass rushers is clear.
4. Dallas – Jalen Ramsey, Dallas. Best player in the draft falls to No. 4, and 12 years from now as Ramsey’s Hall of Fame career is winding down, the first three teams will regret it.
5. Tennessee (from Jacksonville) – Laremy Tunsil, Ole Miss. How great a move would it be to pull this off by trading some of the haul they received from Los Angeles? They get the player they would have drafted No. 1 and extra picks this year and next.
6. Baltimore – Myles Jack, UCLA. They will be tempted by a tackle or a pass rusher, but in the end, the Ravens will hope they drafted Ray Lewis 2.0.
7. San Francisco – Joey Bosa, Ohio State. There are a ton of needs, and there will be Paxton Lynch talk here, but an elite, ready-to-play pass rusher in Bosa is too much to pass up.
8. Miami (from Cleveland) – Ezekiel Elliott, Ohio State. The Dolphins move up to take the best offensive playmaker in the draft, and the analytic-minded Browns continue to stockpile picks.
9. Tampa Bay – Vernon Hargreaves III, Florida. One of the universal thoughts across the mock draft realm. Need meets talent perfectly here.
10. New York Giants – Leonard Floyd, Georgia. This is an intriguing spot, and the Giants also need tackle help, but Floyd is rising late and is supremely athletic.
11. Chicago – Ronnie Staley, Notre Dame. The Bears could go defensive tackle – and get their pick at that spot – but tackle is a bigger need. Plus, Staley at 11 is a monster value as some teams have him in the top five overall.
12. New Orleans – Sheldon Rankins, Louisville. There will be talk about Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch here, as well, but the Saints are awful across the defensive line and Rankins is a big cat.
13. Cleveland (from Miami) – Darron Lee, Ohio State. Incredibly, the Browns could still get a quarterback in this scenario and they could even trade down again for a team that may want a quarterback (think Denver or the Jets). That said, Lee is athletically gifted and an every-down defender.
14. Oakland – William Jackson III, Houston. A corner with electric speed fills the Raiders’ biggest need, and for a team closer to contention than most realize, this makes the most sense.
15. Jacksonville (from Tennessee) – Jack Conklin, Michigan State. Moving down benefits the Jags here, too, but adding the third-best tackle in the draft is the pick.
16. Detroit – Laquan Treadwell, Ole Miss. The Lions will hold their breath that the best wide out in the draft falls into their laps since they are looking to fill the void left by Calvin Johnson’s retirement. There are concerns about Treadwell’s speed, but dude never disappointed on Saturdays in the SEC. That’s saying something.
17. Atlanta – A’Shawn Robinson, Alabama. The Falcons would love for rangy linebackers Lee or Floyd to be here, and they could be tempted by Alabama star Reggie Ragland, but working from the line back seems smart. Side question: Who was the last Falcons pro bowler at defensive tackle? Amazing, according to this at Pro-Football-Reference, says the last Falcons defensive tackle to make the Pro Bowl was Roderick Coleman in 2005. Also amazing is, according to that website, Coleman is the only Falcons defensive tackle to make the Pro Bowl. Robinson will change that stat.
18. Indianapolis – Taylor Decker, Ohio State. The Colts, like the Bears, have a lot of needs and will be tempted by some of the linebackers and defensive backs still on the board. But the clear fact is if the Colts can’t keep Andrew Luck upright, they have no chance.
19. Buffalo – Robert Nkemdiche, Ole Miss. A top-five talent that has fallen mightily because of his off-the-field issues, Nkemdiche is a monster on the field. Bills coach Rex Ryan loves high-ceiling defensive talents and built top-flight defenses in New York around supremely athletic defensive linemen such as Sheldon Richardson and Muhammad Wilkerson. Nkemdiche fills that bill perfectly.
20. New York Jets – Paxton Lynch, Memphis. This is a really good scenario for the Jets, who get a potential long-term answer at QB without moving up to get him.
21. Washington – Reggie Ragland, Alabama. An impressive defensive month for the Redskins, who added a shutdown corner in free agent Josh Norman and now gets a bona fide leaders and anchor in inside linebacker Ragland.
22. Houston – Hunter Henry, Arkansas. The offense added another weapon and takes the heat off emerging star wideout DeAndre Hopkins.
23. Minnesota – Will Fuller, Notre Dame. Super-speedster gives Teddy Bridgewater another weapon on the perimeter.
24. Cincinnati – Josh Doctson, Baylor. The Bengals roster is good, but they lost their Nos. 2 and 3 receivers in free agency. Doctson gets a great fit on a championship contender.
25. Pittsburgh – Eli Apple, Ohio State. Another great blend of talent and team need, as the Steelers, who almost always draft defense first, need help at corner.
26. Seattle – Ryan Kelly, Alabama. The Seahawks have become one of the elite teams in the league by drafting well, and adding Kelly – a versatile and talented enter who can play multiple spots across the line – is another stroke of genius.
27. Green Bay – Shaq Lawson, Clemson. He did test particularly well, but the film doesn’t lie.
28. Kansas City – McKenzie Alexander, Clemson. The Chiefs need corner help, and figure to take the best one available.
29. New England forfeits its pick.
30. Arizona – Jarran Reed, Alabama. Another monster defensive lineman for a talented defense that will continue to be one of the league’s best.
31. Carolina – Germain Ifedi, Tecas A&M. Anyone who watched the Super Bowl knows the Panthers have to improve their tackle play.
32. Denver – Connor Cook, Michigan State. And with the street cred Denver has accrued, does anyone second-guess John Elway about it? Of course not.
John Daly takes a drink before hitting his approach shot up to the 14th green of the Pebble Beach Golf Links during the first round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament Thursday, Feb. 12, 2015, in Pebble Beach, Calif. At right is Daly’s caddie and fiancee Anna Cladakis. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg) Happy birthday
OK, that went long. Well, today John Daly turns 50. Yes, 50.
There’s a fair argument that Daly is the every-man sports star of all-time considering his story. He won the 1991 PGA after getting into the tournament as the ninth alternate. When you add in the lifestyle and the bad life choices and all of it, the John Daly 30-for-30 is going to be amazing.
Consider the four wives, the alcoholism, the federal charges (including drug trafficking against a former wife) and the golf winnings and gambling losses, his tale is part Dan Jenkins and part William Shakespeare.
Here are a couple of stories that we found interesting: First, the fact that Fuzzy Zoeller bet Daly $150,000 he’d never live to be 50.
There’s also this story from Forbes, that Daly has lost $90 million in gambling. Yes, you read that correctly.
FILE – In this March 31, 2016, file photo, NCAA President Mark Emmert answers questions during a news conference at the men’s NCAA Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament in Houston. The NCAA’s new Academic Progress Rate released Wednesday, April 20, 2106, shows a record number of college athletes are staying in school and working toward degrees, and that money continues to play a key role in academic performance. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File) More sports social pressure
Now the NCAA is starting to say if North Carolina doesn’t change its law they will pull future NCAA events from the state.
It may move to Mississippi, too, since that state passed a similar law that is viewed as being insensitive to the bathroom issues of transgender people. The NFL and the NCAA and the rest are completely within their rights to make requirements and restrictions on and with their business partners. That’s part of the game.
But, it’s really interesting to see which issues are hot-button with them all things considered.
Mississippi offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil (78) carries for a touchdown in the first half of the Sugar Bowl college football game against Oklahoma State in New Orleans, Friday, Jan. 1, 2016. (AP Photo/Bill Feig) This and that
– Here’s the next chapter of the story about the 30-year-old Sudan man who posed as a high school junior in Canada to play high school hoops. His answer of course was he did not know how old he actually was.
– To Jomo’s draft question from Wednesday, completely concur the Colts have to go O-line. Trading up for an elite tackle all the way from 18 would take a lot of capital, and after the top two tackles – Tunsil and Staley – the rest are pretty interchangeable.
– Cool story about former ABA owner Ozzie Silna, who died Tuesday. He and his brother owned the St. Louis Spirit and they agreed to dissolve the team for a small percentage of the future NBA broadcast revenues. It seemed like a small concession and netted the Silna and his brother about $750 million.
– Huge Game 7 win for the Nashville Predators on Wednesday night.
– Braves played. Braves lost. Rinse and repeat. That said, Freddie Freeman actually hit a home run and the world did not end.
Today’s question
Mailbag, people. Mailbag.
You also have about eight hours or so to enter the draft contest above. In honor of the draft – we love the draft, you know this – what’s the Rushmore of NFL first round moments?
Go.