The first round of the drag is history – time for a first interim conclusion: Who will Steals reach? Who could make good picks, and where were players possibly pushed too high? Also: Which talents are still on the board for round 2? The other two draft days will also be available live and in the original commentary on DAZN and in the ticker here on SPOX – we will continue tonight at 1 am.
Baker Mayfield on the Browns: What had been brewing in the rumour mill since the Combine: From Saquon Barkley to Sam Darnold to Josh Allen, the Browns pick has been intensively predicted – Baker Mayfield has long not been a real topic for the first overall pick in public. This only changed in the past few days immediately before the draft, and obviously this did not come from anywhere.
We can only congratulate the Browns on their decision.
Instead of taking a running back to 1, whose prime would have been over long before this team could have entered serious playoff ambitions and also instead of taking a quarterback like Allen, who is a huge project and will take a very long time in the NFL if he becomes a real starter at all, Cleveland went a different way: They chose one of the two best quarterbacks of this draft class.
Mayfield is the best quarterback in this draft when it comes to pocket movement and accuracy. He is a good on-the-move-passer, reads defenses fast and also as a type, with his extremely ambitious, fiery style he can give Cleveland a new face. Mayfield will have to switch to an NFL open, with fewer free reads and screens than in Oklahoma. But his college tape suggests that he won’t have any problems with it. The Browns could actually finally find their quarterback.
Lamar Jackson on the Ravens: They had long suspected in advance that pick number 32 could be used for a quarterback. The Eagles, it was clear, wanted to get out of the first round to collect more picks and as first-round quarterback teams have the 5th-Year option at their disposal. Just how valuable this can be was seen with Jimmy Garoppolo.
Of all the teams that were conceivable in advance, Baltimore is perhaps the most exciting fit for Jackson.
The Ravens have two coaches in their coaching staff who have best experiences with mobile quarterbacks: Assistant Head Coach Greg Roman was the 49ers’ Offensive Coordinator at the Colin Kaepernick Weddings in San Francisco, followed by Tyrod Taylor’s Offensive Coordinator in Buffalo. Baltimore’s offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg was offensive coordinator and assistant head coach in Philadelphia when the Eagles had Michael Vick.
Designing a scheme to show Jackson’s strengths should not be the problem. Moreover, it is no secret that Baltimore urgently needs to find a successor for Joe Flacco. Although this has stabilised again over the past season, his time with the Ravens is clearly coming to an end.
With Jackson, who played in Louisville in an offense that has more to do with pro-style concepts than most of the other quarterbacks in the draft, there is now an exciting option behind Flacco – from whom Baltimore could finally part financially after the coming season.
Josh Rosen to the Cardinals: The quarterback run wasn’t quite as aggressive as previously suspected: Josh Allen left “only” at position 7 through the Bills uprade, Rosen was still available at 10. And the Cardinals, who last year had been snatched away from Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes, took no risks this time. Arizona traded to the rumors of Miami Dolphins, who were also interested, and it was cheap: A third- and five-round pick cost the cards five spots to go up.
There Rosens Slide ended, which could have to do with his injury history – especially the two concussions in college – also with his kind. In the course of the draft process, an absurd discussion arose as to whether roses could be too intelligent and ask too much. Features that should bring an NFL quarterback forward.
In any case, there are hardly any question marks on tape. Technically, mechanically and in terms of footwork and movements, Rosen is clearly the best quarterback in this class and also better than last year’s draft class. He reads the whole field and the defense, his passes come with anticipation and timing and hit the narrowest windows. He plays fast and of all the quarterbacks this year, he’s the one who could start immediately.
Arizona got – according to my analysis – the best quarterback of this class at position 10 without having to trade expensive upwards. Neither the second-round pick this year nor a pick next year was given away. If you take Rosen’s college tape as a basis, the Cardinals have managed the steal of this first round, which could be talked about for a long time.
Derwin James to the Chargers: The second top value pick on day one belongs to the Chargers. Derwin James is a fantastic player: A general-purpose weapon especially around the line of scrimmage, can be used as slot corner, strong safety, deep safety, edge-rusher and sub-package linebacker.
James is explosive, aggressive against the run, incredibly athletic, good in zone coverage and shows a high degree of game intelligence and anticipation. On my board, a top 10 player who can give a secondary a whole new face in one fell swoop. All the more surprising was his fall not only out of the top 10, but right up to position 17.
The Chargers now have a spectacular core in the defense with Ingram, Bosa, Hayward and James, among others.
Giants draften Saquon Barkley: One thing first: Barkley is a good prospect, a very good one in fact. One of the top running backs in the draft for years, but not the “perfect prospect” it has become in many places. Barkley will have an immediate impact on the offense, especially as he is also a weapon in passing.
But a running back to position 2 is a high price per se. All the more so if you have an aging quarterback who had already noticeably diminished in recent years. The decision in favor of Barkley shows that those responsible for Giants still think they are in the title window. In this draft and at this spot, however, to do without its quarterback solution for the future is at least extremely risky.
Seahawks draft Rashaad Penny: I didn’t understand this pick at all. And not only because Cornerback Josh Jackson, for example, was a supposedly ideal pick for Seattle. Penny is a very good running back with good physique, shows spectacular jump cuts and works better through tackling attempts than almost any other back of this class. It is also at least functional as a receiver. Penny can make an early impression and solve Seattle’s running back problems.
However, at least many of these things could have been achieved with a later running back pick. Be it in the person of Derrius Guice, Nick Chubb, Kerryon Johnson or Ronald Jones. However, Seattle has a chance of winning one of the top prospects for the offensive line or the secondary if you don’t trade high again in the second round.
Saints draft Marcus Davenport: It’s not necessarily the player himself, Davenport has enormous potential and is a player of the “physical freak” category. But he is also raw and will take time, which weakens the “win-now window” argument. Above all, however, the price is fierce: in addition to this year’s first-round pick exchange, the Saints had to give up their first-round pick in 2019, among other things. Too much for me.
Bill’s drafting Josh Allen: My opinion about Josh Allen is no secret: Yes, he has everything physically and theoretically and is a dream for many NFL scouts and NFL coaches in this respect. But it is so rare that a quarterback who had massive problems with accuracy, anticipation, timing and touch in college suddenly develops them against much better defenders.
Allen is now directly one of the most exciting projects in the NFL: during the draft process he had prominent advocates, including ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper, who consistently ranked him as his number one quarterback. But it will be a long way to unleash the theoretical potential and it is not unlikely that this goal will not be achieved. All the less so if Allen has to play fast – not unlikely, given the competition from A.J. McCarron and Nathan Peterman.
I understand the argument that you have to be aggressive for your potential franchise quarterback. I agree with that, too. In my opinion, Allen’s chances of becoming a franchise quarterback are too small to pay that price.
Page 1: Quarterback spectacle, 2 steals – and the biggest reaches
Page 2: Sensible picks, surprises – and who else is available?