NFL Draft 2017: Uncertainty reigns
On Thursday, the NFL Draft will kick off. We are all but guaranteed that the Cleveland Browns will select Myles Garrett out of Texas A&M with the first-overall pick, but everything remains unknown beyond that.
Typically, we have a solid idea of what is going to happen through the first four or five picks. It’s generally a consensus that those teams have a good marriage with a player that high up on the board, and then the guessing begins somewhere after a half-dozen players are selected.
This year, there are so many variables it is tough to keep up.
The quarterback position has always been the most important throughout NFL history, but with the rules changes favoring passing more than ever, having a top-tier signal caller is paramount. Thus, the quarterbacks move up the board with reckless abandon, far beyond what their talent actually dictates.
The incoming class is no different. While this year’s group of overall players is loaded with talent, the quarterbacks are generally middling. If there is one thing most can agree on, it’s that none should start in 2017. Yet we continue to hear rumors that as many as five quarterbacks – Mitchell Trubisky, Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson, DeShone Kizer and Davis Webb – all have a chance to have their names called on the first night.
Because of this chaos, it’s impossible to get a sense of how the draft will unfold. If the New York Jets take one of the quarterbacks at No. 6, does that start a run? If the Jets pass, it’s likely that the Browns could take one with the 12th-overall pick, but they could pass and wait until the top of the second round, or even trade back into the late-first round.
The Arizona Cardinals pick 13th and could see a great system fit with Mahomes, who has the strongest arm in the class and would do well with Bruce Arians’ playbook. Then again, Webb also has a strong arm and could very well be around when Arizona picked in the second round, allowing the Cardinals to take a top-end defensive talent in the first.
Additionally, the looming shadow of Reuben Foster hangs over the draft. Everybody thought Foster would go in the first 10 picks, but continues issues away from the field, including being thrown out of the combine for improper behavior and reportedly failing a drug test, are seeing him slide.
With talent like Foster possesses, a team will eventually say the potential reward outweighs the risk. But when does that come? Is it around the 15th pick? The 25th pick? The 50th? All of this has the draftniks scrambling more than most years, which makes it all the more compelling.
