The 2017 NFL Draft – Hopes and Dreams Coming True

NFL Draft History and Anatomy

 

Today’s NFL Draft is a three-day event taking place in the end of April each year. College players from all over the US hope to get drafted by one of the 32 NFL teams and begin their professional football career (and sign a several-million-dollar contract). We should also mention the NFL Combine event which takes place in the months before the Draft.

It is a series of physical and mental tests specially designed according to positions on the field. The prospects’ results are used as references for the scouts. Just a few days ago, the 40-yard dash record was broken by the WR prospect John Ross, who ran the distance in 4.22 seconds.

The NFL Draft consists of 7 rounds during which each team picks one prospect. Teams may decide to trade picks with one another. So it is a game of psychology, strategy, and scouting abilities.

The position in the draft is very important, so it is often traded for players and/or future draft positions. There are also the so called compensatory picks, which are based on the net loss of restricted free agents.

The 2017 NFL Draft Prospects To Keep an Eye On

Out of the whole player pool for the NFL Draft, each year the most contested prospects are the quarterbacks.

This time there are four names standing out from the rest – Deshaun Watson, who won the National Championship with the Clemson Tigers, Mitch Trubisky of North Carolina, Patrick Mahomes II of Texas Tech, and last but not least, Deshone Kizer of Notre Dame.

The question here is who is the best choice. Cleveland Browns have the first pick but they already have RG3 and will probably keep him for another season.

Thinking in this direction, the QB pick goes for the next in line – San Fransisco 49ers, who desperately need fresh new key players.

The Browns seem very likely to draft the monster runningback Leonard Fournette (LSU). Some have already crowned him the best player in college football.

During his seasons with the LSU Tigers he broke the rushing yards record with his 1,953 rushing yards and 22 rushing touchdowns, and led the rankings in the country with 162.8 rushing yards per game.

And he just turned 22. Is he the next Ezekiel Elliott, or maybe even better? If I were the GM of Browns, I wouldn’t think twice; sign this kid up! And for the other teams there are the rest of the impressive runningbacks, such as Tarik Cohen, Christian McCaffrey, Alvin Kamara and Dalvin Cook.

The wide receiver who has gotten all the attention recently is John Ross from Washington. He broke the 40-yard record, but will he be able to keep the tempo on the field? There is a fair chance for him to be drafted by the Titans or the Jets. You should also keep an eye on Corey Davis, Mike Williams, and JuJu Smith-Schuster.

Who needs offensive linemen? Everybody! These big guys are the backbone of any team. On the face of it, the multifunctional OL Cam Robinson from Alabama will be a contested prospect in the upcoming draft. The guy recently injured his shoulder but still took part in the NFL Combine and bench pressed 21 times.

Robinson’s flexibility is spectacular, but he might turn out to be an unsafe pick because of injury predisposition. The 49ers and the Bears are looking for healthy and strong guys on their frontline so maybe they would prefer picking from other impressive giants like Ryan Ramczyk, Garret Bolles, or Forrest Lamp.

In the 2014 NFL Draft the Houston Texans didn’t select a quarterback. They signed the defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, who was put under the wings of J.J. Watt and is now a football sensation. This year’s top prospect for the DE position is Myles Garrett from Texas A&M, who broke Clowney’s college sack record, executing 11.5 sacks in his freshman season, together with 53 tackles. Watch out for this guy, as he is scary! An interesting fact is that before committing to football he was a great discus thrower.

 

 

Jonathan Allen! Remember this name! Alabama’s defensive tackle was playing like a future NFL star during all his college years. And now the time has come – the 2017 NFL Draft is less than two months ahead.

Allen won the 2016 Chuck Bednarik and Bronko Nagurski Awards as the nation’s top defender on the nation’s top defense in 2016 with 69 tackles, 16 of which for loss. He is tall, he is big, but doesn’t have much body fat to challenge his speed and explosiveness. An undisputed top pick for the teams that need a DT.

Other top draft contestants worth mentioning are David Njoku, O.J. Howard, Takk McKinley, Gerald Everett, Reuben Foster, T.J. Watt, Duke Riley, Raekwon McMillan, Malik Hooker, Jamal Adams, Jalen Tabor, Marshon Lattimore, Sidney Jones, and Tre’davious White. Who will be playing where? We will see after the 2017 NFL Draft is over. Until then, expect a lot of mock drafts, expert and not-so-expert analyses.

2017 Free Agents

 

 

Looking at the free agency market, this year we notice a lot of big names, such as Kirk Cousins and Le’Veon Bell.  The big question is where would Tony Romo go?

Romo has easily become one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL since his first appearance in the league in 2006. Several teams need an experienced QB like him – the Texans, Bears, Broncos, even the 49ers could make use of the famous ”cowboy” but their fans surely would wish for someone younger and more promising. One thing is certain – if you manage to land Tony Romo on your squad, you should be able to protect him with strong linemen!

This season we are excited to see if Kirk Cousins will remain in Washington, or possibly strengthen the line-up of San Francisco. As we mentioned above, the Niners are in need of a proper quaterback for the 2017 season and Kirk would definitely fit well.

There is a lot of noise about the Steelers’ superstar runningback Le’Veon Bell’s free agency. Will the Steelers offer him a longterm deal with the franchise or let him go find a new home? He is known for his problematic behavior off the field, discipline issues during practice, and is prone to injuries, which makes him a burden to any team.

On the other hand, he is one of the best running backs in the League and our guess is that the Steelers wouldn’t risk him getting into someone else’s hands. If not, Tamba Bay Buccaneers or Jacksonville Jaguars would be the teams to approach him. They are in need of a good runningback and they definitely have the money to afford such.

Other notable names who will find themselves negotiating new deals are New York Giants’ Jason Pierre-Paul, Martellus Bennett from New England, Eric Berry and Dontari Poe from the Kansas City Chiefs. Poe is a beast but the Chiefs would probably have to make a choice between him and Berry for the next season. Dontari impressed with his performance during the 2016 season and made himself known as one of the most hard-hitting and heaviest nose tackles in the NFL.

In week 16 he even made a touchdown pass during a trick play execution against the Broncos. With one out of one successful TD passes, his accuracy is now 100%. By the way, a fun fact is that the 346-pound, 6’3 giant ran the 40 yards for 4.87 seconds in 2012 – faster than some linebackers and runningbacks!

In our next article we are will dig deeper into the 2017 NFL Draft and give you our detailed prediction for the first round – team by team, player by player. Stay tuned!

 

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