OFFICIAL FIRST ROUND DRAFT DAY THREAD

[Bretsky]

THERE GOES YOUR GUY JH

[SMBASS]

Shit...feel bad for Hock. Hate the frickin' Lions.

[pbmax]

49ers: Nick Bosa, Edge-Rusher, Ohio State

Bleacher Report proudly presents your Field Guide to the Elite Edge-Rushers of the 2019 Draft

Athleticism: A.

First-Step Quickness: C+. He’s fine, but this is not Bosa’s calling card.

Power: B+.

Pass-Rushing Moves: A+. Bosa is exceptional at hand usage, setting up blockers with inside-outside moves and “flattening out” when turning the corner to get to the quarterback. Nuttin’ fancy, but lethal.

Run Support: B+. Bosa has great eyes and awareness on misdirection plays and is tough to run right at, though he did attempt a few too many dive-stick tackles in 2017.

Coverage: Does not apply.

Worries: Injuries, lack of production.

Bosa missed much of last season with a core muscle injury, which does not project to be a major issue in the future. He recorded only 8.5 sacks in 2017 (his most productive season), but he also shared pass-rush responsibilities that year with Tyquan Lewis (Colts) and Sam Hubbard (Bengals). Opposing quarterbacks spent much of the time getting rid of the football quickly and hoping for the best.

Bosa lacks the eye-popping measurements and tape of his older brother Joey, in part because of his truncated college career. But he’s an explosive athlete and emerging tactician as a pass-rusher who should quickly develop into a double-digit sack producer.

The Bosa selection, coupled with the acquisition of Dee Ford from the Chiefs, completes a thorough makeover of a defensive line that recorded just 37 sacks last season: 12 by DeForest Buckner and 25 by everyone else. Bosa and Ford should push the Niners defense toward 50-sack territory. That can vault them into playoff contention. Hey, better a year late than never.

Grade: A

[Bretsky]

Oliver
Bush
Sweat

GOTTA HOPE DENVER PICKS A QB

[RashanGary]

McGinn might have it again with Jeffrey Simmons

[Joemailman]

Buffalo on the clock. This could be Oliver.

[pbmax]

I was half convinced in the car that the Jets would trade this pick to the Packers for a bratwurst.

Jets: Quinnen Williams, Defensive Tackle, Alabama

Strengths: Leverage, hand usage, awareness

Weaknesses: Not a size-quickness wonder

Should the Jets be taken seriously now, or are they still a punchline? Let’s weigh the evidence.

Take them seriously: The Jets hired Adam Gase as head coach.

LOL: Gase acted like David Byrne from the Talking Heads circa 1982 at his first press conference. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IsSpAOD6K8

Take them seriously: The Jets signed Le’Veon Bell.

LOL: Bell didn’t show up for the start of voluntary workouts, which is totally OK, but…gosh, it would be great if he showed a little eagerness to get back to work after his year off.

Take them seriously: The Jets signed Anthony Barr.

LOL: Oops, Barr changed his mind.

Take them seriously: The Jets added Gregg Williams as defensive coordinator.

LOL: The Jets added Gregg Williams as defensive coordinator.

The jury is clearly still out. That makes this draft—particularly this pick—so important.

There is more to Williams than just size, athleticism and a Nick Saban seal of approval.

Williams lost his mother to breast cancer in his early teens. His father became a single parent to four children. Williams became the family cook, rising before dawn to make breakfast for the family. (For more, read John Tally's 2015 AL.com profile of the young Williams. It's a remarkable story, and a nontraditional one about how "toughness" means much more than being an aggro guy on a football field.)

Williams is the "safest" top player in this draft class: dependable, mature, athletic enough, big enough, well-coached and fundamentally sound.

Safe picks are rarely sexy picks, and the worst thing about Williams is that he isn't a force of nature like Aaron Donald or Fletcher Cox. Williams is the type of defender who makes other defenders look better.

The Jets allowed 2,021 rushing yards and 4.6 yards per rush, and they’re thin along the defensive line. They also lack pure pass-rushing talent: Safety Jamal Adams often looks like their most dangerous sack threat.

Williams upgrades the defensive infrastructure. Those old “laughing stock” Jets are becoming less and less funny with every move the team makes.

Grade: A

[Bretsky]

I'll take Fant at #30 though

[pbmax]

RAIDERS: Clelin Ferrell, Edge-Rusher, Clemson

Bleacher Report proudly presents your Field Guide to the Elite Edge-Rushers of the 2019 Draft.

Athleticism: A-.The “athleticism” bar for edge-rushers is really, really high this year.

First-Step Quickness: A. Ferrell is quick and times the snap count exceptionally well.

Power: B+.

Pass-Rushing Moves: B+. Ferrell uses his first step to set up a sudden inside move or just beat the pass protector to the outside. He has some other tricks up his sleeve, but they are not quite as refined. He’s also lethal on inside stunts, which will happen when you are playing next to two of the best defensive tackles in the nation.

Run Support: B+. He’s stout at the point of attack, but ball-carriers sometimes slip past him.

Coverage: C. Ferrell has a little zone-blitz coverage experience and won’t get lost if he drops back.

Worries: The Clemson Factor

Clemson has a long history of producing edge-rushers who either run hot and cold (Vic Beasley, Shaq Lawson) or don’t quite make it (Kevin Dodd) at the NFL level. That’s because the program produces great D-line prospects in three-to-four-man bunches, meaning everyone looks better against shell-shocked opponents than they might really be. Ferrell does not look like one of those guys, but neither did Beasley or Thompson.

The Raiders recorded just 13 sacks last season—the lowest total since the 2008 Chiefs recorded just 10 sacks. Eleven individual players registered 13 or more sacks last season; meanwhile, Khalil Mack—traded away for financial/analytical/owner-in-a-snit reasons—produced 12.5 all by himself for the Bears.

So the Raiders need edge-rushers. Plural. Several. This selection puts a lot of water in the bucket but doesn’t fill it. It’s also a reach, frankly. Kentucky’s Josh Allen (among others) is still on the board, and there would almost certainly have been a market for this pick if the Raiders had chosen to trade down instead of emptying the building so Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock could work in super-duper secrecy.

Grade: C

[RashanGary]

THERE GOES YOUR GUY JH

Now we have to play him and watch him succeed too. Damn it

[red]

good

[Bretsky]

McGinn might have it again with Jeffrey Simmons

McGinn has nailed the last two years I think...and THANKS JH for the pm

[Bretsky]

Oliver IMO going here. Wonder about the cost to trade up?

[pbmax]

BUCS: Devin White, Linebacker, LSU

Strengths: Athleticism, explosiveness

Weaknesses: Playing in space

White has a pretty straightforward scouting report: explosive athlete, great off the blitz, tough and physical, can run with anyone, makes some mental errors that can be smoothed out when diagnosing plays and pass patterns. He’ll be a productive contributor for the Bucs right away.

Let’s talk about horsies instead!

White owns seven horses. One is named Daisy Mae—kids these days and their Li’l Abner references—and White sometimes rode her around LSU campus. Another is named Ricky Bobby. White has never announced the names of the other five, but I like to think they are named Happy Gilmore, Paul Revere, Hollyhock, Horsey McHorseface and Mark Emmert.

Teams didn’t sound like they were too concerned about White’s equestrian hobbies, because horseback riding is a macho enough pastime to meet NFL manliness standards. If White raised goats or chickens, he’d be branded as one of those millennial hipsters and therefore drop to the third round.

But what about if White gets hurt while riding? “I’m a pro horse rider,” White said at the combine. “I do the riding. I don’t let the horse ride me.” That’s the kind of insight NFL coaches love to hear. Also, the NCAA is probably looking into this “pro horse rider” thing as we speak.

The big variable for White’s stable was whether it would be joining him in the NFL or staying with his human family. “Most teams ask, if we draft you, will you bring the horses?” he said. “I ask, ‘How is the weather?’”

Well, Tampa is pretty humid. But my father did OK down there, and he turned the heat on when it was 68 degrees and the air conditioner when it was 72 degrees. Daisy Mae and friends will probably be fine. And so will White.

Grade: B+

[pbmax]

2 more years of Eli Manning

GIANTS: Daniel Jones, Quarterback, Duke

Deadly accurate quarterback comparison: Derek Carr with less sizzle

There was once a nitwits-in-the-news tale about a small-time lowlife who set his house on fire while cooking up some illegal substances. Because he was also a user of such substances, he couldn’t decide whether to extinguish the fire, rush his few valuables outside to save them or let everything burn so the police who arrived at the scene wouldn’t find any evidence. So he tried to do it all simultaneously. Witnesses say that when the fire trucks arrived, the man was seen racing outside with some items, then racing back into the blaze with others. Also, he was on fire.

The Giants are a lot like the fellow in that story. They traded away Odell Beckham Jr. and Olivier Vernon and allowed Landon Collins to walk as a free agent while acquiring aging veterans (Golden Tate, Antoine Bethea) and protecting Eli Manning like he’s a UNESCO site. They’re trying to do multiple things at once, none of them make sense and they still don’t realize they’re engulfed in flames.

Anyway, Jones is the quarterback equivalent of agreeing to re-up your two-year cable television package instead of seeking a better alternative. “Gosh, this sure is a lot of money to pay for shows we don’t watch like Real Housewives of Schenectady. Why don’t we just get Netflix, Hulu, Crunchyroll and...eh, I’ve gotten used to the buttons on this remote. Another $275 per month it is!”

Jones is tall, runs fairly well, has some of the sweetest mechanics you’ll ever see and often makes pretty good decisions. He’s the default-choice prospect. He appeals to coaches who think the goal of quarterbacking is to look really good at quarterbacking and to general managers who prefer to select the guy least likely to get them fired if he fails.

I really liked Jones entering the predraft process, but he was very up and down at the Senior Bowl and didn’t blow me away in combine throwing sessions. He’ll max out as a mid-tier starter like Derek Carr or Andy Dalton. But there’s a high risk he will be one of those backups who bounces around the league for 10 years because teams love “safe” backups.

Ultimately, Jones is the perfect quarterback for the Giants because the Giants don’t want to replace Eli. They want an excuse not to replace Eli—a quarterback just good enough to make it look like he presents a challenge without presenting a challenge. Jones is that guy.

But at least he’s a quarterback.

Grade: C-