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The 2024 NFL Draft is Thursday night, and general managers and front-office personnel are likely as nervous as ever.
The anxiety meter will register at an all-time high for many of the league’s top teams. The draft is the best way a cellar dweller can rebuild and become a contender again. Alternatively, it is also a path for a playoff team to transform into a Super Bowl team. The problem is that one bad draft choice, especially in the first or second round, can lead to a multimillion-dollar mistake that sets the franchise back a couple years.
So, which teams are under the most pressure to fill the holes on their rosters? Here's a look at the five teams who cannot afford a mistake.
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Buffalo Bills
Buffalo traded No. 1 WR Stefon Diggs AND draft capital to AFC rival Houston for a second-round pick. They also allowed underachieving No. 2 WR Gabe Davis to take his talents to Jacksonville. So, other than phenom tight end Dalton Kincaid, who is franchise quarterback Josh Allen throwing to this season?
Since the Bills are in salary-cap hell, the pressure is on to draft a couple receivers who can step in and flourish right away like the Packers did recently. Buffalo will also have to add some younger, faster, cheaper bodies on the defensive side after cutting some costly veterans from its roster in the offseason. The problem is it has the 28th pick in the first round and toward the end of every subsequent round.
#Bills WR possibilities should include LSU's BrIan Thomas Jr.
The best stat among many gaudy numbers: The average length of his 17 touchdown catches last year -- 34.8 yards.https://t.co/YkVtusd8Kh
— Ryan O'Halloran (@ryanohalloran) April 18, 2024
New England Patriots
The Patriots pick third overall and have no No. 1 QB given Mac Jones was dealt away for a late-round draft choice and a couple kicker tees. Bailey Zappe is not the answer and there are no Kirk Cousins clones available in free agency. So, the Pats will start the Jerod Mayo era with a major question regarding their draft.
Do the Patriots stay at No. 3 and get arguably the third-best quarterback available? Do they sell the farm and trade up to get Caleb Williams? Or does New England trade down and get a lesser-heralded quarterback but add some much-needed draft picks to help overhaul its depleted roster? No Bill Belichick, no Tom Brady, and no division titles lately equal loads of pressure on the front office.
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys always have pressure to do well in the draft, thanks to owner and rabble-rouser Jerry Jones, who promises his rabid fan base that the team will add players every offseason. Dallas has been quiet in free agency since it does not have much wiggle room thanks to the millions it shells out to its stars, meaning the roster has to be filled out via the draft.
Dallas lost starting tailback Tony Pollard to Tennessee and lacks depth in the receiving department. The organization could therefore go after playmakers in the early rounds. The question is whether Jones and Co. can draft the right guys. 2023 second-round pick Luke Schoonmaker had just eight catches for 65 yards in his rookie campaign, while 2022 third-round pick Jalen Tolbert has 24 receptions for 280 yards over his first two seasons. While Dallas has done well with its first-round picks in recent years, the front office has faltered in the later rounds.
Chicago Bears
Chicago was gifted the first pick overall by the Carolina Panthers. Now, the Bears cannot afford to make a mistake in picking their franchise quarterback for the next decade, especially since they whiffed when they traded former franchise QB Justin Fields during the offseason. The Bears should have been able to get more than a sixth-round pick if they played their cards like Phil Hellmuth.
Draft week! Only 3 more days until it’s official @CALEBcsw @ChicagoBears pic.twitter.com/A7zS2pHKrg
— Tanner Antill (@TLAartwork) April 22, 2024
Chicago has the makings of a division winner thanks to an up-and-coming defense and superstar pass-catchers DJ Moore and Cole Kmet. All they need is a quarterback. If the Bears pick Williams (or someone else) and he falls flat like Zach Wilson or Trey Lance did, their golden opportunity to win the NFC North disappears quicker than I do when my wife asks me to do the dishes. For more added pressure, the Bears also have the ninth pick overall. So, they have two top-10 picks they could turn into superstars -- or put the franchise into a tailspin if they miss the mark with their choices.
Los Angeles Chargers
Quarterback Justin Herbert has had many of his premier playmakers on the offense ripped away. His top two receivers (Keenan Allen and Mike Williams) are gone. His top tailback (Austin Ekeler) is also gone, as is his top tight end (Gerald Everett). The injury-prone running back tandem of J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards is okay, but Herbert needs some skilled pass-catchers as badly as President Biden needs a teleprompter. Drafting a WR at No. 5 is paramount for the organization.
The Chargers’ 28th-ranked defense could also use a serious upgrade through the draft. If the Chargers had three picks per round, the pressure would be minimal, but it will be hard for Jim Harbaugh and his front office to overhaul the entire roster to his liking in one year. A mediocre-to-poor draft this week will make the rebuilding process even more difficult.
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