RADIO
Every year, the NFL holds a draft, and every year during that draft, 32 NFL teams make decisions that will positively impact the team going forward.
But every year, some teams also make decisions that are...confusing. Confounding. Puzzling. Whatever adjective you want to use, teams make decisions that leave us, the outsiders watching the draft, thinking "wait, what, why???"
For the third year in a row, I'm taking a look at those confusing draft picks and trying to make sense of why teams did what they did.
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Confusing Day 1 Picks
Henry Ruggs III - Wide Receiver - Las Vegas Raiders
While I think Ruggs is going to be a fine field-stretching option for the Raiders, speed isn't everything and I question why Vegas went with Ruggs over the more well-rounded Jerry Jeudy and CeeDee Lamb, who were both still on the board. No disrespect to Ruggs, who is going to be successful and who is more than just a speed receiver, but Jeudy or Lamb made more sense for a team in need of a true No. 1 wideout.
A.J. Terrell - Cornerback - Atlanta Falcons
Yes, this is a fantasy site so I'm mainly going to focus on the offensive side of the ball, but have to wonder why Terrell was the pick here. There were arguably better corners on the board, like Ohio State's Damon Arnette and TCU's Jeff Gladney, and they could have added a pass rusher like K'Lavon Chaisson.
Jordan Love - Quarterback - Green Bay Packers
I...do not get this. Yes, Aaron Rodgers is getting up there in age and this is the age when Rodgers was taken back when the Packers had Brett Favre, but the Packers traded up to take a project quarterback who has struggled with his accuracy in college. This is a team in win-now mode that has a lot of money invested in Rodgers and doesn't really have a good out with his contract for two more years. Will Green Bay wait that long? What if Rodgers returns to the level he's played at for most of his career? Why not grab the top remaining receiver here and draft a quarterback next year, when it makes more sense to plan for a Rodgers replacement.
Confusing Day 2 Picks
Tee Higgins - Wide Receiver - Cincinnati Bengals
Higgins is fine, but if I'm the Bengals, I would have gone with an offensive lineman here to keep Joe Burrow upright, or if I was committed to a wide receiver, I'd have looked at Denzel Mims. But mostly, I'd have solidified that line here. Higgins will probably be fine in Cincinnati, especially once they inevitably move on from A.J. Green, but there was still a lot of wide receiver talent left on the board, and someone like Houston tackle Josh Jones would have made more long term sense here.
D'Andre Swift - Running Back - Detroit Lions
Swift is good. This is not at all an indictment of D'Andre Swift. But with the Lions already having Kerryon Johnson, was running back really the best place to go here? Swift will be successful in Detroit. He'll be a great fantasy option. But the Lions had needs on defense. They need to be thinking about replacing Marvin Jones Jr. at some point. This feels like a luxury pick, which a 3-12-1 team maybe shouldn't be making.
Jonathan Taylor - Running Back - Indianapolis Colts
Another good player here who should have a successful NFL career, but the Colts traded up to take a running back. They traded up to take a running back for a team that already had Marlon Mack. They traded up to take a running back who doesn't really contribute on passing downs. Taylor's going to be a monster on early downs, but that still doesn't explain this pick, unless they really wanted to spite the Jaguars by trading up ahead of them.
Cole Kmet - Tight End - Chicago
Matt Nagy, stop trying to make tight ends happen!
In the pursuit of his glory days as the offensive coordinator for Travis Kelce, Nagy took a tight end in Notre Dame's Cole Kmet. Kmet is by far the best tight end prospect in this class and you can argue that the Bears need a tight end of the future now that Trey Burton is in Indianapolis, but:
Maybe add players at some other position, Matt! (And Ryan Pace. Also blame Ryan Pace.)
Chase Claypool - Wide Receiver - Pittsburgh Steelers
Could Claypool be a fine receiver? Sure. And he's a big body, which this team seems to like right now. But Denzel Mims was still on the board, and the Steelers have the tight end version of Claypool already in the recently-signed Eric Ebron.
Jalen Hurts - Quarterback - Philadelphia Eagles
I do not know what to say about this pick. Either the Eagles think Hurts can be Taysom Hill 2.0 with the ability to actually throw a football, or Carson Wentz is secretly dead, or they want to let Hurts play the four or five games Wentz will miss this year, then turn around and trade him to someone for a 2021 first. I don't know. This didn't make sense. I'm a believer in Hurts as an NFL prospect too, so having him land on a team that ostensibly is set at quarterback for the next decade already is weird and bad.
Van Jefferson - Wide Receiver - Los Angeles Rams
I know some Rams fans have started coming around to this pick and there's upside here, but I'm just repeating what I said above about Claypool: Denzel Mims was on the board still.
A.J. Dillon - Running Back - Green Bay Packers
Aaron Rodgers: *needs weapons*
The Green Bay Packers: *drafts a running back even though Aaron Jones is coming off an incredible season and the team had many other needs that could have helped Rodgers in the short term*
Antonio Gibson - Running Back - Washington Redskins
No knock on Gibson, but if there's one position that Washington really didn't need to invest in on Friday, it was running back. Even if they think Derrius Guice is some lost cause, they still have another season of Adrian Peterson, plus second-year back Bryce Love and the serviceable Peyton Barber is their fourth-string guy. And J.D. McKissic is decent!
Lynn Bowden and Bryan Edwards - Wide Receivers - Las Vegas Raiders
Back-to-back third round receivers -- even though Bowden is more of jack-of-all-trades guy who can play running back as well -- after also going receiver in the first? Did Al Davis rise from the grave?
Every Time The Patriots Didn't Pick A Quarterback
Is it really about to be Jarrett Stidham SZN? Time to go grab him in dynasty leagues if he's somehow not owned. The Patriots picked two tight ends on Friday, but still didn't address the quarterback position.
Adam Trautman - Tight End - New Orleans Saints
I'm not sure New Orleans should be trading four picks to take the fifth tight end off the board in what's been described all year as a bad tight end class. Weird asset management, guy! (Picking Trautman at the end of Day 2 when he could be the best non-Cole Kmet tight end in this class is fine; I just don't know about giving up that many picks to take him.)
Confusing Day 3 Picks
Look, Day 3 is where the judgment mostly goes out the window. Do what you want to do on the third day of the draft. Pick anyone. Don't worry.
But there were still a few things that didn't make sense.
James Morgan - Quarterback - New York Jets
Jake Fromm was still on the board and the Jets have Sam Darnold, so using a fourth-round pick on FIU quarterback James Morgan seems odd.
Justin Rohrwasser - Kicker - New England Patriots
A fifth-round pick on a kicker who many seem to think wasn't the best kicker in this draft? I'm sure Bill Belichick knows what he's doing, but I'm not quite sold.
Ben DiNucci - Quarterback - James Madison
There were a lot of quarterbacks still available when the Cowboys took DiNucci. Iowa's Nate Stanley. Washington State's Anthony Gordon. Even someone like Arizona's Khalil Tate or North Texas's Mason Fine. Picking a backup for Dak Prescott makes sense, but this particular player felt like a miss in what was otherwise a great draft for the Cowboys.
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