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Recapping Round 1
With the third pick in the NFL draft, the Jacksonville Jaguars selected Chad Henne’s backup. At the earliest, Blake Bortles shouldn’t see a regular-season game until 2015 ... plus, my takeaways on the other 31 teams
By Greg A. Bedard
Welcome to the Blake Bortles conundrum, Jacksonville Jaguars.
Now, go lock him in the film room and only let him out to hit the practice field, and don’t even think about putting him into a game until the 2015 regular season—at the earliest.
As I wrote two months ago after studying Bortles’ game film from Central Florida, he’s a unique player who presents a unique situation for an NFL team. All his immense physical skills and intangibles scream that he’ll be a franchise quarterback. But he’s not yet close to being ready. His mechanics, from his footwork to his arm, are too often a mess to be trusted against NFL competition. Bortles needs good, intense coaching, and he needs a lot of it.
That’s why it was a bit of a surprise to see the Jaguars take Bortles with the third overall pick, rather than draft the more game-ready Johnny Manziel or Teddy Bridgewater—especially considering that Jacksonville’s current starter is Chad Henne. It’s not like Bortles will be sitting behind Brett Favre as Aaron Rodgers did for three years, learning to change from a rigid passer with the ball always by his ear to the athletic playmaker you see today. No, Bortles will have to watch Henne, who is decent but is destined to have spells when the Jaguars faithful will pine for their new quarterback.
That’s the issue. You can, in theory, take a future franchise quarterback with the third overall pick if you have the conviction to do what’s required and not play him right away. But will the Jaguars do what’s required? The good news is that general manager Dave Caldwell is currently saying the right things.
“This is not a quick journey and a race to the end. This is something we want to build for a long term,” Caldwell said. “Johnny [Manziel] is a heck of a player, but I felt like Johnny’s game wasn’t going to change a lot from year one to year two. We felt like Blake has some development from year one to year two, and this first year is going to be critical for him to develop. With Johnny, he is always going to be Johnny. He’s always going to be electric, he’s going to be dynamic and he’s a great player. But for our system and what we want to do offensively, we felt Blake was the best fit.
“We have a plan going forward. We talked at length with our coaching staff. Not only during the season but out of the season and how he’s going to take some extra reps after practice, get extra coaching, extra seven-on-seven and team reps and stuff like that to really have him develop. …We’re all on the same page. Our owner, Shad Khan, our president, Mark Lamping, myself, Gus Bradley, the coaching staff, this is the plan we set in place. It’s not something we’re just springing on our coaches now, and then the Thursday before the opening game I’m not going to say he’s got to play. That’s not going to happen. We are all on the same page from ownership all the way down.”
So much attention is lavished on the draft that it feeds unreal expectations of fans, who want to see an immediate return on any investment. Sometimes that works, but most often it doesn’t. The dirty secret of the NFL draft is that it doesn’t really matter how talented a player like Bortles is when he enters the league. What’s most important is how he develops once he’s on a team. Play a player too quickly or out of position, and he could be gone in an instant. Formulate and execute a specific plan of success for each player, and you could have a perennial Pro Bowler.
The Jaguars drafted a player third overall whom they know needs a lot of work. They bought into the Bortles conundrum. Now it’s on them to make it work.
Blake Bortles against Baylor in January’s Fiesta Bowl. (Chris Coduto/Icon SMI :: Christian Peterson/Getty Images)
AROUND THE LEAGUE’S WAR ROOMS
Houston Texans: General manager Rick Smith had to do it. Jadeveon Clowney is such an athletic freak that taking him with the first overall pick supersedes any doubts about his desire to be great. Plus, with linebackers coach Mike Vrabel and new teammates J.J. Watt and Brian Cushing around to dictate the terms of being a professional in that locker room, it’s a good situation. Here’s the big thing with this pick: All the pressure is now on defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel.
A lot has been said, both by the Texans and by analysts, about Crennel’s creativity, and while he has employed different versions of his previous defenses, Crennel’s scheme is very vanilla and doesn’t always use the strengths of all its players. Just look at how Tamba Hali, Justin Houston and Dontari Poe all took off this past season with the Chiefs once Bob Sutton, who is creative, entered after Crennel and his staff were fired. Clowney’s strength, especially as a rookie, will solely be in moving forward. Crennel’s scheme calls for the outside linebackers to read and react. Something’s going to have to give for Clowney to have a big-time impact as a rookie.
St. Louis Rams: When I talked with Rams general manager Les Snead last month, we had an interesting dialogue about trading picks or needing to get impactful players entering Year 3 of the Snead-Jeff Fisher regime. After staying put at No. 2 and getting a potential franchise tackle in Greg Robinson, plus a Geno Atkins three-technique clone in Aaron Donald at No. 13, it was very clear the Rams are playing for the present in a very tough division. Two great picks by St. Louis.
Cleveland Browns: Not sure Ray Farmer’s draft is going to match that of Ozzie Newsome’s first one with the Ravens in 1996 (Jonathan Ogden, Ray Lewis)—like Newsome’s, Farmer’s started with the No. 4 and No. 26 picks—but Farmer now has a top corner (Justin Gilbert) to pair with Joe Haden, an underrated quarterback (Johnny Manziel) and an extra first-round pick next year, and he still has the third pick in the second round of this year’s draft. Cover corners are so important to Mike Pettine’s scheme. The sun seems to be shining in Cleveland for the first time in a while. But seemsis the operative word.
Buffalo Bills: I’m excited about the Sammy Watkins pick because it will answer, one way or the other, what I asked in my analysis of Watkins: Is he a No. 1, elite receiver as his draft slot suggests, or is he really just a good receiver who lacks elite size and jumping ability? Will Watkins break the mold of franchise WR? Buffalo doesn’t have another receiver this good, so Watkins is the guy. Peter King has the full story on general manager Doug Whaley trading up to get Watkins.
Oakland Raiders: Love the game of Khalil Mack, who gives the Raiders a much-needed playmaker at strong-side linebacker. (It’s a bit of a strange scheme match; I thought Mack’s best spot would be a 3-4 OLB, but he has scheme versatility). But it will all come down to QB Matt Schaub. If he struggles, GM Reggie McKenzie and coach Dennis Allen won’t be around to see anyone’s future.
New Raiders linebacker Khalil Mack, from the University at Buffalo. (Mike Groll/AP)
Atlanta Falcons: It must have been a struggle for GM Thomas Dimitroff to keep from jumping up a few spots to get his guy—it probably helped to have good friend Scott Pioli around for counsel—but it still likely played out exactly how Dimitroff wanted at No. 6, knowing either Khalil Mack or Jake Matthews would be available. Atlanta ended up with the latter, an excellent addition to the offensive line protecting Matt Ryan.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Not a huge fan of pairing two similar receivers, Vincent Jackson and now seventh overall pick Mike Evans, but we should keep something in mind. Jackson’s contract is pay-as-you-go, just like Darrelle Revis’s was. If the Bucs don’t like it the first season, they can move on from Jackson. Maybe it works and they keep both.
Minnesota Vikings: Tale of two picks. I’m not a fan of the pick at No. 9, UCLA linebacker Anthony Barr, because I don’t think he fits Mike Zimmer’s scheme well. Barr would be better as a 3-4 outside linebacker. It felt as if GM Rick Spielman panicked after Jadeveon Clowney and Khalil Mack were gone, and he grabbed the last athletic pass rusher. But I loved the trading up to get quarterback Teddy Bridgewater with the last pick in the first round, although I wouldn’t have chosen the NFC North (weather) as his preferred destination. Spielman has whiffed twice on quarterback moves before (A.J. Feeley in Miami; Christian Ponder with the Vikings three years ago), so the third time has to be the charm, right?
Detroit Lions: Are the Lions aware that pass defense, especially in the NFC North, is still played in the NFL—and that it’s kind of important? Another weapon for Matthew Stafford—North Carolina tight end Eric Ebron—instead of secondary help? Didn’t like it.
Tennessee Titans: LT Michael Roos isn’t going to play at a high level forever, but between the signing of LG Andy Levitre last off season, picking Chance Warmack and Brian Schwenke in ’13, signing Michael Oher this year and now drafting OT Taylor Lewan 10th overall, well, that’s a lot of resources in an offensive line. It’d just be great if Tennessee had one of those, what do you call them? Oh yeah. Quarterbacks.
New York Giants: Fans will be comparing the career of LSU wide receiver Odell Beckham to other possible picks—DT Aaron Donald, OT Zack Martin and ILB C.J. Mosley—for years to come.
Chicago Bears: They had a big Help Wanted sign for anywhere in the secondary. The versatile Kyle Fuller (CB, Virginia Tech) can’t hurt the situation.
Pittsburgh Steelers: LB Ryan Shazier’s terrific speed will certainly be used by coordinator Dick LeBeau, but this was a luxury pick when Pittsburgh needs help in other areas (corner, receiver, both lines).
Dallas Cowboys: I love Jerry Jones’ taking Notre Dame’s Zack Martin, who can play anywhere and brings needed help on the offensive line. (No, I wasn’t hacked.)
Baltimore Ravens: Perfect Raven at a perfect spot (No. 17). They better hope Alabama linebacker C.J. Mosley isn’t a long-term health risk.
New York Jets: Antonio Allen, the 2012 seventh-round pick, came on at the end of the season, and now they have a terrific physical safety to pair with him in Calvin Pryor. Rex Ryan has two young safeties to mold and key his scheme. He can probably kiss GM John Idzik right now.
Miami Dolphins: The nearly complete overhaul of the Dolphins’ offensive line, with the drafting of RT Ja’Waun James, is now finished. James isn’t a big name, but he’s got a lot of experience and is a sure-fire upgrade over Miami’s mess at right tackle last season.
New Orleans Saints: They just upgraded in age, speed and explosiveness by getting Brandin Cooks to play the Swiss Army knife position that was held by Darren Sproles. Big win for GM Mickey Loomis. Asshole Face is going to have a lot of fun finding ways to get Cooks the ball.
Green Bay Packers: For the first time since Nick Collins suffered an unfortunate neck injury early in the 2011 season, the Packers have a legitimate safety. Can’t overemphasize how important that position is to Dom Capers’ scheme, and it had been patched together—badly, as if with actual duct tape—since then.
Kansas City Chiefs: I don’t understand the pick of OLB Dee Ford. Their cornerbacks got a bit exposed during the second half of last season, and there were still receivers on the board to fulfill another need. Yet the Chiefs took an edge pass rusher despite having Tamba Hali and Justin Houston, who are both terrific players? Don’t get it.
Cincinnati Bengals: I’ve already praised Jerry Jones, and now I love Mike Brown’s selection of corner Darqueze Dennard. (This can’t be a good sign.)
San Diego Chargers: Their cornerbacks are Shareece Wright, Richard Marshall and Steve Williams. Yes, I’d say drafting TCU cornerback Jason Verrett, a terrific competitor at slot with the potential for more, was a smart move. Jason, go lock yourself in a room with Wes Welker tape.
Philadelphia Eagles: A bit early for Louisville OLB Marcus Smith, at No. 26, but he’s a good player. Looks like the end is near for Trent Cole. That’s too bad. He’s a terrific football player.
Arizona Cardinals: The drafting of SS Deone Bucannon should give the Cardinals even more freedom to use DB Tyrann Mathieu all over the field, which is never a bad thing. Bucannon is basically, two years later, the replacement for Adrian Wilson. Same type of leader and physical player.
Carolina Panthers: Cam Newton was flashing that million-dollar smile when FSU WR Kelvin Benjamin was picked. A 6-5 redzone target after Steve Smith, Ted Ginn and Brandon LaFell all left in free agency? Yes, please.
New England Patriots: Previous Gators selected by Bill Belichick before taking DT Dominique Easley with the 29th pick? Jermaine Cunningham, Brandon Spikes, Aaron Hernandez, Chad Jackson and Guss Scott. Not exactly a sterling group. And even though Easley is a little undersized for the scheme and has a bad injury history, he can beat the man in front of him and rush the passer. Patriots can use all those kind of guys they can find.
San Francisco 49ers: Despite six picks in the top 100 to manipulate the draft, GM Trent Baalke stayed put and took safety Jimmie Ward, after picking Eric Reid in the first round last year and signing Antoine Bethea this offseason. Curious move, but Bethea turns 30 in June and isn’t a spring chicken.
Denver Broncos: CB Chris Harris is coming back from a serious knee injury, so Bradley Roby was a smart depth pick.
Seattle Seahawks: The champs don’t have any glaring needs, so the trade for a second- and fourth-round pick (which allowed the Vikings to get Teddy Bridgewater) was a smart one. With the eighth pick in the second round, they could get UCLA OG Xavier Su’a-Filo, Nevada OT Joel Bitonio or Notre Dame DE Stephon Tuitt to help the competition on both lines.
Washington: GM Bruce Allen needs a lot of help on the offensive line and in the secondary, so he can take his time figuring out which direction to go with the second pick in the second round. A trade down might not be a bad thing.
Indianapolis Colts: Thanks to the Trent Richardson trade, the Colts have to wait until the 27th pick of the second round to get on the draft board this year. They could use some help in the secondary, but this draft will be slim pickings in that category by then. Don’t be surprised if they go with a young receiver to groom behind Reggie Wayne and Hakeem Nicks.
Ben Liebenberg/AP
‘We’ve Got to Win Now’
Inspired by his mentor Bill Nunn, who died two days earlier, Bills GM Doug Whaley pulled off the biggest trade of the 2014 NFL draft to select wideout Sammy Watkins. The move announced to the rest of the league, and to long-suffering fans: Buffalo is tired of losing
By Peter King
The words of one of the great scouts in NFL history—and one of the trailblazers for all African-American personnel people in football—echoed in the head of Buffalo general manager Doug Whaley when he made the gutsiest move during the first round of the 2014 NFL draft on Thursday night.
Do not ever, ever be afraid to make a big move if you believe in it strongly.
Bill Nunn Jr., a 46-year scout for the Steelers, drilled that into 23-year-old scouting intern Doug Whaley in Pittsburgh in 1995. And he continued to be the biggest mentor of Whaley’s career when Whaley returned to the Steelers as a pro personnel scout several years later. Whaley, like his mentor, is black. Nunn died Tuesday in Pittsburgh of complications from a stroke. He was 89.
“I would never be sitting in this draft room right now, and I never would have been in position to make this move tonight, without Bill Nunn,” Whaley said from the Bills’ draft room 90 minutes after pulling the first mega-deal of the 2014 draft.
The Bills, scheduled to draft ninth, traded up five spots in the first round with Cleveland at No. 4, and took the best wide receiver in the draft—Clemson’s Sammy Watkins. It cost plenty. Buffalo surrendered first- and fourth-round picks in 2015. It was a colossal price to pay. The Bills haven’t made the playoffs in 14 seasons. If they continue their brand of football mediocrity in 2014, and win five or six games, Whaley will have sent a top-10 pick to Cleveland for moving just five slots in this draft.
Longtime Steelers scout Bill Nunn, who died on Tuesday at 89, mentored Bills GM Doug Whaley, who pulled off a bold draft-day trade on Thursday. (Bill Wippert/AP :: George Gojkovich/Getty Images)
But there’s much more to this gamble than what shows on the surface. Whaley felt the burden of recent Bills history. Of the massive fan frustration. Of the death this year of owner Ralph Wilson, who’d entrusted him with the GM job in 2013, and of the feeling of front-office staffers that they owe Wilson something. Of the team’s being a doormat for a decade and a half—just one winning season in this century—after winning four AFC titles in the ’90s.
I wish the people of western New York could have heard Whaley’s voice from the draft room on Thursday night. It was almost beseeching. Whaley’s a Pittsburgher, born and raised and schooled there, but he sounded like a factory worker from Tonawanda when discussing why he had to make this move.
“We’ve got to win,” he said. “We’ve got to win now. Fourteen years of not making the playoffs. Fourteen years. The people here deserve so much more. We need to give them more. We need to give them a winning team. We need to do it for the people of this region, and we need to do it for Mr. Wilson.
“I understand how big the deal is. I’m a competitor. I like our odds. I like our chances. The information we had made the decision for us. The player made the decision. I think I made the best decision for the Buffalo Bills. I can live with that, however it turns out.”
Whaley said he and the Bills’ brass made the decision Tuesday to try to move up high in the draft, even if it took next year’s first-round pick to do so. He had some talks with Cleveland earlier in the week. “But they intensified once Jacksonville was on the clock. I’d say we reached the final deal with about five minutes left in their [10-minute] period. We had two players targeted, and if they were still there, we were going to try to make the deal.”
Whaley wouldn’t say who the other player was, but he did make one thing clear: “Sammy was the top-rated player on our board.”
The Bills began to fall in love with Watkins last fall, after Whaley scouted the Clemson-North Carolina State game last September. Watkins had a good but not starry game—10 catches, 96 yards, no touchdowns. “What I saw is the way an NFL wide receiver should look,“ said Whaley. And the affection grew at the Clemson pro day this spring. “He made a catch with unbelievable body control—it’s hard to describe exactly what he did, but the body control was just amazing. I said to one of our scouts, ‘What else do we need to see?’ And we left. We left before the workout was over, because we knew.”
Nunn, Whaley’s mentor, was instrumental in finding players from predominantly black colleges when few scouts went there in the ’70s. His coups: Hall of Fame wide receiver John Stallworth from Alabama A&M in the fourth round of the 1974 draft—Nunn found 1973 college tape of Stallworth that no one else had—and L.C. Greenwood (10th round) and Donnie Shell (undrafted free agent) in other years. “I’d just listen to Bill for hours tell stories, and there was always a lesson in them,” said Whaley, the sixth African-American GM in NFL history. “I soaked everything in. When I first met him I was a 23-year-old kid brand new to the business, and here I was with the first high-level African-American scout in football history. What he meant to me I can’t put into words, but it was so important to him that a scout have convictions.”
Whaley needed those convictions Thursday night, when he traded what could be a top-10 pick in 2015 to move five spots to get the player of his dreams. Now Watkins will be the keystone in a revamped receiving corps. Stevie Johnson might be sent packing after a mediocre 2013 season, and youngsters T.J. Graham and Robert Woods will have to make a leap and play better or teams will simply be able to put enough defensive pressure on Watkins to neutralize his impact. The biggest help, of course, will be to quarterback E.J. Manuel, who now will have a fighting chance in his second season as the Bills’ quarterback of the future.
There is no wait-till-next-year for Buffalo now. It’s wait-till-now. There’s a bolder sheriff in town, a well-mentored one, and the heck with next year.
Manziel Mania, Now Headed to Cleveland
It was a wild ride on Thursday night at Radio City, but to the thrill of practically everyone, Johnny Manziel is a Brown—and neither he nor the beleaguered franchise can wait for the Johnny Football era to begin. Plus, more takes from the first round
By Jenny Vrentas
NEW YORK CITY—Johnny Football was on. He had to be. He was poised to do his first on-camera interview with the Cleveland Browns team website in a crowded room of media members, and before he started, he slipped in a wink.
A few feet away, his agent, Erik Burkhardt, sat hunched in a chair, gripping a water bottle. It was nearly midnight now, and wearily, the agent said what Cleveland’s brand-new hope couldn’t: “It was a long night.”
Johnny Manziel’s wait at Radio City Music Hall lasted 21 names and two hours, 42 minutes. He watched Central Florida quarterback Blake Bortles fly off the board to Jacksonville at No. 3, and two of his college teammates drafted back-to-back at Nos. 6 and 7. Manziel shed his blue suit jacket. The Cowboys passed on him at No. 16, but as Manziel shrewdly admitted later, “I don’t know if the world could have handled that, honestly.”
This wasn’t necessarily a slide. The swashbuckling Texas A&M quarterback’s NFL future is a perplexing question, with his exciting play-making ability, imperfect fundamentals and larger-than-life persona adding up to no clear answer. And that’s exactly why an entire league, and its fan base, waited eagerly to see which team would take the bait.
Like others before him, Manziel played the green-room waiting game. (Jason DeCrow/AP)
Of course it took place in dramatic fashion. The Eagles, whose coach professed his love for Manziel on many an occasion, were on the clock. But the Browns struck, giving up a third-round pick to leap four spots into Philadelphia’s No. 22 pick. It was happening. The Radio City crowd—and not just the contingent in bright orange “Johnny Cleveland” T-shirts–started chanting, “Johnny! Johnny!” When commissioner Roger Goodell breathed the first syllable of Manziel’s first name, the place erupted in a roar that might have been louder than that for all the other picks combined.
Manziel quickly reassembled himself: Suit jacket back on, new Browns hat slipped on his head, and a Browns helmet pin affixed to his lapel by one of the team’s PR staffers. He emerged from the green room, and as he walked toward Goodell, held up his hands and made that cash-rub finger gesture that drew him flak last fall.
This next part happened fast: A desperate Browns fan base, which has seen the playoffs once in the past 15 years, pinned its hopes on Manziel’s shoulders. Choosing quarterbacks with the No. 22 pick has been a sore spot for the team (see: Brady Quinn, 2007; Brandon Weeden, 2012). But this was college football’s most exciting player—and he was secured with the pick recouped from trading Trent Richardson last fall, no less.
Even fans wearing the jerseys of other teams’ stars—Victor Cruz, Cam Newton, Philip Rivers—desperately sought an autograph, or a selfie with Manziel, on his way off the stage. This was Manziel’s show, a lesson his new Browns teammate, cornerback Justin Gilbert, learned a few hours earlier. Gilbert, who was picked by Cleveland No. 8 overall, was meeting with the media when news of the Cowboys’ passing on Manziel was broadcast on the surrounding television screens. The media collectively gasped, and his press conference abruptly ended.
Cleveland fans hail the perceived savior. (Elsa/Getty Images)
At Manziel’s own session with the media, he projected the image he’s worked hard to show teams over the past few months. He described his drive to be great, and promised he held no bitterness or grudge toward the teams who passed on him—just a little extra fuel to his fire. He cited Browns offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan’s success with Robert Griffin III as a rookie in Washington, and explained that his play will continue to adapt as his professional career begins.
Soon enough, a group of Cleveland fans waiting outside his press conference broke into another “Johnny Cleveland!” chant. And then, “Johnny Super Bowl!”
One security guard turned to a colleague. “Should we say something?”
“No, they’re alright,” the other replied.
There came a point, though, when Manziel had enough for the night. By the time he walked out of Radio City Music Hall, at 12:24 a.m., the venue was mostly deserted. Clutching his Browns jersey in one hand and a water bottle in the other, he scribbled his name one or two more times—and then jutted across the street, in front of a taxi. The fans were close behind, their cries escalating just like the expectations for him.
“Sign for me, Johnny!”
“I love you!”
“Johnny Football!”
“Johnny Cleveland!”
“You’re going to win a Super Bowl!”
Manziel climbed into the back seat of a black GMC on the corner of 51st street. The fans hovered by the window, begging for the quarterback. “Don’t worry, he’ll open the window!” someone shouted. “He’ll definitely open.”
Manziel never did. A minute later, the GMC pulled out, turned right and shot up Sixth Avenue. A very long night, indeed.
* * *
The MMQB’s Robert Klemko was with the Eagles in Philadelphia on Thursday. He reports on their pick:
It’s the most important question in the wake of every NFL draft, especially following the first round: Did Team A draft for need or talent? Eagles GM Howie Roseman said he learned a lesson about drafting for need in 2011, when Philly used a first-round pick on guard Danny Watkins, who is no longer with the club. Three years later, did the Eagles lean towards addressing a need in picking Louisville OLB Marcus Smith—a guy many believed would be around on the second day—or did they take the best player available?
As always, the answer falls somewhere in the middle.
Roseman told The MMQB he was weighing the 2014 class of wide receivers against this class of pass rushers in making his choice.
Smith didn’t expect to go before his Louisville teammate Bridgewater. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
“We’re looking at tiers,” Roseman said early Saturday morning upon exiting the team’s facility. “If you feel like one of the positions is harder to address as a whole, you address that. If you look at the wide receiver group, it’s a strong group going forward. We’ve got a bunch of guys in that tier.”
In other words, the Eagles dealt their No. 22 pick to the QB-hungry Browns for the 26th and a third-rounder, then selected Smith at 26 because they had him pegged for “near that position,” Roseman said, and they knew they could get a quality receiver in the second or third round, and they felt the next best pass rusher didn’t compare to the Louisville product.
“We had very short board for pass rushers, and it kind of fell off a cliff after Smith,” Roseman said. “We had him rated in the area that we took him. You know things aren’t going to go the way you planned. We had an opportunity to move back and we took it.”
Smith was the fifth pass rusher off the board after the Chiefs took Auburn’s Dee Ford at No. 23. The next best man, according to SI’s big board, is Missouri’s Kony Ealy. In terms of wide receivers, the Panthers snatched Florida State’s Kelvin Benjamin at No. 28, so the Eagles shouldn’t hold their breath for Southern Cal’s Marquise Lee, likely to be gone by the time they select at 54.
Philadelphia’s collective draft philosophy—previously authored by Andy Reid—is still a work in progress as coach Chip Kelly enjoys his first draft with a full offseason under his belt since joining the staff two winters ago. Kelly brushed off any suggestion the team was considering adding Johnny Manziel to a group of QBs that includes Pro Bowler Nick Foles. In picking Smith to support and potentially replace either Connor Barwin or Trent Cole on the edges, Kelly stuck with a mantra which Philly writers have come to enjoy: “Long levers are strong levers.” (Smith’s arms measure out to 34 inches.)
“Last draft, our personnel staff talked about what we wanted a lot, but we didn’t see it in action,” Roseman said. “Now we’ve seen it. Having coach go to these pro days is a huge value for us.”
Smith, who watched the draft at a sports bar with friends, had trouble determining Thursday night’s biggest surprise: That he was drafted in the first round or that he went before Louisville QB Teddy Bridgewater, chosen by the Vikings with the last pick of the first round.
* * *
Shon Coleman walked across the stage of a raucous Radio City Music Hall with Roger Goodell last night, and that was surreal. So was the message the NFL Commissioner gave him afterward. “He said in the next couple years,” Coleman said, “he hopes to see me again.”
The NFL started a neat practice at last year’s draft: Inviting a patient from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to announce a first-round draft pick. Coleman, though, is not just a survivor of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, he also has a real chance to hear his own name called in a future draft.
Coleman was the 6-6 young man in a taupe-colored suit who strode across stage last night between his mom, DeKeishia Coleman-Tunstall, and Goodell, when the draft’s 13th pick came in. Coleman grew up a Rams fan, so the NFL arranged for him to announce the team’s second first-round selection: Aaron Donald, defensive tackle from Pittsburgh. The Rams’ first selection last night, as it turned out, was Coleman’s teammate at Auburn last season, left tackle Greg Robinson.
Coleman’s college football career was put on pause even before it started. Just a few weeks after signing his letter of intent with Auburn, the five-star recruit was diagnosed with cancer, and began weekly treatment at St. Jude in Memphis. That was four years ago. Today, Coleman is an Auburn graduate (as of last week) and competing to replace Robinson as the Tigers’ starting left tackle.
His left hand was wrapped in a soft cast yesterday, the result of surgery to fix a tendon he tore in Auburn’s spring game, but football injuries are no sweat after enduring 31 months of chemotherapy. Even as his cancer fight made him weary and nauseous, Coleman dreamed of football—not just returning to the game (as he did in 2012), and not just learning behind Robinson (as he did last season), but hearing his name called like Robinson’s was last night. “That’s always been his ultimate goal,” his mom said. “The road took a couple of turns, it wasn’t just a straight shot that we initially thought it was going to be, which makes it even better.”
Coleman has three years of college eligibility left. Right now, he’s focusing on this season, and starting his graduate studies in the fall. But last night, he let his mind skip ahead a bit. He walked across the stage at Radio City Music Hall, and he envisioned it as a dress rehearsal.
* * *
Bortles was joined by Grant, his UCF center, in NYC. (Tomasso DeRosa/AP) Bortles brought his center, Grant, with him to NYC. (Tomasso DeRosa/AP)
Before Blake Bortles was the first quarterback chosen in the 2014 draft, before he experienced “the greatest feeling” of his life, the 22-year-old sat in a Manhattan hotel room with his college roommate and watched Oceans 13.
“Just tried to relax and watch some TV,” said Joey Grant, who was also Bortles’ center at UCF. “Just like old times.”
Grant had been with Bortles since he arrived in New York on Tuesday. Over a 48-hour period they rode a double-decker tour bus, swung by the Empire State Building and visited the 9-11 memorial. They ate pizza and cannoli in Little Italy.
Although Bortles had several draft-related obligations—including appearances on Good Morning America and at an NFL Play 60 event, and a meeting with Roger Goodell—he tried to distract himself and enjoy the mini New York vacation. That was especially true Thursday afternoon, when Bortles and Grant spent most of the day watching television. “But nothing draft related,” Grant said. “Oh no, none of that.”
Right after Bortles was drafted, the quarterback was escorted through restricted areas for interview after interview. Grant, meanwhile, meandered around the Radio City lobby. When he spotted a father and son wearing Jaguars jerseys, he yelled “Hey, let’s go Jags!” The pair smiled at the 6-2, 291-pound Grant who was wearing a suit, although they looked a bit confused.
Then Grant walked up to a vendor on the main level and bought Jacksonville Jaguars flat-brimmed hat for $36.
“Well,” he said. “This looks good.” —Emily Kaplan
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Of Ryan Shazier’s 20 friends and family members in attendance on Thursday night, there were all kinds of NFL rooting interests. Shazier’s uncle, Maurice, grew up on the Cowboys. Shazier’s father, Vernon, is the Dolphin’s team chaplain. Oddly, Shazier’s cousin from Montana, Brittany, grew up cheering for the Steelers.
“It was because they were on national TV all the time,” she said. “Honestly, I couldn’t be happier.”
The entire Shazier clan seemed ecstatic Thursday night, when the outside linebacker from Ohio State was drafted 15th overall by the Steelers. They were told to expect something late in the first round or early in the second. “When they called Ryan’s name we weren’t really ready for it,” Maurice Shazier said. “It was the second big surprise of the day.” The first surprise came a little after lunchtime at the family’s hotel. Shazier gathered everyone into the living room of his suite to announce he had just signed a deal with Nike. “It’s crazy,” Brittany said. “I figured that would be the wildest thing that would happen all day.” —E.K.
NICKEL PACKAGE
Texans fans were more than OK with the Clowney pick. (David J. Phillip/AP)
1. Bill O’Brien is an offense-oriented coach, but when the Texans used their No. 1 overall pick on this class’ premier pass rusher, it was O’Brien whom Jadeveon Clowney credited with bringing him to Houston. “He was like, ‘I’m going to stick my neck out for you. You’ve got to come in here and stick your neck out for me. You’re going to be in my hip pocket.’ … I can’t let him down.” Clowney is the first defensive end selected first overall since, yep, the Texans took Mario Williams in 2006.
2. Interesting trade partners, the Bills and the Browns: Mike Pettine’s old team and his new team. To move up to No. 4 to nab Clemson WR Sammy Watkins, Buffalo gave Cleveland its No. 9 pick and first- and fourth-round selections in 2015. The Browns later moved back up in Round 1, swapping the No. 9 pick and a fifth-rounder for the Vikings’ No. 8 pick, with which they chose Oklahoma State CB Justin Gilbert—a selection that also may have a Pettine tie. Gilbert’s pairing with Pro Bowler Joe Haden sounds a lot like the pairing of Antonio Cromartie and Darrelle Revis that anchored the Jets’ defense in 2010 and 2011, when Pettine was the team’s defensive coordinator.
3. He didn’t draft a cornerback last night, but Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome stuck with another of his tendencies: Alabama players. Inside linebacker C.J. Mosley joins outside linebacker Courtney Upshaw (second round, 2012) and nose tackle Terrence Cody (second round, 2010) as recent Crimson Tide defenders drafted high by Baltimore. Maybe we should have seen this selection coming when Ravens director of college scouting Joe Hortiz jumped to defend Alabama players at the team’s pre-draft press conference: “Can I say something about the Alabama guys? They’ve been getting beat up [in the media] a lot, and I went to Auburn,” Hortiz said last week. “These guys, they may fail physicals or be question marks, but they are tough players. … All they do is play through pain, and they have such a mental and physical toughness. They get in the NFL, and they do the same thing. Sorry to strike a nerve, but I’ve just been hearing it so much.” Mosley is one such player: He won the 2013 Butkus Award for college football’s best linebacker but dealt with elbow, hip and shoulder injuries.
4. NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith said this week the union is reviewing potential action it can take on behalf of the draft-eligible players whose names were leaked this week as having failed drug tests at the combine. “Even though those players are not technically represented by the union [at the combine], once they are drafted, they are,” Smith said. He alleged a “lack of appropriate attention by the NFL” on how confidential information collected at the combine, like the results of drug tests, is safeguarded. Multiple media outlets reported at least six names of players who failed drug tests (none was drafted in the first round). Smith said avenues for the union could include filing negligence claims or seeking recourse through the CBA.
5. And finally, keep this statistic in mind as you sort through all the first-round analysis:From 1998 through 2012, only 35 percent of first-rounders went to at least one Pro Bowl representing the team that drafted them, according to Dan Hatman, a former NFL scout and co-founder of the Dynamic Sport Solutions consulting firm. So, if half of these players make a Pro Bowl with the team whose jersey they held up last night, that would be unusual. Something to chew on.
