6. First-round surprises?
There are always massive surprises in the first round. Last year was no exception. The Baltimore Ravens moved up to No. 6 overall in order to select offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley.
The expectation all along was that Baltimore would pick up former Mississippi tackle Laremy Tunsil with that selection. But the video of him allegedly smoking marijuana that surfaced right as the draft started precluded this from happening.
Other surprises last year included Eli Apple finding himself as a top-10 pick of the New York Giants and San Francisco trading back into the first round for Stanford guard Joshua Garnett. The former Cardinal standout was never even bandied about as a first-round pick before then 49ers general manager Trent Baalke made the move.
Look for much of the same this year. As we mentioned at the onset of this article, there could be as many as five quarterbacks go on Thursday. That number could also be limited to two or three. What happens there will likely set the stage for other positions. But outside of quarterback, what are some surprises we can expect during the opening round?
Look for cornerback Gareon Conley to potentially find himself drafted over former Ohio State teammate Marshon Lattimore. That would be an absolute shocker, especially considering Lattimore has been considered the consensus No. 1 corner in the draft. Though, there have been recent concerns over a hamstring injury as it relates to Lattimore (more on that here).
Meanwhile, Conley has more game tape and is seen as a pro-ready starter. This could make the difference for teams looking at help in the defensive backfield.
On offense, it really would a surprise to those on the inside if running back Dalvin Cook from Florida State and former Western Michigan wide receiver Corey Davis both fell out of the first round. Each one of these skill position players is seen as an elite-level talent.
There are also some underlying concerns here. Is Cook that much better than the second-tier options at running back, including Tennessee’s Alvin Kamara and Oklahoma’s Samaje Perine? If not, teams might look for more value at a position that’s taken more lesser significance in the NFL. This doesn’t even take into account the possibility that Joe Mixon goes higher than expected.
One last note here. Let’s just go ahead and project that a veteran quarterback will be moved either late Thursday or earlier Friday. Despite reports to the contrary, it’s sill our working belief that the Patriots would trade Jimmy Garoppolo for the right price. While that’s pure conjecture, it really does seem to make a lot of sense. Are the Pats really willing to place the franchise tag on their backup in order to keep him off the open market next March? The answer to that is highly debatable.
If not Garoppolo, maybe Washington likes how it sees the first round play out at quarterback and decides to move on from Kirk Cousins completely? The same can be said for a Bengals team that has a solid asset in A.J. McCarron.