With all sports events being canceled or postponed, the National Football League draft, held from April 23 to April 25, was the first sports related event to take place in over two months and the first virtual draft in the history of the NFL. The draft was a major success, setting the all-time viewership record with 55 million viewers over the three days.
In previous drafts, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell always announced the first-round picks and in the second and third days of the draft, former players announced the picks for their team. Live fans at the draft always booed the commissioner and cheered whenever their team chose a player they wanted. However, Goodell announced every one of the picks and showed live camera feeds of fans booing him before the draft and reacting to their team’s pick. The most iconic moment for any player is when they walk onto stage, shake hands with the commissioner, and take a picture while holding a jersey from the team that selected him. This year, players instead were shipped a box of all 32 NFL team hats and wore the respective hat when they were chosen.
The biggest concern with this draft was the logistics as everything was online. On April 20, the NFL ran a mock draft, and reports came out that exposed technical glitches during the first pick. Thankfully, these issues were taken care of by draft night, and everything ran smoothly.
The top pick in this year’s draft was held by the Cincinnati Bengals. Since 2000, 15 of the 20 No. 1 overall picks have been quarterbacks. The same was seen in this year’s draft. The Bengals drafted Louisiana State University’s Joe Burrow, who had 5,671 passing yards, 60 touchdowns and a completion percentage of 76.3%. Burrow was relatively unknown before this year, but after leading LSU to a 15-0 season and winning the National Championship and the Heisman trophy, he solidified his spot as the top quarterback in this year’s draft.
The Washington Redskins held the second overall pick, with which they chose Ohio State edge rusher Chase Young, considered the best player in the draft. Young led Division I college football with 16.5 sacks, despite missing two games.
The best case scenario is if a team needs a certain player and the best player available plays that position, such as the Detroit Lions. The Lions held the third overall pick and had recently traded their star cornerback Darius Slay to the Eagles. At pick three, Ohio State cornerback Jeffrey Okudah, who was believed to be the best cornerback in the draft, was available and drafted by the Lions.
The 49ers had five first round picks on their defensive line and had already paid a lot of money to keep the defensive intact. Because of salary cap restrictions, they had to trade DeForest Buckner to the Indianapolis Colts. In return for Buckner, the 49ers received the Colts first-round pick, 13th overall, in addition to the 31st pick that they already had. They replaced Buckner with South Carolina’s Javon Kinlaw. The 49ers then traded up from 31st to 25th to take Arizona State receiver Brandon Aiyuk. During day three of the draft, the 49ers traded a third and fifth round pick to the Washington Redskins to get seven-time Pro Bowl tackle Trent Williams in order to replace the retired Joe Staley.
Another top pick was Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa. Coming from a college football powerhouse, Tagovailoa was projected to go very high, as he was seen as a can’t-miss-prospect and the first left-handed quarterback selected in the top 10 in 14 years (Matt Leinart in 2006). However, injuries derailed Tagovailoa, including multiple high ankle sprains, a dislocated hip and a posterior wall fracture, which ultimately caused his draft stock to fall. Nonetheless, he was still the fifth overall pick to the Miami Dolphins.
The New York Giants had a poor offensive line which ranked in the bottom five of the league in both pass protection and run blocking. The Giants could have chosen a premier offensive tackle or they could have taken a hybrid playmaker such as Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons, but they chose Georgia left/right tackle Andrew Thomas with the fourth overall pick.
In this draft, the Arizona Cardinals needed an offensive tackle to protect their second-year quarterback Kyler Murray. The Cardinals had a bad offensive line the previous year, 50 sacks. With the eight pick, the Cardinals could have chosen from what was one of the best offensive tackle classes in recent history. Iowa’s Tristan Wirfs, Alabama’s Jedrick Wills Jr. and Louisville’s Mekhi Becton were all available. However, Simmons was also available. Simmons was considered as a top-three player in the draft but had fallen because the teams picking above the Cardinals had different needs. The Cardinals chose Simmons over the tackles because of his talent.
The Atlanta Falcons needed a cornerback after releasing Desmond Trufant earlier that year. However, the consensus top cornerbacks, Okudah and Florida’s CJ Henderson were already picked, so the Falcons took Clemson corner A.J. Terrell. Terrell was generally considered the fifth or sixth best cornerback in the draft, so this was a reach in terms of need over talent.
Oklahoma’s Ceedee Lamb was picked by the Dallas Cowboys. Lamb was considered a top-two receiver in the deepest wide receiver class ever, along with Alabama’s Jerry Jeudy. Although the Cowboys needed a cornerback and help on the defensive line, they had Lamb ranked as the sixth best player on their board and couldn’t pass on him.
The draft is not just useful for the cellar dwellers. The draft allows Super Bowl contenders to restock with young talent, get cheaper and try to use picks to get more players. That is exactly what contenders like the 49ers and Ravens did.
The Ravens had one of the best drafts, according to many draft analysts. The Ravens were coming off of a 14 win season, where they set the record for most rushing yards as a team with 3,296 yards. Led by 2019 NFL Most Valuable Player Lamar Jackson, the Ravens had few holes but covered them all in the draft. They chose LSU inside linebacker Patrick Queen and Ohio State running back J.K. Dobbins to strengthen their rushing attack.
The biggest surprise of the draft was when the Green Bay Packers traded up from No. 30 to No. 26 to take Utah State quarterback Jordan Love. Love was considered a boom-or-bust prospect in that he was supremely talented but was inconsistent and had too many turnovers (led Football Bowl Subdivision with 17 interceptions). The move to take Aaron Rodgers’ successor was heavily criticized by fans and the media, especially when they were short of talent at wide receiver.
This draft was like no other. It had the deepest wide receiver class ever, top-tier offensive tackles and, of course, it was the first virtual draft ever in the NFL. The feeling when walking onstage is like none other. Although all of the players missed out on their draft moment, it was a special feeling nonetheless, to be chosen by a franchise. Moving forward from the draft, teams are still looking for players who can help them win games.
