2017 NFL Draft: Lessons learned from the first round
By Matt Conner
Here are a few lessons learned from the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft.
Now that the first round has officially closed on Thursday night from the 2017 NFL Draft out of Philly, we’ve learned a few things about the state of the NFL and the way things work in 2017. Let’s get to the results and the lessons we learned.
Never Doubt The Quarterbacks
Leading up to the draft, questions were floating left and right about whether or not this quarterback class would be respected when all was said and done. There was no clear-cut quarterback atop the draft board, a la Andrew Luck, and every one of the perceived top options also came with serious questions. For Mitchell Trubisky, for example, questions were asked about why he was only a single season starter for the Tar Heels, unable to beat out middling competition in the ACC.
Yet when it comes down to it, we all apparently forgot how valuable the quarterback position is. Get this:
1. Despite the presence of newly signed Mike Glennon…
2. Despite the lack of certainty in Mitchell Trubisky’s talent…
3. Despite the incredibly high cost to trade up a single spot…
Bears general manager Ryan Pace pulled the trigger anyway on a deal to move up from No. 3 to No. 2 to get his player. It’s a questionable move through the eyes of absolutely everyone on social media, who wondered why the Bears would pay that sort of price to move up a single spot. Maybe the Browns were threatening to move up (or another team) and the Niners forced the Bears’ hand, but it’s likely that Chicago was bidding against itself and got suckered into giving what they did.
Despite the cost and the response, however, Chicago fans can say they have their man. It’s the cost of doing business these days in the NFL that you must pay the piper to get your quarterback. And if anyone tells you that quarterbacks might go for a reasonable cost, don’t believe them. It’s the first lesson learned (or reminder, really) from this year’s draft.
Some Teams Don’t Know NFL Maxims
The saying goes that defenses win championships, but I guess we can’t assume these sayings are as common as we believe. The early run on offensive players, including two wideouts in the top seven picks, is a bit puzzling. Teams left talented defensive players like Jonathan Allen, Malik Hooker, Marshon Lattimore and others for far too long to add further firepower to their offenses. It’s surprising that the league’s worst teams would continue to focus on offense when almost every one of them needed defensive help.
It’s not that Mike Williams doesn’t help the Chargers, but did Phil Rivers ever have issues moving the ball. Even when Keenan Allen goes down, Tyrell Williams emerges. It makes sense for L.A. to add a wideout, but at No. 7, they could have added the top linebacker, defensive end or cornerback in the draft. Instead they add Williams. Again, it’s not that the Clemson wideout doesn’t add value or that there’s not a need. But neglecting to add a true impact player on defense is odd.
Speed Matters
In the first 18 picks in the draft, we saw the Cincinnati Bengals select wide receiver John Ross from Washington and the Tennessee Titans land electric returner Adoree Jackson from USC. The Bengals have plenty of holes to fill and wide receiver maybe wasn’t the biggest issue of all, but Ross’s record-setting NFL Combine performance turned heads and lifted him draft boards enough to become a top 10 pick overall. Jackson is one of numerous talented cornerbacks available, but his incredible speed forced the Titans’ hand to select him over others with better tape at the position because of the return possibilities.
In today’s NFL, where the margin between victory and defeat often comes down to split seconds in the timing of a route or in the time it takes to get to the passer, Ross and Jackson will help their respective teams more than fans might realize. Speed helped the Chiefs win games in 2017 as Tyreek Hill put up the fastest on-field times in the NFL. Both the Bengals and Titans are hoping for some of the same results.