What would two first round picks for Jalen Ramsey really look like?
By Scott Loring
I looked back through five years of NFL Drafts, from years 2014-2018. I omitted this year’s draft class because they are mostly unproven and this gives us a more results-driven answer to the question.
Here are the names of draft picks #29-#35 from the years 2014-2018.
2014
Dominique Easley, Jimmie Ward, Bradley Roby, Teddy Bridgewater, Xavier Su’a-Filo, Demarcus Lawrence, Joel Bitonio
2015
Phillip Dorsett, Damarious Randall, Stephone Anthony, Malcom Brown, Landon Collins, Donovan Smith, Mario Edwards
2016
Robert Nkemdiche, Vernon Butler, Germaine Ifedi, Emmanuel Ogbah, Kevin Dodd, Jaylon Smith, Hunter Henry
2017
David Njoku, TJ Watt, Reuben Foster, Ryan Ramczyk, Kevin King, Cam Robinson, Malik McDowell
2018
Taven Bryan, Mike Hughes, Sony Michel, Lamar Jackson, Austin Corbett, Will Hernandez, Nick Chubb
Sure, there are some good names here. Lawrence, Bitonio and Collins are highly decorated players at their respective positions. There are a few names among the more recent years that have potential. But when you’re making the selection, there are no guarantees. We can’t just cherry pick three names out of 35 and stamp it as the reason “why you can’t trade away future picks.”
Perhaps the best way to view this would be from the other side of the trade. If you had the rights to Jalen Ramsey, would you trade him away for a chance to pull two of these names out of a hat and put them on your team?