This year’s draft, despite having a shock at No. 6 (see below), suffered from a lack of really flashy talent at skill positions — which, for however much linemen are essential building blocks, tend to be the players that spark the most interest and speculation. The draft was never going to be sexy, no matter how hard ESPN tried to make it seem so by shouting, “HISTORY IS BEING MADE YET AGAIN TONIGHT, with the FIRST EVER OFFENSIVE LINEMAN FROM WASHINGTON STATE GOING IN THE FIRST ROUND.” Or, “HOLD THE PHONE, THAT’S TWO MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS IN A ROW.” They were also obsessed with praising Notre Dame’s Jerry Tillery for going to Maui with his family and friends instead of to the draft, which is unusual for dudes who are AT the draft, covering the draft. (I’ve gotta say, that’s a solid move in my book also, Jerry.) Anyway, accordingly, not as many players showed up this year, but we’re going to work with what we’ve got. Kyler Murray, knowing he’d be the first pick, came to play.
One of the big controversies involved someone we have to embed here: No. 6 Daniel Jones, QB, Duke, to the New York Giants.
This poor dude. People were astonished. All the Giants fans, watching inside their stadium, were silent with anticipation and then LOUDLY BOOED when it was announced. The guy whose phone recorded this — they aired it on ESPN — was so agonized that he hunched over and wailed. Twitter immediately called for the manager to be fired. It’s his second year. He passed on QBs last year to take RB Saquon Barkley, which I actually liked, but Eli Manning is for SURE in his twilight years and can this dude pick up the slack as quickly as they like? Almost no one thinks so, and therefore I’m rooting for it. I mean, he went to Duke. He’s got to have a nimble mind?
