Gallery • 24 Photos

Myles Garrett: First overall pick in the NFL Draft

As you may know, I did an NFL Draft preview in the February Quill issue and let’s just say I was off on a lot of my picks. In this article I will go over the draft and where I went wrong, as well as how surprised I was on a bunch of things.

One of the only things that I predicted correctly was the Browns finally making a good choice at number 1 and passing on yet another quarterback, and going straight for Myles Garrett. The Browns actually had a really good draft this year. They especially had a great Round 1, picking up the 2016 Big 10 defensive player of the year, Jabrill Peppers and the athletic tight end out of Miami, David Njoku. I don’t think that the Browns had a bad pick this year, but they did get their quarterback with another solid pick in the second round, that being Deshone Kizer.

Next, I’m going to get to the team who had the worst draft and that’s the Chicago Bears. The Bears made the stupidest decision in recent NFL Draft history, trading two of their third round picks and a fourth round pick to the 49ers to go up just one spot to the second pick in the draft.

The Bears really wanted Mitch Trubisky, but the thing is Chicago didn’t need to trade with the 49ers because they weren’t going to pick him anyway. San Francisco wanted Solomon Thomas and basically got free picks for nothing. In my draft preview, I correctly predicted Trubisky going second to the 49ers because I wasn’t expecting him to be with the Bears. Chicago better hope that Trubisky is the next Tom Brady or they will realize that they made a ridiculous mistake.

One thing that I was really surprised about was all of the offensive players who went in the first 10, in what was in my opinion a defensive heavy draft. I was shocked about Mike Williams going seventh to the Chargers, wide receiver Corey Davis out of Western Michigan going fifth to the Titans, and as a Bengals fan was pretty upset about them picking up Washington wide receiver and 40 yard dash record holder John Ross at ninth. The only top 10 offensive pick I enjoyed the most was Leonard Fournette going fourth to the Jaguars. I think he can make an immediate impact.

Another offensive player that I was surprised about was Christian McCafferey being selected 8^th by the Carolina Panthers. I would’ve expected them to select fellow running back Dalvin Cook from Florida State, who I actually had going to Carolina with the eighth pick.

I was also surprised about all the big defensive players who fell off in the draft. I was especially amazed to see Jonathan Allen, who I had going third, falling all the way down to 17. All I can say about that is that the Redskins got a steal with a top 5 prospect going down to them at 17. Another big thing that was astonishing to me was a player who I had going top 10, Reuben Foster, going down to 31^st to the lucky Niners. Also all the corners and safeties that I had going in the first 10 went down to the teens.

Another defensive player who fell off who I was surprised about was defensive end Taco Charlton from Michigan, a guy who I had going at least to the top 15, falling down to 28^th to the Cowboys.

One other thing that I got wrong was that I said the first tackle to be taken would be Ryan Ramczyk (who went to the Saints), but the first one off the board was the 25 year old from Utah, Garrett Bolles, who’ll be a day one starter for Denver. One thing that I got right was OJ Howard being the first tight end to be taken first when he was picked 19^th by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

I will conclude with my favorite pick of the draft and it was a quarterback. I enjoyed the Patrick Mahomes II pick by the Kansas City Chiefs trading up to the Buffalo Bills to get him considering they are ready to move on from Alex Smith. I believe that he has a very bright future. However, I didn’t love that pick as much as I loved the Houston Texans trading up to 12^th to select the impressive Deshaun Watson. After trading Brock Osweiler away, this team needs a quarterback, and who better than the NCAA Champion?

I asked Elliot Reiring, who I interviewed in my first article, about which team he thinks won the draft.

“The Pittsburgh Steelers won the draft. The drafting of TJ Watt among others are going to make the team even more of a powerhouse.”

I also asked Will Ellerhorst who he thinks won the NFL draft this year.

“I believe that the Cleveland Browns won the draft. With 3 first round picks, how could you not?

Zach Fries: “There is no definitive answer to exactly who won the draft, but I think the two teams that definitely improved their teams the most are the San Francisco 49ers and the Cleveland Browns. ”

In my opinion, it looks like the AFC North had the best draft picks out of all, with the Bengals and Ravens not doing so bad either.

In conclusion, the 2017 NFL Draft was a memorable one. Whether it was Takkarist McKinley ’s rant, JJ Watt’s brother and a questionable player by the name of Joe Mixon being picked, Hall of Fame receiver Drew Pearson and the outer space pick announcements among many others, or D’Onta Foreman and JuJu Smith Schuster’s celebrations also among many others, this is a draft that we will all remember for a while.