Guess the Oddest 1st Round Picks
 

Every year teams make you scratch your head and it changes the entire complexity of the first round and the draft as a whole.

What do you think happens this year?

Travon Walker over Aidan Hutchinson at #1?
Drake London to Detroit at #2?

I'd love to get your takes on who and why.

Christian Watson top 20 would be wild if someone falls in love.

I can see a guy like Frere possibly flying into the first round. It only takes one GM to have the need and fall in love with his skill set. That’s probably over a full round higher than I’ve seen anyone take him in mocks, but he has the tools that can be coached into a long term high quality starter with plus athleticism.

Treylon Burks in the top 10. You know someone is in love with his size and catch radius.

Any QB taken in the top 15

Breece Hall

Better game is guessing the team that will reach or make head scratchers.

My guess is the Raiders and Giants will make a WTF pick.

I think it'll be a WR at the end of the 1st or top of the 2nd that others have a tier or two below. Someone like Metchie, Tolbert, Austin or Pierce going higher than expected.

Las Vegas Raiders - Alex Leatherwood at 17...Wait...New Management but they still have a Mark Davis so they can do it again.

4.26 40-man, Tariq Woolen, CB, UTSA in the 1st round.

What? Raiders don't have a pick until the 3rd round.

I guess it will have to be the New York Giants that makes that move.

I'd love to hear where you think the guys will go to/when with the players you listed.

For me:

Detroit takes WR Drake London at #2. WR and DE are their top priorities and we all know DE should take precedence, but we also know how Detroit operations which means they'll do the exact opposite of what they should.

Carolina takes DT Jordan Davis at #6. They need LT and QB but I'm thinking some teams trade up for Pickett and Willis. They'd have nearly their choice of LTs but I have the feeling Rhule foolishly continues building that defense... again.

Washington takes OC Tyler Linderbaum at #11. It's not odd, based on needs, as much as it would seem to be extremely early but Washington goes with putting pieces around and in front of Wentz.

New Orleans takes DL Logan Hall at #19. The Saints are always good for a relative reach on a high upside defensive lineman and Hall is exactly that. They've had a private meeting to boot.

Buffalo takes RB Bryce Hall at #25. Devin Singletary isn't the answer and this is a team that's better when they can threaten the run game but they haven't been able to establish it. I wouldn't be surprised if they actually traded up into the teens.

Why would that be surprising?

I'm also curious to see where Hall lands, saw him mocked to the Chiefs for the first time recently and honetly had never considered him.

Buffalo could go full Chiefs CEH and figure "it's the missing piece" and take a RB in the first round.

I don't have a first round grade on any backs in this class but it still doesn't stop a random team for taking one in the first when they coulda done it a full round later.

Am I the only guy who sees Burks as Cordarelle Patterson 2.0?

Man I am hoping the Chiefs stay away.

I do on Breece Hall.

He's a comparable talent, IMO, to Jonathan Taylor and Swift coming out.

I did a mock on a podcast and had the Jags #1 pick and I took Charles Cross, the best pass blocking tackle in the draft. I don't think I've seen that on any other mocks.

Who were 2nd round picks.....

I wonder if the Bills would be tempted.

Probably not. I think corner and pass-rushers would be a higher priority for them.

I mean they took two pass rushers with their first two picks last season and signed Von Miller. And they lost JD McKissic in free agency.

If I was a Bills fan I'd find it tempting.

Gonna go on record and say someone drafts Pickens when they mean to draft Pickett, or vice versa.

I heard Pat Kirwan say the other day, "If I were the Jags Id draft Cross at 1 and never look back."

He loves Hutchison but felt like the Jags need Cross more.

Right, and Hall is a much better prospect than CEH.

Agreed.

In a vacuum, Hall is a 1st round talent. He’s going to be REALLY good. I like him more than Harris and Harris went in the 1st last year.

Hall is a genuine 3 down back and potential impact player. Those still exist at RB - we just didn’t get one with our stab at it.

I'd agree with him. You have to protect your franchise man and the incumbent sucks total ass at it. Cross is the best pass protector in the draft.

They have one good pass rusher already that they spent a top-10 pick on. They don't need to have two, even if they need to improve at the other spot.

Hall is a stud like Taylor has alot of miles on him.

Penning seems like a typical Seahawks pick at 9. Stone feet he will be a bust and join a long line of shit Seahawks picks in the past several drafts

Saw an article that said the Seahawks are number one in value during the drafts but the crazy thing is the Chiefs were number 2

ESPN claiming Walker is a lock for #1 now

A very Trent Baalke thing to do. He's a major traits guy.

ESPN said nothing of the sort. All they said was that he moved into the number one wagering position for first pick nothing about a lock

Fair enough, this is what was said:

Let's start off with a big one. All the intel I've gathered points to Georgia edge rusher Travon Walker -- not Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson -- as the No. 1 overall pick for the Jaguars. The belief around the league is Jacksonville prefers the upside and traits of Walker over the proven production, motor and leadership that Hutchinson brings to the table. And it is nearly a lock that one of them will come off the board first.

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6dMel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay
Nearly all the execs, scouts and coaches that I spoke with would personally take Hutchinson at No. 1 if it were them, though. Hutchinson is so technically efficient off the edge, and he is relentless in getting to the QB. He had 14 sacks, 15.5 tackles for loss and 64 pressures last season. That's elite, and many teams prefer that kind of proven impact. But Walker's versatility, length, speed, explosion and strength could be the difference for the Jaguars. Execs around the NFL tell me Jacksonville just loves his upside, even though Walker (six sacks and 29 pressures) didn't fill the stat sheet like Hutchinson did in 2021.

I believe the answer here was Cole Strange...

No doubt. That said, I was listening to a GM (I think it was a GM), might have been Veach, that said that Strange would have gone in the next 10-12 picks. Apparently, the league had him valued much higher than the media. The same GM did say Thornton was a guy they felt would have been there two rounds later.

I heard someone say he wouldn’t have made it out of the second.

I didn’t hear that bight, though. That’s just so strange to me. In a draft where if you were an OT who might needs some developing you might as well have not shown up until day 3, what got IOL pushed up so many boards?

I thought there were some really solid PT prospects still kicking around as late as the 6th but they were largely ignored. But there’s a run on top 50 interior linemen?

I think because of the last couple of classes of tackles, there weren't as many teams looking at dire need situations there. That said, there were plenty of teams that really needed to get better on the interior offensive line. There also weren't that many quality LT prospects after the top 4 guys (Cross, Neal, Ekwonu, Penning). I mean, Smith, who I thought was a bit of a reach is one but he just needs a lot of technique work so maybe mid season starter as a tackle. Petit-Frere, Raimann, Brax Jones, and maybe Burford are it and they all need some development. After Smith, I'd say all but Raimann could be two years away from being able to start.

I don't know if there was much of an abnormal run on interior Oline. I mean, 3 guards and a center in 1 and they all went in the 2nd half of the round. I think Tyler Smith is an OT that may play guard early as he learns. Little mini run the same way in the late 2nd.

Let's just list New England's whole draft. Very creative or very strange.

New England Patriots 2022 NFL Draft Picks:

Round 1: No. 29 (from KC via SF via MIA) – Cole Strange, G, Chattanooga

Round 2: No. 50 (from KC via MIA) – Tyquan Thornton, WR, Baylor

Round 3: No. 85 – Marcus Jones, CB, Houston

Round 4: No. 121 (from KC via MIA) – Jack Jones, CB, Arizona State

Round 4: No. 127 – Pierre Strong Jr., RB, South Dakota State

Round 4: No. 137 (from LAR via HOU via CAR) – Bailey Zappe, QB, Western Kentucky

Round 6: No. 183 (from HOU) – Kevin Harris, RB, South Carolina

Round 6: No. 200 – Sam Roberts, DT, Northwest Missouri State

Round 6: No. 210 (from LAR) – Chasen Hines, G, LSU

Round 7: No. 245 (from HOU via DAL) – Andrew Stueber, G, Michigan

Chiefs need to give a big thank you to New England though. Without them we would not have been able to do what we did in the draft.

I was always a Green Bay proxy fan. (think of it as checking out a hot chick's ass when your wife with you) and still would like to see a Super Bowl rematch between those two teams but Christian piqued my interest to see what he can do in the NFL.

It's like Tony Gonzales meets Randy Moss.