Congratulations to Travon Walker of Georgia on being the number one pick in this year’s draft! I do not think you could go wrong with either him or Aidan Hutchinson. I feel like the Jets and Lions had very good drafts. We need those teams to be good. It is easy to make fun of them, but the league is better off when teams like the Lions, Jets, Bears, and Giants are good.
I did not have the best mock draft, but I will blame that on all the crazy trades. I was happy that I picked a few teams correctly, but just not the right spot. I also happened to have 28 of the 32 guys who went in the first round. I mean, no one picked Cole Strange. And yeah, I had Ridder and Willis going in the first, but I was not fully sold that it would happen. So all in all, I am okay with how it went.
Few other random draft things…
-I thought it was funny how people made such a huge deal about Matt Araiza, but in the end Stout ended up going before him. And there was another punter (Camarda from Georgia) a few picks after Jordan went in the fourth round. Araiza went in the sixth. I guess the NFL was not ready to revolutionize the position yet, but they did listen to me about realizing there is huge value in drafting a punter.
-Penn State had eight players drafted. That was more than Ohio State, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Michigan.
-Brock Purdy was Mr.Irrelevant. Sometimes draft experts make a big deal about a player early on and then they end up getting drafted in the 7th round. Purdy feels like one of those guys.
I was happy with the Steelers draft. I know I wrote about it before, but I was torn on the Steelers drafting a quarterback from this class. I did not like the idea of them trading up for any of them. I was not 100% sold on Willis or Ridder and if they were hell-bent on taking a QB, I thought going after Matt Corral in the second or third round was the best bet. I honestly did not think Kenny Pickett would be available.
I hate Pitt, but I watched plenty of their games last year and I liked watching Kenny Pickett. There is something about him. Moxy, swagger, or whatever stupid thing analysts like to say. He and Matt Corral were the two quarterbacks I thought had that intangible quality that could make them be great. Not to say any of the others do not have it or will not be great, but those two just stood out to me.
I assumed someone like the Seahawks or Falcons would draft Kenny early and then the other teams in need would panic and draft Willis and Ridder. Glad the draft did not go that way. I am happy the Steelers drafted Kenny Pickett. If it does not work out, well then alright. But if Pickett went somewhere else and succeeded….it would be a Dan Marino situation all over again and I do not think anyone in the front office wants to deal with that for the next twenty years.
Pitt Panther fans were pretty excited after that moment. Then came the news that Jordan Addison was going to enter the transfer portal and head to USC because he received a big NIL deal. My first reaction was to make fun of Pitt fans or to point out the hypocrisy of using the portal to bring in players (they are super excited about Kedon Slovis), but pissed when someone leaves (trust me, I chastised Penn State fans last year for the same thing). But then I decided to have some compassion.
It sucks that Addison is leaving (unless he does not end up going, there does not seem to be any concrete news at this moment), and I do support players rights to make money and transfer. And yet, there needs to be rules. Or at least more consistent rules. I believe that coaches should not be allowed to change schools until after the national championship game. I think the transfer portal should only be open from that moment until the start of spring practices.
The NIL money is a trickier thing. I have no clue how that becomes regulated. Granted, I think that money has always been there, but it was just hidden by boosters. There have always been stories about players getting “jobs” at car dealerships and other alumni owned businesses (you know, the job where they never show up, but get paid each week…what the hell do you think that was?). I have no clue how to control that money. Maybe a cap that each team can spend? No idea.
These transfers will only continue. These players earning insane amounts of NIL money (if the Addison deal is true, I think I heard he will earn more money than Malik Willis and Desmond Ridder) will not stop. What happens when a player is given $10 million to transfer? Teams will have to adapt and change. Or the rules will need fixed. Who knows what will happen.
