DETROIT

GM Bob Quinn admits the Lions are listening to offers for the #3 overall pick.  Nick Shook of NFL.com:

One week after NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported the Lions were listening to offers for the No. 3 pick, the team’s general manager confirmed it.

Detroit is in business at three, where the draft will officially start getting interesting. Bob Quinn told reporters Friday the Lions have had conversations with teams interested in their pick, and those conversations will continue.

The Lions are in an interesting position. Detroit doesn’t necessarily need a quarterback thanks to the presence of Matthew Stafford, who at 32 years old should still be a viable starting option for them for the foreseeable future. There are teams behind the Lions that very much need a signal-caller, though, and with the prized jewel known as Ohio State defensive end Chase Young likely gone to Washington at No. 2 overall, Detroit has a good reason to move back in exchange for a nice package of assets.

Two teams that very much could be in the running for the No. 3 pick: the Miami Dolphins and the Los Angeles Chargers. Between the two clubs’ rosters, the best quarterback is Tyrod Taylor. The second best option is veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick. There’s plenty of room for either or both franchises to draft a young passer.

Such a selection can produce a player of significance. That’s the goal of every team on the clock, of course. NFL Network’s Stacey Dales relayed what Quinn said about Detroit’s expectation, which included an interesting few words about where the team spends its selection:

@StaceyDales

#Lions GM Bob Quinn on confidence in 3rd overall pick and coming away with a big time player, says with that #3 pick or wherever the team ends up picking, the idea is to get an impact player.

Quinn sounds as if he’s acutely aware of the value of his pick. His team has interviewed multiple quarterbacks, including Oregon signal-caller Justin Herbert, Rapoport reported Monday. Herbert might be the second or third quarterback off the board next week.

Interviews like these could be due diligence, or they could be smokescreens. Quinn is not about to give their selection away for peanuts, especially as the pressure to outmaneuver other teams ramps up in the final week before the draft.

With this in mind, Quinn didn’t tip his hand Friday. Mystique can also be a bargaining chip.

“I never go into conversations I have with other teams,” Quinn said, per Dales.

The unknown prevails for now. Thursday sure is shaping up to be rather interesting.

– – –

QB MATTHEW STAFFORD is medically good to go.  Darin Gantt ofProFootballTalk.com:

The Lions won’t have anything resembling a normal offseason — like the rest of the league — but they’d have had their quarterback on hand if they did.

Via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, Lions General Manager Bob Quinn said that quarterback Matthew Stafford was recovered from last year’s back injury, and would be a full participant in whatever degree of offseason workouts they have.

“Health wise, he’s good to go,” Quinn said. “He’s cleared medically from that standpoint.”

Stafford missed the last eight games of last year with a fracture in his back, but his wife said on social media that it was “completely healed” in January.

Prior to the injury, he was playing as well as any quarterback in the league, with 2,499 yards, 19 touchdowns and just five interceptions in the first half of the year.

While there was some chatter about the Lions talking to quarterback prospects, they’re able to use that kind of talk as leverage if they want to move down because they have that spot filled.

MINNESOTA

Charles Robinson of YahooSports.com throws more cold water on the rumors of WR ODELL BECKHAM Jr. to the Vikings.  We put the story in CLEVELAND if you want to read it.

DALLAS

Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com wonders about the timing, or lack thereof, of the Cowboys negotiations with QB DAK PRESCOTT:

When the Cowboys start their virtual offseason training program as soon as Monday, starting quarterback Dak Prescott won’t be involved. He won’t be involved because he’s not under contract. He’s not under contract because the Cowboys have continued to drag their feet, delaying the inevitable and ultimately increasing the price they will have to pay to get him signed.

That’s the strangest aspect of this lingering impasse. As the Cowboys wait for Dak to take less, the passage of time will make him want more.

Surely, he wants more now than he would have taken a year ago. And he’ll want more a year from now, if/when his franchise tag increases by 20 percent.

The number is never going to go down. Thus, the longer the Cowboys wait, the more the number will go up. Eventually, it may become a year-to-year proposition that has Dak hitting the open market in 2022, in lieu of the Cowboys giving him a 44-percent bump for a third tag, over the 20-percent increase he’d get under a second tag.

Maybe the Cowboys should have simply let him hit the market now. Would anyone have offered the $35 million per year he reportedly wants from Dallas? And wouldn’t he need more than that from another team, given the marketing value of being the starting quarterback of America’s Team?

Regardless, the Cowboys keep painting themselves more tightly into a corner. And even though COO Stephen Jones has shrugged at the prospect of Dak skipping the offseason program, it’s hardly ideal for new coach Mike McCarthy to not have Prescott involved in efforts to plan for the coming season.

The ongoing delay isn’t ideal, either. Unless and until the Cowboys are willing to let the market determine Dak’s value, they’re going to have to pay him, eventually. And it will never be any cheaper to get it done than it would be right now.

NEW YORK GIANTS

Coach Joe Judge is in isolation, within family isolation, with is dog.  Jordan Raanan ofESPN.com (warning, bad pun to follow):

Every day lately has become Bring Your Dog to Work Day for New York Giants head coach Joe Judge. It’s his new normal.

Every day, Judge and the family golden retriever, Abby, head to the basement in their North Attleboro, Massachusetts, home and spend up to 15 hours working. Judge leads staff meetings, participates in draft meetings and takes part in endless personnel discussions for next week’s NFL draft.

Abby doesn’t add much to the conversation, aside from an occasional bark or perhaps if the talks shift to her favorite player, Saquon BARK-ley. But she has become the ultimate Giants draft insider, a true canine version of Mel Kiper Jr.

“Right now she could probably tell you more about who we’re gonna take in the first round than anybody else,” Judge said on a conference call Wednesday with reporters.

New York Giants

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Coach Judge and Abby: Work from home vibes

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The top options include Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons and offensive tackles Tristan Wirfs from Iowa and Jedrick Wills Jr. from Alabama. As for whom the Giants will take with the No. 4 overall pick, Judge didn’t provide many clues. And Abby was not available for comment.

Judge, who has four children, is expecting to be in his basement for the draft next Thursday night. Abby is likely to be beside him as he provides input on the first of the Giants’ 10 selections. Judge has talked with his children about the possibility of them taking tags with players’ names off the wall and helping organize different things during the draft. But he also warned them there will be times when everybody needs to get out of the basement, potentially Abby included.

This is the new reality heading into a surreal NFL draft that is expected to have commissioner Roger Goodell announcing picks from his basement as most of the country is shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. It’s one of the obstacles Judge faces in his first year as head coach. The Giants are expected to begin their virtual offseason program on Monday.

Judge has taken it all in stride and seems to be keeping it all in perspective.

“So, everybody is adjusted. I think if the worst thing we’re dealing with right now, to be honest with you, is working out of our basement, we’ve got it pretty good,” he said. “There are a lot of people out there right now who don’t have jobs to go to with the situation, there are police, fire department, nurses who leave their house every day and leaving their family behind and putting themselves out there to protect us.

“I think there are people we have to acknowledge with the right perspective, that have it a lot tougher than a bunch of football coaches trying to function getting ready for an offseason and a draft.”

Guy walks into the bar with his dog.

Bartender: “You can’t come in here with that dog?”

Guy: “But, he’s very intelligent and can talk.  Let me prove it to you.  What provides nutrition to a tree?”

Dog: “Root-Root-Root.”

Bartender: “That’s awful.”

Guy: “No, hold on.  Hey, what is on top of a house?”

Dog: “Roof-Roof-Roof.”

Bartender; “Get out of here.”

Guy: “C’mon, one more.  Who is the greatest baseball player ever?”

Dog: “Ruth-Ruth-Ruth.”

Bartender picks up a broom and chases them out the door.

Outside, the dog turns to the guy and says, “I should have said DiMaggio?”

We bring you this in the name of the DB’s Dad who would have turned 97 today.  It was his favorite joke.

Back to our regular programming.

TAMPA BAY

Even with QB TOM BRADY in the fold, the Buccaneers are shopping TE O.J. HOWARD.  Jordan Dajani of CBSSports.com:

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are preparing to enter a new era with Tom Brady under center, but the team may not be done shaping the talent around him. While Brady now has talented wideouts such as Mike Evans and Chris Godwin to work with, the team may be looking to move on from a former first-round pick in the near future.

During an appearance on the GM Shuffle podcast, Michael Lombardi of The Athletic reported that he was told by a league source the Buccaneers are attempting to trade tight end O.J. Howard — and he wouldn’t be surprised if Howard was traded within the next week.

“I think Howard’s got a great name, but I think there’s an instinctive issue going on,” said Lombardi. “I think he’s going to be available.” 

Howard was selected by the Buccaneers with the No. 19 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. He caught a career-high 34 receptions for 565 yards and five touchdowns in 10 games in 2018 before he was injured, but caught 34 passes for 459 receptions and just one touchdown in 14 games last season.

“It’s hard to say (what’s wrong),” head coach Bruce Arians said when asked about Howard last November. “He’s a talented, talented guy, but it’s not showing up on Sundays.”

This is somewhat of an interesting development considering the success Brady has found with tight ends over his two decades in the NFL. While Howard hasn’t shined on the field recently, he’s 6-foot-6, 251 pounds and armed with exceptional speed and good hands. Arians may have seen enough, however, and the Buccaneers could look to move in a different direction.

Tampa Bay radio host J.P. Peterson, who has been right about a lot of things in recent weeks, has reported that TE Rob Gronkowski has been seen in the area recently.  There was a time that Gronkowski owned a home in Tampa.

Yesterday, Gronkowski commented without denying.  Henry McKenna of USA TODAY:

It’s probably not quite time to take seriously the rumor of Rob Gronkowski joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But important people in the NFL are acknowledging that rumor — with jokes.

One week after Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht said “he’s doing a pretty good job in Wrestlemania right now” when asked about the tight end joining Tampa, Gronk made a similar wise crack during a appearance on his Instagram story on Wednesday. The rumor began with a tweet from one of the Twitter accounts run by Barstool’s PFT Commenter. Yes, it’s a Twitter account for his dog, Leroy.

“Wow, PFT Commenter,” Gronkowski said Wednesday. “Yo, you know PFT Commenter, his dog is starting some crazy rumors out there. His dog, Leroy, dog. You’ve got to keep your dog quiet. Leroy, you gotta stay quiet, man. Wow, man, he’s barking up a storm.”

NFL Insider Leroy

@LeroyInsider

Bark bark bark bark @RobGronkowski

Gronk isn’t denying the rumor. And he’s not really confirming it either. It’s totally possible a deal like this goes down. It’s also go so many hurdles that it seems unlikely. Let’s take this with a grain of salt.

– – –

Terry Bradshaw would just as soon have Roger Staubach as his quarterback than TOM BRADY.  And, by implication, he would just as soon have Terry Bradshaw.  Mike Florio ofProFootballTalk.com:

The original TB12 isn’t as impressed with the current TB12 as most everyone else is.

Appearing Thursday on 97.3 the Fan in Pittsburgh, Terry Bradshaw rattled off various quarterbacks whom Bradshaw regards as more talented than Tom Brady.

“I don’t think he’s the greatest quarterback of all time,” Bradshaw said, via the New York Post. “It’s hard to say. He may be the best quarterback we’ve had in the last 30 years. Is he better than [Roger] Staubach? No. Is he better than Dan Fouts? No. Dan Marino? No. I’m talking talent-wise when you’re putting all of it together.

“Does he have more Super Bowls than anybody? Yes. Therefore, he’s the best. I absolutely have no problem saying it. If you’ve got the most Super Bowls, you can be in there, but I don’t put anybody as the greatest of all time. . . . Is he better than Montana? Not in my opinion. Is he better than Drew Brees? Yeah, maybe.”

Bradshaw also isn’t impressed with the drama surrounding Brady after 20 seasons in New England.

“I’m a little bit tired of all this soap opera going on between him and Belichick,” Bradshaw said. “Look, he left because he wanted to prove something, and he wants to prove to everyone that he can win without Bill Belichick.”

The comments continue a recent trend by Bradshaw, who believes Brady wants to show he was more important to the Patriots’ success than Belichick. As both men move forward without the other, the performances of the Patriots and Buccaneers will be compared as closely as any two teams, in any sport.

DENVER

COVID has claimed a prominent NFL player – asthmatic LB VON MILLER.  Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com:

Broncos pass rusher Von Miller said he got a cough a couple of days ago that concerned his girlfriend and assistant. So he got tested for COVID-19, and it came back positive Thursday.

“I’ve just been here in the crib, and I started to get a little cough,” Miller told Mike Klis of 9News. “You know I have asthma, and I started getting a little cough a couple days ago. My girlfriend she told me [that while] I was asleep, she said my cough it didn’t sound normal.”

Miller used his nebulizer, which he inhales for asthma before strenuous activity. It didn’t help.

“I got tested, that was two days ago,” Miller said. “I started to feel like normal yesterday and then this morning Dr. [Steve] Geraghty called me and told me.”

Miller becomes the second active NFL player to acknowledge a positive COVID-19 test and one of the biggest names in sports with it. On Wednesday, Rams center Brian Allen announced his diagnosis. Saints coach Sean Payton has recovered from the coronavirus.

“It’s crazy,” Miller said. “I have to be quarantined here at the house. There’s not really any medicine or anything like that. Dr. Geraghty told me if my breathing changed. . . .Honestly, I’m still new to this. This is like an hour. I’m not sure what’s going on, but I tell you what, I’m in good spirits. I’m still Von. I’m not feeling sick or hurting or anything like that.”

So this is the issue that sports are going to have to face going forward.  A player has a slight case of COVID, what do they do?  It seems as if Miller’s immune system has defeated his case in 24 hours.

If it was the flu, he would stay home and the show goes on. More people over 100 have died from COVID than people under 30 worldwide.

But there are those who would shut down an entire league based on one case, even at this point when it is out there and part of our world.

LAS VEGAS

Mike Mayock and Jon Gruden inherited a long history of draft futility.  Paul Gutierrez ofESPN.com:

With three first-round picks last year netting a solid-and-on-the-rise edge rusher in Clelin Ferrell, a rising-star running back in Josh Jacobs and a large persona in rehabbing safety Johnathan Abram, the Las Vegas Raiders hope to have equal success finding foundation players with a pair of first-round selections at Nos. 12 and 19 overall in next week’s NFL draft.

Yeah, five first-round picks in a two-year span should help a team in transition, both literally and figuratively, a franchise that has had one winning season since playing in Super Bowl XXXVII on Jan. 26, 2003.

So long as Raiders general manager Mike Mayock and coach Jon Gruden nail the picks, right?

Because if you are searching for a reason as to why the Raiders are, well, still trying to get their legs under them as they continue a decade-plus climb out of mediocrity, look no further than their whiffs on first-round draft picks.

Especially between 2002 and 2013. Yes, that’s an especially long time ago in NFL years, but the misses and lack of continuity there are still felt today.

Consider: Only two of the Raiders’ first-round draft picks since 2005 have signed a second contract with the team — defensive back Michael Huff (2006) and running back Darren McFadden (2008).

Not cornerback Fabian Washington (2005) and definitely not quarterback JaMarcus Russell (2007), receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey (2009) or middle linebacker Rolando McClain (2010). (The Raiders did not have first-round picks in 2011 and 2012 thanks to the Richard Seymour and Carson Palmer trades, respectively.)

Not cornerback D.J. Hayden (2013) and certainly not edge rusher Khalil Mack (2014) or receiver Amari Cooper (2015), both of whom were traded by Gruden in 2018 to the Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys, respectively, which gave the Raiders the three extra first-rounders the past two years. (Mack held out rather than play under his fifth-year option, prompting his trade.)

Not safety Karl Joseph (2016), who just signed a free-agent deal with the Cleveland Browns, and not cornerback Gareon Conley (2017), traded to the Houston Texans last season.

Left tackle Kolton Miller (2018) and the trio of Ferrell, Jacobs and Abram are on the clock.

CLEVELAND

Could Cleveland be drafted by Cleveland?

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network:

@RapSheet

Some buzz is building about the #Browns trading back and taking OT Ezra Cleveland in round 1. I wondered if it’s ever happened before where a drafted player shared the same name as his team’s city. Per @NFLResearch. it would actually be the fifth(!) time.

We actually would contend it would be the third time as we have no problem with Ken Houston (1967) drafted by Houston and Mike Washington (1969) drafted by Washington.

The other two instances are first names – Cleveland Crosby by Cleveland and Louis Wong by St. Louis.

– – –

The Browns tell Charles Robinson of YahooSports.com that they are committed to WR ODELL BECKHAM Jr. and are not shipping him to Minnesota.

A little over two months ago, after the Cleveland Browns had run through yet another bleak winter gauntlet of firings and hirings, the newly cemented front office and coaching staff prepared itself. The NFL’s scouting combine was around the corner, and with it, the inevitability of fraudulent Odell Beckham Jr. storylines.

By mid-February, scuttled Beckham Jr. rumors already seemed like they were back on the tracks and picking up steam. And it was happening before the first unified offseason step of the new Browns trinity had even been taken by general manager Andrew Berry, head coach Kevin Stefanski and chief strategist Paul DePodesta.

The new regime surely didn’t want Beckham Jr. in the locker room.

He was a John Dorsey relic that had to be dumped.

Beckham Jr. didn’t really want to be in Cleveland, anyway.

On radio and television — and in scattered corners of print and online media — one piece of speculation hooked onto the next. Almost to the point of fascination inside the Browns franchise because as far as the reshaped braintrust was concerned, none of it was close to representing what was actually going on.

“I think we’re really in a good place,” a Browns source remarked in late February. “We’ve had some really good conversations. He knows how we feel about him. He’s going to be an important part of what we’re doing. And I think some of the problems in the past were resolved with the changes that were made [on the coaching and front office staff].”

Odell Beckham Jr. is viewed as critical piece for Browns

This is the conversation that resonates every time I hear that Odell Beckham Jr. is supposedly on his way out of Cleveland. It echoes for one reason: Whether it’s publicly or privately, the tune of the new Browns order hasn’t changed about Beckham. He’s valued by the organization and is considered a massively important (and healthy) part of the equation moving forward.

And he’s not getting dealt this offseason. Not this week. Not during the NFL draft. And not before stepping onto the field in 2020 and showcasing what he can do for an offensive head coach who is universally more disciplined and prepared than his predecessor. That’s what Stefanski represents. Someone who can handle the pressure of his position and navigate relationships with players who demand opportunities to be a bigger part of the solution.

That’s Beckham — a significant part of the solution that you don’t trade.

A guy who helps get a humbled-but-highly-motivated Baker Mayfield back into his 2018 groove. A guy who energizes a cast of offensive additions in 2020 that should get even stronger in the upcoming draft. A guy capable of getting healthy and then showing why you don’t throw away superbly talented players — especially when they had a legitimate gripe about the underlying failures of the previous coaching staff.

And not only is he wanted, but he’s necessary. He is one of the key cogs that helps Cleveland realize all the mismatch issues that Stefanski’s offense is capable of presenting. A scheme that will thrive on packages featuring two tight ends or two running backs, buoyed by a pair of playmaking wideouts on the outside. Not since Beckham was turning the league upside down early in his career with the New York Giants will he be in a scheme that suits him so well.

Dealing Beckham ‘does not make a whole lot of sense’

This is why the Browns are getting frustrated with the constant flow of Beckham trade rumors. Like the one that speculated the Dallas Cowboys would come after Beckham after hiring his longtime NFL and college receivers coach, Adam Henry (never mind the Amari Cooper extension Dallas was working on). Or that the New England Patriots would engineer a move to add Beckham for Tom Brady (uh, whoops). Or that Beckham would “welcome” a trade to the New York Jets or San Francisco 49ers, but also might be a trade target for the Green Bay Packers or Philadelphia Eagles. And just for good measure, former NFL linebacker Bart Scott insisted at one point that Beckham was absolutely on the trade block — then backed it up with zero evidence.

That was just February, by the way. We weren’t even quarantined into a state of boredom yet, which means this nonsense was almost certainly going to get worse before it got better. It’s how we got to a Minnesota Vikings trade report this week that was described right down to the details of what compensation was being discussed.

Except that it didn’t happen. The Vikings hadn’t made a call. They hadn’t taken a call. They didn’t even know it was a thing until reporters started reaching out to sources in the organization. That’s pretty much what the Browns confirmed Thursday.

“In short, I will just say it was completely false,” DePodesta said about the phantom Vikings trade offer. “It is frustrating a little bit, obviously. I think it is pretty clear what we are trying to build at this point. We have done an awful lot in free agency. We are excited about what we have a chance to do in the draft, and we are really building around a core of players that we think have a chance to be a championship-caliber core. The idea that we would take away from that core at this moment just does not make a whole lot of sense and is really not something that we are exploring at all. It is completely false.”

That’s about as blunt as the Browns can be, short of delivering the dangerous, zero-wiggle declaration that media members all clamor for (including me, at times). Something along the lines of “We aren’t trading this guy for anything, ever.” It’s a ridiculous expectation that is often use to prove a hollow “BUT THEY DIDN’T SAY NEVER” response.

Let’s be real here. Brady left the Patriots for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last month. Todd Gurley is an Atlanta Falcon. Philip Rivers is an Indianapolis Colt. And neither Cam Newton or Jameis Winston can get a starting job anywhere in the NFL. The idea of “never” in this league has pretty much been incinerated.

But the Browns are as committed to Beckham as they can be, both publicly and privately. They aren’t making calls. They aren’t soliciting them, either. That’s how it was before the combine. That’s how it is now. And that’s how it will be when the draft kicks off next week.

JACKSONVILLE

For all the talk from management about QB GARDNER MINSHEW, a key member of the team’s offense is campaigning for the addition of a specific veteran QB.  Nick Shook ofNFL.com:

Leonard Fournette doesn’t have anything against Gardner Minshew — he just knows an opportunity when he sees one.

The running back campaigned for his Cam Newton-to-Jacksonville dream during a Thursday appearance on ESPN and explained it’s not personal, it’s just about winning.

“Cam went to the Super Bowl, you know, he’s a great guy,” Fournette said. “I’ve been knowing Cam for a minute now. Like I told some people that talked to me, I told them it’s no disrespect to [Gardner] Minshew. I’m just trying to get in the best position as a team so that we can win. That’s all that was about, just a friendly competition, because, you know, that brings out the best in people.”

A year ago, the Jaguars were admitting defeat in saying goodbye to Blake Bortles and signing Nick Foles to a lucrative deal. That plan backfired because of a collarbone injury that robbed Foles of the majority of his season and undercut his chances of getting into a rhythm with his new team, and while he was gone, his sixth-round pick of a backup wowed fans and the front office enough to eventually take Foles’ job altogether.

Minshew’s performance gave the Jaguars’ front office the confidence it needed to send Foles packing to Chicago and free the team of most of Foles’ hefty contract, the latter being especially important with the Jaguars going young.

Such a youth movement will rely on Jacksonville nailing its picks. Jaguars GM Dave Caldwell echoed that goal Thursday, saying the team is entering next week’s draft with a philosophy that says the Jags “need to hit on all 12 (picks).”

Newton could help bring those picks along, too, if he was in Jacksonville’s locker room.

“Whoo, that’s a lot,” Fournette said when asked what it will take for the Jaguars to again become contenders. “We have to get some for sure picks in the draft, have some guys that’s gonna come in and be ready to play for us and also for the older guys like myself, mentor, lead them the right way and just show them the ropes. I think everything else will take care of itself.”

Trades of Calais Campbell and A.J. Bouye, which preceded the Foles trade, signaled the direction in which these Jaguars were proceeding following the in-season departure of executive Tom Coughlin. Signing Newton might seem like a step in the opposite direction, though — unless it’s a financially friendly deal.

MIAMI

By the end of 2019, Brian Flores had rounded the Dolphins into a decent football team.  You might be surprised to find out they were 5-4 over the last nine games including wins over the Patriots, Eagles and Colts.

So we would say they ended the 5-11 2019 season with a cadre that might project to say 7-9.

Since then, they have added 10 free agents, topped by cornerback BYRON JONES.  Six of the arrivals have contracts valued at better than $5 mil per year.  Neither player leaving Miami by free agency had a new contract of much over $1 million.

So Miami should be somewhat better.  Let’s put them at an 8-8.

Then we see this from Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:

The Dolphins’ rebuilding effort has been focused on the 2020 NFL draft, and next week a ton of new talent will be heading to Miami.

No matter how you slice the draft, the Dolphins have the most picks and the best picks. Miami has 14 picks, the most of any team. Miami has three first-round picks, the most of any team. And Miami has by far the highest point total on any of the various draft value charts that assign every pick a point value.

The Dolphins traded Minkah Fitzpatrick to the Steelers for their first-round pick and traded Laremy Tunsil to the Texans for their first-round pick. The Dolphins also have two picks in the second round, thanks to trading for the Saints’ second-round pick.

Now it’s all about making those picks pay off. Dolphins General Manager Chris Grier has talked about the importance of hitting a home run next week. If the Dolphins whiff on this draft, they may be picking near the top of the draft for years to come.

But if the Dolphins hit on this draft, like the Colts did in 2018 with G QUENTON NELSON and LB DARIUS LEONARD, they could shoot right up to the top of the Brady-free AFC East.

Here is a list of draft capital through a system pioneered by Chase Stuart ofFootballPerspective.com:

1          Dolphins          93.6

2          Jaguars           71.5

3          Lions                64.6

4          Bengals           64.4

5          Raiders            60.2

6          Vikings             56.5

7          Broncos           53.9

8          Panthers          52.7

9          Giants             52

10        Jets                 51.9

11        Chargers         51.2

12        Ravens            50.7

13        Browns            49.3

14        Redskins         48.5

15        Buccaneers     46

16        Seahawks       42.4

17        Eagles             42.4

18        Falcons           41.1

19        Cowboys         40.4

20        Patriots            39.9

21        Colts                38.1

22        Cardinals         37.8

23        49ers               36

24        Rams              34.4

25        Packers           34.2

26        Chiefs              31

27        Titans              29.1

28        Saints              26.8

29        Bears               24.4

30        Texans            23.5

31        Steelers           23.1

32        Bills                 23

For some perspective, last year by Stuart’s system, the Giants, with two early first round picks (thanks OBJ) had 75 points of capital and the Raiders had 74 to lead the way.

Miami goes in dwarfing that total, as well as all the other teams this year.  The median teams in 2020 (Seattle and Philadelphia) have 42.4 points.

So the Dolphins should receive a supply of players equal to more than twice the average draft.  More, if they do a good job of picking.

NEW ENGLAND

Ian Rapoport believes the Patriots will draft a QB early, for all the bluster about QB JARRETT STIDHAM:

Appearing earlier this week on the Rich Eisen Show, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said he expects New England to use a “premium pick” on a potential Brady replacement.

“I would say the Patriots are very firmly in the quarterback mix,” Rapoport said. “They’re just so far back, so I’m having trouble figuring out, like, what are they actually going to do? Because they’re up in the 20s (No 23 overall). Jordan Love sliding into the teens and them grabbing him is a scenario that I’ve thought a lot about. They also had some success with Jimmy Garoppolo in the second round, so maybe they try to repeat that.

“The Patriots are going to take a quarterback, probably with a premium pick. I would just imagine it’s not at a pick they currently have.”

As Rapoport notes, Jordan Love is an intriguing option and the Patriots have shown interest in the Utah State product. There’s also a belief New England could somehow end up with Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa.

As for who will get the first snaps under center when the 2020 season kicks off, Rapoport believes it’ll be the veteran Hoyer.

“My guess right now is Brian Hoyer is the starting quarterback of the Patriots in 2020, but I think that is something that will be ever-evolving as we get through next season,” Rapoport said.

THIS AND THAT

PROSPECT PROFILE

Auburn DT DERRICK BROWN is going to go off the board early as the top inside defensive lineman in the 2020 draft.

He went to Lanier High School in Sugar Hill, Georgia near Buford in Gwinnett County north of Atlanta.  Both of his parents graduated from Mississippi State, moving to Georgia when Derrick was three.  Father James is a police officer while his mother is a manager at Wal-Mart.

At Lanier, he was a consensus 5-star recruit, and although his high school’s nickname was the Bulldogs, he ended up at Auburn, not UGa.

He played some as a freshman, then was thought to be a likely pro after 2018, his second season as a starter.  Instead, even though he had a young son, he opted to return to Auburn for his true senior season.  Justin Lee at OANOW.com:

Brown’s decision to come back to the Plains for his senior season this fall, Kai was huge — and family was everything.

Kai was born Dec. 20, right after Brown completed his junior season at Auburn and just before the team’s bowl game, and while other elite players like Brown were contemplating jumps to the NFL or returns to their college teams. Brown was projected by analysts to be a sure-fire first-round draft pick if he had left. If he was a top-10 pick, he could’ve been signed for more than $20 million.

Instead, in that same moment in April, as other players geared up for the draft later in the month, Brown sat in Auburn, his orange and blue jersey still on his shoulders, and his son in his lap — all smiles.

Brown explained in the spring that he’s content with his decision to play out his senior year at Auburn, on schedule to graduate this December and to step off campus with a degree in his hand and prepared to provide for his young family.

Family is what kept him at Auburn. His parents insisted that he would finish his studies, now or later, if he had decided to go pro early.

And now, more than ever, family is so much a part of his journey at Auburn. His younger brother, Kameron, signed with the Tigers in February, and the two will be teammates this fall.

“It’s like, you just went from being a kid to now you’ve got to be a grown man,” Brown said back in February in another visit with the media. “You’ve got to become the provider and you’ve got to become the person that’s taking care of your son. You’ve got to weigh the options.

“I thought it’d be more beneficial for me, to be honest, to come back, finish, and get my degree — because when it comes time for my son to get his degree, I’m going to push for it. I’m not going to take ‘No’ for an answer, just like my dad has done with me.”

Brown’s parents didn’t insist he come back, he said. They only told him that, either way, he had to graduate eventually. If he had left, Brown could’ve returned to Auburn for classes in the NFL’s offseason to finish up. Cam Newton left Auburn after his junior season in 2010, and eventually completed his degree in 2015.

But Brown didn’t want to wait that long.

 “I realized I had 27 credit hours left, so I was like, ‘You know what? Let me just go ahead and knock this out in two semesters rather than play around with it for three or four years,’” he said.

Suddenly, Brown’s once shocking decision to turn down so much money starts to make more sense.

“If I don’t go this year, I could get hurt. I hope not to. But, you know, my degree in my hands is going to be so much more powerful than what could’ve had happened,” Brown said. “I could’ve been in the league and I could’ve been hurt. … I felt it would’ve been harder that way.

Brown was the president of Auburn’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and also a member of the SEC Student-Athlete Leadership council.  He did an FCA mission to the Dominican Republic and has spent time building homes and collecting Christmas gifts with both Angel Tree and Toys for Tots.  Derrick was a Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year finalist.   He owns a degree in marketing and is interested in a career in politics.

 “We call him ‘Baby Barack,'” linebacker Deshaun Davis said. “Anytime Auburn goes anywhere he has to represent us, and he does stuff with the SEC in Birmingham. We joke with him all the time.”

So, he seems to check all the off-the-field boxes.  How is he as a player?  Well, he was the SEC’s Defensive Player of the Year, although it is more of an eye test thing as his sack total was four.  Charlie Campbell of Walter Football loves him:

On top of his unique combination of strength and speed, Brown has tremendous instincts. He uses good vision to redirect and has a real feel for how plays evolve. That leads to him making big plays in pursuit and out of giving a second effort. On top of his instincts and great skill set, Brown is a violent football player. He puts ball-carriers to the turf hard and is very rough with offensive lineman. Blocking Brown is an extremely difficult proposition, and he wears out interior blockers.

Brown is a load in run defense. He uses his strength to hold his ground at the point of attack. Many college interior pass-rushers struggle to defend downhill runs coming straight at them, but Brown is the exception. He stuffs blocks at the line of scrimmage and doesn’t get pushed back thanks to his strength with good leverage. Brown will also toss blocks to the side and make tackles in the ground game. He showed incredible power to make one-armed tackles and throw blockers to the side to cause havoc at the point of attack. He has a strong lateral anchor, and it is nearly impossible to move him out of his gap.

Brown has enough length, strength and athleticism to get consideration as a 3-4 defensive end, although playing the three-technique in a 4-3 might be his best fit. He also could play nose tackle in a 4-3 or 3-4.

Brown is the second best player in the 2020 NFL Draft in this analyst’s opinion behind only Ohio State’s Chase Young. Where he goes is dependent on team needs, but Brown is a true top-five talent. Brown has the ability to be one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL, and it would not surprise me if he has a legendary career.

This from The Draft Network:

Derrick Brown is one of the most complete interior defensive line prospects to pass through the draft process in recent memory. Odd fronts, even fronts, as a two-gap defender or a penetration player — Brown is a dynamic force who wins in any way you could possibly need him to. His explosive power wins first contact or gaps with consistency and his upper body power, motor and instincts are all plus qualities. Plug and play starter with All-Pro potential at the NFL level.

However, this from Chris Trapasso of CBSSports.com:

To start, I need to be clear about my evaluation of Brown’s combine. I don’t expect his performance in Indianapolis to impact his draft position. He’s likely going inside the top 10 overall, and it’d be a shock if he makes it to the second half of the first round. This warning strictly pertains to the amount of long-term success I believe — and the numbers suggest — he’ll have in the NFL.

Size needs to be factored in with Brown’s workout. Among defensive linemen at the combine over the past two decades, his height (6-feet-5) and weight (324 pounds) placed in the 84th and 94th percentile, respectively.

However, all of his measured, on-field work was historically bad. His 8.22 3-cone placed in the third — yes, third — percentile among defensive tackles. His vertical? 22nd percentile at the position. His broad jump was a respectable but far from super-impressive 66th percentile. His short shuttle time of 4.79 — 18th percentile. Ndamukong Suh — a trendy comparison for the Auburn star — was light years more athletic than Brown when he tested at the combine in 2010.

And Brown’s workout basically matches the film. While young — still not 22 — Brown wins with sheer force through blocks and tremendous block-shedding laterally to go along with stellar tackling reliability. He’s the best run defender in the class, bar none. But, while that makes for fun highlights, it’s simply not as valuable in the NFL in 2020 as it was even a decade ago.

He took a step forward using his hands when attacking upfield in 2019, yet outside of a bull rush and a very rare swim, one simply can’t say Brown is a refined hand-work master on pass plays. And, now, projecting him to win through a gap simply with his burst and athletic gifts at the NFL level might be a fool’s errand.

What that leaves is a large, intimidating defensive tackle with easy-to-see strength and an advancing yet not loaded arsenal of pass-rushing moves with well below-average athleticism for the position. For as disruptive as Brown was during his illustrious career at Auburn, the odds are now firmly against him becoming a star (pass-rusher) in the NFL.

So, per Trapsso, he’s not DT NDAMUKONG SUH.  We typed in GERALD McCOY into Google, because like Brown, McCoy was an early draft pick despite rarely sacking anyone at Oklahoma.  This came up from Todd McShay, as quoted by Matt Howe of CBSSports.com:

ESPN NFL Draft expert Todd McShay has not been shy about his admiration of Brown and recently talked about him on his ESPN podcast, “First Draft.”

 “I think Derrick Brown is so underrated it’s a joke. I really do,” McShay said. “He’s great versus the run. He’s going to be upfield. He’s going to provide that Gerald McCoy type penetration and just constantly causing problems in the middle of the offensive line. Giving issues to what you’re trying to do from a pass protection standpoint.”

In the latest CBS NFL Mock Draft, Brown is the first defensive tackle off the board and is selected ninth overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars.

McShay’s colleague, ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. has also been fond of Brown. Appearing on ESPN’s “First Take,” Kiper Jr. released his top-10 prospects of the 2020 NFL Draft. In that list he had Derrick Brown ranked No. 7.

Even before Brown’s dominant All-SEC season with the Auburn Tigers last fall, Kiper has been on board with Auburn’s feared pass-rusher as a top-end prospect for several years. Here’s what he said during spring practice 2018 — long before the hype hit a fever pitch — about the potential first interior defensive lineman taken next month:

“Derrick Brown is an unbelievable talent,” Kiper said. “He’s the one that just jumped out. I circled him in just about every game I saw. It was Derrick Brown, Derrick Brown, Derrick Brown. I’m looking at the circles. He is a guy that definitely jumped off the page.”

Now, will he jump into the top five of the draft?

2020 DRAFT

Numbers versus the eye test for the top quarterbacks in the draft at ESPN.com:

Numbers won’t tell the whole story when it comes to draft-prospect evaluations, but they can certainly play a part. Sometimes they will support what evaluators see in scouting, and sometimes they will force them to go back to the tape to look at it a different way. That’s perhaps most relevant when we are talking about the quarterbacks.

So we took the top 10-ranked 2020 NFL draft QBs — Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, Jordan Love, Justin Herbert, Jake Fromm, Jacob Eason, Jalen Hurts, Anthony Gordon, Nate Stanley and Cole McDonald — and looked at five key statistical areas. ESPN Stats & Information pulled two telling stats from the 2019 college season for each of those categories.

Then NFL draft analyst Todd McShay evaluated the numbers against what he sees on tape. What rings true for both film and stat sheet, and where are the differences? And what is the context around those differences? Stats & Info’s John Parolin also provided some context for the numbers against other draft classes and the rest of the FBS. Let’s dig in.

Who can extend plays under duress?

Under Pressure In 2019

QB                    TOTAL QBR WHEN PRESSURED        QB       TOTAL QBR WHEN BLITZED

Burrow                                82.6                                                   Burrow                        91.5

Tagovailoa                         44.1                                        Tagovailoa     91.4

Hurts                                  38.8                                                  McDonald        87.6

Gordon                                20.1                                                  Gordon                         84.7

Love                                   18.9                                                   Hurts              84.0

McDonald                           17.7                                        Love               70.4

Herbert                                16.3                                                   Herbert                        67.0

Fromm                                13.3                                                   Fromm                        66.5

Eason                                 12.2                                                   Eason                         55.6

Stanley                                 4.1                                                   Stanley                       29.2

FBS averages:                   11.8 under pressure                                         59.6 when blitzed

Parolin: OK, “Joe Burrow is good” isn’t breaking new ground, but how ridiculous is an 82.6 Total QBR under pressure? This data is available for Power 5 quarterbacks since the 2011 season, and in that time, there has been one drafted quarterback above 56 in a season: Sam Darnold (68.4 in 2016). And that’s still way off Burrow’s pace. Andrew Luck posted a 23.7 in 2011. Patrick Mahomes put up a 34.9 in 2016, two years after Deshaun Watson’s best season, a 31.8 in 2014.

Burrow’s line against pressure last season? Try on a 72% completion percentage, 11.4 yards per attempt, 20 touchdown passes and two interceptions. Outstanding.

McShay: You know, the pressure category always seems to be the most important for me in this exercise. And with Burrow, the numbers match with what I see on tape. He senses pressure, manipulates the pocket and gets the ball out accurately in time. Sure, he can tuck the ball and go when he has to, but his ability to move around in the pocket under pressure and deliver a well-placed ball even when it’s all breaking down around him makes his game truly special. It’s the kind of stuff you see from Peyton Manning and Ben Roethlisberger. Burrow owns the pocket and shows real magic when the defense breaks through the front door.

Parolin: He managed to wildly overshadow excellent performance under pressure by Tagovailoa. Tua’s 44.1 pressured QBR is almost four times the FBS average and would have ranked sixth as a single-season measure among drafted Power 5 QBs since 2011.

McShay: Yeah, Tagovailoa is Drew Brees from the left side. He’s sudden and twitchy in getting through his progressions and handling the pocket, and he gets the ball out so clean. No surprise for me seeing him rank highly here. In fact, Burrow and Tagovailoa seem to be at or near the top of every one of these lists. You can tell who the elites are. Having numerous weapons, good protection and terrific offensive systems will make stats sparkle, so you have to make sure they line up with the tape — and for Burrow and Tagovailoa, they do.

Parolin: Stanley was the only quarterback below the FBS average when pressured (two passing TDs against four interceptions) and the only QB below 50 when blitzed. This doesn’t necessarily disqualify him from prospect consideration — names such as Russell Wilson, Kirk Cousins and Lamar Jackson posted collegiate seasons worse than Stanley under pressure — but it’s certainly not ideal, right?

McShay: Yeah, I like Stanley’s tape, but these numbers are a red flag. While he is accurate with the football, he takes too long to get to the top of his drop and just doesn’t have the foot quickness to sidestep interior pressure. Eason’s numbers are pretty rough here, too. But you have to consider protection and how well a QB’s receivers can separate. It’s hard to evaluate these guys in pressure against those top names because they just don’t have the same assets.

Who thrives when airing it out?

Hitting The Deep Ball (20-Plus Yards Downfield) In 2019

QB       COMPLETION PERCENTAGE  

Burrow               56.5% (39-69)  

Stanley              51.2% (22-43)  

Tagovailoa        48.6% (17-35)   

Hurts                 46.6% (27-58)  

Gordon               37.5% (18-48)  

Herbert               36.8% (21-57)  

Eason                35.1% (20-57)  

Love                  33.8% (26-77)  

Fromm               29.8% (17-57)  

McDonald          29.1% (25-86)   

FBS average: 35.3% completion

McShay: Stanley probably has the biggest arm in the class, and his downfield accuracy is really outstanding. Eason and Herbert can hurl it too, but their accuracy is a bit inconsistent. That’s stuff we see on tape, and wouldn’t you know it, the numbers back it up.

Parolin: Herbert is an interesting case, sitting right near the FBS averages. No one would call his arm “average” for an FBS quarterback, but controlling his cannon is no lock. His 38.6% miss percentage on deep balls is high for any drafted Power 5 QB since 2011, but for a projected first-round pick? The only Day 1 quarterbacks since the 2012 draft with a less accurate deep ball than Herbert were Josh Rosen (twice), Jared Goff (42.9% in 2013) and Kyler Murray’s 2015 Texas A&M season (45.5%).

McShay: On the low end, what about Fromm? We can’t talk about the deep ball without pointing out Fromm’s shortcomings. The numbers are pretty much what you expect to see from the Georgia QB. I like his game, and his football intelligence is tremendous. But he just doesn’t have the arm to hit the vertical throws. You see it in the stats, you see it on his college film and you saw it at the combine. He seemed to be grinding everything out early in his Indianapolis workout to get velocity on the ball, and he wore down pretty quickly. He’s going to struggle in the NFL going vertical.

Parolin: Fromm isn’t just below average in that area as an NFL prospect here, either — he was well below average in college football in general. There were 116 qualified FBS quarterbacks last season, and Fromm’s 29.8% completion percentage on deep balls ranked No. 88. Among drafted QBs over the past five years, only Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen and Daniel Jones were that bad in their last college season and went on to any modicum of pro success.

I think McDonald is someone else we should mention here. His sample set on these throws is the biggest of anyone in this year’s class (86 deep attempts), yet he was substantially more likely to miss (over or underthrow) on his deep ball than complete it.

McShay: His arm strength is actually pretty decent, but his delivery is really long. He’s an intriguing Day 3 dart throw for me.

What does the NFL out route show us?

Hitting The Out Route (11-20 Yards Downfield, Outside The Numbers) In 2019

QB       COMPLETION PERCENTAGE   QB      

Hurts               78.9% (15-19)    

Tagovailoa      70.0% (7-10)       

Burrow             59.3% (16-27)    

Fromm             53.7% (29-54)    

Herbert             51.1% (24-47)    

McDonald        50.0% (14-28)    

Stanley            45.5% (15-33)    

Love                45.5% (15-33)    

Gordon             41.2% (14-34)    

Eason              38.9% (7-18)      

FBS averages: 45.6% completion,

Parolin: Why should we care about the out route? Consider a 15-yard out route, which doesn’t sound intimidating until you figure out how far that throw actually is. A QB in the middle of the field is 80 feet from the sideline, making a “15-yard out” throw actually travel over 30 yards into what can be a very tight window. Rainbow-launch angles won’t work with the sideline, and underthrows invite catastrophe. Not all of these are traditional out routes, but this sample can give us a glimpse of how each prospect performed on throws they will need to make at the next level.

McShay: I look at these types of throws in my evaluations because of the timing. Quarterbacks have to anticipate, release the ball before the break and get it there with some sauce on it. These passes give us a window into a quarterback’s arm strength, delivery timing and instincts all at once.

Parolin: Fromm pops off the page. His sample is the largest, with a good completion percentage and excellent miss percentage. Since 2011, the only drafted Power 5 quarterbacks who hit his 2019 line (54-plus attempts, 53.7% completion percentage and 18.5% miss percentage) were Mason Rudolph in 2016 and Landry Jones in 2011.

McShay: As mentioned, he doesn’t have a big arm, but his timing and ball placement on back shoulder throws are great. His ball gets out on time on those as consistently as, if not more consistently than, any other QB in this class. And he did it last season with underwhelming receivers. The high attempt total shows his coaching staff felt he was capable, and while it doesn’t make up for the lackluster arm strength and mobility, the timing and precision are impressive.

Parolin: Eason stands out in a different way. He was just as likely to overthrow or underthrow these passes as he was to complete them, which could certainly explain his small sample size. Stanley, Love and Gordon were almost identical from an outcome perspective, but got there in different ways. Gordon missed a lot of these throws on his own, almost double the rate of Love.

McShay: This is another area where you have to think about the surroundings a bit, at least in the cases of Eason and Love. Having high-caliber receivers helps a good deal, and you have to put it all in perspective. A quarterback is allowed to miss a little more often (like Tagovailoa and Burrow here) when he is throwing at an elite receiver who can adjust and make a great catch more often than not.

– – –

How about a Fans Mock Draft?  Eric Edholm of YahooSports.com conducted one on Twitter:

We turned to Twitter to go pick by pick for the Round 1 selections to get a feel for how you armchair mock drafters might see things.

Each team, starting with the Cincinnati Bengals at No. 1 and closing with the Kansas City Chiefs at 32, received four options. (If the readers are the GMs, that makes us the college scouting director, as we provided the four players to vote on.)

Here are the results — and some of the complaints we’re still receiving. Can’t win in this mock-draft biz, apparently …

1. Cincinnati Bengals

Fans’ pick: LSU QB Joe Burrow

Analysis: No shock here — and it wasn’t close. Burrow got 93 percent of the more than 2,000 votes.

And no real complaints! So far, the fans and Yahoo Sports are in lockstep. What a terrific start to this brilliant social experiment.

2. Washington Redskins

Fans’ pick: Ohio State EDGE Chase Young

Analysis: Our last mock had Tua Tagovailoa here, which Redskins fans hated. They could move down if a team wanted to move up for Tagovailoa. That was before Ron Rivera sent out strong signals that they were not taking a QB, as well as before some reports suggesting that Tagovailoa’s medical situation might not be ideal in this COVID-altered offseason.

Readers had a logical stance and they voiced it a second time, hammering Young with more than 80 percent of the votes. Democracy works, people.

3. Detroit Lions

Fans’ pick: Ohio State CB Jeffrey Okudah

Analysis: Three polls, three landslides. Okudah received more than 60 percent, Isaiah Simmons next at 20. Trades down weren’t allowed — too messy for this experiment — and most folks understood the limitations.

4. New York Giants

Fans’ pick: Clemson LB Isaiah Simmons

Analysis: We forgot to include Alabama’s Jedrick Wills. After a few good-natured jabs at our expense, we recovered and got on with the vote. And Wills finished a distant second to Simmons.

Proof that sometimes the minority vote is the loudest — and that’s OK!

5. Miami Dolphins

Fans’ pick: Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa

Analysis: We strategically posted this one late Saturday night — voter suppression or fickle process? YOU DECIDE.

Dolphins fans who bit our heads off for mocking Justin Herbert for the umpteenth time this offseason got to dish out comeuppance: Tagovailoa won the vote going away.

The people have had their say and they can rock their “Tank for Tua” shirts for at least the next two weeks with pride. If Herbert ends up the pick, they won’t be happy about it. And we promise not to gloat.

6. Los Angeles Chargers

Fans’ pick: Oregon QB Justin Herbert

Analysis: Voting was sparse, perhaps a direct reflection of the attendance trouble the team has had since bolting San Diego. But to the 278 individuals who voted for Herbert here, we thank you for your special contributions.

7. Carolina Panthers

Fans’ pick: Auburn DT Derrick Brown

Analysis: Who knows what they’re going to do, especially in light of “trade down” being banned for this experiment.

The readers, however, were clear, going big on Brown.

8. Arizona Cardinals

Fans’ pick: Iowa OT Tristan Wirfs

Analysis: A fairly close and respectful battle. Wirfs edged out Jedrick Wills Jr., 47-34. Said @White11D, “Wills is the only worthy pick here.” Apparently, others disagree.

9. Jacksonville Jaguars

Fans’ pick: Alabama OT Jedrick Wills Jr.

Analysis: Same as with the Panthers at No. 7, we just threw four good prospects out there. The voters seemed to like that approach. Our closest vote to this point! Wills nipped Javon Kinlaw by a mere seven votes. That surely had to be a disappointment to @marshmelowbrown, who wrote: “Gotta be Kinlaw here boys” and we hope for his sake he never saw the final results.

10. Cleveland Browns

Fans’ pick: Georgia OT Andrew Thomas

Analysis: Browns fans by and large skipped out on the fun here, with this pick registering one of our lowest vote tallies. Well, you snooze, you lose. Thomas nosed out Mekhi Becton by THREE VOTES. (What would have happened in a tie? A runoff — glad you asked. Also glad it didn’t happen.)

A couple of fans argued for Becton, and a few media members at different publications jumped in to quash that idea. Maybe that was the difference. So now we have media friends jumping in to put out our fires. Greatest. Mock. Draft. Ever.

11. New York Jets

Fans’ pick: Oklahoma WR CeeDee Lamb

Analysis: Our first sign of real trouble. On the first poll, I forgot to add Lamb. It was past lunchtime, and I hadn’t eaten. Fans let us know. Oh, did they. Yahoo Sports regrets the error.

We shoved some leftovers in the compactor and started anew — and poll 2.0 had Lamb on top comfortably over Mekhi Becton. So the Lamb lies down on Broadway, and yes, I’ll be recycling this pun on our draft show if the Jets actually take him.

12. Las Vegas Raiders

Fans’ pick: Alabama WR Jerry Jeudy

Analysis: I thought there would be more Henry Ruggs love from Raiders faithful. Jeudy ended up running away with it, and it’s understandable. If nothing else, this experiment give a small window into who the fans want — and by proxy, which picks would end up making the fan bases angry on April 23.

13. San Francisco 49ers

Fans’ pick: Alabama WR Henry Ruggs III

Analysis: Good engagement from the fans, and they seem to really like Ruggs. I offered up four players at four positions, and they went with the third wide receiver off the board. I even had a responder say, “You did the right thing Eric.”

The truth of the matter is that you, dear reader, made Ruggs happen. Give yourself a pat on the back. I just wrote the menu, and you ordered the dish.

14. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Fans’ pick: Louisville OT Mekhi Becton

Analysis: The Bucs and Tom Brady got themselves a 369-pound teammate, but that was the footnote of this poll. Out of damned nowhere, a fight broke out in my mentions — between Buccaneers fans and Bengals fans!

15. Denver Broncos

Fans’ pick: South Carolina DT Javon Kinlaw

Analysis: If there was an uproar over this vote, I missed it. It likely got lost awash the Burrow vs. Brady debate from the pick before. Seriously, that thing gummed up my mentions for a solid 18 hours.

A few folks asked for more linebackers here. Maybe they have a decent argument.

16. Atlanta Falcons

Fans’ pick: LSU EDGE K’Lavon Chaisson

Analysis: Chaisson edged C.J. Henderson, which surprised me. But the Buc-Bengal thing was losing a bit of steam, so I was generally in a pleasant mood at that time.

Then, of course, @marshmelowbrown jumped back in with the second seven-round suggestion. Quit harshing my mellow, brown!

17. Dallas Cowboys

Fans’ pick: Florida CB C.J. Henderson

Analysis: Finally, a fan base bit on Henderson, whom we’d offered up for the last several votes. If there was an upset in these polls it was that some of the most active fan bases were shockingly dormant here — maybe Cowboys fans are just all polled out at this point. A scant 328 people voted, with 216 going for Henderson. The last first-round Henderson to land on the Cowboys — “Hollywood” — certainly was fun.

18. Dolphins (from Pittsburgh)

Fans’ pick: Houston OT Josh Jones

Analysis: This is roughly where a strange development started. Michigan center Cesar Ruiz — who finished third here behind Jones — started dotting a few polls around this point, and while few voted for him the first couple of times, the Ruiz Hive made sure to mention how good he was.

Are these all Michigan Men responding? Football junkies who just love interior offensive linemen? Russian bots?!

We hope to get to the bottom of this.

19. Raiders (from Chicago)

Fans’ pick: Alabama S Xavier McKinney

Analysis: Raiders fans are starting to think like Raiders GM Mike Mayock. They watched him for a decade worth of drafts; they know how he operates. Taking a versatile, high-character safety from the SEC shows they’ve been taking notes. Don’t think we didn’t notice. Strong work.

20. Jaguars (from LA Rams)

Fans’ pick: LSU CB Kristian Fulton

Analysis: No one really knows what the Jags will do, not even Jags fans. Maybe not even the Jags themselves. At this point people were just voting for players — or schools — they’ve heard of.

21. Philadelphia Eagles

Fans’ pick: LSU WR Justin Jefferson

Analysis: Another tepid vote by a supposedly strong fan base. Sheesh. But they end up with the player whom hipster Eagles draftniks have been touting for weeks. The result worked, even if the process was questionable.

Maybe we should have offered up two receivers and two corners instead of three and one, respectively.

22. Minnesota Vikings (from Buffalo)

Fans’ pick: TCU CB Jeff Gladney

Analysis: Actually had a Vikings fan several picks earlier ask me to “wake [him] up” when Minnesota was on the board, which I found strangely … sweet. It’s the little things, guys!

And really, this vote surprised me. I thought fans might go receiver first, then cornerback, with another selection upcoming in a few picks. I’m actually learning a few things here about how fans view these picks, and that’s not at all meant facetiously.

23. New England Patriots

Fans’ pick: Iowa DL A.J. Epenesa

Analysis: Say this for Patriots fans — they weren’t about to limp into this poll. The stakes are high in this post-Brady existence, and the poll lines were long in the Northeast, about triple the number of the Cowboys fans a few picks earlier.

The response was fascinating. I guess they see Epenesa as a “Belichick guy” despite the sub-par workouts. Jordan Love received some decent love, losing by only 21 votes.

24. New Orleans Saints

Fans’ pick: LSU LB Patrick Queen

Analysis: It has been almost a decade since the Saints last had a King (Mitch, a defensive tackle who played three games in 2011). Now they get a Queen.

And we suspect more than a few of those voting for him are also LSU fans. Even if they’re biased, they might not be wrong; this looks like a heck of a pick.

25. Vikings

Fans’ pick: Baylor WR Denzel Mims

Analysis: Vikings fans paid attention earlier and remained engaged. Strong turnout for this pick, and they got a good receiver. Perhaps it was repayment for not torturing them earlier — no way I was going to include Alabama CB Trevon Diggs (Stefon’s brother) in the poll. I think they noticed.

26. Dolphins (from Houston)

Fans’ pick: Georgia RB D’Andre Swift

Analysis: There was a steady downtick in Miami fan engagement with each subsequent pick, and it’s understandable. Heck, three first-rounders is a lot. Maybe even GM Chris Grier gets tired of making Round 1 picks and trades out for this reason. (OK, maybe not.)

This vote shows how important it is to have your voice be heard … Swift edged out Penn State’s Yetur Gross-Matos by a single vote! We don’t know who the better pro will end up being, but “Swift” looks cleaner on the back of a custom jersey than “Gross-Matos” might. Can’t count that out as a potential factor in the tally.

27. Seattle Seahawks

Fans’ pick: Penn State EDGE Yetur Gross-Matos

Analysis: The Seahawks need a pass rusher, and they get one here. Pretty convincingly, too, with 53.1 percent of the vote, even if the total votes were low.

28. Baltimore Ravens

Fans’ pick: Oklahoma LB Kenneth Murray

Analysis: Defense or help for Lamar Jackson? Murray ended up the winner, and many have said he just looks like a Ravens linebacker, so this made some sense.

29. Tennessee Titans

Fans’ pick: Georgia OT Isaiah Wilson

Analysis: Another thrillingly, breathtakingly close vote — Wilson by a mere two ballots over LB Zack Baun. Those who missed out, sorry. Dylan wasn’t the only one surprised here …

30. Green Bay Packers

Fans’ pick: Arizona State WR Brandon Aiyuk

Analysis: It was late, and people were getting salty. No shocker there.

31. 49ers

Fans’ pick: Alabama CB Trevon Diggs

Analysis: We had to preemptively warn people (again) that “trade down” votes will be defenestrated summarily. For the most part, people listened. The vote went off smoothly, and no mock drafts were ruined in the process. Fine work all around. Diggs it is, and by a healthier margin than expected.

32. Kansas City Chiefs

Fans’ pick: Clemson CB A.J. Terrell

Analysis: Perhaps it was out of FOMO or maybe by the power of Chiefs Kingdom or a strong retweet from our very own Terez Paylor. Whatever the cause, voters went nuts here with (we think) our third-highest vote tally. The Super Bowl afterglow is strong in K.C.

There was a lot of sentiment to “protect the franchise,” meaning they wanted Ruiz to be the pick as Patrick Mahomes’ new center. Those clarion calls went unheard as the people voted for a good corner.

And to the fine fan bases of the Chicago Bears, Pittsburgh Steelers, Los Angeles Rams, Buffalo Bills, Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans — those franchises without a first-round pick — we’re sorry we couldn’t include you in this process. We promise to make amends with some sort of Twitter follow-through when we have time.

Perhaps we have yet to feel the real pre-draft wrath from those fans.