THE DAILY BRIEFING
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NFC NORTH
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CHICAGO
QB JUSTIN FIELDS professes a changed mind-set. Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com:
Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields acknowledged feeling different at the start of his second NFL offseason given the uncertainty he isn’t facing with his status as the team’s starting quarterback.
“It feels good just having that mindset,” Fields said. ‘It’s definitely a different mindset than last year, so I’m ready for the role and I’m ready to lead this offense and lead this team.”
The Bears began a three-day voluntary minicamp on Tuesday where the majority of the offense was in attendance. The only player not present for the afternoon practice was quarterback Nick Foles, and general manager Ryan Poles said the team was “working on” trading him last month at the NFL owners meetings.
Fields’ command of the offense impressed coach Matt Eberflus, who also noted that the quarterback’s footwork has gotten cleaner, which will aid him in getting to the ball and getting it out faster.
“I thought he did an excellent job today,” Eberflus said. “He really did. He was in command of the offense, really every play that I saw. There’s certainly, when you’re working with 11 guys, there was a mistake here and there by this person or that person, but man, he had really good command today.”
Chicago is closing in on the anniversary of moving up nine spots in the first round of the 2021 draft to select Fields 11th overall. The former Ohio State quarterback was behind Foles and former Bears quarterback Andy Dalton on the depth chart throughout the offseason and training camp and did not start until Week 3 after Dalton got injured.
“Last year was my rookie year, of course, my first in the league, didn’t know if I was going to start or not, didn’t know if I was going to play, so my mindset right now is completely different than last year,” Fields said. “I’m just excited to get started.”
While sitting in on offensive meetings the past few weeks, Eberflus has noticed leadership qualities with Fields, particularly his confidence when it comes to command of a new playbook.
“He’s got a really good confidence in the room,” Eberflus said. “When I’m in the quarterback room, when I’m in the offensive room, [he’s] calling out the plays, executing and then what the adjustments are if we may have that for that particular play.”
Learning a new offense under offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, who spent the past three seasons in Green Bay, has been Fields’ primary focus since the Bears started their offseason program on April 4. Aside from learning the fundamentals of the scheme and what will be required from him, Fields has begun to change specifics within his game.
The quarterback has worked with Getsy to alter his footwork upon dropping back in the shotgun, noting that last season he dropped back with his right foot forward and he is now dropping back with his left foot in front, something that is routine within the Packers’ scheme.
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NFC EAST
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WASHINGTON
We have all hear the sensational charges of financial improprieties, amplified by Congressional Democrats, against Washington’s football team.
The team offers another side of things as recounted by Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic:
The Washington Commanders wrote the Federal Trade Commission Monday to forcefully reject allegations that the team illegally withheld security deposits from fans and kept two sets of books to hide revenue from the NFL in the past decade.
Those allegations were outlined in a 20-page letter sent last week to the FTC by the majority of the House Oversight & Reform Committee, which has been investigating the team’s culture. The committee’s information is predicated on the March 14 testimony of a former ticket executive at the team, Jason Friedman.
The Commanders asked the FTC not to take up the Oversight committee majority’s call for an investigation into the club’s business practices and attached three affidavits from former higher-ranking executives that rebut Friedman’s allegations, painting him as a scandal-tarred lower-level official who would not have had access to or knowledge of the accounting scheme he alleges.
“I was struck when reading in the committee’s letter that it provides no factual foundation for why or how Mr. Friedman would know anything about the CFO’s office maintenance of books and records in Ashburn, including whether there was one or two sets of books,” former team general counsel David Donovan wrote in an affidavit, noting Friedman worked at FedEx Field and not the team headquarters in Ashburn, Va. “Mr. Friedman does not appear to assert he had access to the team’s financial records, or that he ever actually saw any such second set of books.”
And Paul Szczenski, a former director of finance, wrote in an affidavit, “I can state unequivocally that I never helped maintain, or saw anyone else maintain a second set of books. Rather, all team revenue was recorded properly, according to applicable accounting standards and NFL rules.”
Friedman’s attorneys said in a statement that he stands by his testimony. “He is happy to answer follow-up questions from Congress, the FTC, or any government agency. My client is also prepared to defend himself publicly against these allegations if Mr. Snyder permits him to do so. In the meantime, we will communicate directly with the team about these demonstratively false allegations.”
Friedman’s damning allegation that team owner Dan Snyder orchestrated a scheme to hide revenue from the NFL has sparked renewed speculation about Snyder’s hold on the team. Friedman’s primary example is his 2014 email with a team executive, Stephen Choi, in which it appears they discuss apportioning part of the ticket revenue from the team to a college football game played at FedEx Field, seemingly shielding that revenue from the league.
“However, what the Committee did not know (because it never asked) is that after Mr. Choi received Friedman’s May 6, 2014 email, he forwarded it to his team of accounting professionals (dropping Friedman, who was not an accountant, from the chain) and the accounting professionals subsequently confirmed that the Navy-Notre Dame license fee had been properly placed in an account known as ’14RedRev’ — that is, 2014 Redskins Revenue,” the Commanders wrote the FTC in the letter authored by their outside counsel Jordan Siev. That email is included in the letter, which stretches to 102 pages with exhibits.
According to the letter, the accounting for that game and a Kenny Chesney concert — also singled out by Friedman as an example of the revenue-sharing scheme — were the subject of an internal audit and were found to be satisfactory.
“The Team’s auditors, unsurprisingly, did not find anything amiss with the revenue generated by the Navy-Notre Dame game, and the Kenny Chesney concert, because the Team booked the revenue for each event appropriately,” Siev wrote.
Friedman also testified that the spread between the ticket value the team reported to the league and the higher price it booked for a concert or other event was called “juice.”
Former top Commanders business official Mitchell Gershman wrote in an affidavit that he recalls “‘juice’ being a term widely used to describe the delta between the face value of a ticket and the amount that a broker actually sold it for.” In other words, if the team sold a ticket to a broker and that ticket was sold for more than face value, the juice was the club’s share of that excess.
The Commanders also took issue with Friedman’s allegation they had held back millions of dollars in security deposits, booking it as revenue, and made it difficult for fans to get them back. The team pointed to a 2014 correspondence sent to customers notifying them of security deposits, and pointed out, “Over the last 10 years, the total amount of security deposits applied to revenue — all due to defaults — is just over $200,000, an immaterial amount in comparison to the Team’s overall income.”
Szczenski in his affidavit noted it made little sense to him to hoard security deposits because the money is kept on the balance sheet as a liability.
Friedman worked for the team for 24 years before team president Jason Wright fired him in 2020 for, Siev wrote the FTC, “engaging in intimidating and abusive behavior.” Friedman is represented by Lisa Banks, the lawyer who also represents over 40 women who have leveled charges of sexual harassment against the team.
But beyond Friedman’s character, which the team takes pains to question, the letter and affidavits strive repeatedly to make the point Friedman was not in a position to know about how the franchise accounted for revenue.
As an example, Siev in his letter points out that Friedman testified that the Commanders’ club seat waiver, which allows teams not to pay the tickets’ premiums into NFL revenue sharing — to help fund capital projects — had expired in 2013.
“But unbeknownst to Friedman — but known to those in the Team’s accounting and finance department — the Team in fact obtained from the NFL an additional $27 million revenue-sharing waiver for club-seat revenue and certain other sales in relation to projects that were approved in 2013 and finished in 2015,” Siev wrote. “If Friedman had been in the Team’s accounting department, he would have known this. He was not, and his representations to the Committee are not only false but underscore that Friedman is making claims that extend well beyond his personal knowledge or professional expertise.”
In addition to the FTC, the Commanders’ letter is scheduled to be hand-delivered to members of the Oversight Committee, the attorneys general of Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., as well as NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
A spokesperson from the oversight committee released a statement regarding the letter Monday afternoon.
“The committee has been clear that the focus of its investigation is on the team’s toxic workplace and the NFL’s handling of that matter,” the statement reads. “Which is why the Committee provided the statements and documents from Mr. Friedman about potential financial misconduct to the FTC to determine whether additional investigation is warranted.
“The team has failed to fully address the issues raised in the Committee’s letter. If the team maintains that it has nothing to hide, it should welcome an independent review by the FTC, or the NFL, which is reportedly examining these issues as well.”
At a February congressional roundtable organized by Oversight Committee Democrats to solicit testimony on the team’s sexual harassment scandals, the chairwoman, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), cited a letter she received from Friedman that corroborated Tiffani Johnston’s allegation that Snyder tried to force her into his limo after earlier placing his hand on her thigh under the table at a group dinner. The NFL assigned Mary Jo White to investigate Johnston’s claims. White is also investigating Friedman’s financial charges.
The defense by Washington’s football team includes what sounds like an admission of the team’s direct participation in the third-party ticket market, taking profit above the stated ticket price in cahoots with “brokers.” Do all teams do this now?
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NFC SOUTH
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CAROLINA
OC Ben McAdoo declared that QB SAM DARNOLD is the starter, even as he admits a QB is in play with pick #6. David Newton of ESPN.com:
New Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo emphatically said “yes” on Tuesday when asked whether Sam Darnold was his starting quarterback and added that the third pick of the 2018 draft was one reason he took this job.
Seconds later, the former New York Giants head coach tempered his yes by adding that coach Matt Rhule has a say over the decision but that “the way it is in the building right now, Sam is our starting quarterback.”
Darnold and P.J. Walker are the only quarterbacks under contract for 2022, and the Panthers are vetting quarterbacks as candidates for the No. 6 pick in the draft.
“One of the things I’ve been working on is being better talking to you people [media], so announcing the starting quarterback here I just put my foot in my mouth,” said McAdoo, who was fired by the Giants after the 2017 season.
“That wasn’t something I should have said.”
But McAdoo has liked parts of Darnold’s game since the New York Jets drafted him No. 3 out of USC. He told the New York Post in 2018 that Darnold had a “lot of magic in his game,” although he wondered aloud whether Darnold ever would be the franchise-saver the Jets needed him to be.
At the time, he couldn’t get past the flaws in Darnold’s throwing mechanics and ball security.
“I think he’s special,” McAdoo told the Post. “He’s obviously a talented guy, he can make plays with his feet. I’d just have a hard time drafting a guy in the first round where you don’t necessarily like the way he throws.
“He can overcome it, guys have, but that’s something that’s a challenge for me. I’m gonna be looking at that, trying to fix it, because it’s a fundamental flaw, and I believe in the fundamentals. The quarterback, his No. 1 job is to pass the football. If I don’t like the way he throws the ball, I have a hard time picking him, right?”
But in a sense McAdoo picked Darnold when choosing to come to Carolina after spending last season as a consultant for the Dallas Cowboys.
“Sam does have some magic in his game,” McAdoo said in his first interview since being hired on Jan. 24. “He’s got some athleticism to him. I’m excited to work with Sam. We’ve been working the last few days here to get up to speed on offense, and he’s shown flashes of being a good player in this league.”
That doesn’t mean the Panthers are more likely to take a left tackle than a quarterback at No. 6. They’ve spent the past few months evaluating quarterbacks and used seven of their 30 official visits on the position. The Panthers have had visits with — Liberty’s Malik Willis, Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett, Ole Miss’ Matt Corral, Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder, North Carolina’s Sam Howell, Western Kentucky’s Bailey Zappe and Nevada’s Carson Strong.
Willis, Pickett and Corral, according to draft analysts, are the most likely to go in the first round, with Pickett considered best prepared to be a Day 1 starter in the NFL.
McAdoo doesn’t put a lot of stock in being game ready.
“I’m a big ‘swing for the fences’ kind of guy,” he said. “So just because you’re ready doesn’t mean you’re going to be the best. But ready does factor in some scenarios. Experience obviously helps. What type of system you played in may help some guys over others.
“But at the end of the day, you have to pick a player that you’re going to be happy with at that position, hopefully for the next decade.”
Here is a fun fact – Darnold (born 6/5/97) is only a year and a day older than Pitt QB KENNY PICKETT (born 6/6/98) who might be that pick at #6.
Darnold entered USC in 2015 at age 18, spent three years on campus and was drafted in 2018 before his 21st birthday.
Pickett entered Pitt in 2017 at age 19, spent five years on campus, and now enters the draft before his 24th birthday.
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The Panthers had a deal to build a new headquarters down I-77 across the state line. Now, they say they don’t. Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com:
Panthers owner David Tepper will do what he wants.
Currently, he wants to walk away from the deal to build a new team headquarters and facility in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Tepper Sports & Entertainment issued a statement to that effect on Tuesday.
“On February 26, 2021, the City of Rock Hill became delinquent on their obligation to fund the public infrastructure,” the statement explains. “Despite our persistent efforts throughout 2021, the City of Rock Hill failed to issue the bonds or provide the funding for the public infrastructure for the project.”
The statement explains that a default notice was issued on March 18, 2022, and that Rock Hill did not cure the defect within the contractual 30-day period.
“It is unfortunate that some recently decided to conduct a misguided, destructive public relations campaign to obscure their failures,” the statement alleges, a reference to recent remarks from multiple public officials criticizing the team for its behavior.
For instance, South Carolina state senator Wes Climer has lashed out at Tepper. “If David Tepper’s behavior is indicative of how the NFL does business, then who wants to do business with the NFL? . . . The city, the county, the state and the Panthers worked together constructively for a considerable period of time at great effort to bring to Rock Hill a world-class sports entertainment center. David Tepper came to Rock Hill promising us Jerry Jones and ever since then he’s given us Dan Snyder.”
Despite the tough talk and Tepper’s aggressive acknowledgement of it, an olive branch has been extended. Of sorts.
“We have sent notices to the City to formally terminate the previous agreements,” the statement concludes. “Accordingly, we are prepared to sit down with the City and other interested parties to discuss the significant challenges ahead.”
That would be one very interesting sit down. Possibly, more interesting than most Panthers games played under Tepper’s ownership of the team
This report a few days ago in the Charlotte Observer explains that the Panthers have 115 million reasons to move to South Carolina, so the deal may not yet be dead.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster told reporters in Greenville, S.C., on Tuesday that he has spoken with Panthers owner David Tepper about why the organization halted construction on its headquarters in Rock Hill.
Last month, Tepper Sports & Entertainment announced that construction on the state-of-the-art facility had been placed on hold because the City of Rock Hill hadn’t secured the funds to pay for the construction. It was expected to be built by 2023.
McMaster said Tepper explained the issues to him and said it was only a pause. “I’ve had a number of conversations with him over the months, but they (TS&E) are at an impasse now — reading the paper — with the city and the county,” McMaster told reporters. “I hope they get everything worked out because we’re ready to go.”
The city was to secure $225 million in bond money to help pay for the facility. It’s still unclear where things went wrong. But if the facility is not completed by 2024, TS&E won’t get the tax credits it was promised from the state.
“Those tax credits would ultimately confer $115 million in an economic benefit to the Panthers organization in pursuit of this project,” South Carolina State Senator Wes Climer said. “But if the team doesn’t move its payroll here by 2024, then the state’s contribution goes to zero.” It was initially supposed to open in August 2022, but since starting construction, the project has run into multiple issues, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
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AFC WEST
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KANSAS CITY
QB PATRICK MAHOMES notes that his targets will be bigger in 2022. Josh Alper ofProFootballTalk.com:
The Chiefs made a major change to their roster when they traded wide receiver Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins last month and the group of targets for quarterback Patrick Mahomes will look very different as a result.
They’ve signed JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling as free agents, which means they’re going to have bigger wideouts than Hill on hand. Both new additions are taller than Hill and Valdes-Scantling is bigger than almost all of the wideouts that have been with the team since Patrick Mahomes became the quarterback.
It’s a change that Mahomes highlighted while speaking to reporters this week.
“The biggest thing you see actually from throwing to all these guys really is we have a lot of size in that receiving room that we haven’t necessarily had in the past,” Mahomes said, via Adam Teicher of ESPN.com. “We’ve done it different ways with speed and beating guys deep. . . . Having that size, I think, will be different. I’m excited for it, and I think it will be something that will be useful for us during the season. Having this good of a receiving room [with] everybody that can go out there and make plays, it will be great competition and help us in the long run.”
Mahomes noted that defenses played “a lot of that shells stuff was because of the speed we had on the outside” with Hill on the team and said he thinks defenses will now have to “come up and play some man” because the Chiefs will be able to attack the field in multiple ways. The draft could add to the options for a new approach in Kansas City.
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AFC EAST
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MIAMI
Sean Payton admits there was something to the tale that the Dolphins wanted him. Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com:
Former Saints coach Sean Payton spoke to reporters on Tuesday at the Zurich Classic celebrity shootout. As he did, a few interesting things shot out of his mouth regarding the persistent rumors and reports linking him and Tom Brady to the Dolphins, a Miami plan that (as PFT reported on February 28) was scrapped when former Dolphins coach Brian Flores filed a landmark lawsuit on February 1 — the same day Brady announced his retirement.
Pay careful attention to what Payton said, and to what he didn’t say.
“I have no clue about the Tampa Bay, Miami Dolphin, Tom Brady rumor,” Payton said. “My understanding is that there a request was put in or that intermediaries talked. I’m like the rest of you. I heard that story.”
In late January, Payton told Dan Patrick that two teams had reached out to Payton through back channels.
That’s how plans like these initially unfold. Through back channels, through intermediaries. In this case, the conversation culminated in the Dolphins calling the Saints; Dolphins G.M. Chris Grier has admitted it. Likewise, the Dolphins privately acknowledge that they considered making Tom Brady a minority owner. As PFT has reported, that was one of the steps toward Brady becoming not just an owner but a player.
With the Brady-Payton plan scrapped by the Flores lawsuit, what’s Payton going to do now, publicly admit it? Hell no. He’s officially saying what he has to say, but he’s dropping enough bread crumbs to confirm the beliefs of those who know better. Who know the truth. Who have heard the truth directly from the most impeccable of sources.
“If I would have been ready to coach like this year, I would have stayed in New Orleans,” Payton said. “And so it’s nice to have someone interested and, yeah, that’s about it. Look, our focus on Tom Brady has been beating him, not joining him.”
That’s what Payton has to say, because it didn’t happen. But the Dolphins definitely tried. And Payton, even if he didn’t get a phone call directly from Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, definitely knew what was going on.
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THIS AND THAT
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NFL TO BE PAY CUT?
You laugh, but within five years, some college football players will be taking a pay cut to play in the NFL.
Stewart Mandel in The Athletic:
In early March, The Athletic reported that a five-star 2023 recruit signed an $8 million NIL deal with a school’s donor collective. While that remains by far the highest known deal to date, other top recruits are reaping the benefits of a rapidly soaring arms race.
The Athletic reviewed three recruits’ recently signed NIL contracts, each with a different school-specific collective. The Athletic agreed to preserve the anonymity of all parties in order to get a better sense of the current market rates for top recruits. A four-star receiver landed a deal that will pay him more than $1 million over the next four years in exchange for his exclusive NIL rights. A defensive lineman ranked among the top 10 at his position received a three-year deal worth $1 million. And a three-star defensive lineman signed for $500,000 over four years. The latter two are non-exclusive.
“(NIL) creates a situation where you can basically buy players,” Alabama coach Nick Saban recently told the Associated Press. “You can do it in recruiting. I mean, if that’s what we want college football to be, I don’t know.”
Corey Staniscia, who helped author the state of Florida’s NIL law last year and now works for Dreamfield Sports, agreed. “You have adults with a lot of money who just want to win championships and buy athletes,” he said.
All of the deals The Athletic reviewed stipulate that they are not an inducement to attend a specific school, but it’s no secret which collectives support which college teams. And given the Supreme Court’s 9-0 decision in last year’s NCAA vs. Alston antitrust case, experts consider the NCAA unlikely to take aggressive action limiting athletes’ compensation.
“This is the hierarchy,” said attorney Mike Caspino, who has represented dozens of recruits in their dealings with collectives and executed the contracts The Athletic reviewed. “Five-star quarterbacks: They’re getting $2 million a year. The next-most sought after players are D-linemen, edge rushers; they’re getting seven figures. The next is a stud offensive lineman with quick feet — they’re in the high six figures. Everyone else is a hodgepodge, but in the six-figure range.”
Many coaches and administrators are experiencing sticker shock over an above-table market that sprouted up seemingly overnight and is now having a profound effect on where certain recruits are committing. Others have resigned themselves to NIL bidding wars becoming the new normal.
“I think it’s not going to be long until every signee at a Power 5 school is on some form of NIL — and that may be this coming year,” said Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin.
Many states’ NIL laws adopted last summer prohibit schools from directly brokering deals. That opened the door for third-party collectives — organizations that pool fan and booster donations in order to compensate a specific school’s athletes. Boosters at a small handful of programs — Texas A&M, Texas, Tennessee, Oregon and Miami chief among them — mobilized the quickest when the NCAA allowed NIL compensation for the first time last July. But they are far outnumbered by exasperated coaches and administrators who fear their programs getting left behind. Many have lost recruits simply because another school’s collective offered an NIL package it couldn’t match.
“We lost a kid (on signing day) over that. That hurt,” a Power 5 head coach told The Athletic. “Two hours before, the mom is telling me he’s coming here. And then she said, ‘Coach, how can we turn down $300,000?’ You can’t. Take it, I get it.”
In recent weeks, new collectives have been announced everywhere from Ohio State and Penn State to Kansas State and FIU.
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2022 DRAFT
Bryan D’Ardo of CBSSports.com creates a “consensus” Mock Draft:
In order to gain some clarity, we decided to take a look at 12 mock drafts from analysts at CBS Sports, ESPN and NFL.com. We then created our own mock draft listing each player who was mocked the most times at each specific spot in the first round. While some of the results were somewhat predictable, there were a few surprises. One of the biggest surprises was the lack of quarterbacks. Only two quarterbacks were selected in the first round, while a whopping seven receivers were selected on Day 1.
Let’s take a look at our consensus mock draft, with the real draft taking place next Thursday night from Las Vegas.
1 JACKSONVILLE
Aidan Hutchinson EDGE MICHIGAN • SR • 6’7″ / 260 LBS
Ikem Ekwonu, Travon Walker, and Evan Neal received “votes” here, a sign that the No. 1 overall pick — unlike recent years — is very much still up for grabs.
2 – DETROIT
Travon Walker DL GEORGIA • JR • 6’5″ / 272 LBS
The No. 2 overall pick could be Walker, Neal, Hutchinson, Malik Willis, Kayvon Thibodeaux or Ahmed “Sauce” Gardner. Walker received the second-most votes as the No. 1 overall pick.
3 HOUSTON
Evan Neal OL ALABAMA • JR • 6’7″ / 337 LBS
No quarterback was selected with the pick, a clear sign mock drafters believe the Texans are content with Davis Mills returning as starter in 2022.
4 NY JETS
Kayvon Thibodeaux EDGE OREGON • SOPH • 6’4″ / 254 LBS
Robert Salah lands one of the draft’s top pass rushers.
5 NY GIANTS
Ikem Ekwonu OL NC STATE • SOPH • 6’4″ / 310 LBS
Ekwonu edged out Neal as the Giants’ projected pick, as New York is widely expected to select a lineman with its first selection.
6 CAROLINA
Kenny Pickett QB PITTSBURGH • SR • 6’3″ / 217 LBS
It wasn’t unanimous, but Pickett received the most picks to become the Panthers’ new quarterback.
7 NY GIANTS (from Chicago)
Ahmad Gardner CB CINCINNATI • JR • 6’3″ / 190 LBS
New York grabs the best of Cincinnati’s defensive backs who will hear their names called during the draft.
8 ATLANTA
Garrett Wilson WR OHIO STATE • JR • 6’0″ / 183 LBS
Atlanta isn’t expected to take a quarterback, but it is expected to pair Marcus Mariota with the top-rated receiver in the draft.
9 SEATTLE (from Denver)
Derek Stingley Jr. CB LSU • JR • 6’0″ / 195 LBS
Do the experts know something most fans don’t? Instead of taking a quarterback, the Seahawks are expected to take Stingley, one of the top defensive players in the draft.
10 NY JETS (from Seattle)
Drake London WR USC • JR • 6’4″ / 219 LBS
Seinfield didn’t love the Drake, but New York fans will if he makes Zach Wilson better.
11 WASHINGTON
Kyle Hamilton S NOTRE DAME • JR • 6’4″ / 220 LBS
Washington gets a player who would have been picked higher if not for last year’s injury.
12 MINNESOTA
Trent McDuffie CB WASHINGTON • SOPH • 5’11” / 193 LBS
Minnesota gets much-needed help in its secondary.
13 HOUSTON (from Cleveland)
Charles Cross OL MISSISSIPPI STATE • SOPH • 6’5″ / 307 LBS
Cross lands in Houston after falling out of the top 10. The Texans may also use this pick to shore up their defensive line.
14 BALTIMORE
Jermaine Johnson II EDGE FLORIDA STATE • SR • 6’5″ / 254 LBS
The Ravens acquire a pass rusher who should complement their talented secondary.
15 PHILADELPHIA
Jameson Williams WR ALABAMA • JR • 6’2″ / 179 LBS
For a second straight year, the Eagles are projected to take a former Alabama receiver in the first round. They may also elect to take Trent McDuffie if he is still available at this point in the draft.
16 NEW ORLEANS (from Philadelphia)
Trevor Penning OL NORTHERN IOWA • JR • 6’7″ / 321 LBS
Instead of taking a quarterback, the Saints take the best-available lineman to help protect Jameis Winston.
17 LA CHARGERS
Kenyon Green OL TEXAS A&M • JR • 6’4″ / 323 LBS
The Chargers have several options here; it largely depends on who is available at this point in the first round. Defensive line, inside linebacker and receiver are other possibilities.
18 PHILADELPHIA (from New Orleans)
George Karlaftis EDGE PURDUE • JR • 6’4″ / 266 LBS
Cornerback and safety are two other positions the Eagles may address with this pick. Regardless, the consensus is that the Eagles will draft a receiver and a defensive player with their first two picks.
19 NEW ORLEANS (from Philadelphia)
Chris Olave WR OHIO STATE • SR • 6’0″ / 187 LBS
The former Buckeye teams up with another former Ohio State standout in Michael Thomas.
20 PITTSBURGH
Malik Willis QB LIBERTY • JR • 6’1″ / 219 LBS
In this scenario, Willis is there for the taking for Pittsburgh. But will Pittsburgh be so lucky next Thursday night?
21 NEW ENGLAND
Devin Lloyd LB UTAH • JR • 6’3″ / 237 LBS
Cornerback, linebacker and receiver are the three positions the Patriots will likely choose between when making their first-round pick.
22 GREEN BAY (from Las Vegas)
Bernhard Raimann OL CENTRAL MICHIGAN • JR • 6’6″ / 303 LBS
The Packers are definitely taking a receiver in the first round — at least, we think — but they may first choose to address their offensive line before getting a new weapon for Aaron Rodgers. Defensive line is another option for Green Bay.
23 ARIZONA
Treylon Burks WR ARKANSAS • JR • 6’2″ / 225 LBS
Burks would help replace Christian Kirk, but the Cardinals may decide to take a defensive linemen with this pick, depending on who is still available.
24 DALLAS
Zion Johnson OL BOSTON COLLEGE • SR • 6’3″ / 312 LBS
Dallas adds youth to its once dominant offensive line.
25 BUFFALO
Andrew Booth Jr. CB CLEMSON • JR • 6’0″ / 194 LBS
Booth would be a nice replacement for Levi Wallace, who signed with the Steelers earlier this offseason.
26 TENNESSEE
Jahan Dotson WR PENN STATE • SR • 5’11” / 178 LBS
The Titans take the best-available receiver instead of waiting it out until the second round. Georgia linebacker Nakobe Dean and Tulsa offensive lineman Tyron Smith are other possibilities.
27 TAMPA BAY
Jordan Davis DL GEORGIA • SR • 6’6″ / 341 LBS
Davis and Vita Vea would be a formidable duo in Tampa.
28 GREEN BAY
Christian Watson WR NORTH DAKOTA STATE • SR • 6’4″ / 208 LBS
The Packers get the best available receiver in Watson, a 6-foot-5 wideout with unlimited potential.
29 KANSAS CITY (from Miami)
Boye Mafe DL MINNESOTA • SR • 6’4″ / 265 LBS
Kansas City gets a much-needed pass rusher late in the first round.
30 KANSAS CITY
Skyy Moore WR WESTERN MICHIGAN • SOPH • 5’10” / 195 LBS
A bit of a reach, but the Chiefs use their second first-round pick to replenish their receiving corps.
31 CINCINNATI
Kaiir Elam CB FLORIDA • JR • 6’2″ / 191 LBS
The Bengals get their much-needed cornerback who should challenge Eli Apple for a starting job.
32 DETROIT (from LA Rams)
Nakobe Dean LB GEORGIA • JR • 5’11” / 229 LBS
The Lions add to their defense while passing on taking a QB in Round 1.
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