The 2020 NFL Draft has come and gone and now instead of staring into the abyss of nothingness on the sports calendar, we're going to milk this puppy for everything its got.
Here's my list of teams whose draft I loved, like or hated.
Loved
- Baltimore - Every player the Ravens draft just seems to make sense. Like, its easy to imagine them where a Ravens uniform on a random Sunday Night Football game with Cris Collinsworth doing three minutes on what a steal the player was in the 5th round. Patrick Queen, JK Dobbins and Devin Duvernay all fit this profile perfectly.
- Indianapolis - Their track record of finding talent all throughout the draft is available to anyone with a basic understanding of how to google things. Somehow they've managed to keep their front office in tact leading me to believe the 2020 class will be no different. Michael Pittman was my favorite receiver in the draft and even if Jonathan Taylor mucks up the Colts backfield from a fantasy perspective, he'll be a strong addition for Philip Rivers and Co.
- New Orleans - The Saints consolidated their draft class and put all of their eggs into three baskets. I like it, especially for an offseason where teams will have very little in person time with rookies and will do most of it virtually. They solidified their line, added a playmaker for the offense and added a playmaker defensively. All makes sense.
- Kansas City - Do what you do and do it better than anyone. When the Chiefs took Clyde Edwards-Helaire in the first round, they continued to live that mantra. Its not the best value for a team with plenty of defensive needs but if it allows you to be even better at something you're already the best at, its a smart decision. They added a talented defensive player with some character question marks in the second and a really interesting OL prospect in Lucas Niang in the third, who could be every bit as good or better than Josh Jones
- San Francisco - They have an identity and they drafted perfectly based on that identity. Instead of helplessly watching a talent drain on their DL due to cap constraints, they found a way to add another blue chip player on a rookie contract in Javon Kinlaw. Adding Brandon Aiyuk later in the first was another glove-like fit. Those two players alone should help SF defend their NFC title.
Liked:
- Arizona - Steve Keim and I just have a fundamental difference of opinions on the best way to build this team around Kyler Murray. I'd build it from the lines out, specifically the offensive line. That means making boring decisions and passing on legit temptations to just get as good as you can at beating people at the line of scrimmage. Its hard to argue with Isaiah Simmons as a prospect, but I would've gone with Mekhi Becton or Jedrick Wills. Josh Jones was great value based on pre-draft rankings but those are always flawed. They added two fat guys in the 4th round and Evan Weaver is not someone I'd bet against. They capped it off with a feel good local story and while I'm not as enamored with Eno Benjamin as some are, there's no denying he was well worth the use of a seventh round pick.
- New York Giants - They drafted three offensive lineman to help Daniel Jones and the offense. The only thing holding this back from being a "loved" is I don't love asking a top 5 pick to change positions, as the Giants will ask of Andrew Thomas. He briefly played RT as a freshman at Georgia but made his mark as a left and now the Giants will ask him to switch to RT, at least for a year.
- Cleveland - If the Browns can somehow find the balance this upcoming season between hype and dysfunction, they could be a surprise playoff team. They seem to be on a good path with their draft which largely focused on meat and potatoes additions instead of the high risk, high reward players they can never seem to get enough of.
Hated
- Dallas - I know Dallas was darling of most draft analysts but to me its the ultimate case of stubbornly sticking to your board. Instead of cashing in the value of their pick with CeeDee Lamb falling to another team, they picked him themselves. Now they have three WR's who all want or believe their are #1 WR's with a RB who demands the ball more than most based on his salary and a QB they currently can't agree to on his value. There's a point of diminishing returns at the WR position and too many mouths to feed can be as big of a challenge as too few and if I had to guess, a year from now many of the same people celebrating the Cowboys selection of Lamb will rip them when they have to trade one of their WR's for a 2nd round pick.
- Green Bay - Knowingly creating a soap opera at the most important position in sports is not really a good idea. Sure, Jordan Love could pan out and the Packers could enjoy three plus decades of uninterrupted QB success. But he could also cost them a chance at another ring in the next two years. Their intent on transforming into the Tundra Titans is also an odd decision but one Matt LaFleur insists on making. Good luck.
- New England - When Tom Brady was in town, taking two little known TE prospects in the middle rounds seemed cute. Now it just seems delusional. Their QB room is awful and instead of doing something about it, Bill Belichick was more worried about being scarce for the NFL Draft cameras in his kitchen. I know its dumb to count out Belichick but based on their draft, its hard not to believe he's still somewhat living in the past.