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Simply put, the NFL draft is a circus! It’s a production that could easily have more cameras and attention than other annual awards show. With red carpets, press, social media going nuts and Vegas betting in full effect for guys who may or may not become NFL A-listers, it is definitely a show to watch.
I love that the live draft allows fans to attend. Five years ago, I was lucky enough to be one of those fans. And by ‘attending’ I mean getting to fly on a private jet to NYC, being in the Redskins pre-draft war room, watching the live draft, and then being flown back in the private jet to DC was all in a days trip. It was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had in sports and one of the reasons why I respect Redskins owner, Dan Snyder. He made us, the fans, feel like we were the ones getting drafted. Now, I can’t say that all of those fans in attendance had the red carpet treatment like I did, but just being there to boooo Roger Goodell is pretty awesome too. The TV doesn’t give the real boo justice. It’s much worse in person and happens every time he walks on stage.
This years NFL draft was held in Philadelphia. Yuck! Eagles fans throw batteries at Santa. I was waiting for something to be thrown at Goodell, but then I remember I was talking about the Eagles and that’s a pretty long throw for them to hit their target.
I love the city of Chicago, but I don’t feel the same kind of love about the Chicago Bears. I like it when my Redskins play the Bears in Chicago because they make our defense look like they are on offense. But personal feelings aside, what were the Bears thinking when they traded a 3rd and 4th round draft pick and a 3rd round pick next year just to move up ONE spot with San Francisco? Clearly, they were not thinking. It gets worse. They picked North Carolina QB Mitchell Trubisky. The kid only had 13 starts in college under a spread offense in the ACC. This kid has a new style offense to learn and he has to be able to preform during Chicago winters. He’s going to need a lot of help.
The Bears just gave Mike Glennon a 3 year, $45 million dollar contract. San Francisco drafted a DT. They didn’t even pick a QB. Trubisky would have still been sitting there for the Bears 3rd pick. Shady Kyle Shanahan must have used his poker face and made Chicago think he wanted Trubisky or a QB. If it was anybody else, I would say how genius this was to sell fake news and win big time, but I don’t have nice things to say about Shanahan so I’m just going to call him Shady. Did Shady Shanahan really just out smart the Fox? John Fox, this makes no sense. And to make matters worse, the Redskins do not play the Bears this year. Our defense would have had a great day. At least Chicago still has the Cubs.
Congratulation to the University of Tennessee’s DE Derek Barnett on being the 14th overall pick! Barnett is a beast and the Eagles got a solid player who is a difference maker. The kid can flat out play and I will miss seeing him in Neyland on Saturdays. I’m so happy for him and his family to watch his NFL dream come true and as a fan I couldn’t be more proud to see him go in the first round. Barnett broke UT’s previous sack record of 32.0 that was held by the legend, Reggie White. With 52.0 career tackles for loss, that puts Barnett second in UT history. Leonard Little holds the record at 53.0.
Four other UT players are still on the board entering the second round. RB Alvin Kamara, DB Cam Sutton, QB Josh Dobbs, and WR Josh Malone. All four of them have been projected to have their name called by the 5th round and all of these kids will be great additions to their new team. What a difference Coach Butch Jones has made at UT. With a two year draft drought, Butch has put the Vols back in the spotlight.
Fingers crossed we get at least one of them in Washington!
Thanks to the previous teams drafting offensive players, the Redskins got a steal with DE Jonathon Allen at the 17th pick. A product of Nick Saban and growing up in the back yard of Redskins Park, this was a win-win for the Redskins and Allen. We are excited to have him!