NFL Draft

The NFL Draft is approaching, with the first round selections coming on April 28th, and there has recently been a big shake up in the draft order. The Rams, who recently moved from St. Louis to Los Angeles, traded numerous draft picks including this years 15th overall picks, a couple second round picks, a third round pick, and first round pick in 2017. In exchange the Rams received the number one overall pick from the Titans, and they are expected to draft a "franchise" quarterback. That quarterback is expected to be either Jared Goff out of California, or Carson Wentz, who is from North Dakota State. Other quarterbacks in this years draft class are Paxton Lynch from Memphis, and Connor Cook, out of Michigan State, although these two wouldn't be considered "franchise" quarterbacks. Whichever quarterback that doesn't get picked by the Rams, will likely be picked second by the Cleveland Browns. The Browns are missing many pieces from their roster but they still don't have a franchise quarterback. Another route the Browns could take is to build up the rest of their roster and try to get a better quarterback in the next draft, but I see them taking a quarterback with their pick. Another player who has been making a lot of buzz is Florida State's Jalen Ramsey. Ramsey is a hybrid cornerback/safety that can make plays all over the field due to his length, hands, and closing speed. Laremy Tunsil will probably make his way somewhere into the top five, he is a dominant Offensive Tackle who many projected to go number one before the Rams-Titans trade.

Outside of that it is difficult to project the rest of the picks, but there are some top players who should be picked up in the first round. In terms of Offensive Lineman, the Tackle position is a popular first round pick. The top OT's outside of Laremy Tunsil are Ronnie Stanley, Jack Conklin, Taylor Decker, and Jason Spriggs. Another position that is a common pick in the first round is linebacker, and Myles Jack out of UCLA is the the top LB in the 2016 draft class. Other top linebackers are Leonard Floyd from Georgia, Darron Lee out of Ohio State, Reggie Ragland out of Alabama, and Jaylon Smith from Notre Dame.

Defensive ends are very valuable in today's NFL so they are commonly picked in the early rounds of the NBA. The top five end rushers are Joey Bosa (Ohio State), DeForest Buckner (Oregon), Shaq Lawson (Clemson), Noah Spence (Eastern Kentucky), and Kevin Dodd (Clemson). Lawson, Buckner, and Spence are very fast and will use that speed to get around the offensive lineman. Dodd and Bosa aren't necessarily slow, but they will need to use their hands and technique to get to the quarterback.

Wide receivers usually go in the last half of the first round, and some of the top WR's are Laquan Treadwell (Ole Miss), Corey Coleman (Baylor),  Tyler Boyd (Pittsburgh), Will Fuller (Notre Dame), and Michael Thomas (Ohio State). The speedy receivers are players like Boyd, Fuller, and Josh Doctson (TCU). Whereas Laquan Treadwell is better at catching in traffic and catching "jump balls".