Day 1 of the NFL draft has come & gone, so let’s take a look at how the 3 Florida teams did.
Dolphins – Miami had the best pick in the draft. Wait, what? I thought the Fins didn’t have a 1st round draft pick? They didn’t, but they did use it a few weeks ago to trade for wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who in all likelihood will have a better career than anyone selected in the 2022 draft. Hill is that talented & impactive.
And not to rain on anyone’s draft parade, but this draft was short on elite players, especially at the QB position. It wouldn’t be unfair to say that none of the top 5 selections this year would have been selected in the top 5 in most other years. Meanwhile, Hill will continue to build on his Hall of Fame career in Miami.
Jaguars – Jacksonville had the 1st pick in the draft for the 2nd straight year, which isn’t a good thing except for on the night of the draft. Last year the Jags drafted Trevor Lawrence, who they hope is their franchise quarterback for the next 15 years.
This year they selected Georgia defensive lineman Travon Walker. He’s a freakish athlete at 6’5” 272 lbs., but he wasn’t overly productive in college, so the Jags are projecting him to be more impactive in the NFL. If they were determined to draft a pass rusher, I would have gone with Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson, who was selected with the 2nd pick in the draft. I think he would have been a better as well as a safer pick.
That said, if I were the Jaguars GM, I would have selected offensive tackle Ikem Ekwonu as I am firm believer that once you have your franchise quarterback, you need to build an O-line to protect him. Ekwonu was selected with the 6th overall pick by Carolina as the 1st offensive lineman off the board.
The Jaguars weren’t done in the 1st round, though, when then obtained a second 1st round pick via a draft night trade with Tampa Bay. They moved up 6 spots to #27 in exchange for the 33rd overall pick plus a 4th & 6th round pick. They used the pick to select Utah linebacker Devin Lloyd, a 6’3” 237 lb. do everything playmaker. He likely wouldn’t have been available 6 picks later, so this was an excellent move by Jacksonville.
Buccaneers – Tampa had the 27th pick in round 1, but as noted above they traded it to the Jaguars for the 33rd overall pick plus 4th & 6th round picks. For dropping down 6 spots in the draft they picked up 2 extra later round picks.
Assuming they resign tight-end Rob Gronkowski and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh the Bucs have holes to fill at WR (Antonio Brown released, Chris Godwin out with injury for 1st several weeks of the season), guard, running back and cornerback.
The draft continues at 7:00 on Friday with teams making their 2nd & 3rd round selections. The Florida teams will have the following picks on day 2:
Dolphins – They have 1 pick in the 3rd round, the 102nd pick overall.
Jaguars – Two 3rd round picks.
Buccaneers – Two 2nd round picks, which includes the 1st pick of the 2nd round, plus a 3rd round pick.
It was an exciting 1st day of the draft with trades made by multiple teams for both players and draft picks. Let’s hope day 2 is just as exciting as there are still many excellent players available.
