49ers, Dolphins and Jaguars dominate Round One of 2020 NFL Draft
The first day of a surreal 2020 NFL Draft has concluded and the biggest surprise of the evening… was that there were very few surprises.
Perhaps in response to the challenges of the COVID-19 lockdown, there were less trades than normal Thursday night. The first 12 selections, in fact, went on without a single trade. The 2015 draft is the only one this century where it took longer for the first trade to occur, with the then-San Diego Chargers jumping up a couple of spots to land running back Melvin Gordon. The club they traded with that day – the San Francisco 49ers – were predictably one of the busiest teams this evening, as well, adding younger, cheaper replacements for veterans DeForest Buckner and Emmanuel Sanders in Javon Kinlaw and Brandon Aiyuk.
Having multiple first round picks certainly helped the 49ers be one of the obvious winners Thursday night. With cornerback CJ Henderson (9 overall) and K’Lavon Chaisson serving as a potential Yannick Ngakoue replacement, himself, the Jacksonville Jaguars also had a strong opening night.
Similarly, so too did the Los Angeles Chargers, adding a supremely gifted on quarterback on offense and defense with Justin Herbert and inside linebacker Kenneth Murray.
If the gamble on Tua Tagovailoa at No. 5 overall pays off, the Miami Dolphins, however, may very well prove the biggest winners on this night. Besides adding the most natural passer in this draft, the Dolphins also added a left tackle with ballerina feet in Austin Jackson and a receiver-turned-cornerback in Noah Igbinoghene whose upside reaches into the stratosphere.
The players who will get the most buzz, of course, are the skill position players and with six receivers selected, the fantasy football enthusiasts are going to have a field-day breaking down who is the best fit. While I ranked him fifth among pass-catchers in this year's draft, I love the fit of TCU's Jalen Reagor with the Philadelphia Eagles. He possesses the reliable hands and grit to become an immediate weapon for Carson Wentz in that offense.
Perhaps the most confounding selections of the draft came at the end with the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks apparently serving notice to All-Pros Aaron Rodgers and Bobby Wagner that the future is now with stunning selections of Utah State quarterback Jordan Love and Texas Tech’s inside linebacker Jordyn Brooks.
Neither player ranked particularly high on my board. Each, however, is a quality player who fits the scheme, though both clubs, seemingly Super Bowl contenders, appeared to have greater areas of concern.
