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The NFL Draft kicked off on Thursday night with 32 of the most talented, young football players getting to see their dreams realized on a national stage. At least one team drafted a once-in-a-generation player and at least one team is going to look back on this night and wonder where it all went wrong. We’re likely not going to know which teams were boon or bust on draft night for a few years, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have immediate reactions to some of the most shocking moments of the draft.
Leading up to the night, every football publication had their big boards ready to go, we knew what every team needed and we had ideas on which players could best fill those needs. Knowing all of this, some of the picks were absolutely stunning. Here, we get into the five most shocking picks (and non-picks) during the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
Raiders select Clelin Ferrell With the No. 4 overall
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It’s not that Clelin Ferrell is necessarily a bad pick for the Raiders — especially considering that everyone expected them to take a pass rusher at No. 4, it’s that there were other guys who were higher on draft boards at the same position. In his four years at Clemson, Ferrell recorded 50.5 tackles for loss and 27 sacks and played on two teams that won the National Championship. Ferrell is going to be an excellent player, but with Josh Allen and Ed Oliver sitting there, the pick had experts scratching their heads.
Falcons took two O-Linemen in the 1st round
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The Falcons gave up 42 sacks as a team last season, which was 13th most in the NFL. So it makes sense that they’d look to beef up their offensive line through the draft. However, that Falcons defense is the reason why the Super Bowl runner ups didn’t even make the postseason this past year. The Falcons were 28th in total yards given up and 25th in points allowed last season, so for them to completely ignore that side of the ball to snatch up a pair of offensive linemen was a bit odd.
The guys who weren’t picked
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Almost as surprising as the guys who were picked in the first round were the guys who weren’t. Ole Miss wide receivers D.K. Metcalf and A.J. Brown were shut out of the first round. Missouri quarterback Drew Lock was expected to get picked at some point in the first round, too. The first round was kind of devoid of skill players, with only six of the 32 picks going to quarterbacks, running backs or wide receivers. We didn’t see the first running back taken until the 24th pick, the first wide receiver came off the board at 25. Other notable guys who were left out of the first round were LSU’s Greedy Williams, Florida’s Jawaan Taylor and Temple’s Rock Ya-Sin.
Dwayne Haskins fell to No. 15
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Dwayne Haskins wanted to be a New York Giant, and when the Giants selected Daniel Jones at No. 6 overall, the first question was why, but the second would be how far would Haskins fall with not many teams in the immediate picks after having an immediate need for a quarterback. We got our answer at No. 15 when he was taken by the Washington Washington Football Team, who, surprisingly, had a phenomenal first round. At No. 26, they drafted Montez Sweat, who would have gone much higher in the draft if it weren’t for a heart problem that was detected in February.
Giants selected Daniel Jones sixth overall
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Yup, this one was the biggest shock of the entire first round. Not that the Giants selected Jones, but the fact that they took him with the No. 6 pick. The Giants have so many needs all over the field, and Jones was expected to still be there at No. 17, where the G-Men picked up DT Dexter Lawrence. And even if they absolutely felt like they needed to take a quarterback at No. 6, Dwayne Haskins, who is more talented, more accurate and more athletic than Jones was right there. The two teams play twice a year, and Haskins is already waiting to pick the Giants apart for passing on him.
The 5 Biggest WTF Moments Of The 2019 NFL Draft was originally published on cassiuslife.com
