NFL Draft Round 1 Thoughts

You remember how absolutely everyone was convinced that the Eagles were absolutely certain to trade Sam Bradford and a bunch of other cool toys to Cleveland to get Johnny Manziel and a bunch of #1 picks that they could then trade to Tennessee for the #2 overall pick except that Tennessee would also be getting Bradford and possibly free pony rides?

Yeah, me neither.


The most exciting trade made at the first round of the draft involved a swap of the #23 and #28 picks and, more importantly, a guy named Manny Ramirez (who is unfortunately not THE Manny Ramirez of Manny being Manny but God, how we wish it had been simply to see him on the field doing his thing one more time). Oh, and the #15 and #17 picks got swapped, too.  

Meanwhile, during ESPN's pre-roll-call show, they went on and on about the moral quandary posed by the possibility of drafting Missouri defensive end Shane Ray, who had been busted for smoking ye olde wacky tobaccy (or as we like to call it around here, "the Colorado state budget", as we frankly don't care who smokes what herb as long as it's not upwind from us). Could teams trust him? Was his maturity up to the standards necessary to play in the NFL? Would no one think of the children?

We don't have the answers to those questions. We would, however, like to note two things. One, there was no mention of the moral quandary attached to the possibility of drafting first round talent (and former Mizzou player) Dorial Beckham-Green, who allegedly pushed a woman down a flight of stairs and dragged his girlfriend out of an apartment by her neck. That no team did draft him in the first round is, I think, a small victory; that being said, there are six rounds to go.

Two: First rounder Shane Ray sat behind 7th round pick Michael Sam for 3 years. Sam, as you may recall, was a potential "distraction", according to the whisper campaign that devalued his draft stock. One wonders if NFL types will consider the possibility of arrest and incarceration for Mr. Ray a potential "distraction" as well.

You know what? Probably not.