Happy draft day everyone!
I think the hours may be an issue with Kay Adams. A seven AM show typically has a host getting up and going to work at two or three AM and that gets a bit tedious over time. If you have another option, you tend to jump at it. Kay does a lot of other stuff also. She's hosted a pregame show on Amazon Prime since Amazon got NFL football and could be expanding that role. She's also involved with fantasy football on multiple levels, and with gambling now largely allowed she might land a role with one of the sportsbooks advising bettors. She's also the host of "People: The TV Show!" that's going national in the fall of 2022. She's built enough of a name for herself that she has lots of options. Was there a path forward for her at the NFL Network? Probably not. They've passed her over for opportunities that have opened up.
Peter Schrager has his final mock draft up and has the Eagles moving up from eighteen to thirteen by trading pick eighteen and pick fifty-one to Houston. Eh, I think that's a bit too pricey for the Eagles. One of their two third-round picks might get the deal done instead of their only second-round pick.
He has the Eagles coming out with Jameson Williams and Jordan Davis, which would be great, but I don't see the Eagles bundling a second-round pick to make that move. If they do bundle the first and second picks, you're looking at moving up to ten or eleven more than thirteen.
No one truly knows what the Jags will do with the first overall pick. Most assume it'll be one of the top two d-linemen, but I still come back to Doug Pederson being a former QB and knowing how important a solid o-line is. They supposedly narrowed their choices to four last week with the top two d-linemen and the top two o-linemen being the four. Good offensive linemen can play fifteen years in the league and give you a solid foundation for your kid QB. There's generally less bust potential with a good o-lineman also. If a guy flops at tackle, you can move him to guard or center. They can come in and play in year one and be quite productive. A d-linemen from college has much more of an adjustment to make to the pro game. You don't really get a lot from those guys in year one or even year two. There are exceptions, but by and large, a rookie d-lineman is going to get mauled by veteran o-linemen and look bad for a year or two.
The Cards are going to have to do a lot more for Kyler Murray than pick up his fifth-year option. He's not playing on that. He's going to want a big deal. There were whispers that his agent was asking for $100 million a year to make up for the years he was underpaid. That won't happen, but if they don't come down from that mark, he won't be a Cardinal. Somewhere in that $35-$45 million a year range might get a deal done. Murray will likely want $50+ million a year, but it's hard for the Cards to justify that kind of paycheck. A shorter-term, lower-value contract might be the smarter move for everyone. A three-year deal averaging $40 million would let Murray hold a gun to the Cards' head in two years and the going rate for an upper-tier QB then is likely to be quite a bit higher than he'd get now.
What to watch for in the draft tonight? QBs and Kyle Hamilton. QBs will either go fast or very, very slowly. Kyle Hamilton is viewed by many as the best player in the draft, but he's kind of a tweener at safety/linebacker and his forty times (4.59 and 4.70) have scared off a lot of teams. Daniel Jeremiah in his latest mock has Hamilton falling to the Eagles at 15. If you can get the best player in the draft at 15, something's seriously wrong with the first fourteen teams. We'll have to see what happens with him. He needs the right defensive coordinator as he's not a typical safety or linebacker, but in the right situation, he could be special.
And speaking of special, that's something teams should be looking for. You can get "a" player almost anytime, but if there's someone you feel is, or could be "special," you've got to go get them. S/LB Kyle Hamilton, QB Malik Willis, DL Jordan Davis, WR Jameson Williams, CB Derek Stingley Jr., are among the guys who have the potential to be "special." They're not like everyone else. You don't find guys like them just hanging around. They have unique physical traits and have shown some flashes of potential specialness. If you get a chance to grab one of those guys, you'd best take it.
It should be a fun night. Over the next five to six days the rosters will be largely set with draftees, undrafted free agent kids, and the last of the veteran free agents. (I suspect Tyrann Mathieu has a team all lined up but they're both waiting until after the draft to not affect next year's compensatory pick.) By this time next week, most of the ninety-man offseason rosters will be set. Then we start whittling them down and sliding in a replacement here or there until the start of the season. It's coming fast now.
Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
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