The 2020 NFL Draft was interesting… to say the least
Another year, another draft. Well, this year wasn’t just another draft. The 2020 NFL Draft was all virtual, which was something new for sports fans who have been craving any ounce of normalcy. Overall, the new format went by really smooth which is great news for those who were expecting problems to occur. One thing that wasn’t new during this draft was the big surprises and reaches. The virtual draft didn’t stop this from happening and surprises were in abundance.
Packers trade up to get Jordan Love
Possibly the biggest surprise of the draft came when the Green Bay Packers traded up in the first round to get QB Jordan Love out of Utah State. There were rumors and talk of the Packers drafting a quarterback, but when it happened there was still a sense of shock.
The Packers made it the NFC championship last year, so logical thinking is they are one or two players away from getting over the hump. Some were expecting the Packers to take a wide receiver to help out Aaron Rodgers…one of those people being Aaron Rodgers. On Pat McAfee’s show before the draft, Rodgers said: “We haven’t picked a skilled player in the first round in 15 years, so that would be kind of cool.”
Maybe the Packers are trying to repeat what they did when they drafted Rodgers under Brett Favre, but Rodgers has four years left on his contract. Since the draft, Favre told NBC sports that the Packers “burned a bridge” with Rodgers after trading up to take Love.
Jalen Hurts goes to the Eagles
This was completely unexpected. The Philadelphia Eagles took QB Jalen Hurts in the 2nd round. This was a surprise because the Eagles already have a very good, young quarterback (and a new dad) in Carson Wentz. Hurts was a Heisman candidate last year in Lincoln Riley’s system at Oklahoma.
The move is perplexing because second-round picks are often though to be future starters, and for Hurts to get that chance it would mean Wentz has gone down with an injury. Sure, this has happened the last three seasons, but using second-round capital on a backup quarterback is tough to wrap one’s head around.
Wait… What did the Saints just do?
So the Saints traded ALL of the last four picks to the Minnesota Vikings which had them completely out of Day 3 of the draft. That’s already quite the move. Then they traded back in… and drafted ANOTHER quarterback. But here’s the problem with that: the Saints already have Drew Brees… and Taysom Hill… oh and they just picked up Jameis Winston as a free agent. I guess Drew Brees only has one year left on his contract, but now they have four quarterbacks.
Patriots not missing Tommy
One of the biggest sports headlines in the past year was Tom Brady leaving the Patriots, but Bill Belichick doesn’t seem to care one bit. Not only did the Patriots draft a kicker and not a QB, but it appeared for a moment a dog was making the Patriots pick. A quick look into Belichick’s home setup saw his dog at the computer with him nowhere to be seen during a Patriots pick. Perhaps it has been Belichick’s dog Nike, and not Belichick himself, behind the sustained success of the Patriots over the last two decades.