Buffalo — Tremaine Edmunds, Linebacker, Virginia Tech
Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott recently stated in an interview that, if the Buffalo Bills weren’t able to walk out of the 2018 NFL Draft with one of the top quarterback prospects in the draft, their “Plan B” was to try and draft Tremaine Edmunds from Virginia Tech, whom McDermott envisioned as a potentially game-changing force at linebacker.
Lo and behold, Buffalo was able to walk out of the draft with both guys. The early word out of Buffalo is that the Bills are thrilled with the maturity shown by Edmunds, despite the fact that he won’t even turn 21 years old until sometime in the spring of 2019.
Jacksonville — Taven Bryan, DT, Florida
Jacksonville’s young and ferocious defense is predicated on their ability to generate pressure with just their defensive line, and then let the athletes in the back seven use their athleticism and make plays in space. So the Jaguars’ selection of Taven Bryan from the University of Florida was a great example of what smart teams should do in the NFL: take their team’s decisive strength, and make it even stronger.
The Jaguars are now right up there with the Philadelphia Eagles, as far as having the deepest defensive line rotation in the NFL. They’ll be able to sub in fresh guys on running and passing downs, making it incredibly difficult for opposing offensive lines to block this group.
New England — Isaiah Wynn, OL, Georgia
Most teams go into the NFL Draft looking to take the best available player, or maybe the best available player at a position of need. The really good teams go into the NFL Draft with the idea of taking the best player that can help them fortify the team in the trenches.
New England’s “Achilles’ heel” last year was its offensive line, so taking Isaiah Wynn — whom a lot of people believed was the second-best offensive line prospect in the draft (behind Quenton Nelson) — was a savvy move, as Wynn could possibly help the Patriots actually fill the void at left tackle — where Wynn played for all of the 2017 season at Georgia — created by the departed Nate Solder.
Baltimore — Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville
Simply put, it’s about time the Baltimore Ravens realized that they need to have a plan in place to replace quarterback Joe Flacco as soon as possible. Flacco might be the most overpaid and overrated player in the entire NFL, basing his entire supposed “franchise quarterback” status on a four-game playoff run in the 2012-2013 NFL playoffs. Since then, he’s been the shining definition of mediocre.
Even though Baltimore had to trade a 2nd and 4th round pick in 2018 and a 2nd round pick in 2019 to move up to grab Lamar Jackson, it was totally worth it. He has the athleticism, arm strength, work ethic, and intangibles to prove wrong all the teams who thought he couldn’t be an NFL quarterback.