This year’s NFL draft looks to be a promising one. With the spread of young, new talent entering the league, there is no telling where these young upstarts can take the National Football League.
There was a lot of hype, so to speak, surrounding a few players in the draft this year due to the mark they made at the collegiate level. Quarterback Jared Goff from the University of California, Quarterback Carson Wentz from North Dakota State University and Running Back Ezekiel Elliott from Ohio State University were all touted as high-profile picks. With all these players projected to go very early in the first round, the 2016 NFL draft served as no surprise as all three players were picked 1, 2 and 4, respectively. Myles Jack, another “hype” player coming out of UCLA, fell in the draft ranks following a subsequent and very concerning knee injury. Nonetheless, Jacksonville took a chance on the six-foot Linebacker and has faith in him.
There was a lot of debating as to who would go as the overall first pick in the draft this year, and the debate went back and forth between the two dynamic quarterbacks, Wentz and Goff. Many said Wentz would go first, and many said Goff would go first, but when all the dust settled, Goff reigned supreme.
Goff was the first overall pick in this years draft going to the now Los Angeles Rams, which is a homecoming for Goff who went to Cal University.
Wentz was next up on the board, going second overall to the Philadelphia Eagles, who earned the second pick in a trade from the Cleveland Browns. The Eagles have much faith in their young upstart QB, trading a whopping five draft picks to the Browns for Wentz, including a first round pick in the 2017 draft.
Rounding out the top names in this years draft is Ezekiel Elliott who was picked fourth, selected by the Dallas Cowboys.
Each team picked up franchise caliber players who have the ability to take their teams back to the top of the National Football League.
Goff put up eye-popping numbers in his 2015 collegiate season. He averaged 363 passing yards a game, completed 64.5 percent of his passes, threw 43 touchdown passes and averaged a 161.3 QB rating. Those numbers are worthy of a number one overall pick.
Wentz’s numbers weren’t too shabby either. For his career at North Dakota, he averaged a 64 percent passer rating, threw for 5,115 yards and threw 43 touchdowns. Also, he is one of the few players in this new era who have longevity at the collegiate level, playing all four years at North Dakota. The Eagles selected Wentz because they feel he can bring them back to supremacy, and they like to center their franchise around their quarterback.
Elliott put up great numbers as well in his 2015 season at Ohio State, rushing for 1821 yards, averaging 6.3 yards carry, and rushing for a staggering 23 touchdowns.
A local fan of the game, Christ Rangkas says: “Well I feel that this years NFL draft shows a lot of hope in young talent. Other than that, some teams will be made better this year, and it will make for a better league ultimately.”
The New York Giants may have acquired a steal in this year’s NFL draft. In the latter portion of the draft, the Giants selected tight end Jerell Adams in the sixth round. The Giants front office says, “he is athletic, a great blocker and has soft hands.” Being a 6’5” tight end coming from South Carolina, Adams is a huge target for QB Eli Manning.
The team who won this year’s draft has to be the Philadelphia Eagles. For starters, they had the number two pick, which is an amazing feat in and of itself, but also because they sacrificed so much for their pick. In the same breath, there may be teams that selected players that better suit their team but Wentz, coming out of college, seems to be the most promising player, and that looks like a win for the Eagles.
This year’s draft is very similar to the 1998 NFL draft in the sense that there were two marquee QB’s taken with the first two picks. Carson Wentz and Jared Goff remind us all of Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf. Who knows how any of the players in the draft will end up, but what we do know is they have tremendous potential, and if they play anything like they did in college, the league is in great hands.
