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- 🏈 NFL Draft Preview
🏈 NFL Draft Preview
The Chicago Bears are officially on the clock in Detroit tonight, but it might as well be the Washington Commanders, because we all know who's going #1. But after that? Things could get spicy. Look for several QBs to go early, and then as many as seven WRs to round out the first round 🍿 (3 min read)
NFL Draft Preview
Ahead of last year’s NFL Draft, there wasn’t much mystery surrounding the first overall selection. Sure, that was some late noise in favor of C.J. Stroud, Anthony Richardson and even Will Levis, but Bryce Young was always a pretty safe bet (-1250) to end up in Carolina. A year later, there’s even less drama regarding whose name will be called first tonight 🔒
Caleb Williams has looked like a virtual lock for the first pick in the 2024 Draft for quite some time. Way-too-early mocks had him slotted there even back before his Heisman-winning campaign in 2022 🔮
The selection was then all but etched in stone when the Bears, who own the first pick courtesy of last year’s trade with the Panthers, traded Justin Fields to the Steelers back in March
Just how sure are oddsmakers that Williams ends up a Bear? You could bet $1,000 on him going first…and you’d win a whopping $10 😂
Today is the last day Caleb Williams is not a Chicago Bear.
— Greg Braggs Jr. (@GBraggsJr23)
11:29 AM • Apr 24, 2024
But also like last year, there won’t be just one QB coming off the board early. Could we possibly see four straight signal-callers taken to start the draft? 🤔
The dual-threat Heisman winner out of LSU, Jayden Daniels, is currently the betting favorite (-600) to go second overall to the Commanders…and you know the Patriots will be eyeing a QB at 3 as well 👀
If you ask me, it’s UNC’s Drake Maye who should be the second QB off the board. Oddsmakers like his chances of ending up in New England (-210), but don’t rule out Washington grabbing him first 🤷🏻♂️
The #Patriots are “high” on Drake Maye and they view him as a “close-to-ideal fit for the offense they want to run” — Maye seemingly checks all the boxes for what they’re looking for in a franchise quarterback, per @TheAthletic.
If they’re high on him, they won’t trade the pick.
— Carlos Talks Pats (@LosTalksPats)
2:14 PM • Apr 24, 2024
Then there’s the biggest wild card of perhaps the entire first round; reigning National Champion J.J. McCarthy. The former Michigan Wolverine has picked up some serious helium over the past few weeks, so much so that he now has the second-best odds to go third (+150) and the best odds to go fifth (-240)
With the Cardinals and Chargers picking fourth and fifth, J.J. going in the top-five likely requires a more QB-needy team to trade up. Could we see the Vikings, who own picks 11 and 23, take a big swing?
The Vikings remain the favorites to select J.J. McCarthy in the 2024 NFL Draft 🏈
— DraftKings Sportsbook (@DKSportsbook)
3:30 PM • Apr 18, 2024
Factor in some increasing buzz around Heisman runner-up Michael Penix Jr., and it’s truly another first round that should be defined by the quarterback position. But then again, some other offensive playmakers would also like a word ⬇️
What this draft lacks in star running back talent (it looks unlikely any will be taken in the first round), it makes up for with pass-catchers. Georgia’s Brock Bowers is an elite tight end prospect who should hear his name called in the first half of the round, but it’s the wide receiver class that really stands out
If there wasn’t such a premium on the quarterback position, Marvin Harrison Jr. would have a pretty strong case for the first overall pick. As highly regarded as any rookie receiver in recent memory, he looks like an instant game-changer 😤
4 minutes and 39 seconds of Marvin Harrison Jr. dominating in college
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron)
3:39 PM • Apr 24, 2024
Harrison Jr. is the current favorite to end up in Arizona at 4 (-400), should the Cardinals keep their pick. But while he’ll likely be the first receiver off the board tonight, he certainly won’t be the last 🫡
LSU’s Malik Nabers and Washington’s Rome Odunze are both trending towards the Top-10, and with eight wideouts checking in as top-40 prospects according to CBS Sports, don’t be surprised if the record of seven first-round receivers is flirted with
Bears have the No. 9 pick...
Rome Odunze is the favorite at +140 to be the No. 9 pick @DKSportsbook 👀
— br_betting (@br_betting)
4:22 PM • Apr 23, 2024
One team that is almost assured to take a wide receiver tonight is my Buffalo Bills, and while I’m cool staying put at 28, nothing would make me move on from Stefon Diggs quicker than a trade up for Odunze 🤞
Trivia Question: How many wide receivers went in the first round last year?
For My Parlay Gurus
Call it a hunch, but despite the odds, I think there’s a chance the Commanders make the right choice (however unlikely that sounds) and take Drake Maye. I’ll parlay that with the Cardinals staying put at four and taking Harrison Jr. — check it out 👇
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Trivia Answer: Four receivers were taken in a row with picks 20-23; Jaxon Smith-Njigba (SEA), Quentin Johnston (LAC), Zay Flowers (BAL) and Jordan Addison (MIN)
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