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We’ve started a new Open Thread for the rest of tonight’s first round! You can check it out right here.
At long last, there’s been an offensive lineman drafted. With the 20th overall selection, the Denver Broncos selected Utah offensive tackle Garrett Bolles. This has got to be just about the latest in the draft the first offensive lineman has come off the board. I’m sure someone will be tweeting something about that eventually.
The slide for a couple more Alabama players has stopped, with the Washington Redskins selecting defensive tackle Jonathan Allen at #17 overall and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers tabbing O.J. Howard with the 19th overall pick. Allen is someone that was projected to go in the Top 5 in much of the pre-draft process, but had some questions about his shoulder. Still, that’s a pretty nice steal for the Redskins.
In between those two picks, the Tennessee Titans made their second pick of the first round, taking USC cornerback Adoree Jackson.
We’re finally seeing a few defensive players coming off the board, as the Indianapolis Colts select Ohio State safety Malik Hooker with the 15th overall pick. The Baltimore Ravens followed that up by selecting Alabama cornerback Marlon Humphrey at #16, and that brings us to the end of the first half of Round 1 of the 2017 NFL Draft. More to come!
Important note for Vikings’ fans. . .no offensive linemen come off the board in the first half of Round 1. Plenty of talent dropping thus far, too.
With the pick they acquired from the Vikings in the Sam Bradford trade, the Philadelphia Eagles selected Tennessee defensive end Derek Barnett, passing on both O.J. Howard and Jonathan Allen in order to do so. Fine by me.
After losing out on the top three quarterbacks, the Arizona Cardinals went defense with their selection and grabbed Temple linebacker Haason Reddick with the 13th overall pick. I actually like that pick a lot for the Cardinals if they weren’t going to get the QB they wanted to take over for Carson Palmer at some point.
The New Orleans Saints got themselves a steal at #11, selecting Ohio State cornerback Marshon Lattimore. With the Browns on the clock at #12, they make a trade. . .not for Kirk Cousins, but with the Houston Texans, who gave the Browns their first round selection (#25 overall) and their first rounder next season in order to select Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson. Three quarterbacks have been selected in Round 1 so far, and all three of them involved teams trading up to get them. Makes the Sam Bradford trade look that much better.
We have our second big trade of the night, as the Kansas City Chiefs have given up their first round pick this year (#27 overall), a third round pick, and their first round pick next year to make a deal with the Buffalo Bills for #10 overall. The Chiefs gave up all that plunder to take. . .Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes, the son of the former Minnesota Twins pitcher of the same name. Man, that’s a whole lot.
In a mild surprise, the Cincinnati Bengals took Washington wide receiver John Ross, who set the land speed record at the Combine earlier this year. Wasn’t expecting the Bengals to go receiver, but that’s not a terrible pick to line up across from A.J. Green.
After the New York Jets made a really boring pick, selecting LSU safety Jamal Adams, the Los Angeles Chargers took Clemson wide receiver Mike Williams, followed by the Carolina Panthers selecting Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey. The lack of updates for those picks was sparked by my pizza delivery arriving. The pizza was #elite.
Rumors are now circulating, via Ian Rapoport, that the Browns are attempting to swing a trade with the Redskins for quarterback Kirk Cousins. I officially don’t know what the hell is going on here anymore.
In our second big surprise. . .and we’re only five picks in. . .the Tennessee Titans are taking Western Michigan wide receiver Corey Davis at #5 overall. Honestly gotta say I didn’t see that coming, either. But, if he’s your guy, you take him there, I guess.
Jacksonville takes the first running back of the draft, as they’ve tabbed Leonard Fournette of LSU with the fourth overall pick. Not a huge surprise there.
The Bears gave up a third and a fourth this year, and a third next year, to move up one spot. Man, that’s a whole lot to move up one spot. That’s ridiculous. The Bears wound up selecting North Carolina quarterback Mitchell “Don’t Call Him Mitch” Trubisky. Meanwhile, the Niners took Stanford defensive lineman Solomon Thomas, who they were probably taking at #2 anyway. John Lynch just took Ryan Pace to the proverbial woodshed.
You know, I think I’m going to use this to throw some first round thoughts out there as things happen. The Cleveland Browns did the sensible thing and took Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett at #1 overall. The Chicago Bears have flipped picks with the San Francisco 49ers and now find themselves at #2.
Keep refreshing and I’ll keep updating this post with stuff on the first round. . .you know, since the Vikings probably aren’t doing anything. Newer reactions will be at the top.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are less than one hour away from the start of the 2017 NFL Draft, live from Philadelphia. After tonight, we don’t have to care about the Minnesota Vikings not having a first round pick anymore, because it won’t matter.
As you can see, embedded above we have the live video for tonight’s SB Nation Draft Party so that you can keep track of all of the action.
For this particular open thread, and for all draft-related Open Threads over the course of draft weekend, we ask that there be NO GIFs, because they’re going to bog things down for everyone that might be coming here looking for information. There will be your regularly scheduled Open Thread on Friday morning (and likely one for the weekend, too) for you to get your standard GIF-related wackiness out of the way.
But, for now, let’s just kick back and relax and enjoy the first night of the 2017 NFL Draft. Have a good one, folks!