The eventful NFL Draft is wrapped up; what are the biggest surprises?

by Derek Brown, Staff Writer

The following story was written by a student on the staff of The Jaguar Times as part of Hilliard Bradley High School’s Journalism Production course.

In the days counting down to the 2020 NFL Draft, there were a lot of expectations, a lot of questions too. Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow, Quarterback from LSU, Ohio State single-season sack record-holder, Chase Young and Jeffrey Okudah, Shutdown Corner from Ohio State were all a lock to go the first three picks, but what surprises would we see the rest of the night?

As the night went on there were lots of surprises like Isaiah Simmons, the very talented positionless player from Clemson, to the Arizona Cardinals. Damon Arnette is a very talented cornerback from Ohio State which was widely considered to be a Day 2 pick and was drafted way earlier than expected.  There were a lot more shocking picks throughout the week and The Jaguar Times was curious to see what some students thought.  Jack Sandberg (11) said, “I would say the Dolphins had the best overall draft since they had 14 picks and got Tua Tagovailoa which means he can sit behind Ryan Fitzpatrick and learn a little bit from him.”  He also talked about the most surprising pick, “ I would say Jordan Love to the Packers because they needed a linebacker and they struggled mightily in the playoff game with tackling and they could’ve traded back in the second round also.”  The Jaguar Times asked one more question of who had the worst draft. “The Green Bay Packers, because they didn’t get any weapons for Aaron Rodgers that he has needed for years and years.”  The Jaguar Times asked another student to also see what he thought.  Chance Roberts (11) said, “The Bengals, they got their franchise quarterback in Joe Burrow and they also got him a weapon in Tee Higgins, who should have been a first-round pick but fell to the second. And they also got 3 great linebackers because of how awful their run defense was.”  He also said with the most shocking pick, “ He said Jalen Hurts, but Jordan Love was more of a surprise because it’s the second round and Hurts can do other stuff but play quarterback and Jordan isn’t near as athletic as Hurts.”  The Jaguar Times also asked which team had the worst draft, “ The Packers, because they didn’t get any help for Aaron Rodgers and they didn’t get anyone to stop the run which is a big reason why they lost the NFC Championship game.”

Overall, people had very different opinions on which teams nailed the draft, which team made the most shocking pick, and the team who had a bad draft overall.  They had some good opinions on this because most NFL experts shared the same opinions.  This was a really deep draft class this year and probably the deepest we’ve seen in a long time and we’re all counting down as NFL fans for next year's draft.  It should be interesting to see how each team's draft picks perform in the 2020-2021 NFL Season!