JORDAN PURVIS
Special to The Leader
The National Football League will be hosting their annual draft from April 26 to 28, 2018. The best college athletes showcased their abilities this past March, performing physical and mental tests in front of numerous coaches at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. Now what are the positional needs for the top five teams in the draft?
1. Cleveland Browns – Saquon Barkley, RB
The worst team in the league might not be so horrible anymore. Despite the fact that the Cleveland Browns had a record of 0-16 last season, this offseason, the Browns made several moves to increase their postseason hopes. The first move was the Cleveland Browns agreeing to a trade with the Buffalo Bills for Tyrod Taylor. However, they gave up a third-round pick, No. 65 overall, for Taylor. Second, Cleveland agreed to acquire Jarvis Landry from the Miami Dolphins in exchange for a 2018 fourth-round draft pick and a 2019 seventh-rounder. Lastly, the Browns traded their 2017 second-round pick, DeShone Kizer, to the Packers for former first-round cornerback Damarious Randall. Without a doubt, I think it will make sense for Cleveland to draft running back Saquon Barkley from Penn State University. In his junior season at Penn State, Barkley played 13 games, scored 18 touchdowns and averaged 1,271 yards. With Barkley, and the other additions to the teams, I don’t see why the Browns wouldn’t make the playoffs this upcoming season.
2. New York Giants – Sam Darnold, QB
It’s pretty obvious that Eli Manning’s time in New York is simmering down. Last season, the Giants ended their season 3-13, as the 37-year-old quarterback scored 19 touchdowns with 13 interceptions and threw for 3,468 yards. With the second pick in the draft, the Giants need to be smart when deciding who they should draft this year. If the team decides on drafting a quarterback, Sam Darnold seems like a perfect fit for the team. Darnold played for the USC Trojans in his sophomore season. The 6-foot-4-inch quarterback threw for 4,143 yards as well as throwing 26 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. The New York Giants last made the playoffs in 2016 when they lost the NFC Wild Card Round against the Green Bay Packers 38-13.
3. New York Jets (via Colts) – Bradley Chubb, DE
The Jets moved up to No. 3 while sending the No. 6 overall pick, two second-round choices this year (Nos. 37 and 49) and their second-rounder in 2019 to the Colts. Notable acquisitions during free agency this past month were the Jets signing 25-year-old quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who previously played for the Minnesota Vikings, and re-signed veteran Josh McCown, bringing him back to New York for another season. Back in 2016, while practicing in training camp, Bridgewater tore his ACL and dislocated his knee. Bridgewater made his return late last season against the Cincinnati Bengals, but he only had two pass attempts, as well as throwing an interception. Selecting Bradley Chubb, arguably the top defender in the draft, would be perfect for the Jets. Defensively, the Jets weren’t as bad, but will really improve by adding Chubb to the team.
4. Cleveland Browns (via Texans) – Josh Rosen, QB
With the fourth pick in the draft, Cleveland might select a quarterback this time around. Even though the Browns traded for Taylor, it doesn’t seem like he’ll be their longtime quarterback. Josh Rosen seems like a legitimate fit for the Browns offensive scheme. During his junior season playing for the UCLA Bruins, he threw for 3,756 yards with 26 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
5. Denver Broncos – Josh Allen, QB
With the departure of Brock Osweiler once again, it wouldn’t hurt the Broncos to select another quarterback. On the chance that Allen isn’t already taken, there’s no doubt that the Broncos would select him. However, if they do select Allen in the draft, it would be awfully difficult to keep the other three quarterbacks they already have. The Broncos currently have Paxton Lynch, Chad Kelly and newly signed Case Keenum on their depth chart. Could the coaching staff possibly let all four players stay on the team? Or maybe they will go with the same approach the Patriots did and trade two of them?