Quick-hit thoughts on the skill-position players selected in the first round:
2. Mitchell Trubisky, Bears. He started only 13 games at North Carolina, so I imagine he’ll begin the season as a backup behind Mike Glennon. Probably. But when quarterbacks are selected that high, there tends to be pressure to get them on the field. Excellent trade for the 49ers, who were the big winners of the night, adding Solomon Thomas and Reuben Foster to begin the process of rebuilding a leaky defense.
4. Leonard Fournette, Jaguars. I don’t like the pick. Nothing against the player, who’s a big, mean, difference-making back, but whatever happened to the belief that running backs are best chosen in the later rounds? Had Jacksonville addressed another position, it might have been able to select Dalvin Cook early in the second round.
5. Corey Davis, Titans. I was wondering in what order the three wide receivers would go. I didn’t think there was much difference between them, so I am surprised the Titans didn’t address another position here, figuring they would get a receiver at 18. They must like Davis a lot, and they must feel that surrounding Marcus Mariota with good weapons needs to be a priority.
7. Mike Williams, Chargers. Philip Rivers will have much better pass catchers to work with next year. Keenan Allen will be back, Hunter Henry should be ready to do more in his second year, and Williams should be able to come up with contested catches in the middle of the field. That’s the theory, anyway. Laquon Treadwell is the same kind of receiver and was a disaster as a rookie last year.
8. Christian McCaffrey, Panthers. I don’t like the fit. He’s a catch-run back, but that hasn’t been Carolina’s game. They’re talking about using McCaffrey on screens and out of the slot, but those kind of throws require precise accuracy and timing, and I’m not sure that will ever be a strength for Cam Newton. He’s a long-ball thrower, I think. There’s been talk about McCaffrey being a kick returner, but I don’t know that he’ll ever be better than average in that capacity. He scored 1 TD on a kickoff return at Stanford and 1 TD on a punt return.
9. John Ross, Bengals. I never believed the talk about him falling out the first round. Not after he ran a 4.22 at the combine. He’s more than just a deep threat. He will score some long touchdowns, and he will also help open things up for A.J. Green and Tyler Eifert. I saw a lot of Ross last year; was common for him to get 5 yards behind the defense, with the ball not getting there (Washington’s quarterback doesn’t have a big arm and was playing for half of the year with a shoulder injury). Bengals must really love Ross, because they passed on the opportunity to make those trade-down deals that Buffalo and Cleveland took.
10. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City. I like this choice. They’ve got Alex Smith, so they’ll be able to let Mahomes sit for probably all of this year. Andy Reid did a nice job preparing Donovan McNabb, and he was in Green Bay when they developed Brett Favre. If I were walking into a dynasty draft today, Mahomes would be the first rookie quarterback I would select.
12. Deshaun Watson, Texans. Houston says Tom Savage is the starter for now. We’ll see. I’m expecting Watson will start more games this year.
19. O.J. Howard, Bucs. I don’t think Tampa Bay was expecting him, but he was just too good to pass up. They’ve got a really impressive group around Jameis Winston now. Mike Evans and DeSean Jackson are a great pair outside. Adam Humphries is a capable slot receiver. Charles Sims is one of the better third-down backs. They’ll be able to use both Howard and Cameron Brate in formations with two tight ends. Brate is a very good pass catcher and route runner (I think he’ll catch more passes this year) but Howard is a rare athlete who’ll hit some chunk plays getting downfield.
23. Evan Engram, Giants. At 6-foot-3 and 234 pounds, he’s probably more of a wide receiver than a tight end. He’s not big enough to be an in-line blocker, so I imagine he’ll primarily line up in the slot. Could develop into another Jordan Reed type player. But the Giants have a couple of other capable pass catchers who should also run primarily shorter, possession-type routes -- Sterling Shepard and Brandon Marshall.
29. David Njoku, Browns. I like the job the analytics group is doing in Cleveland. They didn’t love the quarterbacks, so they opted to trade down and stockpile more picks. They’re building a nice base of players, and they’ll be positioned to add the quarterback next year. Njoku is only 20, so he should be eased in this year. I would think Gary Barnidge will outperform him in 2017.