Achi news desk-
The NFL draft will be offensive.
We’re not talking about hurt feelings. This draft has the potential to set a record for most offensive linemen selected in the first round.
No draft has seen more than 19 offensive linemen selected in the first round. This has happened three times, most recently in 2009.
Many draft experts predict more than 20 offensive linemen will go in the first round and some have as many as 25.
The latest AP Mock Draft had 22 taken in the first round, including 10 offensive linemen, six wide receivers, five quarterbacks and one tight end.
Quarterbacks get the most attention, of course. Caleb Williams was drafted by the Chicago Bears with the No. 1 pick.
Beyond him, there are many questions. The Washington Chiefs need a franchise QB and will choose between 2023 Heisman Trophy winner Jaden Daniels and No. 2 pick Drake May. JJ McCarthy’s stock has soared since leading Michigan to a national championship and he could end up in the top five. with some analysts even placing him ahead of Daniels and May.
Michael Phoenix Jr. and Beau Nix are in the second tier, but could be drafted in the latter part of the opening round.
“The quarterback position is a difficult position to evaluate and I would say with the history of the draft, there are guys who hit and guys who don’t,” Arizona Cardinals general manager Monty Osenforth said. “There are a lot of things that go into what makes a good quarterback, not just on the field but off the field, and I think that’s why that position is such a challenging assessment for a lot of people in the game.”
The Las Vegas Raiders have the 13th pick, so they’ll have to move up to secure one of the top four guys. They enter the draft with veteran Gardner Minshaw and second-year pro Aiden O’Connell and can stay put to take the best player available and still end up with Phoenix or the Knicks later.
“There aren’t really consensus boards, at least since I’ve been in the league,” said Raiders GM Tom Telesco. “You’ve got 32 different teams looking at things 32 different ways. So our rankings might be different than the other rankings, so I don’t know if there’s necessarily a top three and the next two or the next three. … It’s going to be a little bit different for everybody , depends on what you’re looking for.”
Wide receivers are a hot commodity with Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Navers and Roma Odonza not only considered among the top five potential picks, but also the best players in the entire draft.
“I think you can make a case that the three highest-rated players in this draft are the three receivers,” NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said.
Brian Thomas Jr., Adonai Mitchell and Troy Franklin round out the top six in the AP Mock First Round. Other potential first-round picks include Ladd McConkie and Xavier Leggett. It’s such a deep class of receivers that teams could wait to land a starter eventually on Day 2 or even Day 3.
Protecting the quarterback is critical to the team’s success, so there is always an emphasis on offensive linemen, especially tackles.
Joe Alt is the consensus pick and projected to be a top 10 pick. JC Latham, Olumuyiwa Fashanu, Taliese Fuaga and Troy Fautanu could make the top 20. Emarius Mims, Graham Barton, Tyler Guyton and Jordan Morgan are also in the mix. Jackson Powers-Johnson is the top inside linebacker in the draft.
“They are all really talented,” Jeremiah said. “When you look at that senior group of guys, I would really say you’re talking about Alt, Fashanu, Fuaga, Latham. I would think those are pretty unanimous, in any order you have them, those are kind of the top four guys.”
For teams looking at defense, the draft has some talented rushers and cornerbacks. The AP Mock Draft has four players at each of those positions in the first round, along with two inside linebackers.
Edge rushers Dallas Turner, Laiato Lato, Jared Vers and Chop Robinson, cornerbacks Kevin Mitchell, Trayvon Arnold, Nate Wiggins and Kool-Aid McKinstry, and defensive tackles Byron Murphy and Jerjean Newton are among the best defensive players .
Many teams prioritize edge rushers, and Turner is expected to be the first defensive player selected — perhaps by Atlanta at No. 8.
Only once in the last 57 years have the first seven picks been all offensive linemen. It happened in 2021.
“When you look at the history of drafts, you can look at a lot of times like, ‘OK, we really need a pressure player, so make sure you get that,'” Falcons GM Terry Fontenot said. “But we can look back at drafts where somebody reached for a pressure player and left some really good football players on the board at other positions.
“It’s a strong draft. We’re going to be staring at some really good eight-year-old players, whether we’re a little bit up or a little bit back, and that’s the excitement. We’re wide open.”
Every HR boss says the same thing until he’s on the clock.
