The 2020 National Football League draft is finally finished. We no longer have to listen to the three-hour long filler content created by sports analysts, extending a process that realistically could be done in an hour. Even though all of us “love” seeing a pro-comparison for every single player, I think most of us would prefer the pick to be announced as soon as it is in. Enough with the complaints though, let’s get into the biggest moments of the 2020 NFL draft.
No surprise, Joe Burrow was picked No. 1 overall by the Cincinnati Bengals. He, along with the second and third picks—Chase Young and Jeff Okudah respectively—all played together at the University of Ohio in 2017 (Burrow would later transfer to LSU). Burrow is also poised to challenge Andy Dalton’s position as the Bengals starting quarterback.
We skip down to the fifth pick of the draft, where QB Tua Tagovailoa from the University of Alabama is projected to go to the Miami Dolphins ever since #TankforTua started trending. Tagovailoa, however, had a myriad of health issues from a series of sprains to a fractured hip. His history of injuries may make his presence in Miami more of a curse than a boon.
The sixth pick, Justin Herbert, is not particularly interesting besides his 4.0 GPA, but he was picked by the Chargers in my friends’ Madden league as well, so I had to put him in.
The 12th pick, WR Henry Ruggs from University of Alabama, was a surprise. Many thought the first wide-receiver pick of the draft would have been Cedarian “CeeDee” Lamb from the University of Oklahoma or Jerry Jeudy, Ruggs’ Alabama teammate. Ruggs, however, stood out with his astonishing 4.27 40-yard dash, and this might suggest a shift by NFL teams to value speed over everything else. Jeudy and Lamb went on to be picked as the 15th and 17th picks respectively.
The Packers drafted QB Jordan Love from Utah State as the 26th pick of the draft, much to the surprise of their current QB Aaron Rodgers. Love is likely planned as a replacement for the 36-year-old quarterback, who should have seen this coming. The Packers pulled a similar move back in 2005, when they drafted Aaron Rodgers in the first round and put Brett Farve in the position Rodgers is in today.
RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire from LSU was a surprise pick by the Chiefs in the first round. Most analysts saw a plethora of running-backs going before him such as D’Andre Swift, University of Georgia, Jonathan Taylor, University of Wisconsin-Madison, or J.K. Dobbins, University of Ohio. All of which were picked later in the draft, but a lot of pressure is now being placed on the Chiefs and Edwards-Helaire to live up to the high standards of being the first picked running back of the draft.
ESPN’s NFL draft broadcast racked in an average of 15.6 million viewers. This 37 percent increase in viewership is likely attributed to the absence of sports and things to do in the world right now. Aside from football news, the NFL “Draft-A-Thon” was able to raise a staggering $85 million for COVID-19 relief.
“The theme of hope is always prevalent in the NFL, especially with regard to the Draft. In 2020, that’s especially true, as we help honor healthcare workers, first responders and others on the front lines of the battle with COVID-19 while giving our fans something to cheer about as we celebrate the next generation of NFL stars,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
