Bears of Chicago.Caleb Williams, a quarterback from Southern California, could have been selected first overall by anyone with an internet connection. For the Bears, who have struggled with a quarterback for many years, Williams’ presence is a win in and of itself. Given Williams’ extraordinary talent and the team’s dismal quarterbacking record, Chicago fans will not only anticipate that Williams will be the team’s greatest quarterback of all time, but it won’t even be that unrealistic. Ryan Poles, the general manager, has also done a good job of surrounding Williams with one of the top receiver groups in football. Poles added Rome Odunze of Washington to a fold that already had the gifted and successful DJ Moore after trading for Los Angeles Chargers star Keenan Allen earlier this year. The Bears should be more entertaining to watch than they have been, even if they don’t win a lot of games in 2024. And for the first time in a very long time, the franchise has a base on which to construct a Super Bowl team. Minnesota Vikings.Kirk Cousins, the quarterback for the Vikings, was lost to the Atlanta Falcons in free agency. They were set to live a miserable 2024, with veteran letdown Sam Darnold filling in as a band-aid. If Vikings supporters must see Darnold going forward, it ought to be for a select few games. JJ McCarthy of Michigan made a lucky slide to the tenth pick, and the Vikings traded up to choose him as their future signal-caller. McCarthy is a much-discussed candidate. Although he had won the national championship at Michigan, the Wolverines were committed to having him throw the ball little as part of an offence that prioritised runs. He wasn’t very excellent at throwing, but he was decent enough. McCarthy, meanwhile, is only 21 years old and has a tonne of athletic potential. Additionally, McCarthy joins Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell, who has a strong track record of developing quarterbacks. And at No. 17, Minnesota acquired a very talented edge rusher in Alabama’s Dallas Turner after dealing for another first-round pick. Turner should be a good NFL player right away, but McCarthy might be the player of the future. The Pittsburgh Steelers.Speaking of good fortune in the draft, the Steelers were quite fortunate to select offensive tackle Troy Fautanu of Washington with the 20th choice. Pittsburgh’s offensive line has two glaring holes: one at centre, where they essentially have no one, and another at left tackle, where they start one of the worst players in the league. They have a gifted and incredibly flexible big man in Fautanu who can inflict some brutality on what has frequently been an underperforming line. The Steelers needed to recruit someone like Fautanu in order to give rookie quarterback Russell Wilson a chance, and other clubs’ actions helped Pittsburgh solve their issue. In the second round, West Virginia centre Zach Frazier was available for the taking, continuing the Steelers’ successful selection strategy. The Steelers need depth at this position, so third-round selection Roman Wilson of Michigan might see a lot of playing time as a rookie. Those who fail the Falcons of Atlanta.Using the eighth overall pick on a quarterback who is most likely to be selected in the late first or early second round,? Hey, everyone makes audacious choices occasionally. But doing it right away after promising $100 million to a seasoned veteran who fills the same role? And without first speaking with that quarterback? In light of this, the Falcons’ selection of Washington’s Michael Penix Jr., a 24-year-old with a large left arm and an equally extensive injury history, seems even more odd. It’s reasonable to plan for three years from now, as cousins who are 36 years old will be playing this season. But the Falcons had to have been the most astute team in the room for the Penix choice to succeed. That hasn’t always been the case for the guys in charge of this specific team, which could be the reason why the Cousins-Penix two-step upset long-suffering Atlanta supporters. Denver Broncos.It was only somewhat less strange to select Oregon quarterback Bo Nix at No. 12 than the Falcons did with Penix. Nix, who is 24 years old, also has older potential. By the end of his five-year career, he was a superb college quarterback, but that’s only part of the story. Nix had to wait a long time to prove his worth at Oregon, where the coaching staff aided him by throwing a plethora of short, fast passes that created opportunities for teammates to score points. It’s fair to wonder how much more he can develop before entering the NFL, which is why most predicted that he, like Penix, would go undrafted until much later in the first or even second round. Although it is difficult to envision Nix developing into an above-average starter, the Broncos now depend on him for that. Wilson will receive close to $40 million from them while he plays this season elsewhere. It seems like a team that has missed the playoffs eight times in a row is practicing dubious asset management. players on defence.In the opening round on Thursday, the first 14 names called were all offensive prospects. Laiatu Latu, a UCLA edge defender, joined the Indianapolis Colts at No. 15, ending the drought. That was by far the worst run of draft failures for defenders in the NFL following the merger of 1970 and 2021, when the first defence selected was at choice number eight. Why did 2024 stand out so much? Six quarterbacks were selected in the first 12 rounds, indicating a league-wide desire for even mediocre quarterback play. The unusually strong wide receiver class (headed by Marvin Harrison Jr., now with the Cardinals) and the presence of exceptional tight end Brock Bowers (who signed with the Las Vegas Raiders) were further factors. The majority of the offensive players targeted were throwers and catchers. However, that won’t compensate defenders who fell down selection boards for their lost income.
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