The 2020 NFL Draft was completed this past weekend as it has never been before. The virtual draft was different, but Roger Goodell and the NFL made it work. Teams will now wait for the restrictions related to the coronavirus to loosen so they can start to train together.
Winners and Losers
Fans won’t know if this was a successful draft for their team until years down the line, but experts can still make that prediction. Many of them have the Baltimore Ravens as succeeding in the draft.
With Lamar Jackson and an explosive offense, it was the defensive guys that they were able to grab this year that set them over the top. The Ravens were the only team that received an A grade by Mel Kiper.
Another team that did well was the Dallas Cowboys. Jerry Jones wants to win now, so he grabbed another standout offensive threat in CeeDee Lamb. They were also able to pick up Alabama cornerback Trevon Diggs in the second round. Kiper gave Dallas a B+.
The Indianapolis Colts didn’t even have a first-round pick, but they were able to fill their biggest needs. Philip Rivers isn’t a young quarterback with years remaining, so the Colts front office needed to grab picks to help them succeed now. From Kiper’s view, they were just shy of Baltimore receiving an A-.
Almost a unanimous loser in the draft by NFL experts was the Green Bay Packers. Their picks seemed to be focused on rebuilding, not dialed in on the fact they have a 36-year-old Aaron Rodgers who needs pieces around him. Other teams that seemed to have a draft to forget was the Las Vegas Raiders and the Denver Broncos.
Colleges Represented
The NFL Draft is always a good time to see what colleges are producing the top talent. For a long time, it has always been the SEC. This year was no different. The SEC broke a record, being the first conference to have six of the first 10 picks in the draft.
LSU was able to tie the record set by Ohio State in 2004, having 14 players selected in the seven-round draft. They had the biggest name on the board, Joe Burrow, going number one overall. Eyes will be on him to be the starter right out of the gate.
Many college football fans would say that Alabama had a down year, but they were still very good. Coach Saban still had nine players drafted from the Crimson Tide this year, but that did snap his three-year streak of having at least 10 players drafted. LSU and Alabama could field a pretty talented roster just on their own.
The second most of any conference was the Big Ten with 48 selections. The Pac-12 had 32, and the ACC had an off-year with only 27.
There were only nine Power 5 schools that didn’t have a player selected. They were Ole Miss, Arizona, Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Illinois, Northwestern, Rutgers and Duke.