Looking at the first round of the NFL Draft post free agency start
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins are expected to draft a quarterback in the first round of next month’s NFL Draft and after three days of free agency, a lot has changed.
If we look over the first round of this year’s NFL Draft, it does not look like it did a week ago prior to the start of the league’s free agency period. In fact, with quarterback shuffling and trades, a lot has changed. You can read what we wrote earlier, here.
This is not a mock draft but instead a look at several positions in the draft, in order and how things may have changed for certain teams and especially the Miami Dolphins. While nothing has changed in the first four picks of the draft in terms of team slotting, moves have been made that might dictate where one team could go.
1: Cincinnati Bengals: The Bengals still own the top spot but there has been some talk that they are more open to moving out of this pick and dropping down. There is also some speculation that the Dolphins could opt to move up for Joe Burrow. This will be an interesting spot to watch but make no mistake, as it stands how, the Bengals are drafting Joe Burrow.
2: Washington Redskins: No changes here so far. The Redskins haven’t had a hugely profitable free agency period and still appear ready to trade Trent Williams as soon as they can but the deal here is still Chase Young and should stay that way.
3: Detroit Lions: The Lions still hold the third spot but with changes having been made to other quarterback-needy teams, see this post from early today, the Lions only have two teams that may want to move up. The problem is they traded Darius Slay, their top CB, and as a result, it looks like Jeffery Okudah is more of a need now which might make a team like Miami more hesitant to move up considering the Lions are not likely to draft a QB.
4: New York Giants: The Giants are still expected to draft an offensive lineman or maybe a cornerback but they are not likely going to trade out of that spot. David Gettleman rarely trades first-round picks and he likely won’t this year even to drop down one or two spots. However, if the Lions stay put, the Giants may very well be too tempted not to move down if the Chargers call.