The NFL 2018 draft is over, and it brought many surprises this time like before. While some teams picked players quite surprisingly, a few teams got lucky chances to get some players with great potency.
As the three-day draft is over, and various team management and analysts began the calculations behind the screens. Some teams improved a lot with much more balanced lineups, whereas a few others landed into more troubles.
Let’s discuss some of the biggest surprises in this NFL draft season that can impact the coming seasons.
Safety Terrell Edmunds Lands on the Steelers in the First Round
Edmunds brothers made history this time by being the first brothers to be chosen in the first round draft in the same year. The overall 28th pick of the draft, Terrell Edmunds was making a surprising entry to the first round draft.
Interestingly, in the mock drafts and analysis, the names of Jessie Bates from Wake Forest and Justin Reid from Stanford were heard much louder than Tarrell. Though the elder Edmunds has surprised many with his pickup, it cannot be described as a bad move. He is known for excellent athletic ability with long arms and expected to justify his pick by flying around the field in the coming days.
Lamar Jackson Got a late Pickup by Ravens
The Louisville Quarterback is regarded as someone with right talent. Therefore, everybody expected an early pick for him in the first round. When teams like Patriots, Steelers, and Saints were eagerly looking for a passer whom they can trust in future, analysts expected Jackson within the picks of 11 to 20.
However, the drafting session narrated a completely different story as none of those teams tried to acquire him. Finally, Baltimore Ravens put a stake on him as the overall 32nd pick. Jackson is a dynamic runner and showed greater improvements year after year. The coming years will tell whether the teams made a mistake or not.
Derwin James Drafted 17th by Chargers
Virtually no one expected that Chargers would get a chance to stake on Derwin James. That is what happened dramatically on the first day of the NFL draft. Everyone counted him as a top safety prospect and expected him drafting within top 10. But, when he ended up with 17th, Chargers got the chance to pick him.
He has excellent athletic ability and capacity to make one-on-one plays in the grounds. Pundits confirm that he will showcase better talent as a pro than his college days. His fitness and exceptional size make him more dangerous on the grounds. These surprise movements and changing team lineups giving greater odds for sports betting industry. The NFL-focused strategies of online betting houses like Karamba Sport Betting prove the same.
Denzel Ward Picked up by the Browns at No. 4
The mock drafts predicted Browns picking Bradley Chubb, the linebacker, at number 4. But, the real draft saw something completely different as the Browns picked Denzel Ward, the cornerback of Ohio State football, instead. Since the team had already signed T.J. Carrie and E.J. Gaines, no one expected him another cornerback joining the lineup as overall number 4.
Interestingly, Browns thinks that he is a real asset as the team is known for man-coverage cornerback strategies. But, experts vary in his selection over Chubb considering Chubb’s reputation as a top pass rusher.
Rashaad Penny Drafted by Sea Hawks
Rashaad Penny, the running back of San Diego State University, got an early pick by Sea Hawks on the first round of the draft on April 26. What made everyone surprised is Sony Michel of Georgia and Derrius Guice of LSU only drafted after him. Many experts opined that Penny is a good pick but got him very early than expected.
Sea Hawks is known for strategies that surprise many people. Though Penny is a highly productive player with excellent statistics in the college football, he comes from Mountain West. Compared to him, Michael and Guice come from SEC and showcase similar statistics.
Conclusion
NFL seasons have proved that the early drafting or late pickups have gone wrong multiple times. Several top players became undrafted in their initial seasons and made greater comebacks. Kurt Warner, Tony Romo, and Antonio Gates are some of the names added to that long list in the recent years. Therefore, fans and teams can wait for more surprises on the grounds.
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