Day 1 of the 2015 NFL Draft did not have a lot of excitement as we saw Jameis Winston go to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the number one overall pick, the Tennessee Titans selecting Marcus Mariota with the second overall pick, and finally the St. Louis Rams at pick 10 drafting running back Todd Gurley.
On Friday night, Day 2 of the draft showed us that were still a lot of good value for teams at running back, wide receiver and on defense. Without further adieu, let’s take a look at my three takeaways from Day 2.
1. If your team needed a running back, a lot of good ones were taken
The run on running backs got underway in the beginning of the second round as the Jacksonville Jaguars took Alabama running back T.J. Yeldon. The Jags now have a crowded backfield with Toby Gerhart, Denard Robinson, Storm Johnson, and Bernard Pierce, who they signed in free agency.
Then later in the second round with the 54th overall pick, the Detroit Lions drafted Nebraska running back Ameer Abdullah. Many college football fans were impressed with Abdullah this past season as he rushed for 1,611 yards and 19 touchdowns. Also in 2014, Abdullah rushed for 200 plus yards in four games. With him now going to Detroit, he is the perfect complement to Joique Bell, who is more of a power back.
Finally in the third round, we saw four more running backs taken as the Atlanta Falcons drafted Tevin Coleman, the Cleveland Browns took Duke Johnson, the Arizona Cardinals selected David Johnson and the Washington Redskins took Matt Jones.
Out of these four picks, I am very excited about the Browns taking Johnson. Johnson, the 5-foot-9, 207 lb back had a productive junior year rushing for 1,652 yards and 10 touchdowns. Cleveland now has a young three-headed monster at running back that includes Terrance West and Isaiah Crowell. Those three running backs should be able to help either Josh McCown or Johnny Manziel.
2. A team in the second round took a chance on Randy Gregory
Randy Gregory did not hear his name called in the first round as the very talented outside linebacker has a ton of red flags. Those red flags scared a lot of teams off as Gregory is a top 10 talent that needs to get his act together. His rap sheet includes failing a marijuana test and showing up late to meetings with teams as ESPN’s Adam Schefter pointed out.
Well, there was one team that took a chance on Gregory and that was the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas selected him with the 60th overall pick. This is a Jerry Jones type pick as Gregory will either be a boom or bust but has the potential to start right away with defensive end Greg Hardy missing the first 10 games due to a suspension.
If I am the Cowboys, I would keep my eye on Gregory constantly because he has the potential to be so good and dominant but needs direction. This past season at Nebraska, he finished with 54 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, seven sacks and an interception.
3. Two quarterbacks not named Brett Hundley and Bryce Petty were drafted
There was speculation that we could see a quarterback drafted on Day 2 of the draft. Many people thought that it would either be UCLA’s Brett Hundley or Baylor’s Bryce Petty. Shockingly, neither of those quarterbacks were selected as in the third round, the New Orleans Saints took Colorado State’s Garrett Grayson and the Saint Louis Rams took Oregon State’s Sean Mannion.
Out of the two, Grayson was a shock to me because I saw Petty as a fit in the Saints’ offense. During tonight’s draft coverage, NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport mentioned that the Saints would be looking to draft their quarterback of the future.
Grayson, who comes in at 6-foot-2 and 213 lbs, blew up on the draft scene after having back to back fantastic seasons. This past season, he completed 64.3 percent of his passes, threw for 4,006 yards, 32 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Although he is not ready yet, the Saints are not going to rush him as he will have a couple of years to learn from Drew Brees.
With Day 2 of the draft giving many teams great value picks, Day 3 proves to be good as well with talent still out there on the board.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
