With the caveat that the hours leading up to the NFL Draft are filled with misdirection, subterfuge and utter baloney, here’s a look at the latest rumors and buzz leading up to the 8 p.m. Eastern kickoff Thursday in Arlington, Texas. Keep checking back for the latest. And don’t say you weren’t warned.
Perhaps one man holds the key to the entire NFL draft this year and we don’t mean Roger Goodell or Jerry Jones.
That man is John Dorsey, the Cleveland Browns’ new general manager. He’s the latest to try his hand at rebuilding the franchise, and he is armed to the teeth with draft picks — nine of ’em over the seven rounds of the draft. Not only does he have a fistful of picks, he has the Nos. 1 and 4 overall and he claims that he hasn’t even told his wife his plans for that No. 1 pick. For good measure, he’s also keeping Coach Hue Jackson “out of the loop,” according to SI.com.
In an interview with the NFL Network’s Steve Wyche, Dorsey said no real legitimate trade offers have filtered in for the No. 1 pick and he did divulge that the team’s draft board has been finalized, with the ultimate authority for making the picks resting with him. Maybe the No. 4 pick will generate trade interest for a team in need of one of the top quarterbacks in the draft.
Suspense in Cleveland about who is going No. 1 in the draft has Browns GM John Dorsey seeming like the parents on Christmas Eve that won’t let their kids open one gift early.
— Steve Wyche (@wyche89) April 25, 2018
As for the Browns, Cleveland.com reports that they’ve cooled on making quarterback Sam Darnold the No. 1 pick. Instead, Mary Kay Cabot writes that the choice is “narrowing” to Baker Mayfield or Josh Allen. Cabot cites a top-level NFL personnel executive who “has been insisting to cleveland.com since the Senior Bowl in January that Dorsey will take Allen. “You can take it to the bank,” he said again this week.
Maybe, but Dorsey has a flair for the dramatic.
Spent some time w/ #Bills GM Brandon Beane yesterday. Get the sense trading before #NFLDraft starts is super unlikely. He genuinely has no idea what #Browns are going to do at no. 1 – and that affects everything.
— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) April 25, 2018
One scenario laid out by SI.com’s Peter King has teams clamoring to trade into the second and third rounds. “Let’s envision teams in the top half of the first round with potentially hugely valuable picks: Cleveland (with the number four pick), Denver (five), Indianapolis (six),” he writes. “There’s a reason in my mock draft I had Denver and Indianapolis trading down — because the value of quarterbacks is immense, and because the premium on second- and third-round picks in this draft is similarly big. That’s why if I’m the Broncos or the Colts (or the Bucs or Bears or Niners, if Josh Rosen falls down the first round more than we think), I’m asking for two or three lower picks rather than two higher ones.”
Quarterbacks are likely to be the picks in the early going, with ESPN’s Adam Schefter citing a general manager who said there is a “50 percent chance” that four quarterbacks would go in the top five. As he points out, that “would be a big help to top 10 teams not in the QB market.”
To those hoping their team drafts a QB, remember that it need not do so at the top of the draft: Joe Montana (82nd), Aaron Rodgers (24th), Ben Roethlisberger (11th), Drew Brees (32nd), Russell Wilson (75th), Tom Brady (199th) – worked out okay.
— Amy Trask (@AmyTrask) April 25, 2018
After Cleveland, the top five picks, barring a trade, will go to the New York Giants, New York Jets, the Browns again and Denver Broncos. Saquon Barkley, the Penn State running back, is expected to hear his named called somewhere in there. Still, it’s going to be tough to top Tuesday night, when his baby daughter, Jada Clare, arrived.
In his mock draft, The Post’s John Harris has the Giants taking Barkley at No. 2, with the Jets taking Mayfield.
Here’s the order for the first round Thursday night:
1. Cleveland Browns
2. New York Giants
3. New York Jets from Indianapolis Colts
4. Cleveland Browns from Houston Texans
5. Denver Broncos
6. Indianapolis Colts from New York Jets
7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
8. Chicago Bears
9. San Francisco 49ers
10. Oakland Raiders
11. Miami Dolphins
12. Buffalo Bills from Cincinnati Bengals
13. Washington Redskins
14. Green Bay Packers
15. Arizona Cardinals
16. Baltimore Ravens
17. Los Angeles Chargers
18. Seattle Seahawks
19. Dallas Cowboys
20. Detroit Lions
21. Cincinnati Bengals from Buffalo Bills
22. Buffalo Bills from Kansas City Chiefs
23. New England Patriots from Los Angeles Rams
24. Carolina Panthers
25. Tennessee Titans
26. Atlanta Falcons
27. New Orleans Saints
28. Pittsburgh Steelers
29. Jacksonville Jaguars
30. Minnesota Vikings
31. New England Patriots
32. Philadelphia Eagles
Read more on the NFL draft from The Post:
How to watch and follow the 2018 NFL draft
Parrots, Chewbacca, curling stars and Casa Bonita: How Day 3 of the NFL Draft will get a little nutty
Eagles owner’s anti-Trump comments surface as team discusses White House visit
For NFL hopefuls, the exhaustive draft process can ‘seem like horse trading’
It’s a quarterback-heavy NFL draft, but the three best players aren’t QBs
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