By Johnathan Williams

The 2019 NFL Draft will certainly be one to remember. It broke multiple records, such as, the most watched and highest rated NFL Draft in the history of its sport. We saw lots of great moments such as Former Oklahoma Sooner Quarterback, Kyler Murray, being chosen as the No.1 pick in this year’s draft to the Arizona Cardinals or when former Clemson defensive end Christian Wilkins attempted to do a chest bump with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell that failed quite miserably for Goodell. Many players, fans, and organizations have reasons to celebrate or be left scratching their heads. Let’s take a look at the winners and losers in the 2019 NFL Draft.

Winner: Carolina Panthers

Coming into this draft, the Carolina Panthers had a lot of questions that needed to be answered. For starters, their starting quarterback, Cam Newton, recently underwent surgery to repair his shoulder that he injured midway into the 2018-19 season. The main cause of his injury was the O-line. The Panthers took note of the situation and drafted two offensive tackles Second Rounder, Greg Little, from Ole Miss and a Sixth-Rounder, Dennis Daley, from South
Carolina.  In the event that Cam Newton would not be available or not 100%, they can rely on their new rookie backup quarterback Will Grier, to lead the team. To most NFL reporters and analysts, Grier was considered a “sleeper pick” after he threw for 3,864 yards and 37 touchdowns for the West Virginia Mountaineers this past season. They also drafted Defensive end Brian Burns in the first round to add help to a much needed defense in search of pass rushers.

Loser: New York Giants

I think this one is a no-brainer here. Giants fans really had a hard time watching the first round of the NFL Draft. It shocked many people that the Giants chose Daniel Jones for their No. 6 pick in the first round instead of Dwayne Haskins. Now, don’t get me wrong, Daniel Jones might be a good fit for the Giants in the near future, but none of his college stats really stand out compared to other Quarterbacks in the draft. He never really had a good game against good defenses in his career with the Duke Blue Devils. Haskins, on the flip side, has shown great upside at Ohio State and was a candidate for the Heisman Trophy award as a redshirt sophomore, after throwing for 4,831 passing yards and an astounding 50 passing Touchdowns. The choice for this fell on the shoulders of the team General Manager, Dave Gettleman, who already has a lot of heat for surprisingly, trading, Wide Receiver Stud Odell Beckham Jr. to the Browns. The rest of the picks were “OK” selections, but this pick had to sting if you are a Giants fan.

 

Winner: The Southeastern Conference.

It seems that the Southeastern Conference is always the best in every sport whether it’s football, baseball, and even softball.  Whatever it is, the SEC always seems to stand above the rest and it made a statement throughout the NFL Draft. The SEC broke a new record of having 64 players from their conference selected in the NFL Draft. The Previous record was 63 players selected in the 2013 Draft by, you guessed it, the SEC. The conference who had the second
most in this year’s draft? The Big Ten with 40. The conference with the most first round players in this year’s draft? The SEC with nine. The next? The ACC and the Big Ten with seven. Also, out of the top 16 schools with the most picks selected in the entire draft, the SEC represented eight of those teams including Alabama (10), Georgia (7), Texas A&M (7), Auburn (6), Ole Miss (6), Florida (5), Kentucky (5), and Mississippi State (5).  Still doesn’t surprise you SEC haters? That’s ok. See you in the next National Championship game.

Loser: Tyreek Hill

If we are being honest with ourselves, The Kansas City Chiefs star Wide Receiver, Tyreek Hill, has been a loser since the offseason started. On March 15, Hill was under investigation for alleged battery after sources claim that the incident toward his three-year-old son resulted in a broken arm. Sadly, this isn’t the only time we have seen Hill in the news about something similar. In 2015, when Hill was in college at Oklahoma State University, he plead guilty to domestic assault and battery by strangulation after he choked and beat his girlfriend when she was eight weeks pregnant with their son on December 11th, 2014. The Chiefs would not make a lot of comments about the ongoing situation involving the player, but when they selected Georgia Wide Receiver Mecole Hardman in the second round of the NFL draft, it became clear that Tyreek Hill is on his way out the door.

Loser: Todd Gurley

Todd Gurley is easily one of greatest, if not the best, running backs in the NFL. Since being drafted by the St. Louis (Now Los Angeles) Rams in 2015, Gurley has put up 4,647 career rushing yards and 46 touchdowns which is unheard of for a running back just entering the league, but nearing the end of the season The Rams felt like something was bothering Gurley’s knee. During the postseason though, we all thought that Gurley was back to normal after he ran for 115 yards in 16 attempts against the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC divisional playoffs, but during the next game against the New Orleans Saints, he was limited to 4 snaps for 10 yards and would rush for only 35 yards off of 10 attempts against the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. It would later be discovered after the game that Gurley was dealing with a bad case of arthritis in his left knee. The Rams have not released a ton of information about the health of Gurley, but when they drafted Memphis Running Back ,Darrell Henderson, early in the 3 rd Round, it shows that the Rams are having more growing concern about the future of Todd Gurley. If for some reason Gurley is not ready to go early on in the season, then, expect Henderson to take over the starting role. If Henderson shines early in the year and health is still a question for Gurley going into the 2019-20 year, then don’t be surprised to see a breakup of Gurley and the Rams next year.

Winner: Jon Gruden

When Jon Gruden first made his return to the NFL by signing with the Oakland Raiders as their new Head Coach, he would not get a lot of love after trading one of the best players in the league, linebacker Khalil Mack, and wider receiver Amari Cooper for early first and second round picks in the draft this year. Those trades, however, would pay off for the Raiders, as they would select edge rusher Clelin Ferrell, running back Josh Jacobs, and Safety Johnathan Abram in the first round of the draft. Gruden has certainly been on a rollercoaster ride with the Raiders, but lets see if he can put the pieces together and start something special with the team. With the NFL Draft now over and teams began to get ready for training camp, will these rookies and decisions from NFL teams live up to the hype or will they just be swept under the rug? Continue to watch the development of rookie players throughout the summer to find out.