With just one skill position player selected in the Top 15, April’s NFL Draft was strange. Offensive linemen went No. 1 and 2 overall and a whopping 10 total were first-round picks. There were no running backs taken in Round 1 for the first time in 40 years. Here’s a look at a few potential underrated and overrated selections.
Geno, Geno!
West Virginia QB Geno Smith once was projected as a top-five pick, but had to endure the embarrassment of sliding into the second round. Smith landed in perhaps the best possible spot with the New York Jets at No. 39. He opened as the 5-1 wagering favorite to win the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award.
Incumbent Jets starter Mark Sanchez has been arguably the worst quarterback in football the past two seasons. Tim Tebow is gone. David Garrard retired. The Jets have said there will be an open competition, so Smith only has to beat out Sanchez and unheralded Greg McElroy. The wise NFL bet may be on Smith taking that first snap in Week 1.
Gio, Gio!
The first running back drafted was North Carolina’s Giovani Bernard at No. 37 to Cincinnati. The Bengals needed to get some offensive help for QB Andy Dalton and weren’t a great running team last season.
Many had Cincinnati taking Alabama running back Eddie Lacy with the No. 21 overall pick, but the Bengals got the draft’s top tight end there in Notre Dame’s Tyler Eifert. Bernard and Eifert give Cincinnati the big-threats play it lacked outside of receiver A.J. Green. Now teams won’t be able to double-team him. That the Bengals got the draft’s best tight end and running back without a Top-20 pick is stellar. Bernard is 15-1 on NFL betting odds for Rookie of the Year, while Eifert is 10-1.
What Were They Thinking?
Every NFL executive will say they are happy after the draft and got the player they were targeting all along. What else would they say? You never know who might pan out. Tom Brady was a sixth-round pick and he’s been to five Super Bowls with the Patriots.
However, the Bears’ selection of Oregon offensive lineman Kyle Long at No. 20 was perplexing. Sure, the Bears need all the help up front they can to protect Jay Cutler. Long started only four games in his Division I career and was pegged with a second-round grade. Plus Chicago could have taken Eifert to give Cutler another receiving threat.
Nearly every NFL Draft expert panned Cowboys GM Jerry Jones’ decision to take Wisconsin center Travis Frederick at No. 31. Not that Jones has to worry about his job — he’s the owner. Frederick was graded as a fourth-rounder.
Scouting reports on Frederick say he doesn’t have a lot of burst and has trouble against athletic interior defensive linemen. Perhaps it’s now obvious why the Cowboys have just one NFL playoff win since 1997 and haven’t won the Super Bowl since the 1995 season. The smart football wagering strategy could be on that drought continuing.