T-minus less than 24 hours to liftoff! For Infinity War, that is. Oh, yeah, and the NFL Draft. I guess that’s happening, too. Both have been highly anticipated. On one hand, Marvel has been building up to Infinity War for pretty much a decade; while on the other hand the football players about to be picked on to professional teams have been working to this point for at least twice that. We’re taking a look at the kids about to get paid to play football, tonight.I’m getting ready to start a podcast with my pal, Pat, and we decided on a friendly wager. Each of us will give our predictions on what players will be selected with the first ten picks of the draft, as well as who we think the Bengals will pick. The winner gets his lunch paid for on a day TDB…or is it TBD…went Michael Scott there for a sec. So the points go down like this: one point for a correct pick and two points for the correct Bengals pick. We don’t have to pick trades correctly, so if, for example, Pat says the Browns will pick Saquon Barkley with their fourth pick, but then the Browns trade the pick and the new team, let’s say the Saints, come in and pick Barkley, then Pat still gets a point. Figuring out how teams value players is hard enough, predicting if they will trade a pick is next to impossible…That being said, Pat felt frisky and went for it! See his picks below:1. Browns- QB Sam Darnold (USC)2. Giants- DE Bradley Chubb (N.C. State)3. Jets- QB Baker Mayfield (Oklahoma)4. Browns- RB Saquon Barkley (Penn State)5. Broncos- QB Josh Allen (Wyoming) (via trade)6. Colts- QB Josh Rosen (UCLA) (via trade)7. Buccaneers- OG Quenton Nelson (Notre Dame)8. Bears- CB Denzel Ward (Ohio State)9. 49’ers- LB Roquan Smith (Georgia)10. Raiders- S Derwin James (Florida State)21. Bengals- G/C James Daniels (Iowa) Makes too much sense to not happen unless he is picked up priorSee there? Pat is going for the jugular. Calling someone trading into the fifth spot to take Josh Allen and another team trading into the sixth spot to take Rosen! Rumor has it the Bills are really trying hard to trade up from their 12th spot in the first round, and if Josh Allen is available, that’s probably true. I’d be interested to see if the Colts do trade their pick. Given Pat’s mock, with Quenton Nelson available, it’d be interesting to see if they pass on him for more picks, overall. Funny thing is, Pat and I differ on almost every pick, except two. Check out mine:1. Josh Allen – QB (Browns)
2. Quentin Nelson – OL (Giants)
3. Sam Darnold – QB (Jets)
4. Bradley Chubb – DE (Browns)
5. Baker Mayfield – QB (Broncos)
6. Saquon Barkley – RB (Colts)
7. Derwin James – S (Bucs)
8. Denzel Ward – CB (Bears)
9. Roquan Smith – LB (Niners)
10. Vita Vea – DT (Raiders)
21. Frank Ragnow – C (Bengals)
Both of us having Ward go eighth and Smith go ninth. Was not expecting that. I did not mention trades in my mock, because Pat is a little more ballsy on that front, but to reiterate, as long as the player goes in the spot that is picked, the point is awarded.
Ive got the benefit of being the author, here, so I can talk about my picks. Firstly, there’s nothing fancy here. I’ve done some reading and watched some TV on the subject of the draft, and I have a grasp on who’s good and what teams need, then I mix in a little gut feeling and wa-la! These will probably be wrong anyway.
We both agree on what the Bengals are thinking, we just differ on the name. I’ll be dead honest, I think Ragnow because I want a Ragnow jersey. That way, ever time I wear it, I will imagine Ragnar from the show “Vikings.” Real expert analysis there, I know.
At any rate, enjoy your Thursday. Whether it be Infinity War day or Day One of the NFL Draft day, make it a good one. As for me, I’ll be at the theater to see the Avengers take on Thanos!
Sportsinnati 