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Oh, and hello. Good Tuesday evening to you wherever you may be reading this. We've got major sports playoffs going on, and we had a wild NFL draft last week. So I think it's a good time for my return.
So, then, let's talk draft. Under most circumstances, I prefer to wait to see how everything will play out on the field. But this draft was not most drafts.
First of all, the attendance was off the charts. Most people who know me really well know that I don't particularly care for anything Philadelphia. But Philly stole the show in this draft.
250,000 people attended the draft. All time record.
And if it seemed like there were a lot of trades, it's because there were. There were 38 trades in this draft. Another all time record.
Now, not all of these trades were great. Let's talk about the Draft itself. I'm not going to give out specific draft grades for each team, but I do have varying thoughts.
First thing's first, the Bears helped everyone else in this draft by making one of the stupidest trades I've seen in my years of watching the Draft. I think they're going to regret this trade when it's all over.
They traded not one, not two, not three. They traded four picks to move up ONE spot to take Mitchell Trubisky. A guy who didn't even start a college football game until this past season at North Carolina. And they traded FOUR guys to move up one spot.
You know you did terrible when the Browns fleeced four picks from you.
Speaking of the lowly Browns, I thought they did well, although I don't agree with everything they did. The Myles Garrett selection to start the draft was smart, and I also like them getting Jabrill Peppers. They took several linemen too, in fact four of their picks were either offensive or defensive linemen.
That said, as far as the QB they took in round two, DeShone Kizer, I don't agree with that pick. I think Mahomes and Watson are both quite a bit better than Kizer is, and I don't think he's the answer. I'd have taken a flyer on Miami QB Kaaya before I'd have gone with Kizer and Kaaya went in the SIXTH round.
Speaking of Mahomes, I am impressed that Andy Reid is taking a big swing at quarterback. Reid is usually one of the more conservative coaches in the league so that's what makes it impressive. Mahomes is anything but conservative at quarterback, Reid has likened him to Brett Favre, the ultimate gunslinger. Not only that, the Chiefs traded three picks to move up to get him.
It's obvious to me that Reid is putting Alex Smith on notice: Step up to a championship level or I'll find someone who will.
As for Watson, Houston traded two picks to move up to get him; a small price to pay if you ask me. It was either move up to get him or watch him go off the board and have to draft Kizer which I did not want. There are concerns about Watson's arm strength, but he's a winner.
I don't think he's going to start right away, but I think he'll at least compete. They did not bring him in as a first round pick to sit the bench as a third stringer.
As the result of another trade, I think the Minnesota Vikings got the steal of the draft potentially. They traded a second and a fourth to Cincinnati for the 41st pick, which they used to draft Dalvin Cook. I thought Cook should have gone in the first round, and I thought the Giants would have been wise to snap him up.
They also picked up a center, Pat Elflein of Ohio State, with their second pick which is never a bad play. The Vikings I'd say had a very solid draft.
As a result of the Minnesota/Cincinnati trade, by the way, the Bengals drafted Joe Mixon, who will fit right in at Cincinnati. The team already has troublemakers like Vontaze Burfict who plays over the line quite a bit as well as Pacman Jones, and now has a guy who was caught on camera punching a woman in the face several years ago near the beginning of his college years.
I like the moves that Elway has been making in Denver as well. He got some good value late in the draft (namely Jake Butt from Michigan and this year's Mr. Irrelevant, Chad Kelly at Ole Miss) and he's taking a big gamble on Jamaal Charles now too. Charles is hurt a lot of the time, but if he's healthy he's easily the best running back Denver has.
As a final note on the draft, I have a stat for all of you: Former Nebraska coach and current Youngstown State head man Bo Pelini had more recruits drafted this year (two, Nebraska's Nate Gerry and YSU's Avery Moss) than players from the entire University of Texas football program (one, D'onta Foreman, incidentally enough, to Houston).
Honestly, that fact is astounding to me. How can a program with as much talent in the state and as many resources as Texas only get ONE player drafted?
Funny thing is, I like that draft pick for Houston (Foreman) as well. The team needs another running back because Lamar Miller alone won't do it. Foreman and Miller is a potentially nice combination. They also went and got an offensive tackle fourth round, which obviously won't solve all their offensive line issues but should help.
Before I get out, the local Rockets are still in the NBA Playoffs so let's talk about that too.
In case some of you missed it, last night the Rockets destroyed the five-time world champion San Antonio Spurs by 27 points. And it wasn't even that close; at one point the lead was like 35 points.
Rockets fans here locally are even pretty surprised by that result, and I'm sure many nationally had wide eyes when they saw that score this morning, wondering how that can happen to Popovich and arguably the best run franchise in sports.
The deal is this: First off, speed is a big factor here.
Last night is a reminder to me, and to older Nebraska fans of what used to happen when the Huskers would win the Big Eight in the late 80s and early 90s, and then they'd go down to the Orange Bowl and play either Miami or Florida State and get run off the field. It wouldn't even be close, the Noles and Canes would both be two steps quicker than Nebraska. Nebraska lost to Miami 23-3 in the 1989 Orange Bowl and 22-0 in the 1992 Orange Bowl, and neither game was that close.
The 2016 Music City Bowl when Nebraska played Tennessee last December would also suffice. The Vols lost four games last year, but had six draft picks to Nebraska's one this year. It showed in the bowl game. Nebraska lost by two touchdowns but in reality Tennessee could have scored 70.
Back to how this applies to the Rockets, the Rockets are the much faster team than San Antonio. The Spurs are an older, slower team which doesn't necessarily mean they can't win the series. But they can't win the series playing like they did last night. They have to slow the game down, make the game ugly. If they try to run with the Rockets, the Rockets will run them off the court every time.
The problem for the Spurs though is two fold. The Rockets pass the basketball as well as any team in the league; they were third in assists in the NBA in the regular season. People think the Rockets are the James Harden show and that is not the case.
He is the best player for sure but any of the top eight Rockets can hurt you and they got wide open looks because of the ball movement last night. You can't outrun the basketball if it's moving and if they keep moving the ball and getting open looks, the Spurs are going to have an uphill battle. They play a little like the Spurs of three years ago, who are considered one of the best passing teams in NBA history.
The other part of the problem for the Spurs is the Rockets shot the ball horribly (24 percent from three) against Russell Westbrook and Oklahoma City and still won in five games. Now they're out of their slump.
That said, I think Rockets fans know quite well that one game doesn't make a series. However if the Spurs go down 0-2 with the way the Rockets are starting to heat up, I see little more than a snowball's chance that the Spurs could win four of five against Houston with three in Houston. Game Two is absolutely crucial for the Spurs chances.
The Cleveland Cavaliers may not repeat as NBA champions, but they too pass the ball extremely well. I watched a little of their game last night against Toronto, and was impressed with their ball movement. Toronto had little to no chance last night and neither will anyone in the East if the Cavs pass the ball that well.
Finally, don't sleep on the Jazz against Golden State. Not to win, but to make them sweat a little. The Jazz play defense as well as anyone remaining in the playoffs, and Quin Snyder will win Coach of the Year if Mike D'Antoni (Rockets) doesn't get it. It may not matter if the Warriors move the ball like they can and shoot like they can, but I'm impressed with how the Jazz played defense against the Clippers. This is not a team to trifle with.
If you're wondering about baseball, not right now. Not until July when we know where everyone is.
Until next time...
