Saints Trade Up For QB Tommy Stevens
As the draft comes to a close, the Saints are making an interesting selection. New Orleans traded back up into the seventh-round to take Mississippi State quarterback Tommy Stevens with the 240th pick.
The Saints gave the Texans a sixth-rounder in the 2021 draft to get the pick. The Saints are reportedly planning on having Taysom Hill take over for Drew Brees, and Stevens could take over for Hill. He’s a similar type of swiss army knife player who reportedly impressed scouts in workouts earlier this offseason. Stevens entered Penn State as a highly-recruited passer, but got blocked on the depth chart behind Trace McSorely.
While serving as McSorely’s backup he also played a large role on offense, as Penn State had a package of plays where he’d line up in the backfield or as a receiver. In the 2017 season, he had 250 yards from scrimmage and six touchdowns. Before last season he transferred to MSU, and initially became their starting quarterback.
He struggled with injuries and was benched at times, finishing the season with 1,155 yards and 11 touchdowns with five interceptions. It’ll be interesting to see if he can carve out a Hill-like role in the pros.
Browns Trade Pick No. 74 To Saints, New Orleans Takes Zack Baun
The Saints reportedly were looking to trade up in the second-round, and they just moved up in the third. They’ve acquired the 74th pick from the Browns, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.
Cleveland is also sending the 244th pick in the seventh-round, while they’ll get back number 88 and a 2021 third-rounder. As Yates notes in his tweet, this is the first time in this draft that a 2021 selection has changed hands. New Orleans’ willingness to give up future draft capital makes sense, given they’ve been heavily signaling that they’re going all in on one last Super Bowl run with Drew Brees in 2020.
They’ve signed some aging vets, and are trying to get as much out of this draft as possible. The Saints used the 74th pick to take linebacker Zack Baun from Wisconsin, who some thought had a good chance of getting drafted in the first-round. Linebacker had been a relative position of weakness for New Orleans, which explains why they wanted to move up to get the surprising faller. As a senior with the Badgers Baun had 19.5 tackles for loss and 12.5 sacks, earning first-team All-Big 10 honors.
Patriots Draft Kyle Dugger At No. 37
The Patriots went outside the box with their first pick of the 2020 draft, taking safety Kyle Dugger from tiny school Lenoir-Rhyne with the 37th overall pick.
Dugger was expected to go in the second-round so it wasn’t shocking, but he’s still a more under the radar prospect as a result of playing D2 ball. Dugger shined during Senior Bowl week, and began rocketing up draft boards as a result. He received all kinds of accolades during his college career, and was a second-team All-American in 2019 despite being limited to only seven games because of a hand injury.
At 24 he’s older than your typical draft prospect, and definitely comes with a lot of risk. Bill Belichick obviously thought it was a plunge worth taking, and it sounds like he’s got high upside. Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller listed Keanu Neal and Mark Barron as pro comps in a recent write-up.
Dolphins Trade 26th Pick To Green Bay, Packers Take Jordan Love
The Packers are making a surprising splash. They’ve traded up with the Dolphins to get the 26th pick, and are using it on Utah State quarterback Jordan Love.
We’ve been waiting for some fireworks, and this certainly qualifies. Green Bay is setting up for the post-Aaron Rodgers era, and it’ll be very interesting to see what Rodgers thinks of this selection. The Packers gave up pick 136 in the fourth-round to move up four spots from 30. The Pack apparently “secretly coveted” Love in the pre-draft process, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets.
The Packers made it all the way to the NFC Championship Game last year, but it wasn’t Rodgers’ finest season statistically and he’ll turn 37 in December. Rodgers is under contract through the 2023 season, and he isn’t likely going to be too happy about a first-round rookie breathing down his neck.
It’s a bold move by GM Brian Gutekunst, and one that will take several years at least to be able to evaluate. Rodgers and others were hoping the team would draft a second receiver behind Davante Adams, but obviously that wasn’t the plan.
Love was a polarizing prospect, with many defenders and detractors in the analyst community. Viewed as a potential top pick after a dominant sophomore season where he averaged 8.6 yards per attempt with 32 touchdowns and six interceptions, he took a big step back in 2019.
In his junior campaign at Utah State, he averaged only 7.2 yards per attempt with 20 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. Clearly that wasn’t enough to scare off the Packers. There had been some talk that the Dolphins might take a tackle with their first pick and look to add Love later on, but obviously they ended up going with Tua Tagovailoa with the fifth pick. Love won’t be the Packers’ starter in 2020, but he’ll create a lot of drama and headlines right away. Buckle up in Green Bay.
Vikings Trade 25th Pick To 49ers
The pace of trades is starting to pick up as the first-round draws to a close. The Vikings are trading the 25th pick to the 49ers, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets.
The Vikes will get the 31st, 117th, and 176th picks from San Francisco in return, according to Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune (Twitter link). The 49ers made the move to ensure they got the receiver they wanted, as they drafted Brandon Aiyuk from Arizona State with the 25th pick. This was the Vikings’ second pick of the first-round, after they took LSU receiver Justin Jefferson at 22.
It’s interesting that the 49ers opted to trade up, considering all the talk surrounding them has been they were looking to move down. San Fran made the draft’s first trade when they swapped the 13th pick for the 14th and 117th picks with the Bucs. They didn’t have any second, third, or fourth-rounders before that deal, and they are without a pick in those middle rounds once again after giving 117 right back up.
Patriots Trading 23rd Pick To Chargers
We’ve got another trade folks. The Patriots are shipping the 23rd pick to the Chargers, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets. Los Angeles will send back picks 37 and 71, Field Yates of ESPN.com reports in a tweet.
The Chargers used the added first-rounder to take Oklahoma linebacker Kenneth Murray. Los Angeles has one of the most talented defenses in the league on paper, with a top-tier defensive line and secondary. The one weak-spot was at linebacker, so Murray will help solidify an already promising defense.
The Patriots were previously without a second-round pick and weren’t scheduled to pick again until 87, so this move makes some sense for them. Unless they surprisingly trade back into the first later tonight, the Patriots won’t be taking Tom Brady’s successor in the first-round. The Chargers already made a splash by taking Justin Herbert sixth overall, and GM Tom Telesco is staying aggressive.
There had been some talk that New England could take Utah State passer Jordan Love at 23, but that turned out to be unfounded. There were reasons to believe Bill Belichick was leaning toward adding a signal-caller in the middle rounds, and that looks to be the case.
Dolphins And Chargers Never Tried To Move Up
It took us until the 13th pick to get our first trade, and despite a lot of speculation it looks like the Lions and Giants were never that close to moving down.
Neither the Dolphins nor Chargers ever made offers for the third or fourth picks, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. In hindsight, it looks like the Lions and Giants were trying to trade down and were attempting to inflate the interest. There was a lot of talk that either Miami or Los Angeles would try to leap up to take a passer, but both stood pat and ended up getting their quarterbacks of the future anyway.
Schefter notes that the Dolphins and Chargers were always content to stay where they were. Miami of course took Tua Tagovailoa, while Los Angeles drafted Justin Herbert. The Lions nabbed cornerback Jeff Okudah after being unable to find a trade partner, while the Giants picked Georgia offensive tackle Andrew Thomas. The draft has been quieter than expected so far, and it seems like there was an overwhelming supply of teams looking to move down, with a very limited demand of teams looking to move up.
49ers Trade 13th Pick To Buccaneers
We’ve finally got our first trade of the evening. Plenty of teams in the top ten were listening to calls, but apparently nobody got an offer worth taking.
The 49ers are making the first move, trading back one slot with the Buccaneers, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). In order to get the 13th pick Tampa will send the 14th pick and the 117th pick, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. The 49ers will also send back the 245th pick as part of the deal.
The Bucs are using the selection to add some protection for Tom Brady, as they’re drafting Iowa tackle Tristan Wirfs with the pick. San Francisco previously didn’t have any picks in the second, third, or fourth-rounds, so they were widely expected to explore trading down from one of their two first-rounders.
They are also currently scheduled to pick 31st later tonight, and GM John Lynch clearly wanted to get an extra mid-rounder. Since the Bucs are only moving up one spot, it’s likely the 49ers were threatening to move the pick to a different team who also wanted a tackle like Tampa did.
Dolphins Take Tua Tagovailoa
The Dolphins ended many months of speculation, and finally got who they hope is their future franchise quarterback. Miami picked Tua Tagovailoa fifth overall on Thursday night.
There was a lot of talk that the Dolphins could go offensive tackle with their first selection, but it turns out that was a smokescreen. The team has been linked to Tagovailoa for over a year, and it was widely speculated that they tanked the 2019 season with him in mind. Tagovailoa’s devastating hip injury at the end of his Alabama career threw a wrench into things, and uncertainty about his medicals caused some teams to downgrade him.
In recent weeks momentum started to build for Oregon passer Justin Herbert, and there were reports that some inside the Dolphins’ building preferred Herbert. It’s possible that was all a smokescreen as well, and things ended up right back where they started.
Tagovailoa has apparently gotten great reports back from his doctors, although his exact timeline for returning to full-speed is still unclear. The Dolphins also have Ryan Fitzpatrick on the roster who can serve as a mentor and fill in just in case Tagovailoa isn’t ready for Week 1. In addition to his troublesome hip, Tagovailoa has also dealt with wrist and ankle injuries in the past.
If he can stay healthy, the Dolphins might’ve finally found their guy. Miami certainly won’t be tanking in 2020, after they spent big in free agency on guys like Byron Jones and Kyle Van Noy.
Redskins Will Not Trade No. 2 Pick
Just moments after it was officially confirmed that the Bengals wouldn’t trade the first pick, the Redskins are following suit. Washington has made their decision and they will not trade the second pick, sources told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link).
Rapsheet says they’re keeping the pick “because they love the player who will be there for them,” which is almost certainly Ohio State pass-rusher Chase Young. The Redskins fielded offers for the pick, and the Falcons were reportedly one of the teams that seriously tried to move up to take Young. We heard yesterday that one team had made a “complete offer” for the selection, but ultimately Washington decided they couldn’t part with it.
Young dominated in the Big Ten last season, racking up 16.5 sacks and 21 tackles for loss in only 12 games. He’s viewed by many as the top overall prospect in the draft, and should provide an instant boost to Washington’s defense. Assuming the pick is Young, the Redskins will have a ton of youthful talent on their defensive front with fellow youngsters Daron Payne, Montez Sweat, and Jonathan Allen also present.