2014 NFL Draft: First Round Recap

Johnny Manziel (Texas A&M) poses for photos with commissioner Roger Goodell Mandatory Credit: William Perlman/THE STAR-LEDGER via USA TODAY Sports

Last night marked the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft and with it, came a lot of surprises. In a league where it seems that having a franchise quarterback is the most important thing, didn’t seem as important as one might have thought.

The Houston Texans held the first overall pick and selected defensive end Jadeveon Clowney out of South Carolina. The Texans desperately need a franchise quarterback unless they plan on Ryan Fitzpatrick starting for them in 2014.

The first quarterback selected last night was Central Florida’s Blake Bortles who went third overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Bortles at one point had been projected to go number one overall, but recently slid to as low as number eight overall.

The hottest story of the night was Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel. Manziel was projected to go fourth overall to the Cleveland Browns, but the Browns traded their pick to the Buffalo Bills who in turn selected Clemson’s Sammy Watkins. The Browns shocked everyone when they took Justin Gilbert with their newly appointed eighth pick that they received from Minnesota.

The more teams that passed on Manziel, the more likely it seemed that the Kansas City Chiefs would take the big name quarterback. It would have made zero sense for the Chiefs to have traded two second rounders to the 49ers for Alex Smith and then take Johnny Football in the first round a year later. Luckily, the Browns traded with the Eagles to take Manziel one pick before the Chiefs were on the clock.

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The Chiefs, surprising many, selected Dee Ford out of Auburn. Ford may not be the most obvious pick for Kansas City, but he’s a good one nonetheless. Well, hopefully he’s a good one. It seems that he could end up being Tamba Hali‘s replacement.

In a draft where wide receivers seemed to be the most needed position, only five were selected. Watkins to the Bills, Mike Evans to the Buccaneers, Odell Beckham Jr. to the Giants, Brandin Cooks to the Saints, and Kelvin Benjamin to the Panthers. Marqise Lee and Jordan Matthews are still on the board and more than likely will be high selections in round two tonight.

The Vikings made things interesting in the last few minutes of round one by trading with the Seahawks to move into round one and snatching up Teddy Bridgewater with the 32nd pick. Bridgewater had dropped significantly in the past few months and wasn’t even projected to go in the first round. Top quarterbacks remaining include Derek Carr, Tom Savage,and A.J. McCarron.

Fun fact: For the second year in a row, no running backs were taken in the first round.

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