KEEPING IT RAHEEL
Raheel Ramzanali: A snarky look at the top NFL prospects for 2019
May 1, 2018, 6:05 am
With the end of every draft season comes the start of the usual, and predictable, draft cycle for the following year. I wanted to get a jump start on my 2019 Draft Coverage by putting out my list of every prospect that will get hot with draft talk as the season progresses. Not much changes every year so this list could be used almost every draft season:
Prototypical Pocket QB with a Big Arm, QB. Underachieving Power 5 School - He’s the guy that teams tank for because in the NFL you need a QB to win it all. It doesn’t matter that this guy’s team didn’t make it to the College Football Playoffs because well he didn’t have enough talent. Scouts will love this kid’s arm and poise in the pocket because it fits the NFL. He might not be the best athlete in the draft, but man, he fits the mold. Nevermind that teams will start using more explosive QBs with offenses built around their strengths because this guy, well THIS GUY, has it all for an unimaginative NFL offense.
Looks the Part Defensive End, DE. Middle of the Pack SEC Team - If you can’t build through a QB then you better start thinking about the defensive line because disruption. Sure, this guy doesn’t have the ungodly numbers that you might want from a defensive end in terms of sacks, but my god does he disrupt. He’s the most talented player in this year’s draft, but because he has no other players around him, his team is just meh and we’re OK with it because disruption!
Really Good Running Back That Could Never Go Number 1 Because NFL, RB, A Big 10 School - I get it, there is no value at taking a really good running back high in the draft because you can always find a gem later in the draft so we can’t rank this guy too high just yet. Sure, he’ll measure really well and maybe even be the no.1 draft pick in some mock drafts following the combine, but soon we will all come back to Earth and put him in his place by dropping him down the rankings. This guy can get you tough yards and catch out of the backfield, but he’s still not good enough to be the consensus number 1 pick because NFL.
Franchise Saving Offensive Lineman for Your Franchise QB, OT, A School In a State That Exports Meat or Cheese - Boy, they sure do grow em big in <insert any school in the Big 10 or SEC>, don’t they?! I know O-line picks aren’t sexy, but damn they make sense so you have to insert one in the top 5.
Talented QB That Nobody Really Watches All Season Long but Has All the Tools, QB, Some School That has a Farm Animal as a Mascot - Every year all the draft pundits fall in love with a QB from a small school because he has this “tools” that nobody else has in a bigger conference. I’m not sure how scouts always find this unicorn every year because if I was a scout and I happened to find this magical QB, I wouldn’t tell anybody about him and just scoop him up way later in the draft. But every year, somehow these guys get run. Who let’s the secret out?! I know who - The Belluminati.
Uber Talented Defensive Player That Should’ve Been Allowed to Enter The Draft at 18, DT, Houston - Ugh, I wish Ed Oliver was allowed to enter right out of high school.
This Wide Receiver Can Be a Game Changer, But The Drama Might Not Be Worth It, WR, A Pac-12 That Always Plays at 10:30 P.M. on Saturday Nights So Nobody Ever Watches Him - Stop with the lies, you’ve never watched this receiver play. The only person I know that watches late Pac-12 football is Del Olaleye and even the thinks this guy isn’t worth the pick.
Alabama’s Best Defensive Player, LB, Alabama - Sometimes you just have to take the most beast guy from the most stacked team in the nation as your pick. Would this kid have been great at another school? Absolutely. But because he went to Alabama has a 5-star, there will be no doubt in his game and abilities so he will crack the top 10.
This Guy Is a Winner, QB, A College Football Playoff School - This kid just wins. He might have the most flaws of everyone in the top 10, but there is no measurement for that winning DNA. WE LOVE A WINNER!
Another O-line Stud, G, Big 10 School - Again, gotta get the big dudes up here because we need to protect the investment!
C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson found themselves in the same spot when they met in Week 2 last season.
Both quarterbacks were top-five draft picks, lost their season openers and seemed to be facing a steep learning curve.
Richardson won Round 1 in Houston, although he didn't finish the game.
Stroud took Round 2 in Indianapolis with the injured Richardson watching from the sideline as Texans clinched the AFC South title and Stroud locked up his runaway selection as NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
On Sunday, each QB begins his second pro season — with a lot still to prove.
“I’m excited. First official game back with my guys and my teammates,” said Richardson, who had season-ending shoulder surgery last October. "I want to win. So, whatever I’ve got to do to do that, I’m going to do it.”
Winning a season opener certainly would be a welcome change for a franchise that last started 1-0 in 2013. The 10-game winless streak is easily the NFL's longest active streak.
But that's just a start for Richardson.
He needs to improve his accuracy after completing a pedestrian 59.5% of his throws in 2023 and must demonstrate he can finish games. He missed 13 last season and only finished one of his four starts because of an assortment of injuries, including the concussion that knocked him out of that Week 2 matchup at Houston after he ran for two scores.
Stroud, meanwhile, is coming off one of the most successful rookie seasons in NFL history.
He became just the third player in a half-century to lead the league in yards passing per game (273.9) and touchdown-to-interception ratio (4.6 to 1), won a playoff game and made hist first Pro Bowl appearance.
How can he improve on a season like that? By showing last season was a building block — not a fluke. He has a stronger supporting cast, too, with Joe Mixon, a four-time 1,000-yard rusher, and Stefon Diggs, who has four straight 100-catch seasons, now in the mix.
The long journey begins Sunday in Indianapolis.
“I want to just start fast,” Stroud said. “It doesn't have to do with a certain game, just in general this season. Last year, we started off really slow and just kind of had to build our way back. It's not an easy thing to do, so I would say this year we want to start fast.”
Houston receiver Nico Collins had two of his biggest games last season against Indy — catching seven passes for 146 yards and one TD in the Week 2 matchup only to outperform those numbers with a 195-yard day that included a 75-yard TD catch in Week 18.
He could play an even bigger role this time with Indy's young secondary trying to match up not only with Collins but also Diggs, Mixon and tight end Dalton Schultz.
“Nico is a playmaker,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “Every time I see him, he’s a true playmaker. So, you just have to get Nico the ball in any way, shape or fashion. Just find a way to get him the ball just to see how explosive and how dynamic he is.”
Injuries and a contract dispute prevented Jonathan Taylor from replicating the form he used to win the 2021 NFL rushing title. Starting against the Texans could be just what he needs.
In six games against Houston, Taylor has rushed for seven TDs and 135.2 yards per game — his highest average against any team he's faced multiple times. And in that rematch with Houston in Week 18, he finished with 30 carries for 188 yards, the NFL's highest single-game total all season.
Houston defensive end Will Anderson, last season’s AP Defensive Rookie of the Year, will play Sunday after recovering from an ankle injury that limited his training camp snaps.
The No. 3 overall pick in 2023 had 45 tackles, 10 for loss, and 7 1/2 sacks as a rookie. He expects to be even better this season.
“I’m way more comfortable,” he said. “Just going into Year 2 knowing the scheme better, knowing what to expect a little bit more and knowing what’s going to happen gives you more confidence.”
The Colts lost their 2023 sacks leader, Samson Ebukam, with a torn Achilles tendon during training. But they may have the perfect replacement.
Laiatu Latu was the first defensive player taken in April's draft, at No. 15 overall, and he's shown coaches that the moves he used to record 23 1/2 sacks over his last two college seasons can work in the NFL.
“We know that there’s going to be a learning curve there," defensive coordinator Gus Bradley said. "We know there are going to be plays that we’re going to come in and say there were some good plays, and there were plays he wishes he had back — we understand that. But just his overall mentality and skill set, we’re very excited to see.”