The 2016 NFL Draft: The Chaos of the First Round
On Thursday, April 28th, the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft began in Chicago, Illinois at 7:00 pm CT. In the NFL Draft, all 32 NFL teams pick collegiate players to add to their team and to help improve the team. As for this year, one team was not allowed to have a first round pick. Included in the Deflategate punishment, the New England Patriots were fined $1 million and had their 1st round pick for 2016 and 4th round pick for 2017 taken away.
For the other teams on Thursday, their first round picks were crucial in improving their game. After the NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, called for the draft to be open, the Los Angeles Rams were ready to claim their first overall pick. In need of a quarterback, the Rams acquired California QB Jared Goff. Goff seemed thrilled to be going to Los Angeles in an interview with ESPN.
“‘I think I’m a good fit,’ Goff said. ‘I think how I felt with them and how they felt with me, I think there was similar thoughts about the way the game works, and I’m just excited to go down there and get a chance to work with them.’”
As for the second overall pick, the Philadelphia Eagles would also select a star quarterback. This player was North Dakota State QB, Carson Wentz. Showing much talent in the last year and with the Eagles showing much need for a quarterback, Wentz was a sure selection for the second overall pick, but the Eagles still would like to hold onto Sam Bradford as their primary option.
In an article by Yahoo! journalist Dan Wetzel says Wentz seemed ready to meet people’s expectations.
“‘To know they believed in me that much to go up is really unbelievable,’ Wentz said. ‘I’m going to put a lot of expectations on myself. I hold myself to a high standard.’”
During the draft, the player who took the spotlight was Laremy Tunsil, who was a clear example of the perils of social media.The University of Mississippi offensive tackle was expected to be the first overall pick of the draft, but after a video surfaced of him smoking weed through a gas mask, he was picked by the Miami Dolphins, all the way at No. 13 overall.
The clip was posted on Tunsil’s own Twitter account, which he closed shortly after, but by then, the video had already gone viral. Tunsil he told NFL Network his account was hacked.
“‘Man, it was a mistake. It happened years ago,’ told Deion Sanders on the NFL Network, shortly after he was chosen by the Miami Dolphins. ‘Someone hacked my Twitter account and that’s how it got on there.’”
Arrowhead Sophomore Hayden Henning had some other thoughts about Tunsil.
“I thought he was a great player; had great potential in the NFL,” Henning said, “But he made a dumb decision in posting that video. Even if his account was hacked, he shouldn’t have had his pot video accessible.”
In the meanwhile, Alabama running back, Derrick Henry, is still available for the taking, still providing excitement to the draft. The second and third round of the draft starts today, Friday April 29th, at 7:00 CT, on ESPN.
