With the NFL Draft approaching this Thursday, there are many questions surrounding what certain teams will do and who will be selected. There could be many surprising moves that fans don’t expect. With that being said, here are the five biggest questions I have about this year’s draft.
5. Who Will the Green Bay Packers Take with the 13th pick?
In case you have not heard, the trade between the Packers and New York Jets was made official on Tuesday. The Jets get Aaron Rodgers and in exchange, the Packers get a load of draft picks, including the 13th overall pick which is where the New York Jets were. They are now pick number 15. Green Bay is officially in the midst of a rebuild with a lot of young talent, led by quarterback Jordan Love and wide receiver Christian Watson.
A lot of talk surrounding Green Bay in the last few weeks has been surrounding their need for rebuilding their offense and giving Love weapons to work with. However, I am not fully convinced they will pick a receiver at number 13, although they SHOULD. The Packers are looking to end a drought where they did not select a skill position player on offense (WR, RB, TE) in the first round. The last time they did: 2002, with wide receiver Javon Walker. Will that change in 2023? It remains to be seen.
4. Could the Philadelphia Eagles Draft a Running Back with the 10th overall pick?
A lot of speculation is surrounding one team in the NFC East, the Philadelphia Eagles. Philadelphia has had noise surrounding their potential draft plans over the last week or so. They just lost their number one running back in Miles Sanders to free agency as Sanders signed with the Carolina Panthers. Texas running back Bijan Robinson is the best player at the position for this year’s draft class and I have seen a few mock drafts that land Robinson with the Eagles. I don’t expect general manager Howie Roseman to truly follow through with the thought of taking a running back, as the Eagles have several other needs to fulfill such as the offensive line and defensive tackle.
3. How far will Jalen Carter fall?
Star defensive tackle Jalen Carter is the top defensive draft prospect, and rightfully so. He was part of an elite defense that led Georgia to win the national championship in January. However, the week of the Scouting Combine in early March is when a bombshell report came out and changed EVERYTHING. On the day of his scheduled workout, he was arrested by police and charged with reckless driving and racing that led to the fatalities of one of Georgia’s recruitment staff members, Chandler LeCroy, and his former teammate, offensive lineman Devin Willock. That incident occurred in January and after the news of his arrest, there has been endless speculation as to how far he might fall.
Most NFL executives and insiders believe he will not fall out of the top five. The Arizona Cardinals are third and the Seattle Seahawks have the fifth overall pick and are in need of improving their defensive lines. This has been one of the biggest stories throughout the draft process and it will be interesting to see where Carter lands.
2. Who Will The Indianapolis Colts draft?
The Colts have been through a quarterback carousel since Andrew Luck’s sudden retirement in 2019, too many to list. Over the last few days, there’s been an increasing amount of speculation surrounding the Colts having a top choice: Kentucky quarterback Will Levis. The Colts have not made their thoughts publicly known about where they stand, and rightfully so. But, the last thing they want to do is second guess themselves. Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson is another popular prospect whose name has been mentioned in recent weeks and linked to Indianapolis. The bottom line is: the Colts are in desperate need of turning around their franchise. They seem to have a logical plan in front of them, unlike their AFC South rivals, the Houston Texans…
1. Why on earth would the Houston Texans pass on a quarterback with the second overall pick?
The Texans currently hold the number two and number 12 picks in the first round of the draft. They have several needs to fulfill, but quarterback is the top priority. However, there was a report that recently surfaced courtesy of Joseph Zucker from Bleacher Report and Peter Schrager from NFL Network that the Texans are more than likely going to pass up the opportunity to draft a quarterback and instead draft a defensive lineman second overall. That would be the biggest draft day blunder in NFL history considering how bad the team was last year and they are in desperate need of improving the position. They also have the 12th pick which they acquired from the Cleveland Browns in the Deshaun Watson trade from 2020. There’s no guarantee by the time they select 12th that a quarterback would be there.
