First Down Trevor Lawrence will be the first overall pick in the 2021 draft barring injury. That's not really earth shattering; it's not even news. What is news? Trevor's comments about potentially staying at Clemson. https://twitter.com/ESPNCFB/status/1321185351357124609 If the draft were to happen tomorrow the top four teams would go someting like this: https://twitter.com/BigMoneyATL/status/1320597322405941248 Out of the top ten the only teams that wouldn't draft Lawrence are Miami, Cincinnati, and the Chargers. The other seven would sell their soul to draft him. But would Trevor want to go to any of those franchises? The potential number one pick doesn't drop a quote like that if he really isn't considering staying in school and trying again next year. It wouldn't be the first time a top signal caller refused to go a team that drafted him. John Elway famously refused to go to the Colts, Eli said no to San Diego, Jim Kelly signed with the USFL because he refused to play in Buffalo. That obviously changed but as the most powerful position in all of sports the quarterbacks can conduct business in ways that other players cannot. Serious question: would you want to play for the Jets? Of course not, no one is excited to play for the Jets. Sure, Joe Douglas is respected across the league but how many careers, both players and front office personnel, have died in East Rutherford? A lot. The answer is a lot. So let's play a game. Trevor decides he's done playing for free and declares he's leaving Clemson. The Jets are overflowing with glee but wait a minute... Trevor's people tells the Jets to stop wasting their time because he's not playing in New York. Who is moving up? Who has the assets to jump up and grab him? Let's take a look. According to DraftTek's trade value chart the number one pick is worth 3,000 points. If the team with the third overall pick wants to jump to the top spot then they need to come up with 800 points to create an equal value to the top team. This does not include players. So what would teams be willing to trade? Giants: 2021 first round pick (2nd overall), 2021 second round pick, and Evan Engram. It might seem foolish to give up a good tight end while bringing in a new quarterback but the Giants receiving corps isn't that bad and Barkley will be returning next year from a torn ACL. The offense could get by with a mid-tier tight end drafted later or picked up in free agency. It'll also be nice having Lawrence on a reasonable contract for five years while Barkley gets his massive deal. Jacksonville: 2021 first round pick (3rd overall), 2021 first round pick (from LA Rams), 2021 2nd round pick (from Minnesota), and a 2022 fourth round pick. The Jaguars looked foolish for trading Ramsey and Ngakoue but if those picks lead to Trevor Lawrence then all is forgiven. The luxury have multiple first and second round picks are almost too good to be true for Joe Douglas and the Jets. That's the kind of move that can kick start a franchise in the right direction. An extra first round pick in 2022 is just icing on the cake. Atlanta: 2021 first round pick (4th overall), 2022 first round pick, 2021 second round pick, 2022 third round pick, Julio Jones. Getting Sam Darnold a receiver like Julio Jones, no matter how old he is, would be an immediate upgrade. If the Falcons are making this move the Matt Ryan is either already gone or Atlanta already has a deal in place. It may finally break whatever curse has been over that franchise since 28-3. Or Trevor could go back to Clemson and pray that the Jets aren't picking in the same spot next year. Wouldn't put money on that bet, though. Second Down I'm sure you've heard the news but AB is back in the league. https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1320354850941620224 $1 million seems to be like a bargain. It's even worse once you realize how much money he's lost over the past 18 months. https://twitter.com/FieldYates/status/1320356716278652930 Quite the 180 turn from Bruce Arians' quote about signing Brown earlier this spring. https://twitter.com/NFLonFOX/status/1320404494920855553 A lot of folks think this is the final piece for a Bucs offense that already seems unstoppable. Currently the Bucs rank third in the league averging 31.7 points per game. Since week three Brady has been on a tear. https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1320868532989661185 The question that needs to be asked is why? The obvious answer is that AB is a HOF talent and can still be a top playmaker but is the potential chemistry issues worth it? The offense is doing fine and your defense is a top-ten unit. Surely you can survive a few weeks with a banged up receiving group. Establish the run then play-actoin to Gronk and Evans and you'll be okay. But that's boring; bring in AB and if all hell breaks loose then oh well. It worked well for Gruden and Mayock, right? https://twitter.com/DAZN_CA/status/1170475583697895424 Let's just hope that Arians has a plan to feed all of those receivers and running backs. You can only play with one football. Also, a good time to remind folks of AB's sexual assualt allegations, hence the eight game suspension. https://twitter.com/JulieDiCaro/status/1320829990599098369 Third Down The Eagles beat the Giants 22-21 on Thursday Night Football. Carson Wentz led a 4th quarter comeback yada yada yada let's laugh at Daniel Jones. The original. https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1319465167844003841 The memes. https://twitter.com/MeganPlain/status/1320227365751033856 https://twitter.com/betonline_ag/status/1319508307695095813 https://twitter.com/CoyWire/status/1319617847853723648 https://twitter.com/TheFFBallers/status/1319469807041826822 https://twitter.com/QuestionableNFL/status/1319563453514813441 In Daniel's defense no other QB has ran that fast in YEARS. It's really impressive. https://twitter.com/NextGenStats/status/1319467970570022916 Fourth Down PICK TIME Last week I went 8-6 which brings the season total to 63-38-1 Winners are in red. Thursday Night Football Atlanta @ Carolina Sunday Games Minnesota @ Green Bay Tennessee @ Cincinnati New York Jets @ Kansas City Indianappolis @ Detroit Pittsburgh @ Baltimore Los Angeles Rams @ Miami New England @ Buffalo Las Vegas @ Cleveland Los Angeles Chargers @ Denver New Orleans @ Chicago San Francisco @ Seattle Sunday Night Football Dallas @ Philadelphia Monday Night Football Tampa Bay @ New York Giants Extra Points Mike McArthy might not make it past the Cowboys' bye week. https://twitter.com/bomani_jones/status/1320405492607426561 Not a good week for running backs in pass protection. https://twitter.com/FieldYates/status/1320427057537552384 https://twitter.com/VersaceBoyEnt/status/1319463713443893248 ROOKIE OF THE YEAR https://twitter.com/ComplexSports/status/1320426559472390144 Arthur Blank The Penguin. https://twitter.com/minakimes/status/1320459288804904961 Drug test this man weekly. It's not fair. https://twitter.com/ComplexSports/status/1320537507386298368 Is it possible to induct someone in the HOF while they're still playing? No? Well this needs to be the exception. https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1320545981423706114 A friendly reminder that the NFL is blackballing Colin Kaepernick for protesting police brutality and racial injustice. Don’t forget to check out GoingFor2.com for daily fantasy advice and more heat. @ me madads14 As always, thanks for reading.
