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The Nets were encouraged by a late-season surge that gave them control of their playoff destiny.
They even drew some consolation after collapsing in the second half Sunday in a 23-point loss at Milwaukee. But now, after being drubbed, 113-86, by the Chicago Bulls on Monday night at Barclays Center, they are a desperate team forced to watch the scoreboard.
"Having to depend on somebody else is always frustrating," Jarrett Jack said. "Hopefully, we will get some help."
The Nets can no longer eye the Eastern Conference's seventh slot. Their latest stumble ensured that the Boston Celtics clinched a playoff position, currently No. 7. The Nets fell a half-game behind the Indiana Pacers, who were idle, for the final berth.
The Nets have hope, however. They hold the tiebreaker with Indiana because they won the teams' season series. And Indiana has formidable opponents remaining — if both are not looking ahead to the playoffs.
The Pacers will face the Washington Wizards at home Tuesday and play at the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday. The Nets will conclude the regular season at home against the Orlando Magic, whose ineptitude in the conference is exceeded only by that of the Philadelphia 76ers and the Knicks.
Lionel Hollins, the Nets' coach, warned against writing off his 37-44 team, which had reasserted itself with 10 victories in a 13-game stretch before the consecutive lopsided defeats. "Do what you want to do," Hollins told reporters, "but we'll be here on Wednesday and try to close out the season with a victory and see what happens."
The Nets struggled on both ends of the court against Chicago (49-32), even though the Bulls played without Joakim Noah, an imposing forward who sat out with an eye toward the postseason.
Derrick Rose played only 23 minutes 4 seconds in his fourth game back after a 20-game layoff due to surgery on his right knee, but he was a dynamic player who could not be contained. He finished with 13 points, 7 assists and 3 rebounds, with only 2 turnovers.
"There's no one like him," Chicago Coach Tom Thibodeau said. "He's got the power, quickness and speed. It's very unusual."
Rose affected his team's offense in ways that his counterpart, Deron Williams, could not for the Nets. Williams converted only 3 of 13 shots from the field, finishing with 9 points and 5 assists, although he played 10 more minutes than Rose.
"When he's attacking the rim, it doesn't necessarily have to be the rim but the paint; you're going to get good shots," Thibodeau said of Rose. "I thought he did that."
Nikola Mirotic, a 6-foot-10 forward bidding for rookie of the year honors, got some great looks courtesy of Rose. Mirotic came off the bench for a game-high 26 points, making 6 of 11 shots from 3-point range.
As Hollins lamented, Chicago shot better from 3-point range, draining 12 of 30 for 40 percent, than his team did inside the arc. The Bulls' staunch defense limited the Nets to 36.8 percent from the field (32 of 87).
Rose led the charge in helping the Bulls build a 57-50 halftime lead. The Bulls ended any doubt about the outcome in the third quarter by rattling off 13 of the last 15 points to take command, 87-65. Mirotic poured in the Bulls' last 9 points in the quarter, all on high-arcing 3s.
After the Nets had played so well for an extended stretch before Sunday, some players were at a loss to explain the team's reversal.
Joe Johnson, a veteran forward, said of falling so far short against Chicago: "I really, honestly can't explain it. I don't even know how that's possible with this being a very important game."
REBOUNDS
ALAN ANDERSON missed his sixth consecutive game with a sprained left ankle. ... CHRIS MULLIN, the newly hired coach at St. John's, received a rousing ovation when he was introduced.
Gerrit Cole shut down baseball's top-hitting team, allowing just one run in six-plus innings on Monday, as the host Pittsburgh Pirates handed the Detroit Tigers their first loss of the season, 5-4.
The Tigers were trying to match the 7-0 start by the 1984 club that went on to win the World Series.
Cole struck out eight and walked two while giving up three hits, helping the Pirates win their second straight home opener.
Josh Harrison, Pedro Alvarez and Corey Hart each homered for Pittsburgh. The Pirates have won three of four after being swept by Cincinnati to open the season.
J. D. Martinez hit a two-run homer off Pittsburgh closer Mark Melancon in the ninth, but a late Detroit rally came up short.
Anibal Sanchez of the Tigers surrendered five runs in six and a third innings. Miguel Cabrera went 2 for 4 with an R.B.I.
ROYALS 12, TWINS 3 Kansas City became the only unbeaten team in the major leagues as Danny Duffy pitched into the seventh inning and Kendrys Morales homered in a romp over Minnesota, spoiling the Twins' home opener.
The Royals, the defending American League champions, improved to 7-0. It was the second-best start in team history, behind the 2003 club that won nine in a row to begin the season.
Duffy lasted six and a third innings, giving up three runs.
RED SOX 9, NATIONALS 4 Mookie Betts hit a three-run homer, took a potential two-run shot away from Bryce Harper with a flashy catch and stole two bases on the same pitch, leading Boston past Washington in the Red Sox' home opener.
Boston's Rick Porcello allowed four hits in eight innings.
BRAVES 3, MARLINS 2 Alberto Callaspo hit a tiebreaking single in Atlanta's two-run fifth inning, and the host Braves held off Miami in the ninth in a game slowed by two rain delays.
ROCKIES 2, GIANTS 0 Eddie Butler outpitched his fellow rookie Chris Heston to shut down San Francisco, and visiting Colorado spoiled the Giants' latest World Series championship celebration during their home opener.
Troy Tulowitzki had the only R.B.I. of the game with a single in the fourth.
ANGELS 6, RANGERS 3 Collin Cowgill and David Freese each hit two-run homers in the fifth inning for visiting Los Angeles, which rallied from an early deficit to top Texas.
RAYS 2, BLUE JAYS 1 Jake Odorizzi pitched eight innings, and visiting Tampa Bay edged Toronto in the Blue Jays' home opener.
Odorizzi, a right-hander, allowed one run and two hits.
CUBS 7, REDS 6 Jorge Soler homered twice, and Arismendy Alcantara had a game-ending run-scoring single in the 10th inning to propel host Chicago past Cincinnati.
BREWERS 5, CARDINALS 4 Matt Garza overcame five walks to earn his first career win in St. Louis, and Carlos Gomez had two hits and an R.B.I. for Milwaukee in the Cardinals' home opener.
ATHLETICS 8, ASTROS 1 Billy Butler hit a three-run homer and Marcus Semien and Brett Lawrie connected to back a solid start by Scott Kazmir as visiting Oakland pounded Houston.
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The Mets announced in the ninth inning Monday that the crowd at their home opener — 43,947 — had set a regular-season record for Citi Field. It sounded like a joke because the ballpark, now in its seventh season, has never hosted a postseason game. It was an All-Star Game, two years ago, that holds the record.
The way the Mets are talking, they might be printing tickets soon for the 2015 playoffs. They are not as brazen as Bryce Harper, the young Washington Nationals slugger, who said this spring that when the team signed pitcher Max Scherzer, his reaction was, "Where's my ring?" But the Mets will clearly be shocked if they do not end their streak of six losing seasons.
"We have huge expectations, and we're not afraid of it," Manager Terry Collins said Monday morning. "We're not afraid to talk about it, talk about winning, because I think the more you talk about it, the more you feel good about the execution side."
Then Jacob deGrom, who at this time last season had never pitched in the majors, coolly collected the first 19 outs of a 2-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. Nobody reached third base against deGrom, and nobody got a hit off the bullpen.
Part of that, naturally, is because of the Phillies' weak lineup. But the Mets really can pitch, they are capitalizing on opponents' mistakes, and their balanced offense might do just enough to keep things interesting all season.
Sandy Alderson, the general manager, said he liked the mix of young players who had earned a longer look and veterans who seemed likely to improve from last season. He loves the rotation.
"And I like our chemistry," Alderson said. "The team has a whole different attitude about itself and what it's capable of doing."
Chemistry and attitude are hopeful buzzwords this time of year, impossible to quantify but, for all we know, important to winning. They sound good, anyway, and they can shape the narrative the Mets want to promote: They are a team on the rise.
This act can wear thin, but it is fun for a while. Collins, in the final year of his contract, seems comfortable channeling Rex Ryan and proclaiming the Mets as winners before they actually win. The players understand what he means.
"You've got to believe," said the new left fielder, Michael Cuddyer, who seemed not to notice that he was quoting Tug McGraw. "You've got to believe you're a good team. And if that means outwardly showing it, I don't know. I think you have to go out there with the intent that you're going to win the game and the belief that you're going to win the game. You have to walk that way and play that way."
In his first home game as a Met, Cuddyer said the crowd gave him chills. It happened on a double play in the ninth inning, when Jeurys Familia covered first on the back end of a 3-6-1 double play. Cuddyer looked into the stands and saw fans slapping hands, like they were part of the team. When he signed here last fall, this is what Cuddyer wanted.
"The crowd was electric," second baseman Daniel Murphy said. "There was buzz in the stands. Nice to see the 7-Line Army in right-center field."
Those were the fans who commandeered three outfield sections between the home-run apple and the bullpens, a patch of orange T-shirts that helped make the park come alive. The Mets keep searching for the right dimensions on the field, but we see, now and then, that this place has a soul. October will be crazy here, if the Mets make it happen.
Just one of them has experienced the feeling of reaching the playoffs with the Mets — David Wright, the captain, who was here in 2006. Wright said he liked this team's personality, its unselfish attitude and upbeat clubhouse vibe. But those attributes only go so far.
"We've all done it, and I've been guilty of it also — talking about how good we should be or how good we think we are," Wright said. "But when push comes to shove, the only way to become truly confident is to become good at winning — and that takes wins, especially the first month. Playing as many games as we are in our division, it's a good chance for us to gain true confidence, not the confidence of talking about it or thinking that you're good — actually going out there and being good."
The Mets were good last April, too. They entered May with a 15-11 record, then went 64-72 the rest of the way. They added Cuddyer early in the off-season, then did little else. They have lost some players to injury but welcomed others back, like Matt Harvey, the most electrifying baseball player in New York. He starts on Tuesday.
Maybe this all adds up to a playoff berth, maybe not. The Mets just need an entertaining summer, especially with the cloud of gloom that shaded the Yankees' side of town in their opening homestand. Wright has seen enough to be skeptical of brash talk, but Collins will not back down.
"The more you talk about good things, the more you work at them and the more you focus," Collins said, "because nobody likes to be embarrassed."
The Mets have been embarrassed, repeatedly, since opening a ballpark that deserves a better product. They believe they finally have one. Their efforts will be fascinating to watch.
Anthony Davis had 24 points, 11 rebounds and 6 blocks to move the visiting New Orleans Pelicans one step closer to a playoff berth with a 100-88 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night.
Tyreke Evans added 22 points and 5 assists and Eric Gordon scored 22 for the Pelicans (44-37), whose magic number for clinching a playoff spot in the rugged Western Conference has been reduced to one.
New Orleans has the same record as Oklahoma City but hold the tiebreaker heading into the season finale Wednesday against San Antonio.
THUNDER 101, TRAIL BLAZERS 90 Russell Westbrook scored 36 points for host Oklahoma City, which would have been eliminated from the Western Conference playoff race with a loss.
Portland has already locked into the No. 4 spot in the West.
KNICKS 112, HAWKS 108 The rookie Langston Galloway scored a career-high 26 points, hitting all six of his 3-point attempts, and the visiting Knicks stunned playoff-bound Atlanta.
Atlanta entered its final home game of the regular season having long ago clinched the top seed in the East and leading the Knicks by 44 games in the standings.
The Knicks led by 17 points in the first half and held off several furious comebacks by the Hawks. Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver led Atlanta with 19 points each.
BALTIMORE — Easygoing and soft-spoken, with a smooth Georgia drawl, Stephen Drew does not play with any more of an edge than he speaks with. His is not the sort of demeanor that can endear players to fans at Yankee Stadium when their performances do not.
And so it was during the off-season that a punching bag was set up in the Bronx when the Yankees re-signed Drew to a one-year, $5 million contract after he had done so little to earn it last season, his .162 batting average with the Red Sox and then the Yankees being the third-worst mark over the last century for players with 300 plate appearances.
If there is to be a change of heart in how Yankees fans view Drew, the shift no doubt began here Monday night when he came off the bench to deliver a pinch-hit grand slam that lifted the Yankees to a 6-5 victory over Baltimore.
It was an invigorating victory after a disappointing start to the season at home, and not a bad way for the team to embark on a stretch in which it will play 25 of 35 games on the road.
The Yankees got a sterling defensive performance from catcher John Ryan Murphy and a five-out save from Andrew Miller and continued their recent home-run binge with three more. But nobody provided a larger lift than Drew.
With two out and the bases loaded in the seventh, he was called on to hit for Brett Gardner, who was having difficulty swinging the bat after being hit on the wrist by a pitch earlier in the game.
Drew took a first-pitch strike, then worked the count to 3-1 before crushing a fastball from the right-hander Tommy Hunter over the fence in right-center field.
"It's one of those things where I feel a little more comfortable trying not to do too much, trying not to put too much pressure on myself," Drew said. "I know what kind of player I am and I've done it for a long time."
It was the first pinch-hit grand slam for the Yankees since Jorge Posada hit one against the Orioles 14 years ago.
Manager Joe Girardi had a number of options on his bench, including two hitters with more power: Brian McCann and Chase Headley. Girardi had spoken earlier with Gardner, who was hit in the first inning and bunted in his next two trips to the plate.
"I knew from swinging on deck that it didn't feel great," said Gardner, who was hit on the wrist for the second time this season. X-rays taken after he was removed showed no serious injuries. "I came to Joe before the seventh inning and I just let him know if my spot came up with guys on base, I might not be the best guy to go up there and swing the bat and try to drive them in. It turns out Stephen Drew was the man for the job."
If Drew's home run Monday was a bolt from nowhere, the rally was constructed on innocuous building blocks: a bloop single from Chris Young, a walk by Murphy and a two-out dribbler that Jacoby Ellsbury beat out to load the bases.
At the time, the Yankees were trailing by 4-2 after Orioles center fielder Adam Jones snapped a tie with a two-run homer to center field off Michael Pineda with two outs in the sixth. After Drew's homer, the Orioles closed the gap to 6-5 in the seventh when the Yankees could not turn a challenging 4-6-3 double play, allowing Manny Machado to score. A walk to Steve Pearce loaded the bases, but Dellin Betances struck out Chris Davis with a slider, allowing the Yankees to escape with their lead intact.
Shortly after Murphy threw out Jones trying to steal second, Miller entered with one out in the eighth and closed out the victory. The last out came, fittingly enough, when Pearce bounced out to Drew at second.
Drew had other options after last season but wanted to return to the Yankees, despite having to switch to second base after having played shortstop before his arrival in a trade. He missed the first two months of last season after declining a one-year, $14 million qualifying offer from the Red Sox, eventually signing with them in May. Even though he was in good shape physically, he did not see live pitching for so long that he was far behind. His timing never recovered and neither did his confidence.
"It's never easy," Girardi said of playing at Yankee Stadium. "You have to be pretty resilient to play here; we know that. The fans expect a lot, and I understand why. We've all been through it."
One reason he chose to return was a desire to prove that he was still the hitter he was in 2013, when he delivered 29 doubles, 13 home runs and 67 runs batted in for the Red Sox, who won the World Series.
"I wanted to be here," Drew said. "I know what kind of team this is. I'm just glad to be back. This team puts a team together to want to win, and in '13, being able to go over there in Boston and winning, and seeing that — it's later in my career now. I want to be able to have a team to be able to win."
An earlier version of this article incorrectly described Stephen Drew's batting average last season. It was the third-worst mark over the last century for players with at least 300 plate appearances, not at-bats. An earlier version of this article also misstated, in one instance, the first name of the Orioles player who homered in the sixth. He is Adam Jones, not Chris.
The recent scandal in which a New Jersey high school cancelled its football season after seven varsity players were charged with hazing and sexually assaulting younger players, has led to more scrutiny about football and youth sports.
Have competitive teenage athletics gotten out of hand? Should high schools eliminate their sports teams?
Read the Discussion »When the Gaillardia Golf and Country Club opened in 1998, it was to be the crown jewel of golf in Oklahoma City, complete with an 18-hole P.G.A. championship course and a 55,000-square-foot clubhouse of Norman-style architecture. The Gaylord family, best known as Oklahoma media moguls and owners of the Grand Ole Opry, sank a reported $59 million into the project.
Over the next 15 years, however, the course changed hands and fell into disrepair as a glut of new courses and declining demand punished the market. Finally, early this year, Gaillardia was sold to Concert Golf Partners, an investment firm based in Newport Beach, Calif., which assumed $7 million in loans and now owns the property free and clear.
"Between 1998 and 2005 there would have been a bidding war," said Peter Nanula, the chairman of Concert Golf who previously ran Arnold Palmer Golf Management.
While golf is still anathema to many investment portfolios, investors who have the cash see the current market as an opportunity to scoop up distressed clubs and revamp their business models.
"It's certainly a buyer's market," said Larry Hirsh, president of Golf Property Analysts. "There are a lot of distressed courses, financing is difficult and most buyers don't have the ability to write a check."
Valuations for golf courses — and golf course debt — have been slow to recover even as most asset classes have recovered from the financial crisis. Last year was the eighth consecutive year of net club closings, according to the National Golf Foundation, with 157 closings and 14 openings. Most existing courses, meanwhile, are still worth far less than they were before the recession.
Several factors have been dragging down the industry, experts say, including changing family dynamics, overbuilding in the late 1990s and an absence of lenders.
In 2007, the three big players in this area — GE Capital, Textron and Capmark — had more than $2 billion in golf loans outstanding, which were already in decline, Mr. Nanula said. In 2012, that number was just $500 million. Today, what lending is done is extremely fragmented, with interest rates starting about 7 percent and loan-to-value ratios around 50 percent, compared with 90 percent before the recession.
"It would be like if Wells Fargo and Chase suddenly quit making home loans," he said, noting that lenders left the market for a variety of reasons, not all of them related to loan performance.
But that has opened the door for investors like Mr. Nanula, who raised his $50 million private equity fund in 2012 and has since bought eight golf course clubs and loans. In 2013, the asset management giant Fortress Investment Group began financing Arcis Equity Partners, a Dallas-based private equity firm that specializes in leisure. In March, Tower Three Partners of Greenwich, Conn., took a majority stake in the Heritage Golf Group, an owner and operator of premier private, resort and daily fee golf properties.
Foreign investors are also joining the game. Heritage Est. St. Andrews, based in Luxembourg, recently formed a fund to invest in and enhance undervalued golf properties. Pacific Links International of Canada began acquiring clubs in 2012 and now owns 10 in the United States, bringing its network of owned, affiliate and reciprocal clubs to more than 100 worldwide.
Last September, the world's largest owner and operator of private clubs, ClubCorp Holdings, went public at $14 a share. The Dallas-based company, which had been owned by the private equity firm KSL Capital Partners, has used the injection of capital to add to its portfolio of clubs and eventually pay off its high-yield debt. It now owns 109 golf and country clubs in 23 states and Mexico. Its shares climbed as high as $19.30 in May and closed at $18.63 on Thursday.
More golf courses are likely to close over the next couple of years, said Eric Affeldt, ClubCorp's chief executive, but for the right clubs in the right markets, the tide is turning. "We sold more memberships last year than at any time over the last 10 years," he said. "As capacity returns to a healthier level, things should only improve."
Though the housing boom and easy access to credit helped pave the way for hundreds of new courses, the buildup began decades earlier. From 1986 through 2005, about 4,200 net new golf courses were added in the United States, a 40 percent increase, according to the National Golf Foundation.
The biggest frenzy was in the late 1990s, Mr. Affeldt said, after an "erroneous report" said that the supply of golf courses would not be sufficient to accommodate retiring baby boomers. Between 1994 and 1999, the market added on average a net 343 courses a year.
What the projections did not account for, however, was changing behavior among retirees. "Prior to 2000, the assumption was that boomers would behave the same as retirees in the 1950s through 1990s — people would retire and get a membership at a golf club," said Douglas Main, director of real estate consulting with Deloitte Transaction and Business Analytics. While plenty of baby boomers still love to golf, he said, many are working longer, traveling more and taking up other leisure activities.
Meanwhile, the younger set has not given the industry much of a bump. "The family dynamic has changed," Mr. Hirsh said. "Dad's not leaving for the golf course at 8 o'clock Saturday morning and coming home just in time for dinner."
Consequently, for more than a decade, the number of rounds played has been down or flat.
Though the industry as a whole has been under a black cloud, not all clubs are losing money. The clubs that have held up best are those in densely populated areas with limited land on which to develop, Mr. Main noted. "You can have a club in Chicago doing better than one in Florida or Texas, even after you factor for the weather," he said.
The worst off are those developed in the last 15 years as part of a residential community off the beaten path. "They're relying solely on demand from that community," Mr. Main added. Indeed, many of the new courses built during the housing boom were meant to be subsidized by home sales. When the bottom fell out of the housing market, developers had no way to pay for the expensive amenity. In many cases they defaulted on their loans, which are now getting scooped up by investors.
"Golf courses have high fixed costs," Mr. Nanula said. "At a typical course, it's at least $500,000 a year just to mow the grass." Moreover, many clubs are mismanaged, he said. "The typical dynamic at a private club is that it's not run with profit in mind but with the idea of making the place fabulous," he said. As a result, he said, "we consistently see clubs that have no rhyme or reason on spending."
As such, investors focus primarily on buying private clubs — annual and monthly dues are "stickier" than daily fees on public courses — and turning around the operations.
While the right location and management is crucial, the golf clubs that are doing well have also evolved from being golf centric to family centric. "It's now golf with a small 'g' instead of a capital 'G,' " Mr. Affeldt said, explaining that ClubCorp is refreshing food and beverage operations, relaxing dress codes and adding water parks, tennis courts and fitness facilities. Case in point: His home club, Brookhaven Country Club in Dallas. "Kids are playing putt-putt golf and running around in their bare feet while grandmas do water aerobics," he said. "It's the epitome of a multiuse, multigenerational club."
The pool of buyers has improved considerably over the past year, said Jeff Woolson, managing director of CBRE's golf and resort division, but that has not necessarily driven up prices.
Rather than base their offers on the value of the real estate, as many did in the past, buyers are focusing on the cash flow generated by the business. "This is a fundamental change," Mr. Woolson said. "Prior to the recession, we didn't even talk about gross revenue multipliers."
Before the financial crisis, buyers were paying the equivalent of 11 to 14 times net income, he said. Now, the going rate for a well-run course is in line with other businesses, typically six to eight times net income, he said — assuming there is income.
The change is warranted, Mr. Woolson said, because most courses left on the market have deed restrictions that preclude developing them for other purposes. "Where people got into trouble was thinking golf is a real estate investment," he said. "Golf courses are a real estate asset only insomuch as they use real estate in association with their business."
In fact, golf courses typically cost more to build than they are worth. "They're like new cars," Mr. Hirsh added. "They're worth less the minute you drive off the lot."
There was a lot of hype surrounding the first round of the 2014 N.F.L draft, and it didn't disappoint. From the slide of Johnny Manziel to the unexpected names called in the second half of the round, the first 32 picks in 2014 came with a lot of excitement.
After the Houston Texans drafted defensive end Jadeveon Clowney and the St. Louis Rams selected offensive tackle Greg Robinson, things got a whole lot murkier. There really wasn't a consensus on what the Jacksonville Jaguars might do with the third overall pick, and they shocked some with the selection of quarterback Blake Bortles.
The intrigue continued as the Buffalo Bills gave up the No. 9 overall pick and two selections in 2015, including their first-round pick, to jump up to No. 4 for wide receiver Sammy Watkins. Although Watkins was the consensus top wide receiver available this year, it's certainly worth questioning if he's worth two first-round picks and another mid-rounder.
As the draft unfolded, the seemingly impossible became a reality as Manziel slipped out of the top 10. When he fell to No. 12, you had to wonder if the Giants might bite the bullet and grab the controversial quarterback. They instead opted for L.S.U.'s Odell Beckham Jr.—a talented-but-undersized wide receiver with elite speed.
As Manziel slipped to No. 16, many assumed Cowboys owner Jerry Jones would back out on his vow to bypass the A&M passer if he was still on the board. He stood by his word, as Dallas addressed a need along the offensive line. The first big surprise came three picks later with the Dolphins and the 19th overall selection — Tennessee offensive tackle Ja'Waun James.
The Manziel drama finally ended when the Browns traded up — their third and final trade on the night — to grab the Aggies' quarterback. As mentioned earlier, the fall was extremely unlikely given Manziel's placement in mock drafts.
With surprise selections come unexpected falls. There are a number of talented players still on the board, including a handful of wide receivers many thought could slip into the back of the first round; Penn State's Allen Robinson, Fresno State's Davante Adams, U.S.C.'s Marqise Lee and Vanderbilt's Jordan Matthews should all hear their names called somewhere in the second round.
At the quarterback position, the next man off of the board will almost certainly be Fresno State's Derek Carr. When Minnesota traded back into the first round, there were rumblings that they might prefer Carr to Bridgewater.
It will be really interesting to see when the first running back comes off of the board. The top options in most rankings seem to be Ohio State's Carlos Hyde and Washington's Bishop Sankey, but you could make an argument that neither player will have their name called in the second round. Could we really see a draft with no back selected in the first 64 picks?
And finally, the defensive players likely to hear their names called early in the second round include defensive tackles Timmy Jernigan and Louis Nix, along with defensive ends Demarcus Lawrence and Kony Ealy.
Regardless of what happens in Day 2, the 2014 N.F.L. draft has already lived up to the billing.
The Seattle Seahawks are widely considered one of the best drafting teams in the league since Pete Carroll came to town, but one reason they're so successful is that they understand the draft is filled with randomness. In any random environment, it makes sense to maximize opportunities at success, and the Seahawks do that by continually trading down and stockpiling picks—opportunities to hit on players.
This deal, which included the Vikings' second- and fourth-round picks, still makes sense for Minnesota. In Louisville's Teddy Bridgewater, the Vikes will get a quarterback who was remarkably productive in college. In 2013, Bridgewater completed an unfathomable 71.0 percent of his passes, throwing for 9.3 yards-per-attempt in the process. With a 31-to-4 touchdown-to-interception ratio, Bridgewater was also safe with the football.
Minnesota is one of the best possible landing spots for Bridgewater because 1) he doesn't need to start right away and 2) Adrian Peterson is a nice little bonus to have at the running back position.
"He fits our profile," Jets G.M. John Idzik said of Calvin Pryor. "He's a physical presence on the field." http://t.co/9XqW7cwSR6
— NYT Sports (@NYTSports) 9 May 14
The Broncos went off the grid with yet another first-round cornerback in Bradley Roby. A 5'11", 194-pound defensive back out of Ohio State, Roby was suspended early in 2013 after getting arrested for misdemeanor battery.
In Denver, Roby is going to try to cash in on his elite skill set. He is likely going to contribute on special teams out of the gate, competing for time in the slot.
"The quarterback needs some help," Jerry Reese, the Giants' G.M., said of Odell Beckham Jr. "This guy is a weapon." http://t.co/kolBO32a2U
— NYT Sports (@NYTSports) 9 May 14
Continuing the run on safeties, the San Francisco 49ers grabbed Northern Illinois' Jimmie Ward. It's the second straight draft in which the Niners took a safety in the first round, as they grabbed L.S.U.'s Eric Reid in 2013.
In Ward, the 49ers will get a small safety who has shown an ability to consistently make big plays. He hauled in seven interceptions in 2013, complementing his 95 total tackles. Despite his 192-pound body, Ward has shown toughness and a willingness to drop down into the box to get after ball carriers. Still, he's going to be playing primarily "center field" for San Francisco.
NFL Network's Mike Mayock commented that, "I didn't see Ward going until the second or maybe the third round."
The New England Patriots are never afraid to go against the grain with their draft picks, and they did just that in grabbing Florida defensive tackle Dominique Easley. Easley is a somewhat undersized defensive tackle at just 288 pounds, so he'll likely convert to play as a five-technique end in the Pats' base packages.
Easley was widely considered a first-rounder heading into the 2013 season, but he tore his knee in the beginning of the year. Many thought he'd drop, but his impressive film was too good for New England to pass on.
Easley's pass-rushing prowess is questionable. Even prior to 2013, he never tallied more than four sacks in a single season.
The Carolina Panthers are extremely thin at wide receiver, so it's no surprise that they addressed the position near the end of the first round with Florida State's Kelvin Benjamin. The 15-touchdown wide receiver had one season with more than 1,000 yards at F.S.U.
The key to Benjamin might be how we view him. He's a 6'5", 242-pound player who could very well be seen as a tight end who lines up out wide. He's almost certainly going to be a dominant red-zone player in the N.F.L.
The question is if Benjamin can be more than that, continually helping Cam Newton lead the Panthers' offense into a position to score. If not, a first-rounder is a steep price to pay for a red-zone specialist.
In terms of height/weight/speed combination players, you aren't going to get much better than Washington State's Deone Bucannon at the safety position. At 6'1", 211 pounds with sub-4.5 speed, Bucannon has both size and athleticism.
In today's N.F.L., safeties are being asked to play more and more man coverage, and Bucannon can certainly deliver in that area. He's arguably the top man-to-man safety in this class. Don't count out Arizona using him at cornerback in certain packages.
When the Eagles drafted Louisville defensive end Marcus Smith with the 26th overall selection, the crowd in Radio City Music Hall collectively seemed to not recognize the name that was called. Smith wasn't projected as a first-round pick by many, but he has a big game.
At Louisville, Smith tallied 14.5 sacks and 18.5 tackles for loss in 2013. He has good size and athleticism at 6'3", 251 pounds with a 35-inch vertical and 4.68 speed.
It will be interesting to see how the Eagles deploy their new first-round pick. He could very well work as a hand-in-the-dirt defensive end, but Philly also has the option of using Smith in a Von Miller type outside linebacker role, moving him to defensive end in passing situations.
When a cornerback is undersized, he better possess elite speed. T.C.U.'s Jason Verrett doesn't have ideal size, but he sure can fly, checking in as fast as 4.36 in the 40-yard dash at the N.F.L. scouting combine.
Verrett was productive in 2012 with six picks for the Horned Frogs. A shoulder issue limited his playing time in 2013, but his impressive predraft performances kept Verrett in the first-round conversation.
Verrett could start in the slot for San Diego, which is probably where he'll thrive. His ball skills are some of the best in this class and he excels when he can turn and run with receivers, but he's probably going to have some trouble if he's matched up on the outside.
Many analysts didn't expect Michigan State cornerback Darqueze Dennard to last into the second half of the first round of the draft. With Gilbert and Fuller getting selected ahead of him, though, Dennard dropped to a point where Cincinnati was able to obtain a player who was not only likely atop their board, but also plays a position of need.
Dennard is similar to Fuller as a physical cornerback, despite his sub-200-pound frame. He's going to compete for playing time right away, hoping to replace one of the Bengals' talented-but-aging cornerbacks in Terence Newman and Leon Hall.
The Kansas City Chiefs already have arguably the league's top outside linebacker duo in Tamba Hali and Justin Houston. You have to think the selection of Auburn defensive end Dee Ford was a "best player available" pick for Kansas City, since Ford is going to need to convert to 3-4 outside linebacker for the Chiefs.
Ford is 6'2", 252 pounds with 32.9-inch arms. He was productive in his final year at Auburn with 10.5 sacks. However, there are a couple concerns. First, Ford totaled only 14.5 tackles for loss. Sacks are notoriously volatile since they're a relatively low-frequency event, so tackles for loss is a decent proxy for overall explosiveness. You'd like to see more production in that area.
Second, Ford wasn't an impact player prior to 2013; in the four prior years he was at Auburn, Ford tallied 10 total sacks and 13 combined tackles for loss. It's a major concern when a player doesn't produce at a high level until he's older than the players against whom he's competing.
In Kansas City, Ford will probably be a pass-rush specialist to start.
Johnny Football's draft-day slide has come to an end, as the Cleveland Browns have jumped up to grab him at No. 22 overall. They surrendered their third-round pick to move up four spots in the deal.
Manziel's drop was a bit unexpected just because he was so unimaginably productive at Texas A&M: 7,820 yards, 9.1 yards-per-attempt, and 63 passing touchdowns in two years. He also added 30 rushing touchdowns during that time.
Some of the probable reasons for Manziel's fall were a perceived lack of both accuracy and height. However, Manziel completed 68.9 percent of his passes, including a higher completion rate from the pocket than outside of it.
Manziel's height is a concern, but don't forget that there's really good evidence that short quarterbacks typically fail because of a lack of elite hand size, not actually because they're short. WIth hands just under 10 inches long, Manziel's hands are unusually large for his height.
He should start from the get-go in Cleveland.
The Dawg Pound can let go of the bone now…
— El Belson (@el_belson) 9 May 14
O-M-G!!!!!!! Way to make me sweat this out! Johnny Football to the Browns at No. 22. #genius
— Melissa Hoppert (@MHoppertNYT) 9 May 14
Green Bay needed a free safety and they got their man in Alabama's Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. As mentioned, Clinton-Dix is very similar to Louisville's Calvin Pryor from an athletic standpoint; at 6'1", 208 pounds, Clinton-Dix has good size for the safety position, but he ran just 4.58 at the NFL Scouting Combine.
Despite the lackluster 40-yard dash, many analysts consider Clinton-Dix to be this class's best true free safety. On a defense that shows as many exotic looks as Green Bay's, Clinton-Dix will be asked to play a lot of Cover-1 as a true deep man, as well as some man-to-man coverage.
Ha Ha a Packer… Three cheers for the newest Cheesehead
— El Belson (@el_belson) 9 May 14
Although the Saints have sported one of the league's most potent passing attacks for years, most assume that's due primarily to the arm of quarterback Drew Brees. New Orleans just got him some help.
In Oregon State's Brandin Cooks, the Saints have acquired a player who was productive throughout his college career. Last year, he totaled 128 catches—one-hundred-twenty-eight catches!—for 1,730 yards and 16 scores. He's one of the few undersized receivers (5'10", 189 pounds) who has shown signs of remaining relevant in the red zone.
Cooks' other biggest positives are his speed (4.31) and age. Still just 20-years old, Cooks dominated the Pac-12 at an age that suggests he still has plenty of room for growth. Adjusting for age still appears to be a major draft market inefficiency, so Cooks has plenty of big advantages to combat his small stature.
Before the draft began, I mocked quarterback Johnny Manziel to the Cleveland Browns at No. 4 overall. Boy was I wrong.
As we enter the 20s of the 2014 N.F.L. draft, Manziel is still on the board. Teams are likely concerned about his lack of ideal quarterback height and, perhaps, some off-field issues.
But just how unlikely was a Manziel slide? Well, aggregating expert mock drafts and looking at team needs, Advanced Football Analytics estimated the probability of Manziel falling to this portion of the draft at just a couple percent.
Let's hope for Manziel's sake that he doesn't wait in the green room much longer.
When the draft process started, Tennessee offensive tackle Ja'Waun James was considered a mid-round pick. He slowly rose up boards, but prior to a few minutes ago, most still considered him a second-round talent.
The Miami Dolphins disagreed, making James the 19th overall pick in the draft. James has prototypical left tackle size at 6'6", 311 pounds with 35-inch arms. Again, those long arms are important, as they allow offensive tackles to get into the chest of pass-rushers to help control at the point-of-attack.
James started 49 games at Tennessee—a school record—and he should be a starter by training camp for Miam
With the 18th overall pick, the New York Jets selected Louisville safety Calvin Pryor. Pryor was competing with Alabama's Ha Ha Clinton-Dix to be the top safety off of the board.
Physically, Pryor and Clinton-Dix are basically spitting images of one another—play-making safeties without elite measurables. At 5'11", 207 pounds, Pryor ran a 4.58 in the 40-yard dash, jumped 34.5 inches vertically, and recorded a sub-10-foot broad jump. Film nuts rave about his ability, though, saying he flies all over the field.
The fit should be a good one for the Jets—a team that will probably ask Pryor to do a whole lot of different things. He'll play in the box, where many believe he excels, but he's also likely to get some time in the back end as a "centerfielder" for the Jets' D. NFL Network's Mike Mayock likens Pryor to "a larger Bob Sanders."
Very Rex Ryan to take a DB… Only a handful of boos, which counts as approval by Jets fans…
— El Belson (@el_belson) 9 May 14
It seems like the Ravens go defense every season, and they were at it this year with the selection of Alabama linebacker C.J. Mosley.
Mosley is a 6'2", 234-pound linebacker with decent speed at 4.63. Widely considered the top inside linebacker prospect in this class from a pure talent perspective, the concern with Mosley is his health. If he can stay on the field, he'll be able to play both inside and outside in Baltimore.
At Alabama, Mosley recorded back-to-back triple-digit tackle seasons over the past two years. He's versatile enough to stay on the field on third down, which is important with any linebacker taken in the first round in today's N.F.L.
The Ravens bypassed both Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Calvin Pryor—the draft's consensus top two safeties.
Mosley chosen by Ravens… which means the J-E-T-S chants have started…
— El Belson (@el_belson) 9 May 14
With 16th Pick in the draft, the Dallas Cowboys selected Notre Dame offensive tackle Zack Martin. Martin is the final of the "Big Four" group of this class's top offensive tackles. The redshirt senior is a tactician on the outside, but he has a few red flags. First is his arm length—32.9 inches. That's not necessarily a death sentence to Martin's N.F.L. prospects, but linemen with that arm length often kick inside to guard. Could Martin move in that direction?
The Cowboys currently have Doug Free starting at right tackle, but that's a position that needs to be upgraded. The same could be said for right guard, though. The most likely outcome is that Martin starts at right guard for Dallas and develops there until the 'Boys are ready to move him outside, if they deem that appropriate. Otherwise, he could be a long-term answer on the inside. His versatility was surely a plus for the Cowboys.
It looks like the Manziel-to-Dallas rumors won't come to fruition.
And the #Cowboys pass on Johnny Football, too! Hmmm…
— Melissa Hoppert (@MHoppertNYT) 9 May 14
The Steelers are notorious for selecting "hard-nosed" football players, and Ohio State linebacker Ryan Shazier is no exception. He recorded triple-digit tackles in 2013—23.5 of which were behind the line-of-scrimmage—while also racking up seven sacks.
Shazier will help to upgrade a Pittsburgh defense that has become very old very quickly. His 6'1", 237-pound frame is a little small for the inside, although that's his most probable position in Pittsburgh. He could also kick outside in passing situations.
With the 14th overall selection, the Chicago Bears drafted the second cornerback off of the board in Virginia Tech's Kyle Fuller. At 6'0", Fuller's length appears to match what Chicago wants to do outside.
At Tech, Fuller wasn't a high-interception player with just six career picks—two in each of the past two seasons. Part of that was simply due to not being targeted, though. Fuller has the ability to play every type of coverage, including press-man and zone. He's a physical player who could be Chicago's nickel man in 2014, or perhaps a starter on the outside.
The current surprise players still left on the board include Manziel and Notre Dame offensive tackle Zack Martin.
Odell Beckham is undersized, but will give the Giants a deep threat to complement current slot man Victor Cruz: http://t.co/yPHKnsBa75
— NYT Sports (@NYTSports) 9 May 14
The Bears and Cowboys are both probably disappointed as the St. Louis Rams select Pitt defensive tackle Aaron Donald—a player many linked to both Chicago and Dallas.
Donald was one of the most productive players at any position, racking up 29.5 sacks and 66 tackles-for-loss during his college career, including 11 sacks and 28.5 tackles-for-loss (wow!) last year alone. Donald is a short-armed player with 32.6-inch arms, but you can overlook that trait a bit when you see such incredible success at the major collegiate level.
Donald will bolster an already impressive St. Louis defensive line. In Chris Long and Robert Quinn, the Rams have one of the league's top outside pass-rushing duos. With Donald working inside with Michael Brockers, it's difficult to find a more intimidating defensive line in the N.F.L.
How do they get those No. 1 jerseys to the NFL draft picks so fast? We're on it. http://t.co/nWCG0joLXi
— NYT Sports (@NYTSports) 9 May 14
The New York Giants decided to bypass Mr. Manziel and give quarterback Eli Manning a weapon on the outside in L.S.U.'s Odell Beckham Jr. The wide receiver's biggest positive is his straight-line speed; he's a sub-4.40 player who made some miraculous catches in the SEC.
The knock on Beckham is that he's undersized. At 5'11", 198 pounds, Beckham isn't going to overpower defenders in the big leagues. The question is if his route-running ability—which is superb—can make up for his light frame. Beckham might have a little trouble scoring in the red zone; he averaged four touchdowns per year at L.S.U.
Nonetheless, Beckham will give the Giants a deep threat to complement current slot man Victor Cruz. The duo could split time inside, with both capable of moving anywhere along the offensive formation.
A bit of a surprise for Giants to go away from their traditional mode, which would have been OL Zack Martin #GiantsDraft #giants
— Bill Pennington (@billmpennington) 9 May 14
Michigan offensive tackle Taylor Lewan's slide didn't figure to last too long, and it ended at No. 11 with the Tennessee Titans. The pick figured to be a "best player available" selection for Tennessee, a team that is already pretty well stocked along the offensive line.
Lewan is an absolutely massive offensive tackle at 6-7 and 309 pounds, yet he is also one of this class's most athletic. His combination of quickness (4.87 in the 40-yard dash) and length (33.9-inch arms) should help the Titans' attempt to field the N.F.L.'s top offensive line.
Meanwhile, Johnny Football continues to wait.
The Giants, who don't have an experienced or proven tight end on their roster, will be seeing the highest-rated TE in the draft pool, North Carolina's Eric Ebron, during their opening game of the season against Detroit.
— Bill Pennignton
In a move that's sure to surprise a lot of folks, the Detroit Lions decided to forgo upgrading their defense and instead opted to give quarterback Matthew Stafford another weapon in tight end Eric Ebron. Ebron, a U.N.C. tight end, should certainly help take pressure off Calvin Johnson on the outside.
At North Carolina, Ebron was highly productive as a pass-catching tight end, improving his reception and yardage totals each year he was there. His 2013 line of 62/973/3 was impressive. The only concerning number there is the 3 — Ebron's low touchdown total. Despite his 6-4, 245-pound frame, Ebron was never a dominant scorer with only a 7.1 percent career touchdown rate.
Ebron's arrival probably signals the beginning of the end for the current tight end, Brandon Pettigrew. Ebron is a far more athletic player who should be able to get up the field with ease; he averaged 16.1 yards per reception at North Carolina, so some are viewing him almost as a really big wide receiver.
Damn. Tight End Eric Lebron goes to Detroit with the 10th pick. That was supposed to be the Giants' next tight end! Is Manziel plan B?
— Justin Sablich (@JSablichNYT) 9 May 14
Minnesota was comfortable moving down one pick while still being able to nab its guy, U.C.L.A. outside linebacker Anthony Barr. Although Barr didn't get as much predraft hype as many of the other top-10 players, you knew his combination of athleticism and production wouldn't last long.
Over the past two seasons, Barr produced an unbelievable 23.5 sacks and 41.5 tackles for loss. Those are pretty jaw-dropping numbers for a player who was a running back just two years ago.
Some were concerned with Barr's ability to transition to a seven-technique defensive end — the position he'll play in Minnesota — but his natural pass-rushing ability is truly elite.
Vikings pick Anthony Barr… Mixed reaction.
— El Belson (@el_belson) 9 May 14
After trading down five spots to start the draft, the Cleveland Browns are on the move again, jumping just a single spot to draft cornerback Justin Gilbert out of Oklahoma State. Why move up just one spot? It's possible that the Minnesota Vikings told Cleveland that some other team was looking to trade up for their selection, urging the Browns to best the offer if they wanted to nab their man. Cleveland needed to send Minnesota just a fifth-rounder to make the move.
When the Browns jumped one position, some thought that maybe they were looking to go with quarterback Johnny Manziel. Instead, they drafted someone considered to be the prototype at cornerback. At 6 feet and 202 pounds, Gilbert clocked in at 4.37 in the 40-yard dash at the combine. His combination of size and speed is top-tier.
In Cleveland, he'll pair with Joe Haden to provide the Browns with one of the more frightening cornerback duos in the N.F.L. Cleveland might now have the personnel to contain the divisional foes A. J. Green and Antonio Brown.
And that's why I didn't do a mock draft! Browns take CB Justin Gilbert & the crowd erupts with groans of disappointment and disgust.
— Justin Sablich (@JSablichNYT) 9 May 14
Are they chanting Cleveland Sucks at Radio City? I can only imagine what's going on in Cleveland.
— Melissa Hoppert (@MHoppertNYT) 9 May 14
Looking to give the second-year quarterback Mike Glennon some help on the outside, the Buccaneers drafted Texas A&M wide receiver Mike Evans with the seventh overall selection. The pick wasn't necessarily shocking, but it's mildly surprising that the new coach Lovie Smith bypassed defense (like Pittsburgh defensive tackle Aaron Donald) in favor of an offensive player.
Johnny Manziel got most of the attention at Texas A&M, but much of his success was due to the high-level talent of Evans. In 2012, Evans grabbed 82 passes for 1,105 yards and 5 touchdowns. With defenses clamping down on him last year, Evans's reception total dropped to 69, yet he still managed more yards (1,394) and touchdowns (12).
Evans's closest N.F.L. comparison is probably the current Bucs wide receiver Vincent Jackson — another big, physical player who can get deep and score with consistency. At 6-5 and 225 pounds, Evans is going to pair with Jackson to give Tampa Bay perhaps the most red-zone-efficient wide receiver corps in 2014.
Another Aggie goes before Johnny Football
— El Belson (@el_belson) 9 May 14
The rumors were that if linebacker Khalil Mack slipped to Cleveland's fourth overall pick, Atlanta was prepared to move up to get him. That might have been the case, but the Browns received an offer from Buffalo that they just couldn't pass up. Atlanta was placed in a position in which they needed to wait on Oakland, and the Raiders indeed drafted the player many assumed was the apple of Atlanta's eye.
Instead, the Falcons opted to protect quarterback Matt Ryan with Texas A&M offensive tackle Jake Matthews. Not quite the same caliber of athlete as the No. 2 pick, Greg Robinson, Matthews was still a stone wall for the Aggies. He's leaner than Robinson — 6-5, 308 pounds — but his size and length (33.4-inch arms) are plenty good enough to excel in the N.F.L.
Matthews should start right out of the gate for the Falcons. He has experience on both sides of the football.
J. Football now not even the first Aggie selected after Jake Matthews goes 6th to Atlanta
— Zach Schonbrun (@zschonbrun) 9 May 14
Pretty muted response for Jake Matthews. Are there no Falcons fans in the house?
— El Belson (@el_belson) 9 May 14
With the fifth overall selection, the Oakland Raiders drafted Buffalo linebacker Khalil Mack. Oakland had been rumored to have a lot of interest in both Mack and Texas A&M wide receiver Mike Evans, but they went defense with the consensus second-best defensive player still on the board.
At Buffalo, Mack was unbelievably productive. Last year, he totaled 100 tackles while recording 10.5 sacks and 19 tackles for loss. Mack also impressed at the scouting combine, jumping 40 inches vertically and recording an unbelievable 10 feet 8 inches in the broad.
In Oakland, Mack will most likely work as a hybrid player who can drop into coverage at times. The majority of Mack's snaps, though, will probably come as a pass rusher. His ability to get to the quarterback was really what warranted such a high selection.
In a bit of a shocker, the Buffalo Bills traded up from the ninth overall selection, swapping picks with the Cleveland Browns to get up to No. 4 over all. The Bills gave up this year's first and next year's first and fourth to get Clemson wide receiver Sammy Watkins.
In Watkins, Buffalo will get a very versatile receiver who can pretty much do it all — quick screens, deep routes and even the occasional rush. He's a 6-foot-1, 211-pound receiver with sub-4.40 speed who was productive right out of the gate in college. In his freshman year, Watkins caught 82 passes for 1,219 yards and 12 touchdowns. When a player can dominate college competition at an age younger than the majority of his opponents, that's a great sign.
Watkins will start from Day 1 in Buffalo.
Bills take Sammy Watkins. NFL marketers knew what they were doing with #DraftDay. My heart is pounding.
— Melissa Hoppert (@MHoppertNYT) 9 May 14
The Jacksonville Jaguars didn't take long to select U.C.F. quarterback Blake Bortles with the third overall selection. The pick is somewhat surprising, although the fact that we haven't heard much quarterback talk out of Jacksonville this year could be because they were indeed targeting Bortles all along.
Bortles was highly efficient at Central Florida, throwing for 8.5 yards-per-attempt and completing 65.7 percent of his passes during his three-year career. He also recorded an impressive 56-to-19 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
The only concern? Hand size. N.F.L. teams have seemed to pay more attention to quarterback hand size in recent years because it's predictive of success at the position. Although Bortles is tall, his hands are just 9.38 inches long—smaller than the league average of 9.6.
Wow… The buzz for Bortles was intense… Johnny Football skipped over.
— El Belson (@el_belson) 9 May 14
No one was completely positive if the St. Louis Rams would target an offensive weapon for their quarterback, someone to protect him on the outside, or even a prospect to eventually replace him. At least in the first round, they went with the middle option.
Auburn offensive tackle Greg Robinson is a mammoth 6-foot-5, 332-pound offensive tackle who started 25 of 26 career games at Auburn. Robinson's most attractive trait might be his 35-inch arms; arm length is strongly correlated with N.F.L. success for offensive tackles.
In St. Louis, Robinson will most likely compete with Joe Barksdale to immediately get time at right tackle, and he could eventually kick over to Sam Bradford's blind side in place of the current left tackle, Rodger Saffold.
The Giants host the Texans on Sept. 21: Eli Manning scrambling between the rush of J. J. Watt and Clowney. (And perhaps counting on tonight's first-round pick to keep him upright.)
— Bill Pennington
As expected, the Houston Texans opened the 2014 N.F.L. draft by selecting South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. Houston used the entirety of its allotted time to field any last-minute trade offers, but in the end, Clowney's ability was too attractive to pass up.
The question about Clowney: If he's truly the once-in-a-decade sort of prospect some are making him out to be, why the lack of production in 2013? Double teams or not, you'd certainly expect a world-class edge rusher to total more than three sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss. In comparison, Clowney recorded 13 sacks and 23.5 tackles for loss in 2012.
Still, it's not as if 6-foot-6, 266-pound defensive ends with 34.5-inch arms and 4.53 speed grow on trees. Whether or not he'll fulfill his potential, you can't argue that Clowney's ceiling in the N.F.L. is otherworldly.
In Houston, Clowney will pair with Whitney Mercilus as the Texans' pass-rushing outside linebacker duo. Houston will most likely move Brooks Reed inside, so the pick could represent an upgrade at two positions.
The Houston Texans select Jadeveon Clowney with the first pick of the NFL draft. Only took them 4 months, 8 days and 10 minutes to decide.
— Justin Sablich (@JSablichNYT) 9 May 14
The N.F.L. draft has come a long way. Take a look.
We're mere minutes away from the N.F.L. draft, and as expected, rumors are running rampant.
The Detroit Lions love U.C.L.A. defensive end Anthony Barr, according to NFL.com's Ian Rapoport, but they might not get him if ESPN's Bob Holtzman is right that Barr is one of the Minnesota Vikings' targets with the eighth overall selection.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a team to watch for North Carolina tight end Eric Ebron, and the Atlanta Falcons appear to be the team most likely to trade up. But not too far.
ESPN's Adam Schefter says the Jacksonville Jaguars are "intrigued" by Johnny Manziel at No. 3 over all, while Fox's Jay Glazer thinks Johnny Football is going to fall to the Arizona Cardinals in the back half of the first round. Or he could go somewhere in the middle (including to a certain New York team). One thing we know for sure about Manziel is that he's the Cowboys' top-rated quarterback, per ESPN's Todd McShay. Unless, of course, he isn't.
The fact is that we don't really know very much about what's going to unfold tonight and, outside of those picking near the top of the draft, neither do the teams. But that's what makes the draft so special. That's what adds to the intrigue. That's what has fans coming back for more.
There are about a million ways the draft could develop tonight, but the one certainty is that there will be twists and turns not even the most sophisticated analysts could envision.
Our motto for the 2014 N.F.L. draft: Expect the unexpected.
And here's a little more information to whet your appetite before the draft. Melissa Hoppert, The Times's N.F.L. editor, reveals what to look for as teams make their picks this week.
We're an hour away from the first pick. Now's a good time to take another look at the Retro Report's take on the 1998 draft.
