Hope you all are having a lovely start to your Friday Jr. And what a Friday Jr. it is -- NFL Draft day!
With the NFL Draft kicking off tonight in Cleveland, it's only right we have a football heavy newsletter today. We are looking at what the biggest surprises will be, our NFL team answers the biggest questions ahead of Round 1 and we will also highlight underrated players who could turn into stars later. Plus, we have a different kind of football item, with a recap of the Champions League match.
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Sadly, this is the last day this week I'll be writing the newsletter, but don't panic, tomorrow my fabulous coworker Chris Bengel is taking over, so you'll be in good hands.
Let's get to it.
📰 What you need to know
1. Predicting the five biggest surprises in Round 1 🏈
There's a lot of quarterback talk ahead of this year's draft, but how many go in Round 1 and where they land could end up surprising you. It could also be the first time in decades we have offensive players dominating the first nine picks. CBS Sports' Ryan Wilson predicted his five biggest surprises ahead of the big night. Here as his top three
- A defensive player isn't among the top 10 selections: There is a good chance the beginning of the draft is dominated by offense this year. If offense players take over, this would be the first time since 1957 that a defensive player wasn't taken in the first 9 selections
- Jamin Davis is the first LB off the board: Jamin Davis hasn't been a main topic of discussion for a long time, but now that he's getting more attention, teams are seeing the value he could bring to their squad. Wilson believes the Kentucky linebacker could go ahead of Micah Parsons
- There are no trade-ups until pick No. 9 at the earliest: According to Wilson's many mock drafts, there's a strong chance each team could stay in their current spot until at least the ninth pick. That would be later than usual in your average NFL Draft
Wilson brings up a great point in that first note. No defensive players taken in the top 10, in these modern times, would be crazy. If that actually happens, it will show just how special this draft class is.
2. Ranking the second wave of skill position players that will get selected 🏈
Let's get serious here: In life, you don't always get your first choice. That's also true for teams in the NFL Draft (come on, don't expect to me to actually get serious.) If a team does not get their first choice of a skilled player at a position they need help at, who do they take next?
Well, our draft experts went through who will likely be taken after the top rated players at the most important positions. Here's what Chris Trapasso, Ryan Wilson and Josh Edwards are predicting will be the next men up in the skill position categories.
QB taken after Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Justin Fields and Mac Jones:
- Wilson: Texas A&M's Kellen Mond
- Trapasso - Stanford's Davis Mills
- Edwards - Stanford's Davis Mills
WR taken after Ja'Marr Chase, Jaylen Waddle and Devonta Smith:
- Wilson - Minnesota's Rashod Bateman
- Trapasso - Ole Miss' Elijah Moore
- Edwards - Florida's Kadarius Toney
TE taken after Kyle Pitts
- Wilson - Penn State's Pat Freiermuth
- Trapasso - Miami's Brevin Jordan
- Edwards - Notre Dame's Tommy Tremble
3. Underrated sleepers who will turn into quality NFL players 🏈
Not every eventual NFL star gets taken early in the first round, or in Round 1 at all. Some of the best end up falling back in the draft and still excel once they get the chance to in the league.
Some guy named Tom Brady was taken in the sixth round at pick No. 199 in 2000 and became a seven-time Super Bowl champion.
While we might not get a player who ends up winning that many championships, this year's draft could produce sleepers that turn into stars. The best bets are these 10 guys:
- OT Walker Little, Stanford
- WR Rondale Moore, Purdue
- OLB Joseph Ossai, Texas
- TE Brevin Jordan, Miami (FL)
- RB Kenneth Gainwell, Memphis
- WR/RB Demetric Felton, UCLA
- WR Tylan Wallace, Oklahoma State
- DB Andre Cisco, Syracuse
- DT Tyler Shelvin, LSU
- WR Seth Williams, Auburn
Before we put the NFL Draft talk to bed, here's the updated draft order for all seven rounds and 259 picks. If you want to do some more last-minute reading, our NFL Draft hub has all the content your heart desires to prepare for tonight. Godspeed
4. Champions League recap: Manchester City wins first leg with strong second half ⚽
And now, for the other football. Manchester City bested PSG, 2-1, in the first leg of their semifinal match on Wednesday. It's a big step in the right direction for Manchester City, who will now need to hold on once more against PSG next week to make the UCL final.
Marquinhos' goal 15 minutes into the match put the Parisians ahead early, but it wasn't enough as Manchester City dominated the second half behind scores from Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez.
Looking ahead, our soccer scribe James Benge explained his two biggest takeaways from the result -- one of which outlines how PSG can come back:
Manchester City's adjustments work: Manager Pep Guardiola explained after the match that his team's press changed the feel of the second half, saying "The first 20 minutes we were so passive and the last 10-15 minutes of the first half and the second half we were more, more aggressive because it's not easy when they have Neymar, Mbappe and Di Maria." The club would be smart to stick to that gameplan, which properly slowed Neymar, Mbappe and Di Maria down. Conversely ...
PSG's first-half plan is comeback blueprint: On the other end, PSG's stronger play in the first half of the match shows that there is a path to a comeback here. They proved that they can do a reasonable job of holding City's attack at bay. It won't be easy to stick to that, though. PSG has already lost to Manchester City four times and now need to go to the Etihad Stadium and score at least two goals. Only Leicester City, Manchester United and Leeds United have done that this season.
With Manchester City's strong first leg and Chelsea's tie against Real Madrid earlier in the week, there's a chance we may get an all England UCL final.
📝 Odds & Ends
📺 What to watch tonight
🏀 Nets vs. Pacers, 7 p.m. | BKLN -440 | TV: NBA League Pass
🏒 Penguins vs. Capitals, 7 p.m. | WASH -115 | TV: ESPN+
⚾ Dodgers vs. Brewers, 7:40 p.m. | LAD -195 | TV: MLB.TV
Best thing I saw on the internet 🏅
In the Braves' 10-0 rout of the Cubs last night, Anthony Rizzo took the mound at one point to ease the workload of Chicago's bullpen. He wound up striking out Atlanta's Freddie Freeman (!), and both stars had a great reaction to it all.
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April 29, 2021 at 08:33PM
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Everything you need to know about the 2021 NFL Draft, plus will there be an all England UCL final? - CBS Sports
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