All About the NFL Draft
Willem K.
On Thursday, April 25th, the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft took place. I’m here to break down the top ten picks and what they mean for the teams, counting down from ten down to one.
Drafted tenth by the Minnesota, Vikings JJ McCarthy! College Football Playoff champion quarterback for the Michigan Wolverines, this agile, 6’3” 219-pound quarterback with a good throwing arm, JJ proves a good addition for the Vikings. Why? Kirk Cousins, their previous starting quarterback is now with the Atlanta Falcons. In college, McCarthy went 27-1 as a starter. He threw 22 TD passes and ran for three additional touchdowns.
Drafted ninth by the Chicago Bears, Rome Odunze! Many of you may recognize that name as the Sugar bowl champion Washington Huskies top wide receiver. In 2023, Odunze led college football with 1,640 receiving yards last season, breaking the previous school record. In his four years at The University of Washington, Odunze made 214 catches, 24 of which were for touchdowns, gaining 3,272 total yards.
Drafted eighth by Atlanta Falcons, Michael Penix Jr! The strong lefty quarterback threw for 4,903 yards in his final college season. This Heisman Trophy runner-up played four injury-plagued seasons with the Indiana Hoosiers before transferring to UW, where he used his final two years of college eligibility. The deep ball from Penix is always on the dot. In the NFL, Penix can now throw to Drake London and Kyl Pitts instead of Rome Odunze. Why the Falcons drafted Penix after trading for veteran Kirk Cousins from the Vikings, no one knows.
Drafted seventh by the Tennessee Titans JC Latham! This offensive tackle helped lead Jalen Milroe and the Alabama Crimson Tide to a College Football Playoff appearance in 2023. This 6’6” 342-pound lineman made 41 knockdown blocks last season, giving the Alabama offense room for their 32 rushing touchdowns last season.
Drafted sixth by the New York Giants, Malik Nabers! An elite wide receiver, Malik Nabers led all LSU wide receivers with 189 receptions and 3,003 receiving yards. He had an impressive forty-yard dash time of 4.35 seconds at the combine. This young star brings promise to New York with his one-of-a-kind speed, catch radius and versatility.
Drafted fifth by the Los Angeles Chargers, Joe Alt! In three years with Notre Dame, this offensive tackle allowed only four sacks. With time, LA Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert can find weapons downfield and make things happen.
Drafted fourth by the Arizona Cardinals, Marvin Harrison Jr! This elite wideout from Ohio State proved his worth to the football world, winning the Biletnikoff award in 2023. Last season, Harrison made 67 catches for 1,211 yards, 14 touchdowns. His longest reception went for 75 yards, and his average yards per reception was 18.1.
Drafted third by the New England Patriots, Drake Maye! In his two years as a starter at North Carolina, he was 611 for 942 passing (66.3% completion), throwing for 7,926 yards, an average of 8.5 yards per pass. He put 62 touchdowns in the end zone by air and 16 more on the ground. His longest pass was eighty yards.
Drafted second by the Washington Commanders, Jayden Daniels! This guy played five years of college football with the Arizona State Sun Devils (2019-2021) and the LSU Tigers (2022-2023). With a college completion percentage of 65%, this kid has promise. Daniels is the only player in the history of college football to have over 12,000 passing yards and 3,000 rushing yards.
Finally, drafted first by the Chicago Bears, Caleb Williams! Williams played three years of college football with Oklahoma (2021) and USC (2022-2023). In those three years, Williams had 10,082 passing yards for 93 touchdowns and only 14 interceptions. Coming into the draft, he had one goal: get picked first. He succeeded, making the Bears a true playoff contender.
My fellow sports journalist Tejas Waring quotes “If the Bears, with the loss of Justin Fields (thank goodness) and the additions of Keenan Allen from the Chargers (Wide Receiver), Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze in the draft (Quarterback and Wide Receiver, respectively), and D’andre Swift from the Eagles (Running Back), plus the re-signings of Cole Kmet (Tight End) and D.J. Moore (Wide Receiver), don’t get over 11 wins out of 17 games, they are an embarrassment to the game of football.”
Those were the top ten draft picks in the 2024 NFL Draft. Now that you know a little more about what you’re watching, maybe you’ll watch some more football this fall.