3 Things We Learned From The 2020 NFL Draft

The 2020 NFL Draft functioned as a precious gift for locked-down sports fans.

While the usual pomp and ceremony of the event was replaced with a more stripped down affair, the temporary return of sports, with real consequences and actual data, was enthusiastically received.

The Draft of course acts as the primary pipeline of talent into the NFL, and after three days and seven rounds of picks, we are now in a stronger position to take the temperature of the league.

Here are three of the strongest themes which emerged from the three-day marathon. 

THE QB IS STILL KING

You don’t need to be in possession of a PHD in ‘Watching Sports From Your Couch’ to understand the importance of the quarterback to the modern NFL.

In fact, you need only scan through the list of teams to have contested Super Bowls in recent years to notice that it’s virtually impossible to be a serious threat without the services of an elite signal-caller under centre.

In addition, 12 of the last 13 NFL MVP'S have been won by a QB, with the current NFL being electrified by transcendent stars such as Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson, while the likes of Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers continue to be the league’s most recognisable faces.

It was thus no surprise to see the quarterback take centre stage at the draft, with franchises continuing their endless quests to land a potential superstar. 

For the 15th time in the last 20 drafts the number one overall pick was used on a quarterback, with the Cincinnati Bengals unable to resist the lure of LSU’s Joe Burrow.

Burrow tossed 60 touchdowns in his senior year in college, won himself the Heisman Trophy and helped the Tigers win their first National Championship in 12 years. He’ll help ease the pain of the Bengal’s 2-14 season along with its weakest offensive output in 19 seasons. 

Three more quarterbacks were taken in the first round with the Green Bay Packers causing one of the surprises of the night, trading down with the Miami Dolphins so as to secure Utah State’s Jordan Love. The surprise being they already have the brilliant Aaron Rodgers at QB, along with $113 million remaining on his contract.

A further nine QB’s were drafted over the three days, with the Philadelphia Eagles springing a Day Two surprise by taking Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts with the 53rd selection overall. While Hurts may well develop into an excellent NFL player, the move by the Eagles raised eyebrows, as, like the Green Bay Packers, Philadelphia were in need of upgrades almost everywhere but QB- a position their emerging star Carson Wentz currently occupies, and who the Eagles have committed $130 million to.

WIDE RECEIVERS STOLE THE SHOW

The NFL, more than ever, is about speed, speed and more speed. 

The Kansas City Chiefs won it’s first Super Bowl in 50 years off the back of an Andy Reid offence fuelled by the hellacious talents of Patrick Mahomes and augmented with blistering speed on the outside.

RELATED: How the Kansas City Chiefs finally broke through to Super Bowl LIV after 50 years

The Baltimore Ravens 14-2 regular season was also characterised by its high tempo, not just through their MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson, but through a consolidated franchise approach of prioritising speed at both the draft and through free agency. 

While the NFL’s shift toward speed has been in evidence for a number of years now, this weekend’s Draft was a graphic illustration on just how fully-fledged the movement is. 

An incredible 35 wide receivers were taken over the three days, with six taken in the first round alone- the highest of any singular position.

The Las Vegas Raiders and Denver Broncos, two teams who’ve had front row seats to the type of havoc wreaked by the Chiefs’ speed, took a combined 5 wideouts within the first 100 picks.  

It was however once again the Green Bay Packers who made headlines, for the second straight season opting to not pick a single wide receiver which likely wouldn't have been welcome news to their future Hall of Fame QB.

RELATED: How the San Francisco 49ers rose from irrelevance to Super Bowl LIV

THE RUNNING BACK ISN’T DEAD JUST YET

Disparaging the running back position has become the secret handshake among apparently enlightened NFL fans in recent years.

While the NFL is certainly now a QB league, with the notion of ‘establishing the run’ understandably mocked, it’d be folly to dismiss the role a good running game can play in a nuanced, modern offence.

While the days of taking running backs with premium selections appear over, as too does paying a king’s ransom for their services, this weekend’s Draft proved that teams still believe there is a place for RB’s in the modern NFL.

While just a single running back was selected in the first round, with LSU’s Clyde Edwards-Helaire taken with the last pick overall, a total of six were taken across the first two rounds which was the second healthiest return in ten years, a number perhaps fuelled by how staggeringly well both Baltimore and the San Francisco 49ers performed on the ground last season.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, fresh off inking both Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski, bought in two running backs, indicating a desire to have a more balanced attack around their celebrated QB in season 2020.

Interestingly, the Jacksonville Jaguars, who produced an NFL-low 3 rushing touchdowns in 2019, opted to not draft a single running back, nor did the Chicago Bears whose 3.7 yards per attempt was ranked 30th in the NFL last season.

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