John Raoux/Associated Press
103. Arizona Cardinals: Hakeem Butler, Wide Receiver, Iowa State
They’re mighty! They’re fascinating! They’re flawed! Get ready, true believers: Here’s the skinny on a member of the 2019 Draft Class Legion of Wide Receiver Superheroes!
Superpowers: Super size, super speed, super everything
One Weakness: Hands cursed by the ancient trickster deity Dropskizotl
Superhero Comparison: Groot
Butler shares the beloved Guardian of the Galaxy’s ability to reach out with branch-like appendages and overpower opponents with his size and arboreal strength. Groot is also the ultimate team player.
Wide Receiver Comparison: Vincent Jackson
Secret Superhero File
Butler dropped 12 passes last season and 21 in the last two, per Sports Info Solutions. The drops are a combination of obvious concentration lapses and plays in which Butler brings in the ball awkwardly. He needs some work on the JUGS Machine, and probably some coaching on the finer points of catching a football (hand placement when waiting for the ball to come, etc.).
Once the dropsies are brought under control, the Cardinals will have an uncanny weapon on contested catches and along the deep sidelines. Butler tracks the ball well and can snatch it from impossible-looking locations. He’s also a load after the catch with surprising agility to go with his size and speed. He also gets high marks for character/work habits.
This is a great pick: outstanding value, a player who can be mentored by Larry Fitzgerald and someone who can combine with tiny second-round pick Andy Isabella to create a variety of mismatches in Kliff Kingsbury’s offense.
Grade: A
104. Cincinnati Bengals: Ryan Finley, Quarterback, North Carolina State
Deadly accurate quarterback comparison: Mike Glennon 2.0
Finley is the ultimate generic-brand quarterback prospect: tall and experienced at a major program with a pretty good arm. I once described Daniel Jones as a “chicken quesadilla” prospect: the quarterback equivalent of the bar snack you order when you are hungry but don’t know what you want. Finley is the shrink-wrapped turkey sandwich for which you pay $16 at the airport.
He’s a good underneath passer who puts nice touch on deep passes between the numbers. But his deep sideline throws lack zip and accuracy, he locks on to his primary receiver, and mistakes snowball when he gets pressured.
Finley maxes out as a peripatetic backup who will probably get a handful of starting opportunities because NFL decision-makers are the kinds of guys who eat an awful lot of airport turkey sandwiches.
This is the Bengals’ version of the Giants’ Daniel Jones selection. Finley isn’t a replacement for Andy Dalton. He’s a justification to keep starting Andy Dalton. And the Bengals traded up to do it. Ugh.
Grade: D+
105. New Orleans Saints: Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Safety, Florida
Strengths: Speed, versatility
Weaknesses: Physicality, tackling technique
Gardner-Johnson called himself the “most versatile defensive back in the draft” at the combine, and there may be something to that. He played mostly slot corner for the Gators, moving to strong safety in some packages, and he has the man-coverage chops to handle tight ends and running backs who flex out.
Gardner-Johnson was a prep track star who ran a 4.48-second 40-yard dash at the combine, and the speed and burst are evident on tape. He can be effective as a blitzer, and while he’ll overrun some plays and get washed out by the left tackle in others, he’s good enough in run support to be a factor.
It’s a matchup-based league, and every defense needs a player like Gardner-Johnson who can handle a variety of assignments based on the offensive personnel. This is a safe, smart selection that feels a need. It’s also a fine value at the start of the fourth round.
Grade: A
106. Oakland Raiders: Maxx Crosby, Edge-Rusher, Eastern Michigan
Strengths: Length, quickness
Weaknesses: Power/leverage
Crosby recorded 18.5 sacks in the last two seasons, with enough production against opponents like San Diego State (2.5 sacks last year) and Kentucky (2.0 sacks in 2017) to prove he wasn’t just feasting on mid-major also-rans. Crosby has long arms and legs, some pass-rushing
moves and a careening style that straddles the line between “aggressive” and “almost uncoordinated.” He flails around the field in pursuit and is easy to knock off balance because of a lack of leverage and upper-body strength.
Crosby is a long-range project with traits that could turn him into a top sack producer if harnessed. He also joins Maxx Williams as the only double-X Maxxes in NFL history. Double-X Maxx was probably a popular baby name in the mid-1990s, because even babies were really exxtreme in the mid-1990s.
The Raiders need edge-rushers in bundles after recording just 13 sacks last year, and Crosby and top pick Clelin Ferrell will upgrade their pass rush. But then, there was nowhere to go but up, and the Raiders appear to have picked both players a little too high.
Grade: B-
107. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Anthony Nelson, Defensive End, Iowa
Strengths: Size, quickness, hand technique
Weaknesses: Leverage, high-end agility
This is a great draft for both eye-popping edge-rushers and sturdy defensive ends who don’t blow you away with superheroic moves but do a lot of things well. Nelson falls into the latter category: He’s a big guy (6’7”, 271 lbs) with a rip move and other techniques to keep pass protectors off balance, plays the run well and has enough quickness to be more than a blocking sled on passing downs. Don’t expect double-digit sacks from Nelson, but he can stay on the field for three downs and be a factor against both the run and pass. He’ll play an immediate role on a team whose defensive end depth chart consists of Jason Pierre-Paul and a lot of failed projects.
Grade: B
108. New York Giants: Julian Love, Cornerback, Notre Dame
Strengths: Zone coverage awareness
Weaknesses: High-level traits
Love, a three-year starter for the Irish, projects as a useful nickel or dime cornerback: smart, alert, capable of handling most assignments and just big and fast enough to not be a liability. His upside is limited, and his man coverage, press technique and ability to shed blocks all need refinement before he becomes anything more than a role player.
Other draft analysts are much higher on Love than I am. But Love does fill a need for a team that drafted Deandre Baker late in the first round and needs a lot more depth and competition in the secondary.
Grade: C+
109. Indianapolis Colts: Khari Willis, Safety, Michigan State
Strengths: Hustle, physicality
Weaknesses: Overall athleticism
Hey, the Colts traded two fourth-round picks to move up! And they didn’t use the pick on a linebacker I think is a reach. Instead, they crossed things up by selecting a strong safety I think is a reach.
Willis is a high-effort defender with a knack for showing up at the end of the play to clean up a tackle or pull a teammate off the ground after a pass breakup. Yep, that’s faint praise on a scouting report. Willis lacks the speed and lateral quickness to be effective in coverage or be a factor off the blitz, and he will overrun some tackling opportunities because he has to go full speed to get involved. Hustle and experience make him worth a look to see if he can become more than a special teamer.
The Colts are just trolling at this point. I’m gonna give this one a harsh grade, and if I look like a nitwit about it by mid-October, so be it.
Grade: D
110. San Francisco 49ers: Mitch Wishnowsky. Punter, Utah
Strengths: Athleticism
Weaknesses: Technique
Wishnowsky is a former Aussie rules football player. He’s a big, physical athlete (6’2”, 218 lbs) who ran a 4.63 40-yard dash at the combine. Most of his booming punts came on running-start-style kicks (which would get blocked in the NFL), but he has other clubs in his bag, including the ability to flop the ball in the coffin corner after a quick-step delivery. He has the upside to be a Pro Bowl-caliber punter, but his delivery needs a lot of fine-tuning.
I like Wishnowsky, but he’s not the top punter on my board (yes, I have a punter board). And of course, this is the fourth freakin’ round, and the 49ers have lots of other work to do, so you know what’s coming, gradewise.
Grade: F
111. Atlanta Falcons: Kendall Sheffield, Cornerback, Ohio State
Strengths: Speed, athleticism
Weaknesses: Technique, physicality
Based on their selections so far, the Falcons’ long-term strategy consists of:
-Drafting the biggest, most likable guys they can find;
-Keeping Matt Ryan alive forever;
-Losing lots of games by 56-53 final scores because they built their entire roster out of guards and ignored critical needs on defense.
Looks like they are finally addressing their defense. It’s about time.
Sheffield is a top track athlete (he set the Ohio State record in the 60 meters last year) who transferred from Alabama (by way of Blinn College) and started 17 games over two years for the Buckeyes. He has the long speed to stay with any receiver and looks the part of a top press cornerback, but opposing quarterbacks aren’t afraid to challenge him because he doesn’t track deep balls or play his receiver well and doesn’t work to position himself to take away the passing window.
Sheffield’s a developmental speed-size guy. He’s not a bad value in this round, but from a big-picture standpoint, he may be a little too little, a little too late.
Grade: C+
112. Washington Redskins: Bryce Love, Running Back, Stanford
Strengths: Patience, explosion
Weaknesses: Injuries
Love tore his ACL at the end of last season and had ankle injuries prior to that. His yardage total dropped from 2,118 yards (8.1 yards per carry) to 739 (4.5 ypc) as a result of the injuries, weaker blocking and a more pass-oriented Cardinal offense.
The 2017 version of Love looked like LeSean McCoy at his best. Love excelled at following convoys of blockers from the I formation or on pulling-lineman plays, exploding through a crease and then stringing together moves on the second level to turn six-yard gains into 30-yarders. The Love we saw in 2018 still had a burst and long speed but was more likely to get tripped up in the open field or not quite create space for himself with a jump cut.
Love would have been a top-15 pick in 2018, so this could be a steal. And he can swap injury stories with Adrian Peterson and Derrius Guice. Let’s just hope they aren’t always meeting around the MRI machine.
Grade: B+.
113. Baltimore Ravens: Justice Hill, Running Back, Oklahoma State
Strengths: Speed, elusiveness
Weaknesses: Size, power
Hill is a lean runner with outstanding burst and wiggly hips in the open field. He’s at his best on draw plays, misdirection runs and when he gets the ball in space. He lacks the power to run between the tackles when everything isn’t blocked up, has rudimentary receiving and pass-rushing skills and can be easy to bring down when moving laterally behind the line of scrimmage.
Look for Hill to be a changeup back for Mark Ingram II. And after the Hollywood Brown and Miles Boykin selections earlier in the draft, I want to play the Ravens on Madden as soon as possible.
Grade: B
114. Minnesota Vikings: Dru Samia, Guard, Oklahoma
Strengths: Size, quickness
Weaknesses: Leverage
Samia was a big, ornery member of the big, ornery Sooners line. He’s quick and long-armed with a nasty finish, but he gets blown backward surprisingly often for a blocker of his size and talent. Samia needs to recite the “low man wins” mantra a little more often, though he has the talent and demeanor of a future NFL starter. He’s a fine selection to start what promises to be an active day for the Vikings.
Grade: A-
115. Carolina Panthers: Christian Miller, Linebacker, Alabama
Strengths: Athleticism, pass-rush ability
Weaknesses: Durability, consistency
Miller was an oft-used situational defender for the Tide, not a starter, but it’s not unusual for Alabama to be so deep on the front seven that even the role players are prospects. Miller is an effective edge-rusher with some pursuit ability and coverage chops, making him a good fit at outside linebacker in what we used to call 3-4 defenses. He missed much of 2017 and last year’s national championship game with biceps and hamstring injuries, respectively, so durability may be a concern, especially if he bulks up for the NFL.
Miller is another wave/situational edge-rusher. He fills a need, but once again I have better players on the board, meaning it’s time for me to hammer the Panthers yet again.
Grade: C-
116. Tennessee Titans: Amani Hooker, Safety, Iowa
Strengths: Instincts, physicality
Weaknesses: Range, positional limitation
Iowa coaches created a specialized safety-linebacker role for Hooker last year, and he projects as a package safety who replaces the “Will” linebacker in the NFL. He’s compact, well-built, physical and does a lot of “linebacker” things well, including sifting through space in pursuit as a run defender.
He covered slot receivers frequently for the Hawkeyes but will have to be matched up carefully in that role in the NFL.
Hooker ran a 4.48 at the combine but doesn’t play to that speed in the open field on tape. Still, I love this pick: Hooker is better than many of the hybrid/box safeties who have already been drafted.
Grade: A
117. Detroit Lions: Austin Bryant, Defensive End, Clemson
Strengths: Length, athletic upside
Weaknesses: Leverage, pass-rush moves
The Lions drafted Ezekiel Ansah fifth overall in 2013 and haven’t selected an edge-rusher in the first three rounds since. They added Trey Flowers in the offseason, but Flowers is more of the kind of all-purpose defender who makes Bill Belichick look brilliant than someone who records a dozen sacks for the guy who followed Belichick around with a pencil behind his ear.
Bryant had 17 sacks over the last two seasons for the best defensive line in the nation. He’s big, quick and physical but has rudimentary pass-rush moves and an upright style that gets him pushed around at times. The 6’4”, 271-pound Bryant looked good as part of the weekly Clemson feeding frenzy but doesn’t project as an 8.5-sack-per-year defender in the pros. He’s a developmental pick for a team that has needed immediate help for years.
Grade: C
118. New England Patriots: Hjalte Froholdt, Center/Guard, Arkansas
Strengths: Versatility, leverage
Weaknesses: Power, quickness
Froholdt began playing club-team American football in Denmark; played defensive end, tight end and punted for a high school team in Ohio as an exchange student for a year; moved back to Scandinavia to play for an adult club team; returned to America to attend a Florida performance academy; committed to Arkansas as a defensive lineman; and then moved to guard and finally to center. Got all that?
The best thing that can be said is that despite his unusual football journey, Froholdt looked like just another sturdy SEC interior lineman when facing opponents such as Alabama. He’s a find-a-way type who is still developing as a center and should stick as a multisub.
Add “dudes from Denmark” to “Navy guys,” “skinny white receivers” and “long snappers” on the list of stereotypical Day 3 Patriots selection.
Grade: B
119. Cleveland Browns: Sheldrick Redwine, Safety, Miami
Strengths: Speed and range
Weaknesses: Physicality and tackling
Redwine and fellow Hurricanes defensive back Jaquan Johnson were teammates in Pop Warner and at Killian High School in Miami. Imagine the poor neighborhood quarterbacks who faced them since middle school. They probably switched to baseball or bowling in the ninth grade.
While Johnson (still on the board) is more of a thumper, Redwine is a converted cornerback who played free safety last year. He has sideline-to-sideline range that makes him valuable in run support and when cleaning up plays, but he’s an inconsistent tackler who can get pushed around by blockers. He has experience and tools for coverage but is inconsistent and will misread some route combinations.
Redwine’s speed and safety-corner versatility should help him stick as a sixth or seventh defensive back. The Browns can now draft for depth and development. Times really are changing.
Grade: B
120. Seattle Seahawks: Gary Jennings, Wide Receiver, West Virginia
Strengths: Long speed, hands
Weaknesses: Quickness, route experience
Jennings operated mostly out of the slot for the Mountaineers in 2018 and split touches with David Sills (still on the board) and Marcus Simms. His tape is full of tunnel screens and shallow crosses, with some big plays on rub routes and deep wheel routes, making it hard to project what he will do against NFL press coverage.
Jennings is fast, experienced and has sure hands in traffic. He fits the Seahawks system well as a slot receiver and complement to second-round pick D.K. Metcalf. Add the Seahawks to the teams I can’t wait to try out in Madden.
Grade: B+
121. New York Jets: Trevon Wesco, Tight End, West Virginia
Strengths: Size, run-blocking
Weaknesses: Receiving skills
Back-to-back Mountaineers!
Wesco typically lined up as an H-back in a loaded Mountaineers offense with only so many touches to go around. He caught 26 passes last year while opponents worried about stopping David Sills, Gary Jennings and others, but he’s not a smooth, natural receiver or route-runner. Wesco’s calling card is his wham-bam blocking style when crossing the formation on split-zone plays or taking on defenders at the second level.
Wesco will make an appealing lead blocker in short-yardage situations, an effective special teamer and a useful enough third tight end who can make opponents pay for assigning their slowest linebacker to him in man coverage. He may be a slight reach, but the Jets have a whole lot of question marks at tight end, so Wesco fills a need.
Grade: C+
122. Pittsburgh Steelers: Benny Snell, Running Back, Kentucky
Strengths: Power, production
Weaknesses: Speed, versatility
Snell is the great-nephew of Jets legend Matt Snell, the all-purpose power back who was the unsung hero of Super Bowl III. Snell said at the combine he watches film of his uncle before bed. “Just a player with so much power. Power to stay low. It would take like three guys to tackle him,” Snell said of the AFL great. Yep, that was Matt Snell.
This member of the Snell family is also a load to bring down, finishes his runs hard, has some cutback ability and can generate yards even when everything is not blocked up. Lack of receiving experience and breakaway speed could limit his role, but Snell tested well at the combine, and his rugged running style could give him extra touches.
Steelers fans who are already mad at me for pointing out that the team appears to be hopelessly lost in the past can feel free to disregard this grade for a player who is a little like a less versatile Rocky Bleier.
Grade: C-
123. Baltimore Ravens: Ben Powers, Guard, Oklahoma
Strengths: Experience, demeanor
Weaknesses: Athleticism
Powers is yet another longtime Sooners starter with solid fundamentals and a nasty disposition. He’s less gifted than teammates Cody Ford and Dru Samia, but he meets NFL thresholds, and coaches love a lineman who loves to finish his blocks. I think that’s it for Oklahoma linemen, folks.
Grade: B
124. Seattle Seahawks: Phil Haynes, Guard, Wake Forest
Strengths: Bouncer’s mentality
Weaknesses: Bouncer’s physique
DRAFT CRUSH ALERT! (Multiple flame and heart emojis)
Haynes is a bad-body bruiser with the power to bulldoze opponents, gobs of starting experience and—this is the best part—the athleticism and awareness to pick up blitzers and slide from defender to defender in pass protection.
On the downside, Haynes has technical/balance lapses and ends up on the ground too often, particularly late in games, which suggests a conditioning issue. Once he’s leaned out slightly, Haynes could develop into another Shaq Mason.
Reports of Seattle’s offensive line improvement last year were somewhat exaggerated. The Seahawks allowed 51 sacks, the eighth-highest figure in the NFL. Look for Haynes to immediately challenge one of the veterans (Mike Iupati and D.J. Fluker) the Seahawks have penciled in at guard.
Grade: A
125. Cincinnati Bengals: Renell Wren, Defensive Tackle, Arizona State
Strengths: Size, power, first-step explosion
Weaknesses: Production
Wren frequently wins the race off the line of scrimmage, plays with great leverage and has a knack for blowing up short-yardage plays.
On the downside, Wren produced only three career sacks. The Sun Devils played him mostly at nose tackle, but even when he wasn’t double-teamed, Wren could be slow to disengage and doesn’t have much of a pass-rushing game.
Wren performed well during Senior Bowl week when coaches moved him off the nose to the 3- and 5-techniques and he took his explosiveness with him. Wren will start his career as a wave defender on the interior, but he could develop into a starter.
The Bengals are going to be active this afternoon. And that’s a relief, because after the offseason I was tempted to send someone around to knock on their windows to make sure they were OK.
Grade: B+
126. Chicago Bears: Riley Ridley, Wide Receiver, Georgia
Welp, we’ve got one of these superhero capsules left, so let’s use it.
They’re mighty! They’re fascinating! They’re flawed! Get ready, true believers: Here’s the skinny on a member of the 2019 Draft Class Legion of Wide Receiver Superheroes!
Superpowers: Sticky hands, super agility
One Weakness: Sibling rivalry
Superhero Comparison: Havok
Alex Summers always pales in comparison to his older brother Scott “Cyclops” Summers, leader of the X-Men, yet he’s an effective superhero in his own right. Ridley’s brother Calvin (who plays for the Atlanta Falcons) has the flashier skills, but Riley has the potential to be an X-factor in his own right.
NFL Comparison: Robert Woods
Secret Superhero File
Ridley was trapped in a crowd of quality receivers at a run-heavy program, but he stood out because of his route running, hands, catch radius and dependable blocking. He’s the kind of receiver who can line up next to the tight end in some formations and do the run-blocking dirty work, slip past the defense on a play-action pass or snare a tough catch in traffic on 3rd-and-medium.
This is a strong value pick. Ridley is not cut out to be a star, but he will work well as a cog in the diversified Bears offense and make some of his teammates better.
Grade: A
127. Baltimore Ravens: Iman Marshall, Cornerback, USC
Strengths: Technique, awareness
Weaknesses: Frame, lateral quickness
Marshall was a four-year starter for the Trojans. He possesses great eyes and instincts in zone coverage, fluid hips and sound technique in man and the awareness and toughness to contribute in run support. He projects as a solid third or fourth cornerback who won’t get roasted if forced to start. Good organizations grab a dozen guys like this each offseason and make them battle for roster spots.
This is not a high-impact pick, but the Ravens have had a productive fourth round. Former general manager Ozzie Newsome must be smiling down on them. From the office he still keeps at the team facility.
Grade: C+
128. Dallas Cowboys: Tony Pollard, Running Back, Memphis
Strengths: Jack of all trades…
Weaknesses: …you know the second half of that expression.
Meet Jaylen Samuels 2.0. Like the Steelers’ fifth-round pick last year, Pollard is a running back/receiver/H-back slash player. The Tigers slid him all around the formation, motioning him out of the backfield and often using him as a blocker in bunch-receiver formations. Pollard is dangerous with the ball in his hands, with both long speed and some tackle-breaking ability, but he’s not a natural running back and lacks the quickness and hands to play wide receiver. Pollard would have been a West Coast offense fullback in the early 1990s, catching 60 passes per season and taking some changeup handoffs. It’s not clear where he fits today, but Samuels found a niche, and Pollard can too.
So the Cowboys just got a versatile weapon for Jason Garrett to deploy creatively. Can’t wait to see how that works out.
Grade: C
129. Oakland Raiders: Isaiah Johnson, Cornerback, Houston
Strengths: Size/length, zone coverage
Weaknesses: Run support
Another tall cornerback (6’2”) with a fast 40 time (4.4 at the combine) and arms that reach all the way to heaven, Johnson played wide receiver for the Cougars until his junior year. He’s inexperienced at cornerback but smart and active in zone coverage. He hasn’t been tested as much in man coverage, and he’s passive when taking on blocks and defending the run. Height, speed, some awareness and the ball skills of a wide receiver: The Raiders will take it and work out the details later. Grade: B+
130. Los Angeles Chargers: Drue Tranquill, Linebacker, Notre Dame
Strengths: Experience, fundamentals
Weaknesses: Athleticism
Tranquill was a starter for the Irish for so long that it feels like he was a co-captain with Joe Montana. He also does so many little things well that it’s easy to imagine him developing into a Pro Bowler. Tranquill stacks and sifts well on run defense, takes proper pursuit angles to prevent 10-yard runs from becoming 50-yarders, has experience as a safety and finds a way to ride faster tight ends and backs in man coverage. But he’s a lumbering change-of-direction athlete, which will limit him as a space defender in the NFL.
Tranquill projects as a special teams captain for the next decade. Whether he becomes more depends on how creatively the Chargers (who seemed with past picks to want to create a base 1-2-8 defense) scheme to maximize what he does well and hide his limitations. Another high-character, low-risk pick for the Chargers.
Grade: C+
131. Washington Redskins: Wes Martin, Guard, Indiana
Strengths: Size, reliability
Weaknesses: Athleticism
Martin is a sturdy, nuthin’-fancy interior lineman. Washington’s running backs will appreciate having Martin in the mix of players blocking in front of them. Once those running backs are done throwing emoji shade on the internet, anyway.
Grade: C+
132. Seattle Seahawks: Ugo Amadi, Safety, Oregon
Strengths: Character, return skills
Weaknesses: Size-speed profile
Amadi is 5’9” but has long arms and a physical style. He was a team captain who gets high marks for leadership and can be a pesky blitzer and edge-defender in run support. He also took over punt return duties last year and produced some big plays. Amadi lacks the lateral quickness to be a mighty-mite slot corner, which makes him a square peg schematically for most teams, but the Seahawks know their type of defender when they see him.
He’s still a “football player” whom Seahawks coaches should love. Special teams skills will keep him on the roster to start his career.
Grade: B+
133. New England Patriots: Jarrett Stidham, Quarterback, Auburn
Deadly accurate quarterback comparison: Christian Ponder
The Patriots used to draft Tom Brady heir apparents all the time: Ryan Mallett in the third round in 2011, Jimmy Garoppolo in the second round in 2014, Jacoby Brissett in the third round in 2016. Then the Garoppolo situation got weird and Brady started making Facebook documentaries about his immortality. Since then, Brady has been backed up by the non-threatening Brian Hoyer and someone named Danny the Halfling (oops, make that Danny Etling).
Stidham is an athletic, high-effort player with a broken pocket clock and spotty accuracy. He throws off his back foot, rushes his throws and sometimes looks to run at the first sign of trouble.
Stidham was less skittish and more accurate in 2017 than 2018 (when Auburn’s program fell off a bit), but the difference is sometimes overstated. Opponents like Clemson and LSU had him reaching for the ejector seat in 2017, though he did rebound with poised performances against other tough SEC foes that year. At any rate, it’s discouraging to see a quarterback’s pocket presence go in the wrong direction during his college career.
Stidham looked great in Senior Bowl seven-on-sevens and sounded great in interviews. He’s exactly that kind of quarterback. The Patriots will make a big show of claiming he’s their quarterback of the future and then trade him for a second-round pick to some desperate team.
Grade: C+
134. Los Angeles Rams: Greg Gaines, Defensive Tackle, Washington
Strengths: Leverage
Weaknesses: Athleticism
Gaines is a space-eater with a dad bod. He’s the poster child for the “low man wins” concept, holding the point of attack against double-teams by outleveraging blockers. Gaines was a four-year regular for the Huskies but has rudimentary chops as a pass-rusher and offers little value outside the phone booth area between the guards. Gaines can eat up blockers for Aaron Donald for a tiny fraction of Ndamukong Suh’s salary.
Grade: B+
135. Atlanta Falcons: John Cominsky, Defensive End, Charleston
Strengths: Run defense
Weaknesses: Level of competition
The Falcons allowed 124.9 rushing yards per game last season (eighth-worst in the NFL) and 4.9 yards per rush (fourth-worst). Neither figure is cataclysmically awful, but the Falcons defense excels at looking just good enough in each area to disguise how bad it really is.
Cominsky was an option quarterback in high school, but at the University of Charleston, he moved to defensive end, bulked up from 215 pounds and worked his way up to Mountain East Defender of the Year honors. Cominsky performed well enough at the Senior Bowl to prove he belonged in an NFL camp. He runs well, has some agility, weighs 286 useful pounds and gets high marks for character/work habits. On the downside, he’s a raw pass-rusher who didn’t produce many sacks against low-level competition. But he will help the Falcons as a run defender right away.
Grade: B+
136. Cincinnati Bengals: Michael Jordan, Center-Guard, Ohio State
Strengths: Size, versatility
Weaknesses: Athleticism
Michael Jordan is one of those names that should be retired from society forever, like “Abraham Lincoln, James T. Kirk or Gilgamesh. I mean, you know it’s bad when one of the most beloved and successful actors in Hollywood has to go by the name Michael B. Jordan, with the B subliminally suggesting, Hey, I might play Adonis Creed and Killmonger, but I’m still just the alternate version of the main guy with this name.
Anyway, this particular Michael Jordan was a mammoth three-year starter at center and guard for the Buckeyes. He’s more of a catch-and-engulf blocker than a mauler, and he has just enough quickness to get by.
Jordan projects as a better guard than center because he won’t have to move laterally in pass protection as often at guard, but he adds value as a multiposition sub. Not a needle-mover, but not a bad investment at the end of the fourth round.
Grade: B
137. Oakland Raiders: Foster Moreau, Tight End, LSU
Strengths: Experience as a blocker, athletic potential
Weaknesses: Receiving chops and production
Moreau was a block-early-and-often tight end who caught just 52 career passes for the Bayou Bengals but produced some tasty workout results at the combine. He’s not the pile driver you’d want when selecting a block-first tight end, and he winds up on the ground more than you’d like. But his mixture of tenacity and tools is intriguing.
Moreau could develop into a Jack Doyle-like starter, though he’s more likely to max out as a No. 2 tight end who excels on special teams and ruins fantasy weeks with two or three goal-line touchdowns per year. He won’t replace Jared Cook’s production in Oakland, but there will only be so many footballs to go around anyway.
Grade: C+
138. Philadelphia Eagles: Shareef Miller, Defensive End, Penn State
Strengths: Tools, competitiveness
Weaknesses: Technique
Miller was raised in difficult circumstances in North Philadelphia—his brother was shot and killed in West Philly in 2015—and became a competitive, reliable defender for the Nittany Lions.
Miller has a quick initial burst and hits hard, and he tested well at the combine. But he’s a straight-ahead pass-rusher who spends too many snaps latched to his pass protector.
Miller is an effort-and-upside pick. He projects as a wave/rotational lineman on a deep Eagles line. But he should fit the locker room culture for his hometown team, and he could have untapped potential.
Grade: B
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