The Titans have traded up to acquire the Patriots’ No. 72 pick, tweets Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald. New England will pick up Nos. 83 and 124, and will also give No. 200 to the Titans.
With its new pick, Tennessee will select Western Kentucky wide receiver Taywan Taylor. The Titans have now added two pass-catchers in 2017, as they used the fifth overall pick on WR Corey Davis.
The Vikings have acquired the 70th overall pick from the Jets, per Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald (Twitter link). Minnesota surrendered the 79th and 160th selections to move up, tweets Brian Costello of the New York Post. With the 70th choice, the Vikings selected Ohio State center Pat Elflein.
Formerly a guard, the 300-pound Elflein started all of the Buckeyes’ games over the previous three seasons and last year earned the Rimington Trophy, given to the nation’s top center. On paper, the Vikings are already in good shape at center with Joe Berger, but he’s entering his age-35 campaign. If Berger, not Elflein, serves as the Vikings’ pivot next season, the latter could end up at right guard, where Jeremiah Sirles is the penciled-in starter. Sirles worked as a tackle in 2016 and turned in uninspiring results.
The Saints have acquired the 67th overall pick from the 49ers, tweets Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. New Orleans will give up a second-round pick in 2018 and a seventh-rounder this year, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
The Saints had been working to move back into the second round in order to draft a pass rusher. But the second ended without a trade for the club, which will instead settle for an early third-rounder. Surprisingly, the Saints will select Tennessee running back Alvin Kamara with the newly acquired pick.
The 5-foot-10, 215-pound Kamara was a dual threat as a member of the Volunteers, with whom he averaged 6.2 yards per rush, caught 74 passes and combined for 23 touchdowns over two seasons. It’s unclear how many touches he’ll receive during the early part of his pro career, though, as the Saints already have Mark Ingram and Adrian Peterson as their top two backfield options. Of course, a timeshare won’t be anything new for Kamara, who coexisted with Jalen Hurd at Tennessee.
The Bills have traded up for the Falcons’ No. 63 pick, tweets Joe Buscaglia of WKBW. Buffalo will select Temple offensive lineman Dion Dawkins.
In order to move, the Bills gave up pick Nos. 75, 149, and 156, the Falcons announced. Dawkins, meanwhile, figures to act as insurance all along Buffalo’s offensive line, but will likely slot in at guard for the most part. He can also play right tackle to replace Cyrus Kouandjio if need be.
After selecting Utah safety Marcus Williams at No. 42, the Saints are trying to trade back into the second round in order to draft an edge rusher, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). In its effort to move up, New Orleans is offering both a third-round pick this year (No. 76) and a second-round selection in 2018.
The Saints had trouble pressuring opposing quarterbacks last season, evidenced in part by their 27th-place ranking in sacks (30). Defensive end Cameron Jordan and outside linebacker Dannell Ellerbe combined for 11.5 sacks, but the Saints otherwise got little pass-rushing production from the rest of their edge players.
With Round 2 nearing a conclusion, Kansas State’s Jordan Willis and Alabama’s Tim Williams represent a couple of the most notable edge defenders left on the board.
The Browns have selected Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer with the 52nd overall pick, giving them a young signal-caller to develop after they didn’t choose one in the opening round.
Kizer was excellent in 2015, posting 21 touchdowns and completing nearly 63% of his passes while averaging 8.5 adjusted yards per target. Last season, however, his completion percentage by more than four points, and while many of Kizer’s raw statistics remained stagnant, draft analysts pegged him as a Day 2 pick.
Kizer is the second passer the Browns have chosen in the past two drafts, joining 2016 third-round pick Cody Kessler. While Kessler fared respectably in limited action last season, he didn’t do enough to establish himself as a long-term option, and he also dealt with concussion issues. He and Kizer will presumably take up two spots on the Browns’ QB depth chart next season, while the futures of Brock Osweiler, recently acquired via trade, and Kevin Hogan are unclear.
With the 48th pick in the draft, the Bengals have selected Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon.
Players with character concerns are nothing new for the Bengals, and Mixon is perhaps the draft’s most controversial prospect in light of the video that surfaced of him assaulting a female three years ago. A number of teams reportedly removed Mixon from their respective draft boards, as they were unwilling to deal with the backlash of selecting such a infamous player. Mixon and the victim in the case reached a civil settlement earlier this month.
While Mixon has off-field concerns, he’s one of the best running back prospects on the field, and many observers felt Mixon would have been a surefire first-round pick if he came without baggage. In 2016, put 1,274 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground for the Sooners, adding another 538 yards and five scores in the passing game.
The Bengals already have two familiar backs in Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard, though neither reached the 4.0 yards-per-carry mark last season. Plus, Hill will be a free agent next offseason and Bernard is coming off a serious injury, having torn his ACL in November.
The Vikings have acquired the 41st pick from the Bengals in exchange for the 48th and 128th selections. Minnesota will select Florida State running back Dalvin Cook.
While Cook was originally viewed as a first-round lock, poor measurables at the combine and off-field concerns forced him into Day 2. But while Cook didn’t test out as an elite athlete, the results are there on film. In each of the past two seasons, Cook topped 1,600 yards rushing and scored 19 touchdowns on the ground.
Cook figures to be the long-term answer for the Vikings in the wake of Adrian Peterson‘s departure. For now, he’ll team up with the recently signed Latavius Murray to form a one-two backfield punch for the Vikes, whose running game was among the worst in the NFL last season.
Dallas Robinson contributed to this post.
The Bills have acquired the 37th and 149th picks from the Rams in exchange for Nos. 44 and 91, tweets ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Buffalo will select East Carolina wide receiver Zay Jones. With the acquisition of pick 149, the Bills now have four fifth-rounders.
The 6-foot-1, 197-pound Jones could be a factor immediately for the Bills, who entered the draft sorely lacking at wideout after No. 1 man Sammy Watkins. Jones caught a whopping 399 passes during his four-year college career, including a ridiculous 158 last season. He also amassed 1,746 yards and hauled in eight scores in 2016.
The Bears will trade back from the 36th overall pick, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). The selection will go to Arizona in exchange for the Cardinals’ second-, fourth- and sixth-round picks this year and a fourth in 2018, tweets ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times has the exact details: Chicago will get the 45th, 119th and 197th selections this year, while the Cards will receive Nos. 36 and 221.
The Cards have selected Washington safety Budda Baker, who could help replace the departed Tony Jefferson. After Jefferson signed with the Ravens, the Cardinals added Antoine Bethea, who’s currently penciled in alongside star Tyrann Mathieu as a back-end starter.