2018 NFL Draft - Pro Football Rumors

FSU’s Derwin James To Enter NFL Draft

December 5th, 2017 at 2:38pm CST by Zachary Links

No surprise here, but Florida State safety Derwin James has announced that he will go pro in 2018 rather than play out his final season. James will also skip the Independence Bowl at the end of the month.

“After a lot of prayer and plenty of conversations with my coaches and especially my teammates, I’m ready to begin preparing for my next chapter: becoming the next great Florida State DB in the NFL,” James wrote in a piece for The Players’ Tribune. “I feel extremely grateful that every person I spoke to supported my decision to begin my training immediately.”

James has been on the NFL radar for some time now. Back in September, one scout told NFL.com’s Chase Goodbread that James has the body type to play “about seven positions.” He’s widely viewed as a first round prospect and he may work himself into top ten consideration.

On the flipside, evaluators will be taking a close look at his knee following an injury in 2016. Some draft experts, including Matt Miller of Bleacher Report, have opined that James has looked timid in his return.

Colorado CB Isaiah Oliver To Enter NFL Draft

December 1st, 2017 at 9:00pm CST by GregGoldstein

Many draft eligible prospects are beginning to make decisions on their NFL future, and one of the better cornerbacks in college football has decided to forego his final year of eligibility. Colorado cornerback Isaiah Oliver officially announced on his personal Twitter account that he will enter the 2018 NFL Draft.

Oliver wrote a nice thank you note to the university and coaching staff as a part of the tweet.

“After meeting with my coaches and family I have decided to forego my final year of eligibility and enter the 2018 NFL Draft. The University of Colorado has offered me an incredible experience and will always be a part of who I am. I am extremely grateful for Coach MacIntyre, Coach Brown, the entire coaching staff, along with the support staff of the football program molding me as a person, player and student-athlete.”

The junior is rated as the third best cornerback in the draft by Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller, who reacted to the news by mentioning that he “wouldn’t be surprised to see him go top 20 in April,” (Twitter link). That’s certainly high praise for Oliver, who is listed at 6’1”, 190 lbs. on his player bio. Tall cornerbacks are becoming fixtures on the outside in the NFL and whatever team drafts Oliver this Spring looks to be adding a talented defender to help cover one side of the field.

Texas T Connor Williams To Enter NFL Draft

November 27th, 2017 at 2:44pm CST by Sam Robinson

With the majority of college teams’ regular seasons having concluded, draft announcements are underway. One potential top-10 pick will be making the move to the pros come 2018.

Texas tackle Connor Williams will declare for the 2018 draft and will not play in the Longhorns’ bowl game, Williams announced (on Twitter). He will not play in the Longhorns’ to-be-determined bowl game, per the Longhorn Network (on Twitter).

Viewed as a top-tier offensive line prospect, Williams is a junior and was a first-team All-American as a sophomore. The 6-foot-6, 315-pound lineman was projected to go inside the top 10 on Bleacher Report draft analyst Matt Miller’s most recent mock.

Considering what happened to Jake Butt last season in Michigan’s bowl game, and the fact Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey skipped theirs and went in the top 10, the bowl-skipping trend could be a widespread tactic this year.

“My family and I have decided it is my best interest to forgo the bowl game and my senior season to begin preparing for my professional football career,” Williams said in a statement (via TexasSports.com). “One of the reasons I worked so hard to come back from my injury was to help the team reach its goal of playing in a bowl game, and I’m proud we were able to accomplish that.”

Williams missed time this season with an MCL injury.

Wyoming Coach Expects Allen To Enter NFL

November 25th, 2017 at 8:14pm CST by Micah Powell

It’s been long expected that star Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen was going to enter the 2018 NFL Draft. Following the team’s game on Nov. 18, head coach Craig Bohl all but confirmed the speculation.

While meeting with reporters following the 13-7 loss to Fresno State, Bohl was asked if Allen would return to the team in 2018. “I would say no,” Bohl told reporters, including the Casper Star-Tribune’s Brandon Foster. “He and I have had some talks, and I think he’s going to plan on moving forward (to the NFL).”

The coach’s comments weren’t the only indicator about Allen’s future. The junior quarterback was also the first player honored during the team’s senior-day ceremonies. Bohl played that off by saying, “Well, Josh is set to graduate and (is) a senior,” alluding to the fact Allen is an academic senior.

So far in his junior campaign, Allen hasn’t put up the eye-popping stats many expect from a first-round quarterbacks, amassing 1,658 yards, 13 touchdowns and six interceptions while completing just 56.2 percent of his passes. Scouts, however, rave about the signal-caller’s tools. At 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds with a cannon for an arm, Allen is seen by many as the most physically talented passer in an impressive class of quarterbacks that includes USC’s Sam Darnold, Louisville’s Lamar Jackson and UCLA’s Josh Rosen.

Teams who could be a possible destination for the Wyoming product include the Giants, Browns and Jets.

New York Notes: Jets, Giants, Darnold

November 22nd, 2017 at 1:41pm CST by Zachary Links

The misdemeanor assault charge against Jets outside linebacker Lorenzo Mauldin has been dropped, as Darryl Slater of NJ.com writes. Mauldin was said to have punched a 22-year-old man in the face, but New York authorities did not find enough evidence to move forward with the case. Still, Mauldin faces a civil suit and league discipline is still possible even though he is in the clear, legally speaking.

Mauldin, a third-round pick in 2015, was in the mix for a starting job this season. Instead, he lost the entire season to a back injury. Next season is slated to be his final year with the Jets and that may mark his final opportunity to make a good impression on a regime that did not draft him.

Here’s more out of the Meadowlands:

Who will be the Jets‘ starting quarterback in 2018? Ralph Vacchiano of SNY profiled some candidates, including incumbent Josh McCown and top draft prospects Sam Darnold and Josh Rosen. The Gang Green beat writer gives top odds to McCown (5-1) while dismissing chances of middling prospects Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, or Baker Mayfield being the guy (500-1). At 25-1, he’s perhaps more bullish on the Jets landing Kirk Cousins than anyone else.
Speaking of Jackson, Manish Mehta of the Daily News hears that the Jets do not believe that Jackson can thrive as an NFL quarterback. Other teams may be higher on the Louisville product, but Mehta cannot envision the Jets investing a Round 2 or 3 pick in him.
In the interest of equal time, Vacchiano looks at the candidates for the Giants‘ starting job. The odds remain strong that Eli Manning will be the Week 1 starter, but Vacchiano does not completely rule out Rosen, Darnold, or in-house options Geno Smith and Davis Webb. In related news, Vacchiano hears from multiple team sources that there are no plans to play Webb the rest of the way.

Latest On Josh Rosen, Sam Darnold

November 21st, 2017 at 7:12pm CST by Sam Robinson

After the latest USC-UCLA game brought numerous scouts and NFL personnel executives, some fallout from the Trojans’ 28-23 win over the Bruins emerged. Most notably, one of the two quarterbacks looks like a good bet to leave school early while the other isn’t certain yet.

Josh Rosen declaring for the 2018 draft is viewed as a “done deal,” Tony Pauline of DraftAnalyst.net reports. Sam Darnold has not decided yet, and Pauline reports that decision is a ways off. This gels with what came out about Darnold over the summer.

Albert Breer of SI.com added the teams at the top of the draft will play a part in influencing the redshirt sophomore’s decision.

“Sam Darnold has great support around him and comes from a great family and my understanding is he’s going to take everything into account … that includes who is at the top of the draft,” Breer told 92.3 The Fan (via Scott Patsko of cleveland.com). “It includes the coaches that he sees drafting first, second and third overall. That will be part of the decision-making. What is best for me? What will put me in the best position to have a long NFL career.”

As for Saturday night’s game, at least 20 teams sent scouts. Pauline reports four franchises — the Browns, Bills, Jets and Giants — had key front office personnel at the game in addition to scouts. Mike Maccagnan and Jerry Reese were confirmed to be on hand.

Pauline’s consensus from discussing Darnold with on-hand personnel would be the passer could use one more year of seasoning. While a few of these evaluators said Darnold would be the 2018 No. 1 pick if he entered the draft due to his arm talent and athleticism, the prodigious talent drew Jay Cutler comparisons as well. Darnold wouldn’t be the first quarterback to bypass a draft as a possible No. 1 overall pick, with Peyton Manning and former Trojan Matt Leinart among those to do so in years past.

GMs and scouts who spoke to Pauline viewed Rosen as possessing possibly a bit more ability than Darnold, but his personality appears to be turning off some NFL folks. At least two GMs issued “stay away” warnings regarding Rosen. Another GM whom Pauline notes runs a team that will likely own a top-12 pick and is in need of a quarterback said he would not select Rosen with it due to character concerns.

Overall, Pauline reports the consensus on the 2018 quarterback class is Rosen and Darnold are clearly atop the field.

AFC Notes: Dolphins, Jets, Rosen, Darnold, McDermott, Bills QB’s, Kizer, Broncos Offense

November 19th, 2017 at 7:47pm CST by GregGoldstein

The Dolphins dropped their fourth game in a row when the Bucs broke away in the fourth quarter of today’s contest, which has James Walker of ESPN.com saying that the team will start have to turn their attention to 2018. While Walker does note that the coaches and players will say that they’re still in the wild card hunt, the reality is that the team is showing no signs of making a run during the remaining weeks of the regular season. It’s a sobering thought for second-year head coach Adam Gase, who led Miami to a playoff birth during his first season as the Dolphins leader.

In addition to the defeat, the team also lost starting quarterback Jay Cutler to a concussion during today’s game. Cutler has already missed time earlier in the season, but the Dolphins continue to have an identity problem at the position, according to Adam Beasley of The Miami Herald. Although Matt Moore was effective in relief of Cutler in Week 11, the team did not signal what they intend to do at the quarterback position a week from now.

Gase told Beasley after the game that, “I want to get to tomorrow first, see how [Cutler is] feeling.” These situations usually get more light shed on them as the practice week goes on, however the Dolphins find themselves stuck in an unassuming gray area of the league with two veteran signal callers that can’t be relied on to deliver in the future. Miami still has Ryan Tannehill signed to a long-term deal when he fully recovers from his season-ending knee injury, but he hasn’t truly grabbed the reigns of the franchise since the team took the quarterback in the first round back in 2012.

Another team definitely looking ahead in regards to the QB position is the Jets, who had their general manager Mike Maccagnan, vice president of personnel Brian Heimerdinger and area scout Brian Shields on hand for the USC-UCLA game on Saturday to watch two of the best 2018 NFL Draft QB prospects in Josh Rosen and Sam Darnold square off, reports Rich Cimini of ESPN.com. Cimini notes the interesting behavior of Maccagnan in particular, who he saw writing a “copious” amount of notes and decided to watch the game from behind the sidelines instead of in the press box, where most of the NFL scouts were sitting. The Jets are likely to cast a wide net in their search for their next franchise signal, but it would seem that the front office has a significant amount of interest in two of the best college quarterbacks in the country.
The Bills have produced themselves a tremendous QB controversy when they shockingly decided to bench starter Tyrod Taylor for rookie Nathan Peterman. However, after Peterman threw five interceptions in the first half of today’s loss at the hands of the Chargers, head coach Sean McDermott is confident and says that he is not second guessing his decision, according to Mike Rodak of ESPN.com. The head coach didn’t reveal his intentions for who will start next week, even though Taylor did finish out the game today. The coach just said, “I’m going to evaluate.” when asked about his QB questions in his postgame media session, reports Vic Carruci of the Buffalo News (Twitter link).
On the other hand, Browns head coach Hue Jackson committed to his rookie signal caller for the rest of the season after today’s game, reports Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. Jackson has turned to both Kevin Hogan and Cody Kessler throughout the season, but he seemed very set on DeShone Kizer after his team suffered their 10th straight loss of the 2017 season. “Where we are right now, I need to continue to see him,” said Jackson. “Let’s let him play. Let’s let him play this thing out. As long as he’s healthy, let’s keep putting him out there. I want to walk away from this season knowing exactly what DeShone Kizer is top to bottom. He deserves that. I know this is all tough for him. Week in and week out, it’s the consistency he has to keep chasing. He just has to keep working at it.” While seeing how Kizer reacts to this adversity seems like the franchise’s main priority, they’re quickly running out of chances to not fall into the same breadth as the 2008 Lions, who were the first team in league history to go 0-16 in a season.
The Broncos suffered their sixth straight loss at the hands of the Bengals after starting out 3-1 to start the season. The team has shifted to backup Brock Osweiler and could be looking to implement second-year quarterback Paxton Lynch at some point in the remaining six weeks of the season. However, apart from the QB problems, the team is apparently dealing with pushback from players regarding their current offensive scheme, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Sources tell the reporter that players are starting to show frustration with the way the offense is running. The team does have two very good receivers in Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders, but there are a ton of holes throughout the unit that schemes won’t hide. We’ll see how first-year head coach Vance Joseph reacts to the losing streak, but it’s turning out that this is a lost season for the Super Bowl 50 champions.

AFC Notes: Jets, Darnold, Rosen, Fuller, Broncos TE’s, Williams

November 17th, 2017 at 10:01pm CST by GregGoldstein

While the game probably will not effect the College Football Playoff, USC vs. UCLA will certainly have a ton of NFL Draft implications. Both starting quarterbacks, Sam Darnold and Josh Rosen, are considered two of the best QB draft prospects eligible for the 2018 NFL Draft, and will try to outshine each other during Saturday’s contest. The hyped matchup will be attended by 20 teams in some form, including the QB needy Jets, according to Rich Cimini of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The Jets were most recently connected to Wyoming signal caller Josh Allen, although Allen’s draft status has taken a big hit because of some early season struggles vs. top level collegiate defenses. New York’s season has gone a bit better than many expected, but they still have a long-term need at the QB position with Christian Hackenberg and Bryce Petty not looking like the long-term answer. The Jets, along with many other scouting departments will definitely get a good comparison of two of the top signal callers in all of college football in Los Angeles this weekend.

The Texans have faced a number of injuries to key players including J.J. Watt, Whitney Mercilus and most recently quarterback Deshaun Watson. Now another playmaker who missed time early in the season will be forced to the sidelines again. Big play receiver Will Fuller will miss Sunday’s game with a rib injury, according Houston’s official injury report released on Friday afternoon. This leaves the team without another weapon for now starter Tom Savage and puts added pressure on DeAndre Hopkins to make contested plays due to increased attention from the defensive backs. Fuller missed the Texans first three games with a broken collarbone, but has since caught an impressive seven touchdowns in the past six games. Bruce Ellington is the next man up on the depth chart to try and replace Fuller’s downfield threat ability.
The Broncos have just one tight end on the roster entering the weekend for this Sunday’s game against the Bengals. Both A.J. Derby and Jeff Heuerman have been ruled out, which leaves Virgil Green as the lone name left on the depth chart, according to Mike Klis of 9news.com. Derby is recovering from a shoulder injury that he suffered this past Sunday night and Heuerman is dealing with a knee injury. It should be noted that no Broncos tight end has been a huge factor in the team’s offense, with Denver mostly relying on the receiving combo of Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders to move the football through the air. Klis does note that the team is expected to call up practice squad tight end Austin Traylor to take snaps as the team’s number two, adding that interestingly an unknown offensive lineman could work as the Broncos number three option if need be.
In order for the Browns to activate wide receiver Corey Coleman, they opted to waive fellow wideout Kasen Williams. The team has learned that Williams has passed through waivers and is free to sign with any practice squad he chooses, tweets Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times. The 25 year-old receiver first latched on with the Seattle back in 2015, but appeared in seven games with Cleveland so far this season.

AFC East Notes: Patriots, Gronk, Jets, Allen

November 16th, 2017 at 3:28pm CST by Zachary Links

Does Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski have a shot at maxing out his 2017 incentives? Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston checked in on Gronk’s deal to see if he can earn as much as $10.75MM this season through bonuses.

Gronk is currently on pace for 72 catches for 1,093 yards and nine touchdowns while playing in 81% of the Patriots’ snaps. Those numbers would put him in line to earn $8.75MM, the second-highest incentive tier. In order to reach the $10.75MM max, he would have to play in 90% of the Pats’ offensive snaps or record 80 catches or 1,200 receiving yards or earn All-Pro recognition. Of course, Gronk’s name recognition could help his All-Pro case, even if he doesn’t satisfy the other triggers for the top incentives package.

Here’s more from the AFC East:

The Jets love Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen, a league source tells Matt Miller of Bleacher Report (on Twitter). Meanwhile, a Wyoming source tells Miller that the Jets have done more work on him than any other team. The Jets have gotten quality play out of Josh McCown so far this year, but they’ll almost certainly look to the free agent market and/or the draft for younger solutions since McCown will turn 39 in 2018. So far this year, Allen has thrown for 1,658 yards this season with 13 touchdowns against six picks. He has also rushed for 207 yards and five touchdowns off of 84 attempts.
Jesse Davis has been doing a decent job at right tackle and that could alter Ja’Wuan James‘ future with the Dolphins, Armando Salguero of The Miami Herald (Twitter link) opines. If there’s no discernible difference between the two players, their salaries could be the tiebreaker. James, a 2014 first-round pick, is due $9.341MM through the fifth-year option, but the Dolphins can bail on that obligation before the start of the 2018 league year. It’s possible that James’ injury could be a season-ender, so he may have already played his final game for Miami.

Giants Eyeing QBs In Draft

November 8th, 2017 at 10:15am CST by Zachary Links

With a 1-7 record, the Giants are understandably looking towards the future. Part of that vision could include a new young quarterback. Several weeks ago, owner John Mara told his front office to start looking closely at the top college quarterbacks in the 2018 draft, sources tell ESPN.com’s Jordan Raanan.

The directive, in part, came because Odell Beckham Jr. had suffered a broken ankle. Although it was early in the season, Mara had a feeling that the Giants might end up picking high in the draft as a result. Right now, it looks like the 1-7 Giants are going to be right at the top, along with the winless Niners and Browns.

The Giants could target UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen after sending vice president of player evaluation Marc Ross to scout him in recent weeks. Ross runs the Giants’ draft, so it’s notable that he was the one to take a close look at Rosen in the fall.

Other top names available include USC’s Sam Darnold and Wyoming’s Josh Allen. Louisville’s Lamar Jackson and Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield, two non-traditional QBs, are also available.

2018 NFL Draft News & Rumors