2019 NFL Draft - Pro Football Rumors

Ole Miss WR D.K. Metcalf To Enter NFL Draft

November 23rd, 2018 at 4:01pm CST by Zachary Links

Ole Miss wide receiver D.K. Metcalf is going pro. The redshirt sophomore will enter the NFL draft, even though a neck injury ended his 2018 season prematurely.

“I had a month to weigh my options,” Metcalf told Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports. “I prayed to God and told Him to put the right decision in me. After meeting with Coach [Matt] Luke, they did everything they could to give me the right information, and I made my choice.”

Metcalf’s true freshman season ended after just two games thanks to a broken foot, but he returned in 2017 to average 16.6 yards per catch and score seven touchdowns. This year, he was averaging 21.9 yards per grab and notched five TDs in seven games before he was shut down for the season.

His injury history will be a concern, but he’s still expected to be among this year’s top draft prospects.

“He’s raw, but there’s a lot of upside because he’s so big and talented,” an NFL scout told Yahoo Sports. “He’ll probably go in the second round because he’s so talented. He’s going to kill workouts, and he’s a good kid and football is important to him. I’d be shocked if the health checks out if he lasts past the second round.”

Metcalf says he’ll be ready to fully participate in all football activities on Jan. 22. If he can prove that he’s healthy, the son of former NFL lineman Terrence Metcalf could find himself in the first round mix.

2019 NFL Draft Notes: Haskins, Jones, Patterson, Herbert

November 22nd, 2018 at 9:15am CST by Andrew Ortenberg

With college football season starting to wind down, scouting and draft talk is starting to ramp up. Opinions are being formed on the top draft-eligible prospects, and many teams are beginning to shape their evaluations of players. Rumors are also starting to swirl about which players will and won’t declare for the draft. One potentially surprising name is Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins, who is expected to leave school early for the draft after this season, sources told Matt Miller of Bleacher Report.

According to Miller, “barring injury or a massive drop-off in play down the stretch”, Haskins plans on entering the draft. Miller writes that he had previously heard Haskins was likely to return to Ohio State, but the player appears to have had a change of heart recently. Ohio State has been having a bit of a rough season, and there’s some reported dysfunction surrounding the team, so it wouldn’t be surprising if that’s what ended up pushing Haskins towards the draft.

Here are more notes from the 2019 NFL Draft:

Speaking of quarterbacks, Duke signal caller Daniel Jones is also likely to declare, according to Tony Pauline of DraftAnalyst.com. Pauline says on his podcast that sources told him the “decision has already been made and he’s gone.” Pauline supports the decision, and doesn’t think he has much more to gain with another season. Jones wasn’t known by many coming into the season, but has quickly risen as a sleeper in this class. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweeted about him last month, calling him “one of the top QBs we’ll all be talking about in April” despite him being “under-the-radar.”
In addition to Haskins, another Big Ten quarterback could be leaving early. Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson is also likely to leave for the draft after this season, according to Miller. Miller writes that multiple sources expect Patterson to declare, and one told him Patterson thinks he can “benefit by not competing with the 2020 group that includes Jake Fromm and Tua Tagovailoa.” It’s an interesting strategy, and one that has paid off in the past. Quarterbacks that aren’t actually elite prospects often get taken much higher in the draft than they normally would if there isn’t a very strong class available.
We heard last month that Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert is likely to stay in school for another year, and Miller confirms that report. Herbert is widely seen as the quarterback with the highest ceiling and most potential, but Miller writes staying in school is seen as “the best thing for Herbert, as he’s often cited as not having the mental toughness right now to handle the NFL.” Many have declared Herbert a likely top overall selection in this year’s draft, but it doesn’t sound like he’ll be available.

Current 2019 NFL Draft Order

November 19th, 2018 at 10:40am CST by Dallas Robinson

With nearly 11 full weeks of NFL action in the books, the 2019 draft order is beginning to take shape. Here’s the rundown of where things would stand if the 2018 season ended today:

1. San Francisco 49ers (2-8)

2. Arizona Cardinals (2-8)

3. Oakland Raiders (2-8)

4. New York Jets (3-7)

5. New York Giants (3-7)

6. Buffalo Bills (3-7)

7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-7)

8. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-7)

9. Cleveland Browns (3-6-1)

10. Detroit Lions (4-6)

11. Atlanta Falcons (4-6)

12. Philadelphia Eagles (4-6)

13. Denver Broncos (4-6)

14. Green Bay Packers (4-5-1)

15. Indianapolis Colts (5-5)

16. Miami Dolphins (5-5)

17. Dallas Cowboys (5-5)

18. Tennessee Titans (5-5)

19. Seattle Seahawks (5-5)

20. Cincinnati Bengals (5-5)

Extra Points: Burfict, Tannehill, Browns, Herbert, 2019 draft

October 21st, 2018 at 7:26pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Vontaze Burfict seems to always be involved in controversy. The Bengals linebacker only recently returned from a suspension that cost him the Bengals’ first four games of the season, and found himself once again the subject of a lot of criticism due to several hits he made during Cincinnati’s loss to the Steelers last week.

Burfict was slapped with a massive fine, and the next time he makes any sort of hit that’s seen as dirty he’ll be hit with another suspension, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). Rapoport writes that Burfict’s “next similar action to last week will result in suspension for a player the league office has spent countless hours with to try to get him to adjust his play.” Additionally, a source told Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk that the only reason the league didn’t suspend Burfict this past week was that they were “concerned that a suspension would not hold up on appeal.” Apparently the NFL wanted to suspend him, but thought it was likely to be overturned by independent arbitrators, and wanted to avoid the embarrassment of losing in court.

Here’s more from around the league:

“The Dolphins are in wait-and-see mode on QB Ryan Tannehill, whose complex shoulder issues limit his range of motion”, Rapoport tweets. Tannehill has now missed two straight games with a mysterious shoulder injury, and his return date is an open question at this point. The Dolphins have a short week before they take on the Texans in a Thursday night game, and Rapoport adds that it’s “hard to see him playing Thursday night.”
The Browns should look to re-sign receiver Terrelle Pryor, opines Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. Pryor was recently released by the Jets, and although there seemed to be some bad blood between the two sides after Pryor left the Browns in free agency, a reunion would make some sense. The Browns’ receiving corp has been depleted by injuries, and Pryor could definitely help.
Despite being widely seen as the best draft-eligible quarterback prospect, Oregon signal caller Justin Herbert is likely to not enter the draft and return for his senior season, according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports. A lot of people have identified Herbert as a potential number one overall pick, but it’s “far more likely that the junior actually remains in school for another year”, writes La Canfora.

Nick Bosa To Focus On Draft

October 16th, 2018 at 12:51pm CST by Zachary Links

Ohio State defensive end Nick Bosa will not try to return to his team after rehabbing from a core muscle injury, the school announced on Tuesday. It’s a smart business decision from Bosa, who is widely projected as the top prospect in the 2019 NFL Draft.

“I was hopeful that Nick would be able to return to play again for us,” head coach Urban Meyer said in a statement released by the school. “I know this was an extremely difficult and emotional decision for Nick and his family, and I wish him well as he moves on to get himself 100 percent healthy and ready for his next chapter. I want to thank Nick for the remarkable efforts he gave for this program. He is a first-class young man who we have been honored to coach.”

Bosa suffered the injury on Sept. 15 and had surgery less than a week later. In three games this year, Bosa had four sacks, six tackles for a loss, and was leading the Buckeyes in tackles overall.

Older brother Joey Bosa took a business-first stand with the Chargers as a rookie and wound up missing nearly all of the club’s offseason activities in the process. With that in mind, it’s not a surprise to hear that Nick playing it safe when it comes to his future prospects.

WR Prospect Ahmmon Richards Suffers Career-Ending Injury

October 6th, 2018 at 9:46pm CST by Sam Robinson

Viewed as a possible first-round pick or a player with Day 2 draft potential, Miami junior wide receiver Ahmmon Richards will not be able to follow through on those aspirations because of what is believed to be a career-ending injury.

Richards has been sidelined since the Hurricanes’ season opener, and the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson and Susan Miller Degnan report it’s a neck injury that will end the wideout’s career. The severity of this injury was revealed Saturday, although the university has not confirmed it.

Not much is known about this malady, besides the aforementioned report about it causing the 6-foot-1 wideout to stop playing football, because Richards’ status has been “day-to-day” since the Week 1 setback. It’s unclear how Richards suffered the injury, but the Miami product was likely going to be in the mix for an early-rounds pick had he entered the 2019 draft pool.

Richards’ best season came as a freshman in 2016, when he caught 49 passes for 934 yards.

Extra Points: Mahomes, Chiefs, Chargers, Bosa, Lions, Snead, NFL Draft

September 23rd, 2018 at 6:19pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Patrick Mahomes is the talk of the NFL. He’s led the Chiefs to a 3-0 record and has been nearly flawless, tossing 13 touchdowns and zero interceptions. Now, more details are coming out about how Mahomes landed in Kansas City, and Terez Paylor of Yahoo Sports has an insightful piece about the Chiefs’ process.

Chiefs GM Brett Veach, at the time the team’s assistant GM, reportedly became infatuated with Mahomes in the months leading up to the draft. As a scout with the Eagles, he had banged the table for Andy Reid to draft Fletcher Cox, DeSean Jackon, and LeSean McCoy, so Reid trusted his judgment. Veach hounded Reid for months about his love for Mahomes and eventually won the coach over. The whole story is well worth a read and is full of interesting nuggets. It sounds like the Chiefs have the right leadership in place to be a force in the league for years to come.

Here’s more from around the league:

Chargers star pass-rusher Joey Bosa will get the cast taken off his foot later today according to Adam Schefter of ESPN (Twitter link). While it’s a positive development for Los Angeles, Schefter cautions he still isn’t expected back until “sometime next month.”
Earlier this week the Lions re-signed veteran cornerback DeShawn Snead, and now the details are in. The contract is for just the veteran’s minimum, but will cost the Lions $2.3MM this season due to the dead money that came from cutting him the first time according to Chris Burke of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Virginia Tech has dismissed defensive lineman Trevon Hill from the team, an item of note for NFL draftniks. It’s “major draft news” according to Tony Pauline of DraftAnalyst.com (Twitter link), who writes that Hill was “one of the better edge rushing prospects in the nation.”

AFC West Notes: Raiders, Mack, Broncos

August 16th, 2018 at 9:01pm CST by Zachary Links

The Raiders’ situation with Khalil Mack continues to feature no movement. There is no end in sight, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets, adding the 2016 defensive player of the year will not report in time for Oakland’s second preseason game. Reggie McKenzie previously said he does not expect the superstar defensive end to show up without an extension, so this isn’t unexpected. Mack will incur a fine of $814K by not being with the Raiders for their second preseason tilt, bringing his fine total up to $1.628MM, per Schefter.

Jon Gruden, meanwhile, insists the Raiders are trying to bring Mack back as soon as possible and called the fifth-year Raider “the best player coming off the edge in football.”

“We’re going to try to get him here as soon as we can,” Gruden said during a Sirius XM Radio interview (via NBC Sports Bay Area). “In the time being, you got to move on. You’ve got to get up and go to work. That’s one thing I’m very proud of what we’ve done here. This is a negotiation. Joel Segal is Khalil’s agent. They’ve got their plan. General manager Reggie McKenzie and the people negotiating on our end have a plan. I’m coaching the team. At this time, he’s not here, and we have to focus on what we can control, and that’s just working.”

Here’s the latest from the West divisions.

John Elway shot down a Colin Kaepernick route to Denver, indicating the former 49ers quarterback turned down an offer in 2016. (Although, Brock Osweiler also turned down a 2016 offer only to return a year later.) But the Broncos GM did not rule out bringing in another veteran backup, Mike Klis of 9News notes. The Broncos demoted Paxton Lynch this week, and new second-stringer Chad Kelly has never thrown a regular-season pass. Matt Moore may be the top non-Kaepernick QB available.
The 2016 summit between Kaepernick, Elway, Gary Kubiak and Broncos exec Matt Russell at Elway’s house was a “positive meet and greet,” according to Charles Robinson of Yahoo.com. The Broncos liked Kaepernick coming out of Nevada in 2011, and after the 2016 meeting, Kaepernick believed he was en route to becoming Denver’s next starter. However, he balked at taking a pay cut (one that would have reduced his salary to $7MM). Citing the double-standard for Osweiler — whom Robinson believes stirred up some hard feelings among Broncos execs by spurning them for the Texans — receiving a second chance in Denver and Kaepernick not being considered, the NFL reporter points to this being another checkmark in the Kaepernick-being-blackballed column.
In his first 2019 mock draft, Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller has the Broncos selecting a cornerback in Round 1. Although All-Pro Chris Harris remains well-regarded as a Broncos cornerstone, Miller notes some in Denver’s front office aren’t sold on Bradley Roby as a long-term cog. Roby’s entering his contract year. Harris has two seasons left on his team-friendly deal. The Broncos selected Brendan Langley in the 2017 third round, but 2018 third-rounder Isaac Yiadom was the nickelback in Denver’s first preseason game in place of the injured Tramaine Brock.
Whatever the Rams end up paying Aaron Donald, Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com feels that gives the Raiders a price point. But he expects a Mack extension to come in slightly below what Donald ends up earning. With edge rushers on average earning more than their inside counterparts, it remains to be seen if Mack would accept a deal that doesn’t make him the NFL’s highest-paid defender.

Alabama LB Terrell Lewis Suffers Torn ACL

July 10th, 2018 at 12:58pm CST by Zachary Links

One of the top prospects in the 2019 NFL Draft has suffered a serious injury. Alabama linebacker Terrell Lewis has bene diagnosed with a torn right ACL, according to an announcement from the school. Although “a timeframe for his return is unknown at this time,” it’s unlikely that he’ll be able to take the field this season.

Early projections had Lewis (f.k.a. Terrell Hall) in the mix to be a first-round pick in the 2019 draft. That is now very much in jeopardy, though he might be able to recover in time for team workouts in the winter.

Unfortunately, injuries have plagued Lewis throughout his collegiate career. In 2017, he suffered an injury in the season opener which cost him the bulk of the year. Hopes were high after he excelled in spring football practices, but scouts will have to wait a while before seeing the 6’5″, 247-pound linebacker on the field again.

In the wake of this news, it’s quite possible that Lewis will stay in school for 2019 rather than going pro. He’ll have ample time to assess his decision, however, and the counsel of the College Advisory Committee (CAC) may play a role in his determination next year.

Scouts Not High On 2019 QB Class

June 29th, 2018 at 3:01pm CST by Sam Robinson

Early reviews of the projected 2019 quarterback class continue to paint a grim picture for the immediate future of sports’ marquee position. The four trades teams made to land first-round passers this year could be a reflection of what’s to come.

“That’s why you see so many teams giving up the farm to get a quarterback this year. You’d rather trade up for an Allen or Rosen than bet on one of these guys,” a scout told Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller about the players expected to comprise the 2019 draft-eligible quarterback group.

Every scout with whom Miller has discussed the ’19 class said each member of the Baker Mayfield/Sam Darnold/Josh Allen/Josh Rosen/Lamar Jackson 2018 first-round quintet would have entered next year’s draft as the top-rated passer. With Darnold, Allen, Rosen and Jackson declaring for the this year’s draft early, Miller notes that’s depleted next year’s talent pool.

In the past two years, the Bears, Chiefs, Texans, Jets, Bills, Cardinals and Ravens all sacrificed draft capital to move up and select their long-term hopeful solutions. Teams like the Patriots, Jaguars, Giants or Chargers and select others may be waiting for the 2020 draft, per Miller, who has previously discussed the interesting predicament QB-needy franchises could be in next year. That could be dicey for some teams. Save for 2013, every draft since 2002 has seen at least two signal-callers be chosen in the first round.

While recent drafts have produced late risers like Mayfield or Carson Wentz, this one’s immediate top tier — as of now consisting of players like Missouri’s Drew Lock, Oregon’s Justin Herbert and Auburn’s Jarrett Stidham — has scouts “terrified”, per Miller.

“There’s maybe three — Herbert, Drew Lock and the Auburn kid —who look like dudes. But there are a lot — a lot — of issues here,” another scout told Miller. “I’m terrified of this class. I hope everyone got their guy last year.”

However, a silver lining may be coming via the 2020 class, with a scout mentioning Georgia’s former duo of Jake Fromm and since-transferred Jacob Eason (now at Washington) as much better bets. Fromm could enter the draft in 2020, while Eason could do so in 2019. But the 2016 Bulldogs’ starter is not eligible to play for his new program, Washington, until the 2019 season because of NCAA transfer rules. It’s fairly early to project that far ahead, but scouts were doing that with Rosen and Darnold back in 2016. And considering the stakes associated with Round 1 quarterback picks, it’s probably not too soon to assess possibilities.

“That kid at Georgia and the one that left are legit dudes,’ this scout said of Fromm and Eason. “They could go 1-2 and they were at the same school! Those are the ones to watch.”

2019 NFL Draft News & Rumors