The  2020 NFL draft was held virtually for the first time on April 23rd due to the coronavirus. However, this didn’t take away from all the heavy talent in this year’s NFL draft. 

The difference this year was players didn’t have the opportunity to walk up on that stage and hug the Commissioner, Roger Goodell. Every player who declared for the draft set up a video camera at their home and live streamed their reaction from home. 

This year’s first round was a very interesting one as fans were unsure where many teams were leaning with their picks. 

The first two picks of the draft were set before the draft even started. The first pick of the draft had Heisman winning Quarterback Joe Burrow going to the Bengals. The second pick was by the local team, the Washington Redskins; it was no surprise to anyone that the Ohio State Defensive End Chase Young was heading to Washington. 

The 3rd pick of the draft is where we started to question who is going where. The Lions were the next team to draft and with their selection chose Cornerback Jeff Okudah. Next the Giants selected Offensive Tackle Andrew Thomas from Georgia. This pick was a bit of a surprise to some, as Thomas wasn’t the highest ranked Offensive Tackle in the draft.

The 5th and 6th picks of the draft were very interesting as teams were unsure which 1uarterback the Miami Dolphins would draft. Tua Tagovailoa would have been the obvious pick before his season ending injury.

Junior Will Boughn predicted the pick before it was announced. “It has to be Tua from Alabama he clearly has the highest potential out of any Quarterback remaining in the draft.”

Just as Boughn predicted, the Dolphins ended up drafting Tua Tagovailoa. 

This left the Chargers with no choice but to draft the other highly rated Quarterback Justin Herbert out of Oregon.  

The remainder of the draft didn’t feature any big trades until the Packers traded up for the 26th pick in the draft and selected Quarterback Jordan Love, out of Utah State.

Senior Brock Layden explained the pick, “It was unnecessary, the Packers would have waited and he still would’ve been there for the taking in my opinion.” 

Finally Layden broke down the Ravens pick, “The Ravens with the 28th pick selected Linebacker Patrick Queen, I love this pick. It’s who we wanted from the start and we got him. This will help patch up the linebacker position.” 

The NFL draft this year was a unique one for sure, many players fell farther in the draft then we expected and many got drafted way sooner. The 2020 NFL season will give us all the answers to who’s draft was hot and who’s was not.