1. Philadelphia Eagles– Should I correct that to Philadelphia Bulldogs? What a draft they had. They continued the trend from last Spring’s draft and selected players from the Georgia Bulldogs. Last year, it was Jordan Davis and Nakobe Dean. This year with their first pick, they traded up to nine with the Chicago Bears and took Jalen Carter, another Georgia Bulldog. Prior to the combine, Jalen was a projected top-three pick before some off the field trouble. He literally fell to the Eagles at nine. Later in the first round with the 30th pick, the Eagles selected Nolan Smith. In the fourth round, they would draft Defensive Back, Kelee Ringo (from Georgia!) and added Tyler Sheen, an Offensive Tackle from Alabama. Talk about reloading, that’s exactly what the Eagles did. To review, General Manager Howie Rosman and Head Coach Nick Sirianni have grabbed five impact players from a defense that led Georgia to back-to-back championships. I’ll finish with this. The Eagles also acquired D’Andre Swift from the Detroit Lions. Guess where he went to school? Georgia. The SEC is taking over Lincoln Financial Field.
2. Pittsburgh Steelers– In all his years as the Head Coach in Pittsburgh, Mike Tomlin has yet to record a losing record. That trend of winning seasons continued last year with a 9-8 record, but they missed the postseason. The Steelers went back to the drawing board and put together a solid draft with a few family times! With their first pick, they traded up to 14 with the New England Patriots and drafted Broderick Jones, an Offensive Tackle from Georgia. He’s a reliable protector up front that will help keep Kenny Pickett protected. They were also able to draft Wisconsin Defensive Tackle, Keenau Benton, an interior defender that can get to the Quarterback and Georgia Tight End, Darnell Washington fell to the Steelers in the third round. He will give Kenny another weapon and they will run many double Tight End sets with Pat Freiermuth. Pittsburgh also drafted Joey Porter Jr, the son of former Steelers Linebacker, Joey Porter. While they might have work to do in a loaded AFC North, the Steelers put together a solid draft.
3. Cincinnati Bengals– They made the Super Bowl in 2021 and were a game away from getting back to the big game this past season. In other words, they aren’t the same Bengals that we laughed at back in the day. In the first round, the Bengals selected Myles Murphy, a Defensive Lineman who had double-digit tackles for loss in three consecutive seasons for the Clemson Tigers. Cincy has also had issues in the secondary. They were able to strengthen the defensive backfield on day two by drafting Michigan’s DJ Turner and Alabama Safety, Jordan Battle. Day three was what truly stuck out to me as the Bengals were able to grab a pair of Big Ten stars in Purdue receiver Charlie Jones and Illinois’ Chase Brown, the star Running Back. Jones could be a chain move for the offense and Chase addresses a need at Running Back. He’s a tough runner that averaged 5.3 yards per carry a season ago. Director of Player Personnel, Duke Tobin pieced together a nice draft that addressed team needs and gave Joe Burrow more to work with.
