By David Minster, Senior Sports Manager

This past week at the NFL draft, Josh Rosen went tenth overall to the Arizona Cardinals, who swapped picks with the Oakland Raiders for the sole reason of picking the UCLA product. After he was picked, Rosen said, “There were nine mistakes made ahead of me,” and I couldn’t agree with him more; Josh Rosen was the best pick of the draft. Rosen was a potential top three pick and the fact that he slipped to tenth is mind-boggling. The Arizona Cardinals leapfrogged the Miami Dolphins to snatch Rosen, who will blossom into a franchise quarterback. Keep an eye out for the Rosen-Larry Fitzgerald connection this season as it will be one of the more intriguing duos in the league.

The worst pick of the draft was undoubtedly the Cleveland Browns’ first overall pick of Baker Mayfield. The 2017 Heisman Award winner is the savior of the Cleveland Browns franchise, or so Cleveland’s front office thinks. But ultimately, the Browns will regret choosing Mayfield first overall. Although he is surrounded by talented receivers like Jarvis Landry, Corey Coleman and Josh Gordon, I don’t see the QB living up to the hype. Mayfield’s game will not transition well from college to the pros, which will make Browns fans question why the Browns didn’t select USC’s Sam Darnold or Wyoming’s Josh Allen. The dude is a phony. Baker Mayfield? More like Faker Nayfield.

By Jake Rosenstein, Maroon-News Staff

In a quarterback heavy class, this year’s NFL draft did not disappoint. A record four quarterbacks were taken in the top 10 picks this year, marking a pivotal point in these franchise’s futures. The Browns took the talented but controversial Baker Mayfield, marking a likely positive step for their franchise. The Jets got what many are calling the steal of the draft in USC-product Sam Darnold, who will play a big role in the Jets future.

The Cardinals picked top prospect Josh Rosen, whose draft stock fell well below where most analysts believed it would. This leads to my pick for worst pick in this year’s draft: Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills. This pick was bad for several reasons. Most scouts had Rosen as the better of the two Joshes. Despite this, the Bills traded up, jumped the Cardinals, and drafted the big arm quarterback out of Wyoming. Though no one will know for certain until they quarterbacks take the field, it is widely believed that the Bills made an ill-fated, gutsy decision in choosing project quarterback Josh Allen.

The best pick in this draft, in my opinion, is Calvin Ridley by the Atlanta Falcons. The star Alabama wide receiver will immediately fit into the already high-flying Falcons offense, giving them a boost that will help both Matt Ryan and Julio Jones’ numbers in the coming seasons. This pick works doubly well as no one is sure whether or not Julio Jones’ tenure with the Falcons is coming to an end. If it does, the Falcons have found a very suitable replacement in the most talented wide receiver in this draft class. Drawing comparisons to Amari Cooper, Calvin Ridley will prove that the Falcons stole him with the 26th pick in this draft.

By Matt Gentile, Assistant National Sports Editor

I considered starting this piece with a disclaimer to inform the readers of my allegiance to New York’s better football team, but decided it was not a subjective claim to say the New York Giants won the NFL Draft. After a disappointing campaign last season, the G-men turned to their new GM David Gettleman to revamp the roster… And he’s done exactly that. With the second overall pick, the Giants selected Saquon Barkley who will certainly bring a spark to an stagnant offense that has been leaning heavily on the back of 37-year-old Eli Manning. The hype around Barkley was well earned based on his stellar play last season at Penn State and was confirmed by his truly unbelievable performance at the combine this summer.

Gettleman really earned his money in the second and third rounds. By selecting O-lineman Will Hernandez, the Giants gain a hardened four year starter. I am sure every Giants fan was relieved to have a high-potential, reliable talent to protect Manning and Barkley. The third round also came with great value to the G-men as Gettleman snagged linebacker Lorenzo Carter, the speedy pass rusher out of Georgia. Experts say he could be a starter by training camp.

I am always hesitant to label a team who struggled in any draft because it is so easy to be proven wrong. On the night of the draft, I quickly questioned the Cleveland Browns’ selections with their first and fourth overall picks. However, if Baker Mayfield does turn out to be the franchise quarterback and leader he had the potential to be as a Sooner, my skepticism would seem foolish. With a lot of high picks being thrown into situations with high expectations, we must wait and see which players succeed and which bust before deciding a loser of the draft.