NFL draft snap reactions: Inside Alabama first-round slide
Some parting thoughts on the first round of the NFL draft on Thursday after late-night conversations with people around the league …
Sliding Tide
It wasn’t a surprise to people inside the NFL that talented Alabama linebacker Reuben Foster slid – only how far.
And this wasn’t all about his ejection from the scouting combine over an argument with a hospital worker, nor the diluted sample he gave for a drug test there.
New San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch felt confident enough to trade up and take Foster at No. 31 overall. (If they hadn’t, I heard the New Orleans Saints were considering it at No. 32.) But other teams had concerns on multiple fronts.
At least one team’s medical staff felt Foster needs another surgery to fix the torn rotator cuff in one of his shoulders or else he’ll be playing through pain. An executive for another team said the shoulder issue is “problematic, and the way he plays, how long can he hold up?”
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There also are more general questions about how well Foster – like some Crimson Tide stars in the past – will adjust to life outside Alabama, where troubled players have immense resources and hand-holding to get through their lives.
Before the draft, one scout who’d done extensive work on Foster said he’s more instinctive than smart as a player, which may slow his adjustment to the NFL on the field, and compared him to former Tide running back/massive NFL flameout Trent Richardson off the field.
“You better have a Dez Bryant-like infrastructure around him,” said the scout said, referring to how the Dallas Cowboys coddled their star receiver early in his career. The scout requested anonymity due to competitive reasons.
The 49ers’ new regime made waves Thursday, starting with the one-pick drop that netted two third-round picks, a fourth and the player they wanted anyway, Stanford defensive end Solomon Thomas. If they can figure out how to have Foster at his best, the pairing of him and Thomas could begin to transform the NFL’s last-ranked defense from 2016.
Another team that could have a bargain on their hands: the Washington Redskins, who got former Alabama defensive end Jonathan Allen – long projected as a top-five pick – at No. 17 overall.
Unlike Foster, the background on Allen is immaculate. But there was at least some concern over Allen's arthritic shoulders, as well as his back, which locked up at his pro day workout. There also were some questions about where he fits best at 6-3 and 286 pounds – not quite the prototypical size for a defensive tackle or end.
Falling from the top 10 was surprising nonetheless. For a Redskins team that continues to need all the help it can get in the front seven, it could be a huge addition if Allen stays healthy.
Into Round 2
Notable names still on the board entering the draft’s second day include Florida State running back Dalvin Cook, Alabama offensive tackle Cam Robinson, Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer, Cal quarterback Davis Webb and Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon.
Mixon’s story is well-documented. He’s off the board of at least six teams (and probably more), thanks to video of him breaking a woman’s jaw and cheekbone with a punch two and a half years ago. But he’s on other boards, and the smart money remains on him being taken on Day 2.
The background on Cook has given a lot of people pause: a series of legal run-ins, the people he hangs around with, his lifestyle. That’s on top of bad shoulders and underwhelming testing numbers in the pre-draft process. The people at Florida State swear by Cook, and he’s an established big-play threat as a runner. But some teams have just had trouble figuring out if they can trust him.
Easing them in
Alex Smith wasn’t blindsided by the Kansas City Chiefs’ bold trade up for Patrick Mahomes at No. 10 overall, and not just because they tried to do something similar last year with Paxton Lynch before the Denver Broncos nabbed him.
The team was transparent about the situation. Coaches watched tape of all the top quarterbacks’ interviews and combine workouts with Smith and the other quarterbacks on Wednesday. Many of those prospects had already met Smith on their visits in recent weeks, too.
It’d been over a decade since a playoff team with a returning quarterback took another one in Round 1. (The Broncos did it in 2006 with Jay Cutler and the Green Bay Packers in 2005 with Aaron Rodgers). But Smith, 32, has basically been on notice since the Lynch play last year.
Mahomes, 21, is going to need time. And Smith is a natural mentor. He has been down this path before, having played in front of Colin Kaepernick with the 49ers in 2011 and ’12 … and eventually losing the job the same year San Francisco made a Super Bowl run.
Quick hits
· The Raiders pulled one of Round 1’s biggest surprises by drafting Ohio State cornerback Gareon Conley, who is the subject of an ongoing sexual investigation. But the Raiders weren’t the only team considering drafting Conley anyway after doing their homework on the case. The Baltimore Ravens requested that Conley take a polygraph test. So, Conley drove from Columbus, Ohio, to Akron to take the test roughly 90 minutes before the draft began, then continued on to Canton, where he had his draft party near his hometown of Massillon. The Ravens took another corner, Alabama’s Marlon Humphrey, at No. 16 before the Raiders took Conley eight picks later.
· The Bears began plotting to move up for Mitchell Trubisky early in the process. Somehow, there wasn’t even a whiff of that publicly before they had moved up a spot and were on the clock at No. 2. Some in the league even believed as of Wednesday night they were targeting Pittsburgh QB Nate Peterman in the second round instead.
· Trubisky figures to sit behind Mike Glennon for a year in Chicago. Mahomes will sit behind Smith. Without question, the most pressure is on Deshaun Watson, who has a big adjustment of his own coming from Clemson’s one-read, tempo-type system to Bill O’Brien’s complicated scheme – and only Tom Savage standing between him and the starting job with the Houston Texans.
· A bit of a surprise: Only three teams were really trying to come up in the bottom of Round 1, and none were targeting a QB. The Browns went up to No. 25 and took Jabrill Peppers, the former Michigan star whose fit in an NFL defense remains a big question mark. The 49ers moved up to No. 31 to snatch Foster. The Steelers ended up standing pat at No. 30 and taking Wisconsin OLB T.J. Watt.
· Perhaps the gutsiest non-QB pick of Round 1: the Bengals taking Washington’s blazing WR John Ross at No. 9. Ross is the fastest man in the draft, but he’s 5-11, 188 pounds with major injuries to both knees in the past and coming off shoulder surgery. Diminutive players with an injury history always come with risk.
Follow Tom Pelissero on Twitter @TomPelissero.
