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By Cage Passion Staff (cagepassion)
After months of mock draft, rumors, and trade winds circling the 2014 draft, and the question of the use of the number 1 selection, the Houston Texans elected to keep the rights to the pick– and drafted Jadeveon Clowney.
Round 1 of the NFL draft had some shocking picks, in addition to a handful of trades. The Cleveland Browns made two first round trades, picking up CB Justin Gilbert and Johnny Manziel, Manziel, who some predicted as a number 1 selection, fell in the lap of the Browns when they made a late round trade with the Philadelphia Eagles and selected the QB with the number 22 pick.
QB Blake Bortles stays in his home state of Florida, as the Jacksonville Jaguars picked him with the 3rd overall pick. Louisville’s Teddy Bridgewater, who like Manziel was once predicted as the number 1 overall selection, was taken with the 32nd and final pick in round one after Minnesota pulled off a last second trade with the Seattle Seahawks to select the possible future franchise QB.
(AP Photo, Getty Images)
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Cage Passion’s analyst says:
Some of my favorite picks in round 1 start with #5 selection Khalil Mack going to the Oakland Raiders. This pick is the perfect situation for both the Raiders and Mack– he’s a hard hitting, no-nonsense type of player that will fit right in with Oakland and bring that toughness back to the Bay area.
The Detroit Lions shocked me, as I expected them to take S Ha Ha Clinton Dix from Alabama. However, when they announced TE Eric Ebron from the University Of North Carolina it made perfect sense. Imagining him in that offense with Detroit is scary– that team will be nearly impossible to play defense against next season.
I’ll admit there’s no way I would have thought both the Vikings and Browns would pass on QB’s with their first picks. As is tradition with draft day– “anything can happen”, and it did! (I’ll also note that the top 5 picks were the exact 5 players I predicted in my draft preview, maybe not same order or teams but at least I got the top 5 correct).
My first round steals belong to the following teams and players:
The Minnesota Vikings selecting Teddy Bridgewater with the 32nd selection was an excellent pick. I’m not big on a player’s stock falling due to a single workout as with Bridgewater, his play on the field speaks for itself and he has the ability to be a starter in the NFL sooner rather than later.
The Cincinnati Bengals selection of CB Darqueze Dennard with the 24th selection was excellent, Dennard can start tomorrow and provides the team with exactly what they needed on the defensive side of the ball.
The Green Bay Packers selection of S Ha Ha Clinton Dix is much like the Benglas, a player that can be put right into the plans and provide an improvement to the team. I expected Clinton Dix to go to Detroit at number 10, and was shocked that he was still available for the Packers at pick number 22.
The Denver Broncos selection of Ohio State CB Bradley Roby could end up the steal of round 1 depending on what version of Bradley Roby shows up in the NFL. There’s no denying his talent and potential, but his personal issues on and off the field have been the biggest question mark surrounding the very talented CB. Denver is a great landing spot for him, as the leadership in Denver could be the perfect ingredient to help Roby overcome his issues and become one of the best CB’s in the NFL.
With Round 1 in the books, what will take place with the remainder of the draft? There are still a lot of very talented players waiting to find the direction their career and their lives will take. Will Houston take another QB named Carr? Will someone call Washington and offer that desired round 2 pick for QB Kirk Cousins? It’s draft time, anything is possible!
View who your favorite team selected in round 1 of the 2014 NFL Draft below
Round 1 Draft Picks
1 Houston Jadeveon Clowney (DE) S Carolina
2 St. Louis Greg Robinson (OT) Auburn
3 Jacksonville Blake Bortles (QB) C Florida
4 Buffalo Sammy Watkins (WR) Clemson (From Cleveland)
5 Oakland Khalil Mack (OLB) Buffalo
6 Atlanta Jake Matthews (OT) Texas A&M
7 Tampa Bay Mike Evans (WR) Texas A&M
8 Cleveland Justin Gilbert (CB) Oklahoma St (From Minnesota)
9 Minnesota Anthony Barr (OLB) UCLA (From Buffalo through Cleveland)
10 Detroit Eric Ebron (TE) UNC
11 Tennessee Taylor Lewan (OT) Michigan
12 NY Giants Odell Beckham Jr. (WR) LSU
13 St. Louis Aaron Donald (DT) Pittsburgh
14 Chicago Kyle Fuller (CB) Va Tech
15 Pittsburgh Ryan Shazier (OLB) Ohio St
16 Dallas Zack Martin (OT) Notre Dame
17 Baltimore C.J. Mosley (ILB) Alabama
18 NY Jets Calvin Pryor (S) Louisville
19 Miami Ja’Wuan James (OT) Tennessee
20 New Orleans Brandin Cooks (WR) Oregon St (From Arizona)
21 Green Bay Ha Ha Clinton-Dix (S) Alabama
22 Cleveland Johnny Manziel (QB) Texas A&M (From Philadelphia)
23 Kansas City Dee Ford (DE) Auburn
24 Cincinnati Darqueze Dennard (CB) Mich St
25 San Diego Jason Verrett (CB) TCU
26 Philadelphia Marcus Smith (DE) Louisville (From Indianapolis through Cleveland)
27 Arizona Deone Bucannon (S) Wash St (From New Orleans)
28 Carolina Kelvin Benjamin (WR) Florida St
29 New England Dominique Easley (DT) Florida
30 San Francisco Jimmie Ward (S) N Illinois
31 Denver Bradley Roby (CB) Ohio St
32 Minnesota Teddy Bridgewater (QB) Louisville (From Seattle)
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