COLUMN: Grading the draft

     Now that the 2017 NFL draft is in the books, and yes, I did watch all three days in its entirety, the common denominator amongst draft gurus is to grade the outcome for all teams.

     Well I don’t have the time or space to do so, nor do I want to completely bore you with such details. Instead I will give a short synopsis on how my initial predictions panned out, and of course, grade my team, Green Bay.

     I predicted the Browns would either take DE Myles Garrett or trade the pick away. They took Garrett out of Texas A&M. My sleeper pick was Mitch Trubisky, a QB out of North Carolina.

     Instead of the Browns taking Trubisky, it was the Chicago Bears who traded up and gave away multiple picks to draft their quarterback. I along with many experts thought this pick was a head scratcher for the Bears.

     After waiting patiently for the Packers to pick at #29, it was announced they traded that pick away to the Browns. In return Green Bay moved down four spots into the first pick of the second round. I believe they picked up an additional fourth round pick in return.

     I thought Green bay would select Tre’ Davious White, a CB out of LSU. White went to the Bills with pick 27. I speculated, without any proof, that when they didn’t get White, they decided the trade with Green Bay wasn’t going to hurt them at all.

     The Packers did in fact select a CB with their first pick, Kevin King from Washington University. Subsequent picks included a safety in round 2, a DT in round 3 and a RB in round 4.

     Four Hawkeyes were selected and not in the order most, including myself, thought they would go. The biggest shocker was Desmond King. I thought King would have his name called in round 2. Instead he had to wait until round 5 going to the Chargers as the 151^st pick.

     Surprisingly, Iowa QB C.J. Beathard was the first Hawk selected, going in the third round to San Francisco. Jaleel Johnson followed next in the fourth round going to the Vikings. TE George Kittle was the last Hawk drafted, also by San Francisco, in the fifth round.

     Overall I think the Browns had a great draft. I think the Cowboys had a great draft. I would also put the Vikings, 49ers and Redskins in the top 5.