By John Sarianides
With the NFL Draft one week from today, business is starting to pick up in terms of players and draft picks. Here are three thoughts I have on three of the top stories heading into draft week.
1. McCaffery Will Go in the Top 10: Personally, I wouldn’t take Stanford running back Christian McCaffery with a top ten pick but who the hell am I to make that decision. I don’t think he can sustain 20 touches a game in the NFL without breaking down. McCaffery’s frame isn’t conducive to him taking a pounding inside the tackles.
The Panthers are linked to McCaffery at eight. Carolina would be an ideal landing spot for McCaffery because he can split carries with Jonathan Stewart and stay fresh. McCaffery has a lot of carries on his frame so he needs to end up in a situation where he is used in a variety of ways but not over used.
Panthers offensive coordinator Mike Shula can run him, use him in the slot and split him out wide. McCaffery could be a good fit in the Panthers diverse offensive scheme.
2. Are the Browns Moving Up? Browns GM Sashi Brown told reporters yesterday that the Browns are content selecting a player with the number one overall pick. When Brown was pressed as to what the Browns will do at the quarterback position, he simply said veteran Brock Osweiler would have a chance to compete for the job.
That is interesting because reports surfaced yesterday that the Browns are interested in trading back into the top ten to draft North Carolina quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. If that’s the case, Brown might want to call the 49ers because the Bears are rumored to be interested in Trubisky at three and the Niners despartely want to trade down.
The Browns have plenty of ammunition so they could easily acquire the second pick from San Francisco, leap frog the Bears and take Trubisky.
3. Will the Bears go Quarterback at 3? I still don’t understand why the Bears want to draft a quarterback with the third pick? It makes no sense. I know Mike Glennon is a bridge quarterback and that the Bears want to draft a long term answer at the position but is the long term answer in this draft? I don’t think he is. The Bears are better off drafting an immediate difference maker like Jamal Adams, Jonathan Allen or Marshon Lattimore.