Ten Thoughts on the NFL

1) I was about to include my thoughts on the Mitchell Trubisky trade in here somewhere, but then I read what WGN’s Adam Hoge wrote yesterday.

READ ME NOW (Also read this SI article from Peter King)

You may not agree with his assessment on what the Chicago Bears presumably did, but what’s the alternative? That Chicago GM, Ryan Pace, is a bumbling fool?

When presented with these two scenarios, (a) Pace traded up one spot, giving up what amounted to peanuts in the grand scheme of things, for a player he believed in, because another team was trying to move into the #2 spot. Or (b) that Ryan Pace is so out of touch with the other 31 general managers in the NFL, that he had zero inclination on what was going on. I go with the first scenario.

Time will tell if, as Pace believes, Trubisky is the best quarterback in this class.

Sam had his take on this subject as well, and you can find that by clicking below.

2) With that being said, my initial reaction to the trade was negative. I called it awful on Twitter, but I also understand why Pace made the move. I’ve since realized that his trade wasn’t that costly, and like I’ve always said, I’ll never fault a GM from going to get his guy.

I personally liked Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes over Trubisky, but that was just the fan in me speaking.

Here are a couple other picks I wasn’t a fan of at that moment they were picked, Kyle Long and Cody Whitehair. Initially, I felt Long was a reach, but after some news came out about some other teams targeting him, I realized why the Bears grabbed him when they did.

With Whitehair, I just thought there was too much defensive talent on the board, plus I didn’t see interior o-line as a big need. I quickly realized that going best player available, with a player as good as Whitehair, was a solid move.

3) The Cleveland Browns are going to be the class of the AFC North in five years.

This new regime in Cleveland, so far at least, rocks.

4) Buccaneers’ QB, Jameis Winston, is going to love his new tight end, O.J. Howard. But Tampa Bay’s running backs will like him just as much. Howard‘s blocking will be a big boost to whoever ends up as their starting tailback in 2017.

How in the Hell did he fall to 19?

Another guy that is going to fit in great in Tampa’s offense is Penn State wide out, Chris Godwin, who was a favorite of our very own EJ Snyder.

5) The New Orleans Saints had a nice draft as well, getting the top corner, Ohio State’s Marshon Lattimore (No. 11 overall), and arguably the top offensive tackle in Wisconsin’s Ryan Ramczyk (No. 32 overall).

6) With the Carolina Panthers getting one of my favorite players in the draft, Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey, the NFC South will be a really fun division to keep an eye on. McCaffrey will be a huge weapon for quarterback Cam Newton.

7) And speaking of falling down draft boards, Alabama’s Jonathan Allen, who many had mocked as a top 5 pick, fell to Washington at 17. He’ll be an immediate starter on that defensive front and be a huge boost to their run defense.

8) Yesterday, U.S. Secretary of Defense, Jim Mattis, signed an order to rescind the government's professional sports policy for service academy athletes.

The policy, which had allowed service academy athletes to put their post college service requirements on hold, if they made it to a pro team, will no revert back to the way it used to be.

"Our military academies exist to develop future officers who enhance the readiness and the lethality of our military services," Pentagon Chief Spokesperson Dana W. White said in a statement Monday, via the Denver Post. "Graduates enjoy the extraordinary benefit of a military academy education at taxpayer expense. Therefore, upon graduation, officers will serve as military officers for their minimum commitment of two years.”

9) Now that the 2017 NFL Draft is over, here’s a 2018 Mock Draft from SB Nation’s Dan Kadar!!!

5. Chicago Bears: Minkah Fitzpatrick, CB, Alabama

Chicago signed Prince Amukamara to just a one-year deal, and Kyle Fuller hasn’t lived up to his first-round draft placement.

I honestly don’t even have the energy to look up Fitzpatrick’s credentials.

Can someone post in the comment section why this guy would/would not be a great pick?

10) The world could always use more kindness.