2024 NFL Draft

Well damn that was a wild night. It didn’t start of that way, but damn it did get nice didn’t it?  Who doesn't have that draft dopamine pumping right now?? I tried to warn you too, I tried to tell you that this was about to be The Oprah Winfrey Draft. And that’s exactly what it was. 

You get a qb, and you get a qb, and Chicago and Washington and New England, you all get qbs, and Minnesota you got a qb and Denver you got a qb, everyone gets a qb… yes, even the falcons!

Six qbs in the first 12 picks. It’s beyond unprecedented, it's insane. And it’s pretty awesome, at least for Team Content. For Kirk Cousins, it might not be so awesome. But we’ll circle back to that. 

First off, congrats Detroit for a great atmosphere and congrats Chicago, you didn’t blow it, you didn’t get scared off by the nonsense, or the nail polish. And you didn’t just pick one absolute stud last night, you managed to pick Prince the quarterback AND Rome Odunze. Prince and Rome, it’s like there’s a super group forming in Chi-Town. The Revolution is on. And for the record, you know me, I don’t play favorites.  Because I just don’t; and there are so many dudes to respect and appreciate that hit the stage last night.  And I’ll never play favorites. Especially in an environment like that. But my favorite dude definitely, was my name sake: Rome Odunze: I’ll just say it; I love the dude.  Everything about him; how he shows up on and off the field.  I don’t think I’ve been all about a dude coming of the draft, since my man Terrell Buckley waaaaaay back in the day.  Which prompted one of my favorite lines ever, pre social media: a clone rolled up on t buck said, “Dude, why is Rome always talking about you on his show, always hyping you.  And t-buck, matter of factly just told the clone and I quote, “I don’t man.  He just loves me.” I may not love anything the way I loved my dude T buck back in the day, because we were a couple of brash dudes coming up, but yes, I’m all about Rome oh-dune-zay and all about what the bears did last night. 

There was no surprise at #2 or #3 either, Jayden Daniels is the new post-Dan Snyder face of the Commanders.  AND IS AN ABSOLUTE STUD.  And Drake Maye is the new post-Hood Man face of the Patriots.

Just know, Hood Man isn’t exactly impressed with the new face of New England. Here he was providing analysis for ESPN last night and let’s just say, he’s not the biggest Drake Maye fan.

Damn Hood, tell us how you really feel. The Mumbler had no issue annunciating on that one. Hood ALL BUT SAID, this kid sucks. Hood almost went full Casserly on the dude. 

Granted, yes, that Hood Man take was before the draft actually started. So technically, at the time, he didn’t know that he was killing the Patriots pick. AKA the first Patriots pick HE didn’t make in like 100 years.

But I mean, come on, the dude knew what he was doing. Everyone had a pretty damn good idea of how the first three picks were gonna go. I think Hood knew what was likely to happen. What I'm saying is, Hood knew was throwing shade. That was Hood continuing his tit for tat war with Bob Kraft. Because there's no way you could get me to believe that Hood was SHOCKED to see Maye go to New England. You know why, because it wasn't remotely shocking.

There were no real surprises at 1, or 2, or 3, or 4, not even 5, not 6, not 7… and then all of sudden, one of the all-time draft night surprises bombs in at number 8. Let me put it this way, the Atlanta Falcons made one thing very very clear last night… they have that BIG PENIX ENERGY.

I mean seriously, these dudes must love them some Penix. Because they are taking SERIOUS HEAT for taking Michael Penix Jr just a couple of months after they threw a 35-going-on-36-year-old Kirk Cousins in Achilles recovery a 4 year, 180 mil contract with a hundred mil guarantee. 

It’s a huge swing for Terry Fontenot and Raheem Morris. And you know this is a big Terry and Raheem house. But it's a big swing, a wild swing, some would even call it a crazy swing. And Kirk Cousins is probably one of those people. 

Kirk right now is probably like TERRUHH…THIS PICK IS AN ABSOLUTE JOKE…  OH MY GOD… 

Kirk’s probably not quite THAT upset, but he doesn’t sound happy. And I’m sure finding out about this pick while Atlanta was on the clock last night didn’t help either. According to Diana Russini’s report in The Athletic:

The Falcons called Cousins when they were on the clock to let him know they were taking Penix, his agent, Mike McCartney, told The Athletic. When Cousins signed with the team this offseason, the Falcons told him they would be drafting a quarterback in the later rounds of this draft. He was stunned when they took one in the first round, and Cousins’ biggest concern is that the pick doesn’t help the team for the upcoming season.

Kirk's got a hell of a point there. And of course he was stunned to get that phone call, we were all stunned. Everyone is still stunned. 

For the record here was Fontenot and Raheem Morris' response when they were asked about that phone call to Kirk. 

Oh ok, I got it Tiger Woods, THAT’S PRIVATE. Doesn’t sound like it went great though does it? Since when are reactions private though, not around here they aren't. The clones are extremely public with all of their reactions, every day, and they also expect me to read those reactions to the public every day. So clearly not all reactions are private.

But if what Russini is reporting is true, Kirk's reaction is understandable. Because like I said, if Kirk’s “biggest concern is the pick doesn't' help the team for the upcoming season,” then I gotta admit, dude has a point.

This team is set up to win right now, that’s why Kirk signed there. You could have gotten an immediate impact player at #8. Instead Atlanta took the exact opposite of an immediate impact player. In fact, Terry Fontenot actually tried to justify the pick by saying it will be a good thing if we don’t see Penix dude for 4 or 5 years!

You’re not helping your own cause here Terry. You’re trying to tell Falcons fan that it will be a good thing if they don’t see the 8th pick on the field until he’s 29 years old? You're trying to say it will be a good thing if this 8th overall pick doesn't play a game on his rookie contract? 

Look, I respect Terry Fontenot immensely and I can respect thinking about the future, but you don't need to think about the upcoming decade. This is the NFL AKA Not For Long, you don't need to plan for the next century. The dudes from this draft class are not gonna make it to the next millennium, as much as I hate to say it.

Unlike the Falcons I am concerned about the dude’s age and injury history and I also don’t think it’s really accurate to compare this to the Green Bay method. Green Bay didn’t use a top 10 pick on Jordan Love or Aaron Rodgers. Nor did they pick either of those dudes just a couple of months after a massive veteran free agent signing. It might be a draft and stash, but it’s just not the same. 

That said, even though they aren’t the same, everyone was killing the Packers for taking Love. And now they look pretty damn smart. So my point, just because the keyboard warriors and excerpt armchair prognosticators are killing the pick, doesn’t mean it won’t work out. But it is shocking.  Hell, even Penix himself admitted he didn’t see it coming.  Pretty much nobody did.  That’s why it was so shocking.

Unlike Penix, one guy who should help right away is Jacksonville’s newest WR Brian Thomas Jr. Jags are pretty stacked at the position with Gabe Davis, Christian Kirk and Zay jones… but no one’s come as FAAAR as Brian Thomas Jr. Not just Brian but his family. His mom said as much.

"How far has this family come?" - Laura Rutledge 

"We came from Baton Rouge, Louisiana." - Sondra Thomas, Brian Thomas Jr.'s mother ]

If you think I’m gonna clown mama, you’ve come to the wrong place. 

Baton Rouge to Detroit isnt exactly across the street. Duval, you got a good one.