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“I can’t breathe,” said Shaquem Griffin, as he fielded a phone call from John Schneider, the Seattle Seahawks’ general manager.
And Griffin’s journey was the greatest story to emerge from a draft that was, fittingly, absolutely breathless from start to finish.
So much focus inevitably is drawn to day one, where first-round prospects who are already household names find out where they are likely to spend the bulk of their sprouting career.
But on Saturday afternoon, as Shaquem Griffin’s twin brother, Shaquil, fetched him from the bathroom to tell him his phone was ringing, the draft got its great human moment. Shaquem would break down in tears after talking to Schneider and Seattle head coach Pete Carroll (video below). A birth defect meant that the Florida-born linebacker had to have his left hand amputated at just four years old. Now he was being drafted in the fifth round by one of the NFL’s best teams.
Considering how exacting the NFL draft process is, considering how many times Shaquem had been told in his life that he couldn’t do things, considering how elite an athlete you would have to be to be a college football stand-out with just one hand – especially on defense – Griffin’s story is a miracle. That the Seahawks drafted him a year after selecting his twin brother is simply the beautiful moment that their family thought an unrealisable dream.
Shaquil, an in-demand recruit, had insisted when coming out of high school that he would only consider offers from colleges that would take his brother too. Some weren’t interested but the University of Central Florida accommodated both and ended up with two NFL-calibre stars.
"I want to show the entire world, no matter [if you have] one hand, two hands, if you're a ball player, you just play ball,” Griffin said before the draft – now he will have his chance.
The third day of the draft throws up these unlikely tales. Australian rugby league prospect Jordan Mailata, a 20-year-old man mountain at 6ft 8in and nearly 350lbs, has never played a single down of American football but was selected in the seventh round by reigning Super Bowl champions the Philadelphia Eagles. Kahlil McKenzie had hoped to get drafted by his dad, Oakland Raiders GM Reggie. Instead he was drafted by their rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs.
But as good as these late-round stories are, it is the day one guys that are most likely to be lighting up NFL fields when football returns in September.
Rarely has there been such anticipation for the start of a draft, with up to six quarterbacks thought of as possible first-rounders. In the end it would be five. Though in a different order to anticipated and including a big shock at the top and a big slide in the middle.
Baker Mayfield was first to have his name called and will bring some swagger to Cleveland even if he flames out, like some of the more old-school evaluators expect him to. The New York Jets saw Sam Darnold fall to them at third overall while the Buffalo Bills had to trade up to snaffle inaccurate totem pole Josh Allen. Josh Rosen slid to 10, but the Arizona Cardinals moving up to take him there may put him in the best situation of all the rookie quarterbacks. Notionally he is sitting behind Sam Bradford for a year, as Lamar Jackson will do in Baltimore after being selected 32nd overall, but should the season go south we are likely to see both passers in action before their rookie season is out.
Mayfield and Darnold will have to win competitions to get their QB job but both figure to be the face of their franchise for the next decade. Second overall pick Saquon Barkley would be for his if the New York Giants weren’t already blessed with arguably the league’s most famous player, Odell Beckham Jr.
Trying to judge the success or failure of a team’s draft haul within 24 hours of the lights going off is nigh-on impossible, and many a class has been lauded only to fail or, as in New Orleans last year, dismissed only to end up succeeding. Nonetheless, here is a first-glance take of the 2018 NFL draft:
Best value pick: Oakland did well to pick Maurice Hurst (Michigan) in the fifth round as part of a Jekyll and Hyde draft where they also snaffled a potential bargain in Arden Key.
Worst value pick: Saquon Barkley. Even if he’s a hall-of-famer, this was a pitiful use of such a valuable draft pick. If you’re not taking a QB or other premium position in this spot then trade down. No excuses. Staying at two to take a running back – the position paid only marginally more, on average, than a punter or kicker – is absolutely, mind-numbingly stupid in the age of the rookie wage scale. Considering he basically cost more than two first-rounders, Marcus Davenport also seems incredibly overvalued.
Best team haul: Chicago have had a brilliant off-season, securing a talented young coaching staff, some big-name free agent recruits and now adding one of the best defensive players in the draft alongside some interior O-line help and a lights-out receiver for Mitchell Trubisky to find. The draft broke nicely for Ryan Pace.
Worst team haul: Based on quality and value rather than quantity, it is probably the Seahawks. Shaquem Griffin was the story of the draft but Rashaad Penny came at a high price, Rasheem Green may work out but the rest are late-round fliers. It is these that Pete Carroll has made his career out of developing but the pipeline has dried up in recent seasons. He needs to tap it again for this year’s class to contribute.
Biggest head-scratcher: Apart from ‘how Dave Gettleman still has a job’ with reference to the Barkley pick above, you could argue it was the New England Patriots not taking a quarterback. With so many picks and a strong recent track record of successfully developing mid-round QBs into starters, to only bring in a seventh-round disposable passer was a big surprise. But worse than that was the New Orleans Saints trading next year’s first-rounder for a raw edge-rushing project when they knew that they’d likely need a Drew Brees replacement next year.
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