Following a record-breaking first round of quarterback picks NFL teams turned toward the trenches before Luke McCaffrey, brother of San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, closed out day two of the 2024 Draft in Detroit on Friday night.
In Rounds Two and Three, teams combined to select 16 offensive linemen, 10 interior defensive linemen and four edge rushers. The picks might have lacked the pizzazz of Round 1, when six quarterbacks were taken among the top 12 players, but coaches and front-office staff preached the importance of winning the line of scrimmage.
The biggest example, literally one of the biggest at 6’2″ and 366 pounds, was Texas defensive lineman T’Vondre Sweat, who went to the Tennessee Titans with the sixth pick of the second round at No 38 overall.
Sweat, who plans to shed some weight, believes he can be a steal of the draft.
“I’m going to go down more,” Sweat told reporters when asked about his weight. “I can play good at 366. My coach said this past season, ‘Yeah, you played great, but you could have played better at 355 or 350’. If I go to 355, 350, most likely I’ll be a Hall of Famer.”
Before the run on big men, the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers opened the second day of the draft with back-to-back selections of wide receivers.
The Bills used the first pick of Round 2 to select Florida State’s Keon Coleman, who could provide quarterback Josh Allen with a deep threat after the team traded Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans this offseason.
The Chargers picked Georgia wide receiver Ladd McConkey moments later with the 34th overall pick. McConkey also could fill a void after Los Angeles sent veteran Keenan Allen to the Chicago Bears last month.
Four of the next five picks were defensive linemen. The Atlanta Falcons took Clemson’s Ruke Orhorhoro, the Washington Commanders selected Illinois’ Johnny Newton, the Tennessee Titans selected Sweat and the Los Angeles Rams nabbed Florida State’s Braden Fiske.
The only team that did not beef up its defensive line in that five-pick stretch was the New England Patriots, who drafted Washington wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk. The 6’2″, 204-pound receiver will team up with rookie quarterback Drake Maye, whom the Patriots took at No 3 overall on Friday night.
“He’s a guy that we had our eyes on for a while,” Patriots scouting director Eliot Wolf said. “Really good fit in our offense. He’s really tough, he’s strong, he can run all the routes. [He’s] really just kind of a versatile, do-everything type guy.”
Four straight cornerbacks went off the board from picks No 40-43. The Philadelphia Eagles started the run by drafting Cooper DeJean, an All-American out of Iowa whom many had projected as a first-round pick.
The next three picks included Alabama cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry to the New Orleans Saints, Georgia cornerback Kamari Lassiter to the Texans and Rutgers cornerback Max Melton to the Arizona Cardinals.
Texas’ Jonathon Brooks was the first running back to be selected this year.
The Carolina Panthers picked Brooks at No 46 overall after he rushed for 1,139 yards and 10 touchdowns in 11 games with the Longhorns in 2023.
In the third round, Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh reunited with one of his top defensive players from Michigan when the team drafted Wolverines linebacker Junior Colson at No 69 overall.
Cameras showed Harbaugh singing Michigan’s fight song in the Chargers’ war room.
Three more Michigan players were drafted back-to-back-to-back later in the round. The Rams selected running back Blake Corum at No 83, the Pittsburgh Steelers took wide receiver Roman Wilson at No 84 and the Cleveland Browns zeroed in on offensive lineman Zak Zinter at No 85.
And it was a running back who would close out the day as the Commanders snagged Rice’s McCaffrey, who joins brother Christian in the league.
No quarterbacks were selected on the draft’s second day. Prospects including Spencer Rattler of South Carolina and Michael Pratt of Tulane will hope to hear their names called Saturday as the draft concludes with Rounds 4-7.
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