2020 NFL Draft: A look at the first few rounds, Badger draftees, and Packer initial picks
By Craig Marx
The 2020 NFL Draft will be remembered as entirely unique yet still the familiar spring sporting event that brings football fans together to see their favorite college players go to their favorite NFL franchises.
But 2020’s draft was markedly different, using a virtual format in order to keep players, coaches, general managers, analysts, and even Commissioner Roger Goodell safe at home during the current COVID-19 epidemic. In many ways, at least for sports fans, it was a refreshing opportunity to observe a tradition while at home with our families.
The draft also allowed the Central Wisconsin community to come together behind one of its most promising football stars in recent times. Center Tyler Biadasz, a native of Amherst, was selected in the fourth round, 146th overall, by the Dallas Cowboys in the 2020 draft.
“What’s up, Cowboy fans?” Biadasz asked in a video posted to the Cowboys’ Facebook page on the Sunday after draft weekend. “[I’m] very excited and humbled to be a part of the team. Let’s go have fun and let’s get to work. Go, Cowboys.”
Biadasz heads off to a Dallas team that has compiled a strong offensive line over the last few years but recently lost the services of their seven-year veteran center, Travis Frederick, also a Wisconsin native and former Badger, when Frederick announced his retirement in late March due to an autoimmune nervous system disease.
As contract negotiations still continue with Cowboys QB Dak Prescott, Biadasz looks to be an obvious and talented replacement at center on newly-appointed head coach Mike McCarthy’s offensive line. Winning the Rimington Award in 2019 as the nation’s best center in college football, Biadasz was also a unanimous All-American this past season and made back-to-back first-team All-Big Ten his sophomore and junior years.
The gifted center was also an Academic All-Big Ten student-athlete in each of his three years at Madison. The 2020 draft saw four Wisconsin players selected to NFL teams, including Jonathan Taylor, Zack Baun, Biadasz, and Quintez Cephus. We will take a closer look at our other Badger picks in a moment, but in the meantime let’s look at a few of the first-round selections.
Notable first-round picks and “risk-rewards”
In terms of the more obvious picks, one of the biggest questions entering this year’s draft was the quarterback conundrum facing a few teams after Joe Burrow was taken with the first overall pick.
In particular, Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert were considered the most likely candidates for the second QB selected, with the Dolphins and the Chargers both in need of new franchise quarterbacks. Burrow had quite possibly one of the most phenomenal seasons a college QB could ever assemble, setting the record for most touchdowns in FBS history (60), a CFP National Championship win over the Clemson Tigers and a Heisman Trophy to boot.
Originally an Ohio State recruit, Burrow transferred to LSU for his senior year where he took over a high-octane Bayou Bengal offense that averaged 48.4 points per game as it dominated the SEC on its way to their playoff run.
Burrow was drafted No. 1 overall by the Cincinnati Bengals, an organization that desperately needs a fresh spark. Burrow looks to be a proven leader and excellent passer, but the AFC North division in which he enters is loaded with defensive powerhouses—in particular the Steelers and Ravens.
The addition of Clemson wide receiver Tee Higgins (1st pick, 2nd round; 33rd overall) may provide Burrow with another weapon as the talented veteran AJ Green has been plagued by recent injuries. A lot of speculation was made concerning Tua’s multiple injuries in his three-year tenure with the Alabama Crimson Tide, including two ankle injuries and a dislocated hip that sidelined him late his junior year.
After a successful surgery and confirmations that his future health would be promising, Tua was touted as one of the biggest “risk-reward” players in this year’s draft. But as draft day approached, a number of concerns seemed to emerge from teams looking to land Tua.
As the implementation of social distancing led to teams’ decreased abilities to both communicate and observe players prior to the draft, not having a chance to see Tagovailoa throw for his Pro Day or, perhaps more so given his medical history, have teams’ private physicians examine Tua personally led to some speculations. The QB also scored a 13 on his Wonderlic test (an exam used to determine a draftee’s common knowledge intelligence), the lowest by any quarterback entering this year’s draft.
The Dolphins took the chance, however, and selected Tagovailoa with the 5th overall pick. While not considered as elusive as the Crimson Tide’s dual-threat quarterback, Justin Herbert emerged as the third QB drafted this past week. With an impressive career at Oregon, including a 2019 PAC-12 Championship title and a 2020 Rose Bowl win over Wisconsin in which he also won the MVP, Herbert demonstrated not only his arm strength but also his mobility in the Ducks’ 28-27 victory over the Badgers.
Herbert is often criticized for his shoddy footwork and lack of vocal leadership, but I believe the Chargers made a great pick selecting the Oregon QB as the 6th pick of the first round. Passing for 3,471 yards and 32 touchdowns his senior year, I believe his humble drive and football IQ will aid Herbert in having a great NFL career.
In a draft year loaded with wide receivers, I was kind of surprised by the Oakland Raiders selecting Henry Ruggs III over his fellow Alabama teammate and wideout Jerry Jeudy. Ruggs is fast—the fastest 40-yard dash at this year’s NFL Scouting Combine, clocking in at 4.27 seconds—but Jeudy is considered one of the best route runners among this year’s class of WRs.
The Broncos got themselves what I believe to be the best wide receiver in the draft in Jeudy, while Minnesota lucked out on talented LSU receiver Justin Jeffereson dropping to 22nd overall.
Other notable first-rounders that caught my eye, excluding the Packers, for the time being, included Cesar Ruiz (24th overall) and Patrick Queen (28th). Ruiz was a standout center at Michigan where he started in 31 games before being drafted by the New Orleans Saints, where he may be moved to guard on an offensive line needed to protect the aging yet highly productive Drew Brees.
Queen, of whom I will talk about more later, was a dominant linebacker on the national championship LSU team this past year, a season in which he had 85 total tackles and three sacks. I believe he would have been a great addition to a Green Bay defense that needed skilled inside talent, but unfortunately, that chance has passed.
Some interesting facts that came about from the 2020 first round: the SEC dominated the opening night of the draft, having 15 players selected from the conference, with LSU providing five of the first 32 picks and Nick Saban another four; the Big Ten saw five young men enter the NFL on Thursday evening, where Ohio State posted three first-round draftees, including two of the first three picks; also, the top three overall picks—Burrow, Chase Young, and Jeff Okudah—were all recruited out of high school by former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer.
On Wisconsin
As the end of the first round was drawing near, it had dawned on me that no running backs had been selected yet. While that is an increasingly common trend in the draft over the past few years, especially as quarterbacks and wide receivers continue to be the focal point of most offensive coordinator’s schemes, there always seems to be a handful of great running backs that go late in the first round or are a race to snatch up in the second. Jonathan Taylor was no exception.
In three years with the Wisconsin Badgers, Taylor’s numbers are staggering even for a university built on a reputation of elite college running backs. Each year, Taylor outdid himself, setting such career records as “most rushing yards through the junior season” (6,741) and most 200-yard rushing games (12). The two-time Doak Walker Award winner, given to the nation’s best college running back, went on to score 55 touchdowns over his career (50 rushing, five receiving) and post an amazing 6.7 yards per carry.
The first round saw the Kansas City Chiefs actually select a running back with the 32nd overall pick in Clyde Edwards-Helaire, yet another explosive weapon from the LSU Tigers’ title team. But the Indianapolis Colts had their eye on Taylor, moving up three spots to take the Wisconsin workhorse with the 41st overall pick (9th of the second round) and land themselves and Philip Rivers’ new squad a tremendous backfield talent.
The Badgers have set other draft trends this past decade and their ability to produce talented and hard-working linebackers has been noted by NFL defensive coordinators. From the likes of the now-retired Chris Borland to Jack Cichy, Joe Schobert, Vince Biegel and Ryan Connelly, just to name a few, Wisconsin has made a name for itelf for more than just its running backs.
In this year’s draft, Zack Baun was taken in the third round with the 74th overall pick by the Saints, an organization that is looking to revamp its defense. Baun, a Brown Deer native, recorded 75 tackles his senior season (19.5 for a loss), forcing two fumbles and returning an interception for a score. With Biadasz selected in the fourth round, the last Badger player to come off the board was wide receiver Quintez Cephus (5th round, 166th overall) to the Detroit Lions.
Considered by some Big Ten rival defensive backs as “the best wide receiver [they] faced in college” according to Ohio State corner Jeff Okudah at the Combine, Cephus could potentially be a beast in the NFL. Originally a touted Division 1 basketball prospect from Macon, Georgia, Cephus committed to Wisconsin to play football beginning in 2016.
After decent freshman and sophomore seasons, the Badger receiver missed his junior year due to pending legal issues of which he was eventually cleared. Upon returning to the field his senior year, Cephus offered a downfield threat to complement Wisconsin’s perennially-noted running game. Cephus finished his senior year with 901 receiving yards, averaging just over 15 yards per catch, and seven touchdowns before declaring for the draft.
“Interesting” selections by the Packers
Every year, there are a few “questionable” or perhaps “debatable” picks in the draft. It might be a professional assumption to say that Utah State quarterback Jordan Love’s selection by the Green Bay Packers at 26th overall is, at least, a fairly divisive choice in Packerland.
It was going to have to happen someday, where a protege to Aaron Rodgers would be selected in almost deja vu-like fashion to the 2005 draft. It’s well-trodden territory about the Favre-Rodgers dynamic and is not really worth rehashing for history’s sake as most Wisconsinites, regardless of their passion for sports, are well aware of the quarterback saga of the mid- to late-2000s. What is peculiar, however, is the manner and timing of Love’s draft selection.
Rodgers has wanted more offensive weapons his entire career, but none more so than as of now as he is not exactly getting any younger. The 36-year old QB has stated that he wants to play until his 40s, but even so, the time frame of a possible Lombardi Trophy run is not infinite. Rodgers has a talented WR in Davante Adams, but the talent level tapers off greatly from there in the Packers’ receiving corps. Adams was just three yards shy of a 1,000-yard season in 2019, in which he played only 3/4 of the regular seasons after battling turf toe, but true receivers Allen Lazard and Marquez Valdes-Scantling both posted modest yards on the year of 477 and 452, respectively, with both playing in all 16 regular-season games.
There was talent at wide receiver available at the time of Green Bay’s original first-round draft position of 30th. Tee Higgins of Clemson and Michael Pittman, Jr. of USC were selected as the top two picks of the second round and could have made a higher-tier level of receiver to accompany Rodgers. The same can be said for Green Bay’s second selection, running back AJ Dillon from Boston College (62nd overall) and the need for other, more vital positions.
In addition to Rodgers’ need for more offensive tools, the Packers needed a linebacker. As mentioned earlier about quality first-round selections, Patrick Queen would have been available after Green Bay traded up four spots – only to select Love out of a field of teams ahead of the Packers that most likely would not have drafted a quarterback anyway.
In the second round, Green Bay chose Dillion when a handful of other decent linebackers were still on the board, including Baun and Julian Okwara (Notre Dame). While the Packers managed to acquire LB Kamal Martin, a Minnesota Gopher that played multiple positions on PJ Fleck’s defense, the need to shore up the Packers’ defense could have been considered an earlier round priority like receiver.
No one is in a position to hypothesize as to how Rodgers felt after the Love pick, and speculation ran rampant among sports journalists on Twitter and talk shows afterward. If Love can work on some of his mechanics and learn from one of the better quarterbacks in the business without it being awkward for either party, the Packers may have themselves a greatly-developed QB…in the future. But if Green Bay wanted a timely answer to some of its needs while Rodgers is still considered elite, the first few rounds of the 2020 NFL Draft did not satisfy. The rest of the NFC North had a chance to load up in the first three rounds as well, particularly on defensive backs.
The aforementioned Buckeyes cornerback, Okudah, went third overall to defensive-minded Matt Patricia’s Lions, while the Vikings added CBs Jeff Gladney (31st overall, TCU) and Cameron Dantzler (89th overall, Mississippi State). The Bears also snatched up a corner in Jaylon Johnson (50th overall, Utah).
Overall, the 2020 NFL Draft went off very well, especially considering the circumstances across the globe. The Virtual Draft format played out great and with very few, if any, of the suspected glitches other than minor delays or temporary black screens. It was an opportunity to be a part of “live sports” again, even in seclusion.
For those of us with a passion for sports, it was a much-needed breath of something new and refreshing. I hope you and your loved ones enjoyed this bright spot of sports as much as my family and I did. Stay safe.