Super Bowl Domination

Chapter 555: Offseason Storm
The offseason is still going on, and is in no way inferior to the regular season. There are explosive news and various rumors every day.

It is precisely because of the chaos in the 2017 season that all assumptions were completely overturned. The competition in the NFL is more fierce than ever before, and everyone has a chance.

Naturally, all the competitive teams are ready to move, and this momentum continues from the free market to the draft.

Last year, the Kansas City Chiefs made a big move that shocked the entire league. Veach's bold adventure also brought the team back a championship trophy after 48 years, which will inevitably give courage to other team managers to make big moves.

Especially this year is hailed as the year of quarterbacks. After the big moves of Cousins ​​and Smith in the free transfer market, the attention of the draft has skyrocketed. The urgency and hunger of the team can be foreseen early on.

Unfortunately, after the Kansas City Chiefs made some moves last year, their first-round pick went to San Francisco, Chicago, and finally fell into the hands of Buffalo.

So, the first day of the draft has nothing to do with the defending champions.

Despite this, all eyes are on the team, including the Kansas City Chiefs. This year is not only a big year for quarterbacks, but also a big year for linebackers.

Sure enough, the draft lived up to expectations, with many ups and downs and climaxes.

The Cleveland Browns, who hold the No. 1 pick for the second consecutive year, are once again in the spotlight and are completely dazzled by the hustle and bustle of quarterbacks. From the pre-game analysis, they finally locked in three targets:
New Heisman winner Oklahoma University quarterback Baker Mayfield, University of Southern California quarterback Sam Darnold, and University of Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson.

From an analytical point of view, there is no wrong choice, and any choice is worthy of affirmation. The Cleveland Browns may be about to welcome their eleventh cornerstone quarterback to overturn the reconstruction in ten years.

The spotlight comes on again.

In the green room, the camera was aimed at three quarterbacks at the same time. Darnold looked honest and simple, Mayfield looked confident, and Jackson looked determined to win.

The world is noisy, but only Lamar Jackson himself knows: he will be the No. 1 pick.

why?
There is no reason, he will become the No. 1 pick.

In 2016, he lost the Heisman Trophy to Levi; in 2017, he lost the Heisman Trophy to Mayfield. He was so close to it but missed it for two consecutive years. He had enough. He was tired of "just one step away", he was tired of "having talent but lacking leadership qualities", and he was tired of "he is not Levi after all."

Damn it!

Especially when he witnessed Levi's trick offense connecting with Kelce for the buzzer-beating touchdown in the Super Bowl, he almost went crazy.

He, Lamar Jackson, will enter the league as the No. 1 pick, will lead the Cleveland Browns, a team recognized as a bad team in the league, to become a strong team, will challenge the difficulty of hell to prove that he is better than Levi, Mayfield and other quarterbacks, and will become the greatest quarterback in the history of the league.

none of them.

Jackson secretly clenched his fists and straightened his back. He was ready.

then.

Goodell is here.

Logically speaking, with the No. 1 pick in hand and all rookies to choose from, the Cleveland Browns are the only team that does not need to formulate a draft strategy. They can make choices entirely according to their own preferences; but this year, the Cleveland Browns appear to be particularly cautious and careful.

Two-thirds of the time had passed before they submitted their draft picks.

Behind the scenes, there was a commotion and the tension was palpable.

Until the moment Goodell announced the results, the first climax of the 2018 draft season was detonated, foreshadowing a chaotic year.

"Baker Mayfield..."

Mayfield, it's Mayfield, of course it's Mayfield,

Amid the confusion, amazement, and cheers, Jackson almost lost his mind and used all his strength to control himself to continue sitting there, so as not to leave the venue like Watson did last year; however, he just sat there blankly, expressionless, refusing to applaud, and not even smiling. The chaos had just begun.

There is no doubt that this year is a big year for quarterbacks. Although the quarterbacks in the free market have caused earth-shaking changes, there are still countless teams that urgently need young blood to build the future.

Thus, history was born.

The 2018 season eventually tied with the 1999 season as the second-most first-round quarterbacks in NFL history, second only to the 1983 season when a total of six quarterbacks were selected in the first round.

This year, on the first day of the draft, a total of five teams called out the names of quarterbacks.

With the third pick, the New York Jets selected Darnold, a quarterback from the University of Southern California.

With the seventh pick, the Buffalo Bills selected University of Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen.

With the 10th pick, the Arizona Cardinals selected UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen.

one by one.

however.

No Jackson.

The tragedy of Rogers that year and Watson last year happened again. Jackson, who was originally considered to be able to compete with Mayfield for the No. 1 pick, was cruelly ignored.

After this year's rookie training camp, scouts and head coaches from more than one team questioned Jackson's passing ability. They generally believed that Jackson was not suitable to be a quarterback, and persuaded Jackson to make full use of his athletic ability to switch to a wide receiver, which would make his draft prospects much brighter.

Jackson considered it an insult and firmly refused, saying he would still challenge the quarterback.

In fact, the root cause does not lie with Jackson himself, but with the injuries suffered by running quarterbacks in the past two years:

Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers and Blake Griffin III of the Washington Redskins both have no ball to play, while Newton of the Carolina Panthers and Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks have both begun to decline in form. The "four new generation running backs" who once shone in the league have all failed, causing more concerns in the league.

Mayfield also has the ability to run, but he is an excellent passer and prefers to be a pocket quarterback. The same is true for Darnold, Allen, and Rosen.

Of course, Jackson's athletic talent and physical condition are always there, and as a running quarterback, he still has the possibility to prove himself.

However, Jackson's situation is worse than Watson and Rogers, and his draft pick has been declining.

Twenty picks, no him.

Twenty-fifth pick, no him.

Thirty picks, and still no him.

This torture lasted for nearly five hours. Just when everyone thought that no team would take the risk to choose this running quarterback and Jackson might be relegated to the second or even third round, finally, a team made a move again.

Originally, the 49nd pick belonged to the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, but this pick was traded to the San Francisco ers last year; then, the Kansas City Chiefs got a first-round pick back from the Chicago Bears, but then gave it to the Buffalo Bills.

At this time, the Baltimore Ravens, who had already selected a tight end at the 49th pick, traded with the San Francisco ers for the last pick in the first round and made a risky choice, becoming the fifth team to select a quarterback this year.

"Lamar Jackson..."

at last.

(End of this chapter)