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***
The 2023 NFL draft has come and gone, marking an annual inflection point on my personal and professional calendar. This year's event was fun as usual -- and if we're being totally honest, more play than work. Yes, I had to broadcast every day from Kansas City, but there really isn't much going on to "cover" and analyze like there always is at other NFL offseason and draft-season events like the Shrine Game, the Senior Bowl, the Combine or college pro days. No, you're mainly just there to talk about the picks as they come in, and give the insight that you've developed over this three-month whirlwind while enjoying the show just like everyone else. Nowadays, it's my actual job to be there, but, truthfully, I'd want to be there even if it wasn't.
As for locales/venues, I'd rate Kansas City as being fine as an option. Since the draft started moving from city to city, the best two venues have been in 1) Nashville, Tennessee and 2) Las Vegas, Nevada. I'll talk specifically about one aspect of the KC draft that sort of stuck out to me shortly, but first, we should start with some Longhorns chatter from around the event:
Texas QB Quinn Ewers is probably more highly thought of by the national draft media than you would imagine. It's the NFL draft, so it isn't like there are a bunch of scouts around to talk to and glean information from (they're back in their own cities helping to make the actual picks), but the media is all there and the media is where narratives get pushed. Judging by conversations with many in the draft world (ranging from very- to less-well-known) virtually everyone expects Quinn Ewers at this time next year to be ..... wait for it ....
A first-round pick.
And maybe a high one. One person told me that he'll put his initial 2024 QB rankings out in May for his publication, and he'll have Ewers starting out as his QB3 for 2024 (behind only USC's Caleb Williams and North Carolina's Drake Maye) and a likely Top-15 pick. I asked him what he's seen out of Ewers to justify such a lofty status and he answered by asking me what I saw out of Will Levis to make him so highly thought of in this draft? What about Anthony Richardson? Tools. Natural, God-given talent. Potential.
Former Kentucky QB Will Levis ended up going within the first few picks of the second round after a long slip down the board on Thursday night, where he was so sure he would be selected that he actually attended the event from the green room and had to endure the misery of a public freefall -- but the point is, he was highly thought of. Hell, the Tennessee Titans reportedly tried to trade up for him in the first round, but were unable to see any of their plans materialize. It wasn't until the first picks of Day 2 that they finally worked a trade-up with the Arizona Cardinals to end Levis' unexpected slide. Anthony Richardson, of course, went No.4 overall to the Indianapolis Colts (the landing spot and draft position that many had originally pegged for Levis).
What these two QBs have in common is that neither one comes into the NFL as a finished product, and you could argue that neither one of them was even particularly good in their final years of college. Richardson led his Florida Gators to a 6-7 record in 2022 and boasted a 53.8% completion rate. His superpower? SIZE AND ATHLETICISM. At the Combine, Richardson (despite being in the 96th percentile for body weight) was 98th percentile among all QBs to ever test at the combine in the 40-yard dash, 96th percentile in his 10-yard split, 99th percentile in the broad jump and 99th percentile in the vertical jump. Levis, meanwhile, led Kentucky to a 7-6 record in 2022 while never even cresting 220 passing yards versus an SEC opponent. His superpower? ATHLETICISM AND ARM TALENT. NFL scouts through the draft process have consistently said that the minute Levis enters the NFL he has a Top 5 pure arm in the league -- other warts on his profile be damned. NFL coaches and staff believe they have all the answers, and that they are fixers. They point to success stories like Josh Allen or Jalen Hurts and ask why can't they develop a guy like that?
And we're already seeing it with Ewers. His superpower is the kind of arm talent that made him one of the highest-ranked high school recruits of all time. Texas fans certainly hope he has a big year ahead ... one that truly does elevate his stock through on-field accomplishments, personal accolades, successes and -- of course, wins. But, any of the way-too-early 2024 QB lists you look at seem to have it already baked in that Ewers will not only be leaving Texas after the 2023 season. The narrative is taking shape that he'll be one of the more talked-about prospects through the three-month circus that has just come to a close for this calendar year. As one writer at the Sporting News says (who has Ewers as his QB4 in the class to start):
"Get ready for Jeff George comparisons. They're coming."
***
Moro Ojomo might have rather not heard his name called on Saturday. The Philadelphia Eagles took Texas DL Moro Ojomo in the seventh and final round of the NFL draft and while it's nice to hear your name called and know that a team wants you, man ... he's going to be facing an uphill battle to make that roster. Many times, agents will call teams and tell them not to take their player if they have fallen that far, simply because your contract structure actually gives you more freedom as a UDFA down the road once signed, and more importantly, you get to pick your landing spot among interested teams by examining depth charts and seeing where you might fit best and have the best chance at making the final 53.
Thankfully, Ojomo has a skill set that could lead to getting playing time across two main positions (DT and SDE) but it's still going to be a slog. Currently on the roster as interior DTs are Fletcher Cox (veteran all-star), Jalen Carter (2023 1st rounder), Jordan Davis (2022 first-rounder) and Milton Williams (2021 3rd rounder). At the DE he'd likely be slotted to play, Ojomo has to face down Josh Sweat (veteran star), Brandon Graham (veteran star) and Derek Barnett (first-rounder).
***
Kansas City BBQ sucks. I went to eat at a place that many locals said was very good called Gates BBQ, and while the experience was fun, the actual BBQ is somewhere between meh and #actuallybad. On the good side, the sauce is very tasty, smoky and tangy. You shouldn't need that much sauce on your BBQ if you cooked it correctly like we do in central Texas, but you have to at least hand that much to them. Here's a few photos I took of the plate we ordered as a group at Gates:
Looks fine, right? Actually might even look a little bit good? Nope. It truly sort of sucks. I was getting the meal for free, so I feel bad complaining -- and would have never complained there in person -- but the ribs are cheap spare ribs and not baby backs like they look like or even St. Louis style. Half of each rib is cartilage. And that was the best part. The second-best part was a weird invention of HAM of all things, on a damn BBQ plate with sauce and everything on it. Just cockamamie. The worst part? The "brisket". Thin-sliced trash that would be grey if not for the sauce it is covered in ... something that we'd call roast beef in Texas.
Still, it's probably better than any BBQ I'll be getting next year in Detroit when I just found out I'll apparently be watching Quinn Ewers hug Roger Goodell.
