Latest news with #DraftNight
News.com.au
28-05-2025
- General
- News.com.au
AFL mid-season draft 2025: Live updates and every pick as it happens
The mid-season rookie draft is here and Essendon and Port Adelaide are set to shape a night that could involve up to 18 selections. Follow all the action and every pick with us below. Originally published as AFL mid-season draft 2025: Live updates and every pick as it happens
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Lesson learned? How Shedeur Sanders & Quinn Ewers both blew it by turning pro
Once projected as a top 5 pick, former Carroll and University of Texas star quarterback fell to the seventh round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Along with Colorado's Shedeur Sanders, no fall was more stunning than Ewers. The old Yiddish saying goes, 'Man Plans, and God Laughs,' and there's another one somewhere that says, 'Quarterback Dads Make Plans, and the NFL Laughs Much Harder.' For the first time in his life, having Deion Sanders as his father worked against Shedeur Sanders. Advertisement For the first time since he was a freshman at Ohio State, Quinn Ewers is not that special, and thought less of than Tyler Shough. The respective ex-starting quarterbacks at the University of Colorado and the University of Texas discovered over the weekend what turning pro can really look like, and that there's a reason why so many adults say, 'Stay in college for as long as you can.' Since they were playing high school ball in DFW, both young men followed plans hatched by their dads. The then teenagers were going to be great high school players who attended top college programs, and made a lot of money in the new unregulated world of NIL. Then they would leave college with a year of eligibility remaining, and be selected early in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. All of it happened, except ... Shedeur Sanders & Quinn Ewers were on the same path Less than one year ago both players were projected to be top quarterbacks selected in the '25 Draft; on Draft Night they would celebrate on live television with family and loved ones about the culmination of a dream. Advertisement On Day 3 of this draft, with few watching, Sanders was picked in the fifth round at No. 144 by Cleveland, and Ewers was No. 231 by Miami. Ewers was 24 slots away from being Mr. Irrelevant. Neither warrants a tear, nor a drop of sympathy. Both Ewers and Sanders are the children of privilege who made seven figures during their respective college careers to play football. They earned it. They're lucky. They're fine. And they will be fine, unless one or both drops the brain out of their respective heads. They're not victims. They also got bad advice, and listened to biased 'advisors' who refused to see beyond their own arrogance, and tunnel vision, or sunglasses. Ewers & Shedeur will take pay cuts to play in the NFL There is no way around the uncomfortable reality that NFL teams wanted no part of having a quarterback on its roster whose father is Deion Sanders. Shedeur is not quite good enough to invite the type of potential criticism, circus and noise that history says is coming when Deion is 21 feet within a cell phone camera. Advertisement No current college head coach commands a camera any better than the guy in Boulder, and he can and will weaponize that talent against anyone who has the temerity to say anything other than, 'Yes, Coach Prime.' Or, 'You're the best, Coach Prime.' No NFL head coach wants to field questions about what the dad of one of his quarterbacks Tweeted (Sorry, Elon) after the loss on Sunday. Shedeur's game has concerns, the same for Ewers. Neither is fleet afoot, and there are warranted worries about Ewers' ability to stay healthy for prolonged stretches. They were wonderful college players who should have 'stayed in school' for one more year. Both Shedeur and Ewers had another year of eligibility remaining. Advertisement Shedeur could have easily remained as the starter at Colorado, and made significantly more in that role than on the bench in Cleveland. He likely would have made well over $2 million playing at Colorado in '25. As a fifth round pick, Shedeur will sign a standard four-year contract that pays him about $950,000 as a rookie; that includes a signing bonus of $384,000. In college, Ewers would have commanded much more than Sanders, who has never played for a coach other than his dad. Before the national semifinal game in the Cotton Bowl against Ohio State, Ewers announced in an interview with ESPN that he planned to turn pro. Even had Ewers wanted to remain at Texas, that would not stop Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian from handing the starting job to Arch Manning. Advertisement This had all been planned years in advance. In the days after UT's season finale, there were reports that a Big 10 school had offered Ewers $6 to $8 million to transfer for the final year of his eligibility. During the NFL Combine in late February, Ewers made it clear that he never considered the offer. He would have made more in one season of Big 10 ball than he will over the next four years in the NFL, if he's on a roster for that long. The standard four year, non-guaranteed contract for a seventh round pick is $4.3 million. Both of these young men eschewed another year of guaranteed big money in college because they wanted to pursue their dreams of being an NFL stars. They might be, but judging by what all 32 teams told these two over the weekend, neither is as good as Tyler Shough.
USA Today
13-02-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Vikings trade down in new mock draft, still land offensive line help
Earlier this week, PFF's Trevor Sikkema mocked Alabama guard Tyler Booker to the Minnesota Vikings at pick No. 24. While I have no issue with the Vikings investing in the interior offensive line or drafting Booker, he is only the 45th-ranked prospect on PFF's Big Board. It appears that Alec Lewis of The Athletic is thinking the same thing. He released his first mock draft of the 2025 season on Tuesday. Although Lewis had the Vikings drafting Booker, he projected a trade down to pick No. 29 with the Washington Commanders to select the Alabama guard. The trade-down would give the Vikings pick No. 29 and Washington's fourth- and sixth-round picks. Lewis' trade comp came from 2022 when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers traded pick No. 27 to the Jacksonville Jaguars for pick No. 33 and additional fourth- and sixth-round selections. Lewis explained that if the Vikings could land Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Milton Williams in free agency, then fortifying the offensive line in the draft would make sense. Booker is familiar with J.J. McCarthy and has been praised for his leadership abilities. Booker is probably the safest option. Nick Saban recruited him from IMG Academy, where he played for a season with Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy. Booker didn't transfer once Saban retired, and this past season he was graded as one of the best pass protectors in college football. Brugler called him a 'plug-and-play guard who should be a longtime pro.' Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said Booker is 'one of the best leaders I've ever been around,' and NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah described Booker as a player with similar leadership traits to the Houston Texans' Will Anderson Jr. Booker is 6'5″, 325 pounds, and had an 86.5 pass-block grade in 2024, per PFF. Primarily a left guard in college, Booker would likely stay in Minnesota, taking the incumbent Blake Brandel's spot. Lewis made selections for the Vikings' other draft picks. Round 3: Josh Farmer, DT, Florida State Round 4: Trevor Etienne, HB, Georgia (acquired via trade in the first round) Round 5: Nohl Williams, CB, Cal Round 5: Clay Webb, G, Jacksonville State Round 6: Theo Wease, Jr., WR, Missouri (acquired via trade in the first round) The Booker trade would help the Vikings land a potential starting running back in Etienne. This is a historically deep running back draft, and the added pick would allow the Vikings to take advantage of it without bypassing other needs. Minnesota aggressively moved up in the 2024 draft to acquire J.J. McCarthy and Dallas Turner, leaving them with limited draft picks in 2025. Trading down and acquiring picks is a viable option for the Vikings when Draft Night comes around.
