Jameis Winston is headed to Tampa Bay as the first overall selection and another quarterback in Marcus Mariota goes to Tennessee at No. 2 after predictably being chosen as the top picks in Thursday’s NFL draft. Chicago, to the cheers of its fans, used the next pick on West Virginia’s game-breaking receiver, Kevin White. After trading Brandon Marshall to the Jets, the Bears had a big void there.
They’ll take their Heisman Trophies (Winston in 2013, Mariota last year) as player of the year in college football and try to turn two downtrodden pro franchises into contenders, maybe even champions.
Neither was in Chicago for the draft, instead choosing to watch _ and celebrate _ at home with their families.
It was the sixth time since 1967 that quarterbacks went 1-2, and this was no surprise. The biggest question was whether Florida State’s Winston had too much off-field baggage _ following sexual assault allegations _ for the Bucs. Obviously not.
Winston said sharpening his act off the field was a high priority.
“It’s a family town. And great men like Derrick Brooks and coach Lovie Smith and people like Mike Alstott make that town the way it is, and that’s part of the football community,” Winston said. “I look forward to getting involved in the football community and even the Tampa Bay community itself. I was blessed to have those men in my life before this process started.”
Some questioned Mariota having barely taken any snaps behind center in Oregon’s quick-tempo attack, but Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt, who has done big things with such veteran quarterbacks as Ben Roethlisberger, Kurt Warner and Philip Rivers, clearly isn’t concerned.
“He’s a talented young man who has a very good feel for the position and how to process those things,” Whisenhunt said, “and we’re excited to get a chance to work with him.”
Winston and Mariota will meet in the season opener in Tampa Bay.
The next two picks were linebacker Dante Fowler Jr. of Florida headed to Jacksonville, then Oakland grabbed Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper.
The New York Jets hesitated with the next selection then chose Southern California defensive tackle Leonard Williams.
Dan Quinn, Atlanta’s new coach after he helped build Seattle’s dynamic defense, selected Clemson linebacker Vic Beasley. The New York Giants selected Miami offensive tackle Ereck Flowers and St. Louis finished off the top 10, in which there were no trades, by taking Georgia running back Todd Gurley, who comes off a major knee injury.
The pick drew some reactions of disbelief from the crowd; no RBs went in the first round of the past two drafts.
Minnesota took the first defensive back, Michigan State’s Trae Waynes, and then the proceedings got a big lift.
Well, it was actually Roger Goodell who got the lift when huge defensive tackle Danny Shelton of Washington bear-hugged him and elevated the NFL commissioner about a foot off the ground.
Shelton, dressed in Samoan garb, was chosen by Cleveland, then New Orleans got Stanford OT Andrus Peat and Miami bolstered its receiving group with Louisville’s DeVante Parker.
Finally, a trade was made, with San Diego moving up two spots to 15 to get another running back, Wisconsin’s record-setting Melvin Gordon. San Francisco got the Chargers’ first-rounder, a fourth-rounder and next year’s fifth-rounder.
NFL-Selections in the first round of the NFL Draft
(Reuters) – Selections in Thursday’s first round of the NFL Draft in Chicago (pick number, team, player, position, college):
1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers — Jameis Winston, quarterback, Florida State
2 Tennessee Titans — Marcus Mariota, quarterback, Oregon
3 Jacksonville Jaguars — Dante Fowler, Jr., defensive end, Florida
4 Oakland Raiders — Amari Cooper, wide receiver, Alabama
5 Washington Redskins — Brandon Scherff, offensive tackle, Iowa
6 New York Jets — Leonard Williams, defensive tackle, USC
7 Chicago Bears — Kevin White, wide receiver, West Virginia
8 Atlanta Falcons — Vic Beasley, defensive end, Clemson
9 New York Giants — Ereck Flowers, offensive tackle, Miami
10 St. Louis Rams — Todd Gurley, running back, Georgia
11 Minnesota Vikings — Trae Waynes, cornerback, Michigan State
12 Cleveland Browns — Danny Shelton, defensive tackle, Washington
13 New Orleans Saints — Andrus Peat, offensive tackle, Stanford
14 Miami Dolphins — DeVante Parker, wide receiver, Louisville
15 San Diego (from San Francisco) — Melvin Gordon, running back, Wisconsin
16 Houston Texans — Kevin Johnson, cornerback, Wake Forest
17 San Francisco (from San Diego) — Arik Armstead, defensive end, Oregon
18 Kansas City Chiefs — Marcus Peters, cornerback, Washington
19 Cleveland Browns (from Buffalo) — Cameron Erving, center, Florida State
20 Philadelphia Eagles — Nelson Agholor, wide receiver, USC
21 Cincinnati Bengals — Cedric Ogbuehi, offensive tackle, Texas A&M
22 Pittsburgh Steelers — Bud Dupree, linebacker, Kentucky
23 Denver Broncos (from Detroit) — Shane Ray, defensive end, Missouri
24 Arizona Cardinals — D.J. Humphries, offensive tackle, Florida
25 Carolina Panthers — Shaq Thompson, linebacker, Washington
26 Baltimore Ravens — Breshad Perriman, wide receiver, Central Florida
27 Dallas Cowboys — Byron Jones, cornerback, Dallas
28 Detroit Lions (from Denver) — Laken Tomlinson, guard, Duke
29 Indianapolis Colts — Phillip Dorsett, wide receiver, Miami
30 Green Bay Packers — Damarious Randall, safety, Arizona State
31 New Orleans Saints (from Seattle) — Stephone Anthony, linebacker, Clemson
32 New England Patriots — Malcolm Brown, defensive tackle, Texas