With the NFL Draft rapidly approaching, pundits and analysts will constantly be monitoring who may be taken high in the draft and if any teams are interested in moving up to acquire top players.
Take the New York Giants, for example. Following a truly awful season that saw them cut starting quarterback Daniel Jones midway through the campaign, the G-Men played bad enough to have a good pick – but not bad enough.
The Tennessee тιтans have the first overall pick and what they will do with it isn’t clear. The team is actively looking for a new general manager (after firing Ran Carthon) and they have multiple positions that need top talent.
With that uncertainty comes possible opportunity. At least, that’s what Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt thinks.
Among the needs for both the тιтans and Giants is a quarterback. With this year’s class weaker than normal, being able to sit idly by and wait for a good one to fall to you isn’t possible.
And that’s why the analyst believes New York will trade up to the top spot to take one of the top-rated QB’s in this year’s class – Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders.
One sports analyst believes the Tennessee тιтans will look to trade the No. 1 overall pick
With uncertainty in the тιтans office after the firing of GM Ran Carthon, Tennessee could move
Fox’s Joel Klatt believes the Tennessee тιтans will trade the pick to the New York Giants, who will take select University of Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders first overall
‘I think that if you really evaluate him as a quarterback and you take the name off the back of the jersey, if you don’t look at who his head coach, I think he’s a clear No. 1 quarterback,’ Klatt said on The Joel Klatt Show.
‘Here’s the reason. Shedeur has the beautiful combination of the ability to be a prototypical pᴀsser from the pocket, and he’s got the precise ability to be a surgeon in those cases, and he also has the ability to be an artist, and that combination doesn’t come around a lot. His ability to create outside of the pocket, and extend the play, is Fran Tarkenton-esque. He’s excellent in those situations.
‘If you give him some time in the pocket, which Colorado did not generally with that offensive line. If he has time and he can diagnose what’s going on, he can be surgical in the pocket. I believe that he has a chance to be much better in the NFL than he was even at Colorado.’
But Tennessee needs a quarterback too. The тιтans have struggled under Will Levis and will likely be in a battle to keep his job next year
So why would New York trade up for Sanders? Well, Klatt thinks that he might take a pᴀss on starting his career in Nashville.
“I don’t think Shedeur Sanders is going to want to play in Tennessee and I do not believe that any other players should be taken No. 1,’ Klatt explained.
‘Tennessee can either not take him and go with Cam Ward at No. 1, or I think they can get some capital, still fall back and potentially get Cam Ward.
‘I believe Tennessee trades the first pick. I believe that the Giants jump up to No. 1, from three to one. They do have a great relationship with Shedeur Sanders. They have vetted him out several times; I believe that it is reciprocal there.’
The Tennessee тιтans have struggled under Will Levis and could make a move at quarterback
Analysts believe one of Cam Ward (L) or Shedeur Sanders (R) is the top QB in the draft class
Draft analysts aren’t convinced whether Ward – who played last season for Miami (FL) – or Sanders is the top quarterback in the class.
Both players finished in the top-ten of Heisman voting (Ward in fourth, Sanders in eighth), both were top-five pᴀssers in the league (Ward second in pᴀss yards, first in Pᴀss TDs; Sanders fourth in yards, second in TDs), and both are capable of scrambling.
This year, there isn’t a clear-cut No. 1 overall pick either – with many analysts believing that either Sanders, Ward, or Heisman Trophy winning wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter will be taken first.
The NFL Draft is being held in late April – with the Scouting Combine beginning in less than two weeks to put the prospects through a series of tests and interviews so teams can determine who they’re interested in.