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 Given the pass-happy state of the most popular U.S. professional
sports league, the pressure to find a frontline thrower moved the
Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles to trade up to the number
one and two slots, respectively, for the presumed purpose of snaring
a quarterback.
In exchange for sending a passel of extra picks to the Tennessee
Titans and Cleveland Browns, the Rams and Eagles are expected to
take quarterbacks Jared Goff of the University of California and
Carson Wentz of North Dakota State off the board.
After that, the guessing game is on as far as the pecking order,
with players that can defend against the pass, rush the passer or
block for the quarterback the most likely leading men.
The San Diego Chargers hold the third pick, followed by the Dallas
Cowboys, Jacksonville Jaguars and Baltimore Ravens - barring further
swaps.
 Jalen Ramsey of Florida State is rated the top defensive back, with
Joey Bosa of Ohio State and DeForest Buckner of Oregon among the
leading defensive ends.
The top offensive line behemoths figure to be Laremy Tunsil of
Mississippi and Ronnie Stanley of Notre Dame, while explosive
running back Ezekiel Elliott of Ohio State is considered a wild card
option for teams needing an offensive jolt.
Rounding out the top 10 selectors are the San Francisco 49ers at
number seven, followed by the Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
and New York Giants.
The stakes are high as the draft of U.S. college talent is the
lifeblood of NFL rosters and a first-round choice that proves to be
a bust can set a team back for years.
Intrigue often surrounds the draft, as talented linebacker Myles
Jack from UCLA can attest.
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Jack, who was projected as a possible top-five pick despite missing
last season with a knee injury, saw his stock plummet by some 10
slots in some mock drafts after reports citing unnamed sources said
his knee was worse off than thought.
Some NFL clubs said they still had Jack rated near the top.
Jack said he suspected disinformation was circulated by a team that
hoped he would drop down the draft list, enabling them to select
him.
"My knee is fine, it no longer swells, I can do anything I want to
do on it," Jack told Reuters in a telephone interview as part of his
promotion for Mennen speed stick deodorant. "It was kind of one of
those reports where I look at it as if it may be a smokescreen.
"Teams want what they want. If that means they got to do what they
got to do for me to fall to them, I understand. This is people’s
jobs on the line. People will do whatever they have to do to get
what they need. I understand."
One team that is missing from the first-round list is the New
England Patriots, whose 29th pick of the opening round was forfeited
as part of the Deflategate punishment from the league.
(Editing by Frank Pingue)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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