Matthew Stafford , Andrew Whitworth, and Aaron Donald were pivotal players in the Rams' triumph over the Bengals in Super Bowl LVI, and despite being years removed from the game with Whitworth and Donald enjoying retirement, those three men were named the first overall pick in Pro Football Focus' Dalton Wasserman's redraft of every NFL Draft from 2008-2024.
In 2006, Andrew Whitworth was a highly touted offensive lineman prospect out of LSU, who would be drafted by the Bengals with the 55th overall pick. Obviously, he outplayed his selection.
"During his 16-year career, which included stints in Cincinnati and Los Angeles, Whitworth was one of the best pass protectors of his generation. He earned at least an 80.0 PFF pass-blocking grade in 13 of those seasons. His final season in 2021 was perhaps his most triumphant, as he recorded an 89.8 PFF pass-blocking grade en route to a Super Bowl victory with the Rams," wrote Wasserman. "Whitworth's 93.5 career PFF pass-blocking grade ranks third in PFF history, behind Joe Thomas and David Bakhtiari."
The Houston Texans selected Mario Williams with the first overall pick.
In 2009, following an incredible career at the University of Georgia, Matthew Stafford was selected with the first overall pick by the Detroit Lions. Wasserman agrees with that selection.
"The first of a handful of first-overall picks that stay the same, Stafford is the greatest quarterback in Detroit Lions history. He also put his stamp on the Los Angeles Rams’ franchise by leading them to a Super Bowl victory during the 2021 season," wrote Wasserman. "Across his first 16 seasons, Stafford has recorded an outstanding 88.7 PFF passing grade and a 5.2% big-time throw rate. He’s gotten even better with age, as his 86.0 PFF passing grade in 2023 represents his career high."
In 2014, the Texans once again selected a defensive end with the first overall pick in Jadeveon Clowney. Thus, they missed out on the best defender of a generation in Aaron Donald, who was selected by the Rams with the 13th overall pick.
"Jadeveon Clowney was selected first overall in 2014, and while he has enjoyed a nice career, Aaron Donald is arguably the greatest defensive tackle in NFL history. Alongside his three Defensive Player of the Year awards and eight first-team All-Pro selections, Donald earned an incredible 97.2 PFF overall grade for his career. Not only was he dominant, but he was consistent. Donald earned at least a 90.0 PFF overall grade in all 10 seasons of his career, a feat that may never be replicated."
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The New York Jets opted to cut Aaron Rodgers and sign Justin Fields to replace him during the offseason. This kind of commitment to Fields should bolster his confidence, but it could also place a lot of pressure on his shoulders. To this point, Fields has looked solid in training camp, aside from a scary toe injury that was quickly resolved in July. Justin Fried of the Jet Press recently reported that Fields' training camp may have reached a new low over the weekend as the young signal caller struggled. "Justin Fields put together his best practice of the summer to this point on Friday, completing his first 12 passes en route to an excellent all-around performance. The same can't be said about his showing on Saturday, however," Fried wrote. "Fields finished the day an abysmal 2-of-10 in the air, including a drop from rookie tight end Mason Taylor. "Some of his incompletions were catchable balls, but the Jets' passing game struggles on Saturday can largely be blamed on No. 7. Fields did flash his running ability with a 25-yard rushing score on the first play of red-zone drills, but the Jets would like to see more consistency in the air from the starting quarterback. Saturday's scrimmage was far from his best showing of the summer." Fields is a runner first at the NFL level, but his arm is nothing to scoff at. For most of training camp, his arm talent has been better than advertised, but during Saturday's scrimmage, it just wasn't there. A 2 for 10 performance is unacceptable for a $40 million quarterback who was signed to take over the team. The running game should open up the passing game for the Jets, which is going to need to be the case if Fields is going to struggle like this. However, it's just one day of camp. It's nothing to be too concerned about. Just because Fields lost this specific practice doesn't mean he's heading in the wrong direction as a whole.
As it turned out, veteran pitcher Nestor Cortes’ time with the Milwaukee Brewers was just a short one. Cortes, who was acquired by the Brewers via a trade with the New York Yankees in December and signed a one-year, $7.6 million contract with the Brewers nearly a month later, has been sent by Milwaukee to the San Diego Padres ahead of last week’s trade deadline. Cortes opens up about trade from Milwaukee Brewers to San Diego The 30-year-old Cortes recently shared how he learned he was on the move to San Diego, which came just minutes before he was to board the team bus for a road trip. “It’s been a little crazy, I was in Milwaukee and flew in last night,” Cortes said on Monday (h/t Marty Caswell of The Sporting Tribune). “But as soon as I got traded, a bunch of people reached out and made me feel like I was really welcomed here. And walking into the clubhouse today, obviously a lot of guys came up to me and presented me to all these places that we have here. It’s amazing for me now. Just happy to be here, happy for the opportunity.” Getting traded wasn’t exactly a surprise for Cortes, and he also seemingly got to an ideal situation with the Padres despite parting ways with a Milwaukee squad that is leading the big leagues in the standings with 67 wins through Sunday. “I was a little surprised. Even though I felt if there was a chance to get out of Milwaukee, it was going to be to a contender and I’m just happy to be here and happy to compete,” added Cortes. “I want to get the ball every five days hopefully and be able to give the best that I can.” Cortes appeared in only two games with the Brewers, as he landed on the 15-day injured list with an elbow flexor strain before getting placed on the 60-day IL.
It's been a lucrative weekend for some of the NFL's defensive tackles. Just one day after the Denver Broncos locked in Zach Allen on a long-term deal, the Miami Dolphins did the same with another Zach — Zach Sieler — and signed him to a three-year, $67 million extension that will now make him the highest-paid defensive player on the Dolphins roster. The Dolphins defense took a big step forward in 2024 and climbed to the top 10 in points allowed and the top four in yards allowed. They still struggled against some of the NFL's better teams, but it was a better unit overall and Sieler was a big part of that. He's been a full-time starter the past three seasons and is coming off back-to-back 10-sack campaigns for the Dolphins. He is going to turn 30 just after Week 1 of the season, but his game should age well throughout the contract extension. It was a quiet free agent signing period for the Dolphins defense, mainly focusing on depth additions, but they did make one blockbuster trade by sending Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers for Minkah Fitzpatrick. They also addressed the defensive line in the 2025 NFL Draft in a big way by selecting defensive lineman with two of their first three picks. That included first-round pick Kenneth Grant out of Michigan and fifth-round pick Jordan Phillips out of Maryland.
For much of last year, it looked like the Vikings had found their long-term solution at kicker in Will Reichard, who they selected in the sixth round of the 2024 draft out of Alabama. That still might end up being the case. But Reichard has had a shakier-than-ideal start to his second training camp, and he generally hasn't quite looked the same since the quad injury that cost him a month as a rookie. Reichard missed twice from inside 40 yards at Saturday's practice, going wide left both times. He also missed twice the last time we saw him kick, hitting the left upright from 53 yards out and missing wide right from 46 on Tuesday. In total, Reichard has gone 13 for 18 in the three open practices where he's taken live field goal reps. That's not great for a training camp setting. To be very clear, I think it's entirely too early for any sort of real concern. Reichard has plenty of time to work with special teams coordinator Matt Daniels and fix whatever issues he's having. None of this will matter if he delivers in the regular season, which is still more than a month away from beginning. But it at least bears watching. It's something to keep in mind over the rest of training camp and into preseason action, which starts next Saturday at U.S. Bank Stadium. Early last season, Reichard was a bit of a rookie sensation. He had an incredible training camp, booming kicks through the uprights from long range over and over. He then began his NFL career by going 14 for 14 on field goals and 20 for 20 on extra points over the Vikings' first seven games. That includes four makes from beyond 50 yards. But after the bye week, Reichard missed a couple field goals in a game against the Colts and cited some discomfort in his kicking leg. He wound up landing on IR with a quad injury, which cost him the next four games (John Parker Romo had an effective stint as his replacement). Upon returning, Reichard went 10 for 14 on field goal attempts the rest of the way. He wasn't the automatic sniper he was prior to the injury. And early in training camp, the shakiness seems to have carried over. Again, it's too early for significant concern. The Vikings don't suddenly need to bring in a kicker for competition. But given the franchise's history at the position, fans will be monitoring Reichard closely to see if he can get back to his pre-injury form. More Vikings coverage
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