Over the past few months, significant changes have been made to the NFL. Notable players such as wide receiver Stefon Diggs leaving the Buffalo Bills for the Houston Texans through free agency, and wide receiver Calvin Ridley signing with the Tennessee Titans after his stretch with the Jacksonville Jaguars, caused outrage among Buffalo and Jacksonville fans. Junior Declan Casey is a frustrated Buffalo Bills fan because his team no longer had a “true wide receiver one” (NFL lingo for the starting receiver on the lineup).
“All we have are wide receiver twos now,” Casey said.
These major changes to the league at the start of the offseason led teams to search for their next big thing in the 2024 NFL Draft.
This year’s NFL Draft started with University of Southern California quarterback Caleb Williams getting drafted by the Chicago Bears. With no surprise here, all NFL fans knew that Williams was going to be the number one pick of this draft, followed with the Washington Commanders drafting fellow quarterback and Louisiana State University alum Jayden Daniels. Commanders fan and junior student Trevor Price is very happy about this pick.
“I am so ready that we finally have a potential franchise quarterback on our team,” Price said.
The new quarterback is being compared to the likes of former Commanders quarterback Robert Griffin III.
The Atlanta Falcons became the real laughing stock of the draft this year, drafting University of Washington quarterback, Michael Penix Jr. after just signing Kirk Cousins, who is a near-franchise quarterback for Atlanta and is now under a four-year $180 million deal. Fans of the Falcons at Deep Run are also shocked by this draft pick.
“It is the worst pick they could have made this year with all the holes in their defense,” freshman Austin Le said.
The team making the most headway towards success in the 2024-2025 NFL season looks to be the Chicago Bears, after drafting Williams and then using the ninth pick to draft University of Washington receiver Rome Odunze, who totaled over 1,600 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns during his senior season at the school. The Bears have also signed star wide receiver Keenan Allen to a deal worth $80 million, solidifying the Chicago offense as a potential force to reckon with in the league this coming season. Chicago’s defense, led by safety Jaylon Johnson, who was just re-signed to a four-year $76 million deal looks to help his side of the ball make a large impression on fans across the league.
The NFL Draft looked to be a major success for most teams this year, with many up and coming athletes drafted and looking to make a name for themselves in the big leagues. Other notable names such as New England Patriots draftee, Drake Maye; Los Angeles Chargers draftee, Joe Alt; and Arizona Cardinals draftee, Marvin Harrison Jr., (whose father, Marvin Harrison Sr., played in the league and racked up a hall-of-fame career) are all looking forward to contribute to a winning season for their teams.
Many Deep Run students will be watching the NFL season come September, and are all hoping that their team gets to lift the silver Lombardi Trophy in February of next year. Other students are just hoping that their team gets a good rebuild going soon so they can at least sniff a playoff berth in the coming years. The first NFL kickoff will begin this fall on Sept. 5.
