Todd McShay led off his draft notebook with a bombshell report that the Jaguars appear poised to draft Travon Walker #1 overall despite everybody assuming it would be Aidan Hutchinson. And now I see an article that Walker has emerged as the consensus favorite in sportsbooks. Apparently despite it being such an unorthodox opinion to draft Walker #1 (#10 on Mel Kiper's board, only a few spots higher on McShay's), Niners' fan favorite Trent Baalke (barf) apparently loves Walker's upside so much as to defy conventional wisdom at the top of the draft. I know many on this board would be rich if we got $100 for every time we heard about Baalke falling in love with a player's upside, but this just seems completely insane. Hutchinson had 22.5 big plays last year (19 as a sophomore) whereas Walker had 10.5 (4 as a sophomore). How in the world could somebody take Travon Walker #1 overall? I get risk tolerance and valuing upside, but has any team ever done something this risky with the #1 pick?
To make this a little bit less OT, I know many of us will be interested in seeing what the Texans do with their early picks. If the new conventional wisdom is right that edge defender/DEs will go with the first two picks, that increases the likelihood the Texans will get Davis Mills an elite tackle (Ikem Ekwonu, Evan Neal), although corners (Sauce Gardner, Derek Stingley) and edge guys (Kayvon Thibodeaux, anybody who falls) will still be options too. The Texans also have the #13 pick and I've typically seen them associated with a tackle (if they don't get one at #3), DB, or receiver. I know @fborg81 would like to see tackle at #3 and then WR at #13 but that seems unlikely.
To make this a little bit less OT, I know many of us will be interested in seeing what the Texans do with their early picks. If the new conventional wisdom is right that edge defender/DEs will go with the first two picks, that increases the likelihood the Texans will get Davis Mills an elite tackle (Ikem Ekwonu, Evan Neal), although corners (Sauce Gardner, Derek Stingley) and edge guys (Kayvon Thibodeaux, anybody who falls) will still be options too. The Texans also have the #13 pick and I've typically seen them associated with a tackle (if they don't get one at #3), DB, or receiver. I know @fborg81 would like to see tackle at #3 and then WR at #13 but that seems unlikely.
Last edited:
