In the months leading up to the NFL Draft, teams and their scouting departments spend countless hours looking at tape and reading draft profiles hoping to find the next great player to select in the upcoming event. While every team has a clear-cut plan they attempt to follow during the draft, trades and off-the-wall selections often force teams to make split-second decisions. This can cause both steals and reaches to be produced in each and every draft.
The 2020 NFL Draft’s first round was no different, with some teams making head-scratching picks and others looking like draft geniuses when they select a player who was expected to be taken off the board well before their pick. So today, we here at Last Word on Pro Football have decided to highlight some of the selections in the 2020 NFL Draft first round that we believe are steals and reaches. So without further ado, let’s jump right into it!
2020 NFL Draft First Round Steals and Reaches
Steal: Isaiah Simmons
Going into the draft, Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons was expected to be a top-five pick by many analysts and draft experts. The New York Giants seemed like the most obvious answer as to where the star linebacker could land as the team had expressed real interest in selecting him. However, the team decided to pass on him, selecting offensive line help instead. After this happened, Simmons began to slip, but no one expected him to slide by teams like the Carolina Panthers, who are looking to fill the hole in their defense created by the retirement of Luke Kuechly.
However, the Panthers also elected to pass on Simmons and the Clemson product fell right into the Arizona Cardinals‘ lap at pick number eight. Picking Simmons here was a steal for the Cardinals, seeing as how Simmons could’ve easily been selected in the top five, and everyone would’ve considered it a great selection. Simmons should become a star on the Cardinals’ new defense, which features names like Patrick Peterson and Chandler Jones.
Reach: Jordan Love
This pick was the biggest surprise in the first round for sure. Twitter nearly exploded when the Green Bay Packers announced they had selected quarterback Jordan Love out of Utah State. The reason this pick is a puzzling one is that the Packers already have star quarterback Aaron Rodgers under contract for another four years. The Packers were just a few plays short of reaching the Super Bowl last year with Rodgers, so it was expected that the team would target a wideout in the first round to give Rodgers some much-needed help in the passing game.
With the Packers receiving corps struggling mightily in 2019, it would’ve made sense for the team to target an offensive player. The Love pick isn’t bad, but the Packers probably didn’t need to trade up to select him. The pick just doesn’t make a lot of sense for the Packers at the present time, but maybe there’s another plan being enacted behind closed doors.
Steal: Patrick Queen
Everyone’s heard the old saying: the rich only get richer, and that’s exactly what happened with this pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. The Baltimore Ravens were able to select LSU linebacker Patrick Queen after he slid down 28 spots to their pick in the first round. The talented linebacker had the skill set to be selected in the top-20, but due to injury and weight concerns, he fell down many big boards.
Queen should mature into a quality linebacker in Baltimore and has the potential to become a star on their already-stacked defense. Many of the teams who passed on him and needed help at the linebacker position may have made a huge mistake not drafting Queen when they had the chance.
Reach: Damon Arnette
The Las Vegas Raiders selecting Damon Arnette at pick number 19 was one of the most intriguing and puzzling selections of the entire draft. While Arnette is a quality player, he was clearly not ranked as a top-four cornerback in this year’s draft class. Many mock drafts had Arnette being selected around the 63rd pick, so it confused many when the Raiders announced this selection. While Arnette does have the potential to blossom in the NFL, his value suggests the Raiders should have waited to pull the trigger on him until later in the draft.
Steal: CeeDee Lamb
Going into the draft, Oklahoma wideout CeeDee Lamb was expected to be the second wide receiver taken off the board behind Jerry Jeudy. That, however, simply wasn’t the way things played out on Friday night. Alabama wideout Henry Ruggs III was selected by the Raiders before both Jeudy and Lamb, causing some surprise in the NFL Draft community. Maybe more surprising is the fact that Lamb fell all the way down to the Dallas Cowboys at number 17. Lamb was never expected to fall down this far and we’re sure that the Cowboys were thrilled to find out he was available when it was their turn to submit a draft card.
Reach: Jordyn Brooks
The Seattle Seahawks shocked nearly everyone when they selected Texas Tech linebacker Jordyn Brooks with the 27th pick in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. The Seahawks opted to pass on linebackers like LSU’s Patrick Queen in order to select Brooks, which surprised many analysts. While Brooks isn’t a bad pick, his value would suggest his selection would be better made in the second round. Brooks is a solid linebacker and will make the Seahawks line-backing care instantly better, but a player like Queen may have been a better selection at number 27.
Bottom Line
Despite being labeled by us as a reach pick in the draft, that doesn’t mean these players can’t develop into solid players at the next level. On the flip side, just because we labeled a player a steal also doesn’t mean they are a lock for success in the NFL. These labels simply represent what we believe their present value is to a team at the current time. There’s only one way to tell if our predictions about the aforementioned selectees are correct and that’s to wait and see how their careers at the next level pan out. At that point, we will be able to accurately assess whether a player is a steal or a reach.
