SDS Roundtable: Which SEC 1st-round pick in 2020 NFL Draft will have best rookie season?
Each SDS roundtable discussion involves the SDS staff providing individual answers and comments to questions covering a wide range of sports and non-sports topics. In this discussion, we ask the question: What SEC player taken in the 1st round of the 2020 NFL Draft will have the best rookie season?
Previous roundtable discussions:
- If you could change 1 thing about college football, what would it be?
- What are you watching right now?
- Who is your favorite SEC football player of all-time?
- What are your 3 favorite postseason moments involving SEC teams?
- Which 4 SEC athletes are on your Mount Rushmore?
- What is your most painful sports memory?
- The greatest team I ever saw …
- Which school’s all-time position group is the best in SEC history?
- Who are your way-too-early picks to make the College Football Playoff?
- If and when the SEC expands, which 2 teams should it add?
- Who is your pick to win the SEC East, SEC West in 2020?
- Who is your favorite player from every SEC program?
- Who is your favorite SEC personality to follow on Twitter?
- Which SEC program produced best pro sports duo?
- Which prop bet would you risk stimulus check on?
- Which former assistant is first to beat Nick Saban?
- Which SEC helmet absolutely needs to be redesigned?
- Which Day 2 or 3 SEC pick will have best NFL career?
A bit of background …
A record 15 SEC players were selected in the 1st round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Odds are favorable that at least a couple will contend for the Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year Award. Which player do we think will have the best rookie season?
Jon Cooper, SDS co-founder
My favorite pick of the first round was Baltimore’s selection of LSU linebacker Patrick Queen. It’s not a really sexy pick, but it’s an awesome one that will stand the test of time. Queen should have a marvelous NFL career. He’s not an overly big linebacker at 6-foot, 230 pounds, but he’s a ball hawk who plays with a physical edge. I absolutely love the fit for Queen on Baltimore’s defense, and he should have an opportunity to make an instant splash in 2020.
Connor O’Gara, Senior national columnist
Let’s go with the last pick of the first round, Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
This was such an ideal landing spot for the former LSU star. He gets to play for the defending champs who are loaded with an elite quarterback and weapons on the outside who can stretch the field. Sound familiar? Edwards-Helaire will be used by one of the best offensive minds in Andy Reid, and he’ll get a chance to showcase his full skill set from the jump. Nobody walked into a situation with better surroundings than Edwards-Helaire.
He can be every bit the player that Josh Jacobs was for the Raiders last year. Shoot, Edwards-Helaire will be more involved in the passing game. He’s a modern running back who has the agility, power and determination to become a fan favorite in Kansas City. Immediately. Everyone in that LSU locker room raved about Edwards-Helaire and soon, so will the Chiefs.
Take whatever those odds are for him to win NFL Rookie of the Year.
Adam Spencer, Newsletter editor
It depends on how you define “best.” If you go by team success, then Clyde Edwards-Helaire is the easy pick. I think the Chiefs will be back in the Super Bowl this coming season, and Edwards-Helaire should at least play a part in the Kansas City offense. He’s yet another weapon Patrick Mahomes will have at his disposal. The Chiefs’ offense will be insane this year.
But if we’re talking pure stats, give me Jerry Jeudy. The Broncos have a guy in Drew Lock who can sling it. And they drafted another receiver (KJ Hamler) in the second round. It’s going to be a “prove it” year for Lock, so he’d be wise to get it in Jeudy’s hands early and often this season. I’ll predict 70 catches, between 800-900 yards and half a dozen touchdowns for Jeudy this season.
Chris Wright, Executive editor
One of my biggest peeves about draft analysis is the notion that teams should always draft the best player available, regardless of position.
That’s nonsense. You should always draft the player your team needs the most.
In the Jaguars’ case, selecting Florida’s CJ Henderson was a perfect marriage of taking the best possible player available and a player your team needs the most.
Henderson is a lockdown corner. No, he’s not as physical as Jalen Ramsey and never will be. Thank goodness, he doesn’t run his mouth nearly as much, either. I doubt he throws his QB under the bus, shows up to camp in a Brinks truck or calls 28 starting QBs in the league “trash.”
The Jaguars cleaned house in this draft. It was long overdue. The biggest takeaway from the weekend is they’re as tired of the drama as their fans are.
But they didn’t just draft good guys. They drafted outstanding players who don’t act like knuckleheads on Saturday nights.
Henderson joins a reimagined defense soon to be led by Josh Allen, who led all rookies with 10.5 sacks in 2019. They added K’Lavon Chaisson later in the 1st-round.
As good as Chase Young is, it’ll be a monumental upset if Henderson were to win the 2020 Defensive Rookie of the Year award. But rookie defensive backs don’t lack for opportunities. Quarterbacks love to pick on them.
Henderson will be a step-in starter. He already said he welcomes the challenge of taking on — and taking out — the opponent’s No. 1 receiver. That’s what Ramsey did, well, when they lined up on his side of the field, anyway.
The Jaguars need Henderson to be Ramsey 2.0 — minus the mouth.
I really like Justin Jefferson at the Vikings. They lost Diggs who had over 1100 yards in receiving last year. I also trust Cousins more than Lock at this point.
^^This^^
Jefferson to the Vikings was a HR IMO. Cousins isn’t an “all-world” QB, but he’s a stat-stuffer and a solid starter. The Vikes will need Jefferson to become WR1 and he’ll plenty of opportunities.
His tm will have success as they’re already a playoff tm and he’ll get good numbers. Excited to see what he does.
Thielen is still there so he probably will be Wr2 but yes he’ll have plenty of opportunities.
Maybe it will be an interior lineman that no one will ever hear mentioned?
There’s a lot to choose from here. Edwards-Helaire is going to do good because he’s a receiving back with Patty Mahomes as his QB. Queen, Chaisson, Derreck Brown, etc will all have good rookie seasons. But overall, look no further than Henry Ruggs. With his speed, he’ll be nearly unstoppable.
They are all fast in the NFL, that being said if he can avoid the drops when he hears footsteps he will certainly be a great one
I agree. It seems like most super fast receivers get scared and drop the ball when they hear a big hit coming.
Agree 100%! My only concern is in college, LBs weren’t disciplined on backside slants, which allowed Ruggs to catch, plant and take off.. NFL LBs are a little more disciplined and hit harder.
What will be interesting to see is, if Ruggs catches one in the open with space, how will his speed translate in the NFL. He may have a 1,000 receiving season with 10 plays of 40+.
Good point on the linebackers
I’m sure several of them will make the SEC proud. It’s hard to argue against CEH. He landed in an ideal spot for him.
My money is on Derrick Brown
D. Swift now has something to prove. Other than that, I like Derrick Brown’s chances…. a beast run stopper.
If Swift can seize his opurtunity as the lead back in Detroit should Kerryon get hurt, he might have a fantastic season.
I don’t think its a matter of Kerryon getting hurt. I think they will likely end up as a very good 1-2 punch with neither taking a significant beating as the every down back.
The two have very different skill sets so yes, I think they’ll be a great combo. Kerryon is the wait for the whole to open type and De’Andre is the quick nimble runner. A 1-2 punch might actually benefit Kerryon since he’d be taking half the hits he’d normally be taking.
For once I’m in complete agreement with Connor…CEH Rookie of the Year!
I think it might Jerry Juedy.
Although, I’m in complete disagreement with need vs. best available comment by Chris Wright. I believe you draft best available and sign needs in free agents. If you sign free agents to address needs before the draft you can draft the best players. This helps out your team in the long run and your most talented players are on lower salaries to sign that one guy who might push you over the edge.
Jeudy makes sense too.
Interesting take on free agents vs best available, but I’d have to agree with Wright – IMO it just makes sense to go after what you need instead of the new shiny thing that, like you said, is probably going to cost a lot.
It’s something I’ve come around on in the last two years. There is a period of signing free agents before the draft. You can sign decent NFL players in every hole you have on your roster. Then, you draft the best player available in the draft (unless the best player is a QB and you don’t need one.) After the season, you keep the best talent and cut the over paid and less productive players. Then, you sign the holes again while keeping your best talent. Over time you will have the best players available to your team at those spots. When your team gets strong enough through the draft and free agency, make a play at a big name free agent that makes you a true contender. This process allows you to have enough cap space to spend on a big time free agent when the time is right.
Huh…not bad. Why hasn’t anyone else figured this out? Takes too long? Too much of a risk? But I’m not an NFL guy so what do I know!?
I stole it from some NFL scouts and former NFL front office personnel. It makes a lot of sense to me, but a lot of times owners and NFL coaches affect what happens in drafting which is beyond GM and scouts goals to building a team.
Kerryon Johnson + De’Andre Swift = the most dominating running back duo in the NFL