People are going to talk, said Davis, who blocked 26 shots in the series. He is a speedy corner who was on my Better-Than team because he really impressed on tape. He is a power player who plays with violence. There were better options, but we know how this team loves speed. Would Roger Staubach do that? That is the Bengals in comparison to their division rival Pittsburgh Steelers. He played tackle in college, but should move inside. Best Pick: It would be easy to say it's Bryce Young, but I am going to go with second-round receiver Jonathan Mingo. News Corp is a global, diversified media and information services company focused on creating and distributing authoritative and engaging content and other products and services. He's a bigger corner who can play safety. Hyatt will help the passing game, but I didn't love their draft as much as others. In fact, the occasional bout of success is a key symptom of the pathology. He's done more for football then any modern era owner but the old pirate needs a first mate who can pick talent, pay coaches contracts, and negotiate trades. A kicker and a punter in the same draft? The NBA forced Sterling to sell the team, Steve Ballmer bought it with his Microsoft money, and now the Clippers are the Lakers and somehow still the Clippers. But they added some good players. Dell will be an immediate impact player as a return man. Worst franchise I didn't love this draft. In 1973, a year that ended with the Mets second World Series appearance in five seasons, four Mets were stretchered off the field in the span of a single month. The Lakers most famous fan has been a fixture at courtside for the last half-century, and the Oscar-winning actor got a huge ovation from his fellow supporters whenever his face appeared on the scoreboard. Kickers come and go, so why not just bring two to camp and let them compete? ESPN Analyst: Stop Disrespecting Baker Mayfield Davis imposing defensive presence largely shut down Memphis offense in Game 6, while Russells five 3-pointers highlighted a slick offensive effort from a late-blooming team with championship aspirations. Why pay more for a product so much poorer then it was two decades ago? I just think they gave up way too much for Anderson. But Clint, unlike Hunt, was a wild one who loved his booze, pills, powders, cheerleaders, and Cowboys. The Skinny: Trading down and adding picks and still getting tackle Anton Harrison makes sense, considering they have to give Trevor Lawrence a mega-deal, which means cheap labor will be needed. Best Pick: Second-round receiver Rashee Rice is a big-bodied receiver who doesn't have blazing speed, but he can help try to fill the void that JuJu Smith-Schuster left when he departed in free agency. New York Jets 2. The franchises most electric player was a cornerback, and almost all of his electricity happened off camera. Watch. 17. That's the way I see it with 12th overall pick Jamyr Gibbs. There is a difference between being bad and being gifted at losing, and this distinction holds the key to understanding the true magic of the New York Mets. The Skinny: They didn't have a first- or second-round pick because of the trade up to draft Trey Lance two years ago and the trade to acquire Christian McCaffrey last year. They have their quarterback. If not, it could be a major miss. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong), Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. alternate jerseys in sports 8. He's inconsistent. If you take pleasure in the Browns misfortune, youre a jerk. The clashing forces of the air trying to leave my body and me trying to hold in the sound caused a sudden rush of oxygen into my head. Best pick: Second-round tight end Luke Musgrave will be a nice addition to their offense for Jordan Love. Winners, Losers by Winning Percentage in Both seem dead in the water and Motown might be an American ghost town soon. As far as I was concerned, the 1989 season, when the Mets won just 87 games and finished second in the National League East, was a catastrophe. A loss here tonight would end the series, and my childhood. For everyone who cares about the Mets, the DNA of seasons such as 1969, with the original Miracle Mets; 1973, when the Ya Gotta Believe Mets went from last place to Game 7 of the World Series in two months; and 1986, a season-long bullet trainright up until they almost derailed twice in the playoffshas encoded in us this hapless instinct that a reversal of fortune is always possible. It also didn't help the NFC West franchise didn't have a first- or second-round pick. Some teams seemed doom. You probably couldnt pull it off. Best Pick: Second-round pick Cody Mauch is a nasty player who will step in and likely be a starter at guard. This is a feeling weve got to remember. He is athletic, so this is a traits pick in my mind. Its the rooting-for-the-underdog mentality. The Mets discover ways to lose like the Titanic discovered an iceberg. Best Pick: Third-round pick Tank Dell will bring electrifying speed to the passing game, which will make rookie C.J. You don't take backs that high. Carroll, 22, has been one of the reasons for Arizona's strong 16-12 start, the best mark in the NL West. If not, it will cost people their jobs. We passed Level 1. Now there may be some fans of trash teams out there who have read this far and who think Ive been too cavalier in dismissing their body of work. Its happened before, and its happened more than once. Worst Pick: I didn't like the pick of Stetson Bennett in the fourth round. This draft would have made Aaron Rodgers happy. These arent the Knicks. Ive never shaken it. Sometimes, we all look like idiots general mangers included. He has talent and he's strong. Fifth-round running back Eric Gray has talent. WebYes, it gets worse much worse. What really clinched it, though, wasnt my ardor for their Day-Glo colors, or my sense that Id found my tribe. The Skinny: First-round corner Deonte Banks fills a major need and he has the tools to be an outstanding man-cover player. Johnston has to be a Pro Bowl-type of talent for this draft to really hit. So they couldnt get paid in Miami. If youre dedicated enough to the craft, losing can approach something like the divine. The Los Angeles Lakers completed their first-round upset of the Memphis Grizzlies with a 125-85 victory in Game 6. Read: Curt Flood belongs in the Hall of Fame. That's how you keep a team moving forward, especially one with a dynamic offense. Joe Tippman, the second-round center-guard, is a good player who could push for time as a rookie as they upgrade their line. Mafi is a mauler who just needs to improve his technique since he was a defensive player to start his college career. If healthy, he can be dominant. But for consistently gruesome seasons, the Chicago Blackhawks are a tough act to follow. Worst Franchises This equated to a .106 winning percentage, the worst in league history. They added a 2024 first-round pick from the Texans in doing so, which is huge. worst franchises Because when it comes to losing in spectacular fashion, no ones ever done it better. That's the best thing that happened this past week for the Ravens. Sixth-round center Luke Wypler has starter qualities, especially in their offense. Check back with me in four years. Worst Pick: I didn't love first-round pick Will McDonald. Its not bracing for the worst, exactly. But badness is not what defines the Mets as a franchise. As for the losers, there were no major disasters, so no 'D's or 'F's, but I did give out a few 'C-' grades. James and Davis even got to sit out the entire fourth quarter, preserving their legs for the second round. I liked Will Levis more, but I see why the Colts took him. Id watched the grainy footage they always showed on WWOR during rain delays, of Casey Stengel in his inflatable Mets uniform doing his stand-up act. The great Bear team of 1985 was dismantled by Halas grandson, Mike McCaskey, who refused to bring in a capable back up QB or USFL stars while releasing such stars as Wilbur Marshall, Willie Gault, and Otis Wilson over contract disputes. Their raucous fans constantly urged them to end an infuriating decade without a postseason celebration on the Lakers home court. Arizona Cardinals | Atlanta Hawks Baltimore Orioles | Chicago Blackhawks | The Skinny: Getting offensive lineman Peter Skoronski in the first round and Levis in the second were good picks. They were the Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles. If the Lakers are Hollywood, the Clippers under Donald Sterling were Van Nuys. It's a big bet by a magic man who should little magic on Broadway. The offense will be better with his skills. So many baseball fans I know have heartwarming stories about how they fell for their favorite teamsa family saga, an iconic moment to which they bore accidental witness. The Skinny: Getting Witherspoon and receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the first round will really improve this roster. These guys come armed with an aim more wayward than Dick Cheney's. When Id first fallen in love with baseball a few years earlier, the Mets were emerging from one of their most brutal stretches as a franchise, but I didnt know about any of that. A few teams made the most of having multiple picks on the first day, while others made some head-scratching decisions. It was a good start for Ossenfort. But there's not a ton to like about this draft. 6-keys: media/spln/nfl/reg/free/stories, at In order for the Bengals to be the Mets, Cincinnati would have to be New York. The Skinny: Their draft will be decided by what quarterback Anthony Richardson becomes as a player. ESPN's Mel Kiper Reveals Which NFL Team Had 'Worst' Draft Will he ever be anything more than a backup? So while the NFL and its billionaire boys club prepare to go the mattresses with tiny Delaware and its dreams of a state-sponsored sports betting, while the always hypocritical NFL rolls out lottery ticket games, let's look at the franchises that give their fans the worst bang for their buck. saddest sports cities sorry Detroit The Skinny: After Addison, I didn't love their draft. Sixth-round receiver Kayshon Boutte has a ton of talent, but has off-field issues that Bill Belichick will have to fix. Can Sean Payton turn his career back around? Anthony Davis had 16 points and 14 rebounds while blocking five shots in a spectacular defensive performance, and DAngelo Russell scored a career playoff-high 31 points. He is a tough, physical player who can rush off the edge, which the Jaguars need. but they made the most of the picks they did have. Not a burner down the field or high-caliber athlete overall. Smallish receiver Demario Douglas is one of my Better-Than guys in this draft. Used to be, at the old Stadium, by that moment of epiphany when Wayne Messmer reached "o'er the la-and of the free " in his justly famous rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, the 20,000-strong would set up such a mind-mulching din that the whole damn foundation would shake. But he moves people. I know this makes no sense, the comedian and ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel told me, but I feel like Mets fans have more integrity than the Yankees fans. Kimmel grew up in Brooklyn and came of age as a Mets fan in the mid-1970s, just as the core of the 69 Miracle Mets was heading into decline. Long known as one of the worst owners in any professional sports the fanatically frugal Bidwells won't let the Cardinals success stand long. The top 25 most miserable fan bases in professional sports - ESPN Henry has a ton of talent and will help behind Chase Young and Montez Sweat, who will be looking for new deals soon. This was a draft based on speed. Sure they signed Jay Cutler but its a shameful stain on the teams old name that all its passing records are held by Sid Luckman who retired 60 years ago before passing rules were liberalized. He has the tools to give them a true outside playmaking threat for the next five years or so. I doubt it. The Skinny: They traded up to land Broderick Jones in the first round, which will be an immediate help up front, and that was a must. Third-round guard Tyler Steen is a good player, who will be a starter in a year to two. Worst These are the zombie Knicks. This converted safety will be a good special-teams player as he learns behind the 49ers' special linebacker group. The season-ticket base is around 5,000. And for tristate reasons that will bore you if you live outside the New YorkNew JerseyConnecticut metro area, Mets fans also tend to be Jets fans, so take it from a Jets fan when I assure you that the Jets, despite their near-spotless record of blundering incompetence, do not compare to the Mets. Watching the Hawks organization now is sort of like seeing Mae West, sagging badly and caked with more mascara than Tammy Faye Bakker, oogling all the beefcake late in her life. In aggregate, the state of Minnesotas sports futility might surpass the Mets, but as stand-alone losers, theyre just too small-time. The 49ers entered Day 1 with 11 total picks -- but zero in Rounds 1 or 2. There are no winners in this world, not reallyjust losers who havent lost yet, failures who havent embraced their fate yet. worst teams I think there were better options. The recycled New York Jet Wonder Child wants to can the franchise quarterback from South Bend before he has a chance to prove he's another bad Brown. Playing for the Lions is such a demoralizing experience that the two most gifted players in team history, running back Barry Sanders and wide receiver Calvin Johnson, both retired in their prime rather than spend another season with Detroit. 9:23 am ET, What Steelers did and didn't do during the draft, Ranking teams likely to land Williams in 2024 NFL Draft, Exploring Titans' options at wide receiver, Cowboys' 'ship has not sailed' on bringing back Zeke, Prisco's 2023 NFL Draft grades for all 32 teams, Best, worst, most interesting pick for all, Winners, losers from the draft: Crafty Colts, Undrafted free agent tracker: Team-by-team list of signings, 10 veteran moves that should happen post-2023 draft, Report: Bucs star Barrett's daughter, 2, drowns in pool, NFL schedule release target date, plus 5 things we know, Steelers' draft haul one the team hadn't seen in 38 years, D'Andre Swift trade grades: Eagles earn 'A' for move. Darrelle Revis spent a decade with the Jets, and in all those years, I saw him on TV maybe seven times. What direction would the Bengals have taken if they had hired assistant coach Bill Walsh all those years ago? Keep an eye on fourth-round defensive tackle Cameron Young and seventh-round running back Kenny McIntosh. Discipline, execution, defensively, the urgency, and then just our production on offense. I liked fifth-round safety Antonio Johnson and sixth-round corner Christopher Braswell in addition to Abdullah. Ditto for the Cincinnati Bengals, another small-batch loser, whose principal rsum for best worst champion is the Ickey Shuffle. The Mets will never have this problem. That works. It's fourth-round right tackle Dawand Jones. Oakland Raiders If Donald Sterling is the worst owner in the NBA, Al Davis has become the worst owner in The Lakers won all three of their home games in the series, and the final victory was a scary demonstration of their capabilities when James and Davis are both healthy alongside their full supporting cast. Its incorrect to say our dear boys invent new ways, because invent implies volition. Houston Texans League: NFL Owner: Janice McNair GM: Nick Caserio The The Skinny: They lost their first-round pick because they violated the league's policy on integrity of the game when they tampered with Tom Brady. They ask for all that and more. In addition to Avila, I liked a lot of their picks, including third-round edge Byron Young. The Hollywood Lions? They made the move up to go get him, which was the right thing to do. The Skinny: They had seven picks in the first five rounds, but I am not sure they used them very well. They made a smart move to trade the top overall pick to land a great package from the Panthers, including a first next year. Forget the Lions or the Clippers or even the Knicks. Seattle Worst Pick: Third-round receiver Josh Downs went a little higher than I would have taken him, He's a solid player, but I don't think he will be as good as some others do.