The coin flips are over with and the compensatory selections have been given out. Here’s how many selections every NFL team has in the 2017 draft, starting with the two teams from the state of Ohio.
11 picks
Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland Browns
The Browns have two first-round picks after trading down in last year’s draft, as the Eagles moved up to select QB Carson Wentz No. 2 overall. Cleveland also has multiple picks in the second, fourth and fifth rounds.
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10 picks
Denver Broncos
Kansas City Chiefs
San Francisco 49ers
Washington Redskins
Among this group, Denver and Kansas City lead the way with four selections in the first three rounds. Both teams received third-round compensatory selections for letting key free agents walk last offseason.
8 picks
Arizona Cardinals
Carolina Panthers
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Los Angeles Rams
Miami Dolphins
Minnesota Vikings
New England Patriots
Oakland Raiders
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tennessee Titans
The Titans are one of only two NFL teams to have two first-round picks (the Browns are the other). Their decision to trade last year’s No. 1 overall pick to the Los Angeles Rams netted Tennessee the No. 5 overall selection in this year’s draft. The Titans do not, however, have a second-round selection in 2017 after trading it to Cleveland last year when moving up to select offensive tackle Jack Conklin.
7 picks
Baltimore Ravens
Chicago Bears
Dallas Cowboys
Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts
Jacksonville Jaguars
Los Angeles Chargers
New York Giants
New York Jets
Seattle Seahawks
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Seahawks are the only NFL team with three third-round picks in 2017. Two of those are compensatory selections. Seattle does not have any picks in the fourth or fifth rounds. The team traded away it’s fourth-rounder last year and forfeited its fifth-rounder for violating the league’s offseason workout rules.
6 picks
Atlanta Falcons
Buffalo Bills
New Orleans Saints
The Falcons are the only team in this group with a selection in each of the first five rounds. And if this stands, the 2017 draft will mark the ninth time in the past 10 years that the Saints end up with six or fewer total selections.
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Sheil KapadiaESPN Writer
Close- Covered the Philadelphia Eagles for Philadelphia Magazine and Philly.com from 2008 to 2015.
- Covered the Baltimore Ravens and the NFL for BaltimoreSun.com from 2006 to 2008.
At this time last year, Seattle Seahawks tight end Jimmy Graham was rehabbing from a ruptured patellar tendon injury, and his status for Week 1 of the 2016 season was in doubt.
Graham ended up making it back and played in every game, piling up 923 receiving yards, third best among NFL tight ends.
This offseason, he’s already said he plans on working out with quarterback Russell Wilson, and Seahawks coach Pete Carroll believes Graham can have an even bigger impact in 2017.
“It’s really one of the beautiful things that’s happening this offseason is that Jimmy has a chance to work out and get better,” Carroll told reporters Thursday at the NFL combine in Indianapolis. “Last year, he was just rehabbing. If you can imagine at this time last year, he was looking at that scar and wondering if he’s ever going to be able to run again. He barely made it back to camp, then barely made it into the season, then had a marvelous season under all of those circumstances. Under any normal circumstances, he had a marvelous season.”
Graham is going into the final year of his contract, and the team has no plans to release him even though Graham is due $10 million in 2017. That includes a $2 million roster bonus on March 11.
At some point, the Seahawks could consider trying to extend Graham’s contract. Or they could just let him play out his deal, and if Graham leaves in free agency next offseason, Seattle would be in line for a compensatory pick.
Last season, Graham was tied for seventh among tight ends with 94 targets and led all players at his position in yards per reception (14.2).
The one area where the Seahawks need to get more from Graham is the red zone. He had six red-zone catches last season, which ranked 66th in the NFL.
“In communicating with him, he feels great,” Carroll said. “He’s thrilled about the chance to work out. He’s going to be working with Russell wherever they get together and do their thing. They’re looking forward to that. They didn’t have the chance to do that last year. He couldn’t run. He couldn’t work out. And the amazing thing is that he had such a good season under those circumstances, so we’re really looking forward to what comes up, and I know he is, too. Everybody’s pumped up about it.”
ALAMEDA, Calif. — Might the Oakland Raiders be intrigued by Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey when their turn to pick comes up at No. 24 in the first round of next month’s NFL draft?
Should they be interested?
Perhaps in the second or third round, right? There are more pressing needs, such as interior pass rush. Or middle linebacker. Or cornerback. But with free agency opening next week, the Raiders could address some needs there, and Oakland still has to figure out what to do at running back as Latavius Murray enters free agency and Adrian Peterson casts knowing glances the Raiders’ way.
But after a slow start in combine drills — 10 bench-press reps — McCaffrey put on a show Friday, one that might have elevated him into first-round consideration.
As ESPN NFL draft maven Todd McShay noted in an Insider piece, McCaffrey — who entered the combine as McShay’s No. 37-ranked prospect — ran a faster time in the 40-yard dash (4.48 seconds) than Florida State’s Dalvin Cook (4.49), LSU’s Leonard Fournette (4.51) and Tennessee’s Alvin Kamara (4.56).
McCaffrey, the son of longtime NFL receiver Ed McCaffrey, also raised eyebrows and showed his shiftiness with a 6.57-second time in the three-cone drill, the second-fastest among running backs since 2006. His pass-catching ability stood out, too.
As McShay wrote, “If you draft McCaffrey, you’re getting a really good running back and wide receiver.”
McCaffrey set an NCAA record with 3,864 all-purpose yards in 2015 and rushed for 1,603 yards last season while dealing with a hip injury. At 6-foot and 200 pounds, he might not be a lead back, but he could complement the Raiders’ mighty mite RBs, Jalen Richard and DeAndre Washington, by catching balls out of the backfield or lining up in the slot.
“I don’t think there’s anyone else that can do all the things I can as far as running between the tackles, outside pass protect, play X, Z, slot and do a lot of things in the return game as well,” McCaffrey said at the combine Thursday.
“I think that’s what sets me apart.”
McCaffrey, who sat out Stanford’s Sun Bowl game to avoid injury, already has connections with the Raiders: His brother Max, who ran a 4.36-second 40 as a receiver at Duke last spring, was in camp with Oakland. And Christian was high school teammates with Raiders coach Jack Del Rio’s son Luke at Valor Christian High outside Denver, where current Raiders assistant linebackers coach Brent Vieselmeyer was their head coach.
“It’s so surreal,” McCaffrey said. “Growing up, [Del Rio’s] son Luke was my quarterback in high school. I remember he [Jack Del Rio] was in the stands, with the Broncos, and we would hang out and have dinner with their family. Looking at the Raiders side, looking at the Broncos side, just knowing that there are so many people here that I’ve grown up knowing, it’s pretty surreal that I’m here [at the combine] now as a player.”
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The McCaffrey genetics run deep, from father Ed to Christian’s mother, Lisa, who played soccer at Stanford, to grandfather Dave Sime, who lettered in baseball and track and field at Duke and won the silver medal in the 100 meters at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. There is also uncle Scott Sime, who played fullback at Duke; uncle Billy McCaffrey, who won a national basketball championship at Duke in 1991; and aunt Monica McCaffrey, who played basketball at Georgetown.
The Raiders, you could say, have already done their due diligence on McCaffrey.
“Christian McCaffrey is, first of all, an amazing young man,” Jack Del Rio said at his media session Thursday.
“I’ve seen Christian and I heard the people question whether he’d be able to go from the high school level to the college level. He tore it up. And now the questions will come out, can he go from the college game to the pro game? I think you’re going to see the same thing. This guy’s a great football player, and I think he will have an impact in this league. It’s a great family, Lisa and Ed, and I’m really happy for them and their kids.”
Happy enough to contemplate McCaffrey at No. 24?