*Walt taking 2014 and 2018 |
Charlie Campbell, Senior Draft Analyst |
Teams Split on Isaiah Wynn in First Round
Updated April 9, 2018By Charlie Campbell. Follow Charlie on Twitter @draftcampbell.
Over the past two years, the NFL draft has been weak at the offensive tackle position. The college ranks have not produced a good edge-protector draft class recently, and there are plenty of teams in the NFL with weak offensive lines that are desperate for upgrades to their blocking talent. That demand could end up helping some of the 2018 NFL Draft prospects, including Georgia left tackle/guard Isaiah Wynn. In speaking to team sources across the league, Wynn has not graded out as a first-rounder, but a number of teams still think he has a shot at going on Thursday night.
I surveyed six teams and came away with evenly split results. Three teams thought Wynn would go in the second round, and three thought that he would sneak into the last dozen or so picks of Round 1. There was one quote that summarized Wynn and the draft well.
“I think there’s a good chance he does [go in the first],” said a NFC general manager. “He improved a lot as the season went on this year. He isn’t a first-round talent, but similar to Josh Garnett or Laken Tomlinson. Even though they shouldn’t have, they went in the first [round], and Wynn is better than those guys.”
The three teams that didn’t think Wynn would go in the first round were adamant. They felt that Wynn definitely was a second-day pick. Another factor helping Wynn, however, is that teams do not have 32 players grading out as first-round picks. Thus, some second-day talents will go on Thursday night. Wynn is clearly in that bubble group of potential late first-rounders or early second-round picks according to my results. Teams were very divided on his first-round chances.
