Here are five takeaways from the first round of the 2017 NFL draft:
Bears mortgage their future: The Chicago Bears needed a quarterback and weren’t going to risk not getting their guy. Instead of waiting to pick third, they traded their third overall pick, a third- and fourth-round pick and a 2018 third-round pick to the San Francisco 49ers to move up one spot and draft quarterback Mitchell Trubisky out of North Carolina. The 49ers drafted Stanford defensive end Solomon Thomas, who they were expected to pick all along.
Chiefs, too: The Kansas City chiefs traded up to No. 10 from 27 with the Buffalo Bills to draft their QB of the future. And instead of taking Heisman Trophy finalist Deshaun Watson from Clemson, they drafted Texas Tech’s Patrick Mahomes. All they had to give up? A third-round round pick and their 2018 first-round selection.
Left tackle, it is: General manager John Elway said Monday that the Denver Broncos didn’t have to take an offensive tackle with their first-round pick, noting the experience they already had there. His comments seemed to be a red herring. With stud linebacker Reuben Foster and dangerous tight end David Njoku still on the board, the Broncos filled their need for a left tackle by drafting Utah’s Garett Bolles with the No. 20 overall pick.
McCaffrey isn’t coming home: Sorry, Broncos fans, local hero Christian McCaffrey won’t be playing his hometown team. At least, not this year. McCaffrey, who led college football in all-purpose yardage the past two seasons (2,327 yards in 2016 and 3,864 yards in 2015), was selected by the Carolina Panthers as the No. 8 overall pick.
Father’s footsteps: Running back Bobby Humphrey was the Broncos’ first-round selection in the 1989 NFL draft, and now his son is part of the first-round club. Alabama cornerback Marlon Humphrey was the 16th overall pick, selected by the Baltimore Ravens. LSU safety Jamal Adams, selected sixth overall by the New York Jets, is the son of George Adams, a running back who was drafted 19th overall by the New York Giants in 1985.
