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Many strange things baffle in sports

There are a number of strange things in the world of sports, that quite honestly, baffle me.

Take the just completed National Football League draft, if you will.

After listening to a so-called battery of experts (Mel Kiper Jr. and numerous others) dissect the draft for the last year, I still can’t figure out why some teams came up with Grade A while others were lucky to land a D-plus or C-minus.

It’s a well-documented fact that the accuracy of a NFL draft takes a minimum of two years to completely grade.

That’s because of the majority of the players taken will require that long to prove, or disprove, their worth.

Oh, there are always going to be exceptions to the rule.

But even superstars like Peyton Manning, Walter Payton, Drew Brees, Johnny Unitas and others struggled in their early years.

Supposed stars like Ryan Leaf, Charles Rogers, Tony Mandarich, Drew Henson etc, were flops right from the start of their careers.

In Mandarich’s case, he was taken ahead of Barry Sanders by the Green Bay Packers. We all know how that one turned out.

Who really can predict what teams will prosper the most from the 2019 draft?

High marks have already been given to the Pittsburgh Steelers, who, on the surface, drafted to their glaring needs.

And the New England Patriots — drafting late as usual — seem to have pulled off another coup. Mark that down a strong front office in New England.

But who is to say that the Lions and Packers, who drafted out primarily out of need, won’t emerge as teams who really had a strong draft.

Detroit finally landed a quality tight end in T.J. Hockenson of Iowa, who can not only hang on to the football, but blocks very, very well. That kind of talent hasn’t been seen in decades in Motown, really since the days of Charlie Sanders.

Green Bay, which has been porous in the secondary for years, may have gotten a genuine playmaker in defensive back Darnell Savage of Maryland. He has blazing speed and unique ball skills, by all accounts.

But call me a year from now and we’ll see how those picks turned out ….

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