Fernando Mendoza\u2019s decision to skip the NFL Draft festivities has put David Bailey in an enviable position.<\/p>\n
With Mendoza opting to spend Thursday night in Miami with family and friends, Bailey is in line to be the first player to walk across the stage outside Acrisure Stadium and hug NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a moment that Bailey, a hard-hitting pass rusher from Texas Tech and anticipated No. 2 overall pick, is relishing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat,\u201d Bailey said Wednesday morning, \u201cwould be a blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bailey is the highest rated of the 17 prospects who accepted the NFL\u2019s invitation to attend the draft in Pittsburgh. He will walk the red carpet Thursday prior to the draft\u2019s 8 p.m. start, and he will settle into the so-called \u201cgreen room\u201d to see if the New York Jets take him after the Las Vegas Raiders pick Mendoza, the Indiana quarterback.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,\u201d Bailey said of his decision to attend the draft. \u201cNot too many people can say they went to the draft. I feel like I\u2019d be a fool if I didn\u2019t. Life is about experiences, and I would be a fool not to come here and experience what (the NFL and the city) is putting on.\u201d<\/p>\n
The agenda Wednesday for the prospects began with a youth football camp at Hazelwood\u2019s Green Park. Shortly after the ribbon-cutting ceremony for U.S. Steel Community Field at Hazelwood Green, the NFL prospects took part in a clinic designed for local youth football players and Special Olympics athletes.<\/p>\n
The players took turns guiding the youngsters through stations in which basic football skills and drills were taught.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s giving back,\u201d said Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles, whose father, former NFL player Lorenzo Styles, grew up in Farrell. \u201cI was once a kid in their shoes. I looked at it like NFL players and Ohio State players were superheroes. To do an event like this, it\u2019s awesome. The kids are so genuine. They love to come out here and have fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
The clinic gave the prospects a reprieve from the hustle and bustle surrounding the draft festivities, an opportunity to not think about the life-changing decisions that awaited in the next 36 hours.<\/p>\n
If there was any anxiety about the draft, the players did a good job of not displaying it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI ain\u2019t got no nerves,\u201d said Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love, an expected top-five pick. \u201cI don\u2019t know why. Maybe they will kick in on draft day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Added Styles, one of five former Buckeyes players to accept the NFL\u2019s draft invitation: \u201cI\u2019m not nervous at all. I\u2019m ready and just really excited to get to work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arizona State\u2019s Jordyn Tyson was one of three wide receivers who opted to attend the draft festivities. Not that he had much say in the decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy parents thought it would be a good opportunity for me,\u201d Tyson said. \u201cI didn\u2019t know what I was embarking on. I\u2019m just along for the ride.\u201d<\/p>\n
At Arizona State, Tyson\u2019s position coach was Hines Ward, the Steelers\u2019 all-time receptions leader and multi-time Pro Football Hall of Fame semifinalist. If Tyson remains on the board long enough, he could follow in Ward\u2019s footsteps by suiting up for the Steelers. No matter the destination, though, Tyson is embracing a goal he set many years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was in kindergarten, and I wrote on a paper that I wanted to go to the NFL, so I\u2019m finally seeing that come true,\u201d he said. \u201cLooking back at all the people that really poured into me and got me to this place, I can\u2019t thank God enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the top part of the draft appears to be cut-and-dry on paper, NFL Draft analysts expect some surprises in the opening round. The first shakeup took place last weekend when the Cincinnati Bengals traded the No. 10 overall pick for New York Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s going to be unpredictable,\u201d NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said Wednesday. \u201cTalking to a lot of GMs and coaches for the last week, nobody has a good feel for what is going to happen. I think there are going to be a lot of trades.\u201d<\/p>\n
Five deals were executed involving first-round picks a year ago. The record of 18 trades involving first-round picks took place in 2022.<\/p>\n
ESPN\u2019s Matt Miller gave first-round \u201cgrades\u201d to just 11 players this year, which he believes could lead to a flurry of moves involving teams trying to acquire top talent. Or teams desiring to trade back because they don\u2019t believe an elite player will be available when it\u2019s their pick.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tore up my mock draft about eight times trying to figure out how it\u2019s going to go,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThere is unpredictability, and I think we\u2019re going to see a lot of trades because of that. The fact there is a small number of blue-chip players, I think teams are going to move up to get one of those players. There are teams sitting in the top five that may want to move out, and there are others who may want to move up.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fernando Mendoza\u2019s decision to skip the NFL Draft festivities has put David Bailey in an enviable position. With…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":173155,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":{"0":"post-173154","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh","8":"tag-pittsburgh","9":"tag-pittsburgh-headlines","10":"tag-pittsburgh-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}