CHICAGO — This year’s NFL draft won’t soon be topped when it comes to weirdness or surprises.
From Laremy Tunsil’s nightmarish hack attack to concern about surgery that Myles Jack might never need causing the best pure football player available to fall all the way out of the first round, chaos reigned in the Windy City.
Five takeaways while someone, somewhere is already getting ready to publish their first 2017 seven-round mock draft:
1. Zeke squad
The Cowboys continue to take heat for picking Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott over Florida State cornerback Jalen Ramsey, especially when Elliott’s position has become so de-emphasized and devalued.
But Elliott has legitimate star potential — along the lines of last year’s Offensive Rookie of the Year Todd Gurley — and makes sense for Dallas for several reasons.
First of all, Tony Romo is more brittle and vulnerable than ever, and the powerful Elliott running behind arguably the best offensive line in football could go a long way toward keeping Romo upright.
Above all, though, Elliott will help the Cowboys get into the end zone after Dallas ranked next-to-last in the league in that department last year and scored just eight rushing TDs all season (half as many as it did the year before with DeMarco Murray).
Elliott was a touchdown machine at Ohio State, scoring 43 in three seasons, including 23 as a junior. And while the lasting college memory of Elliott was of him breaking off huge runs, he was also Emmitt Smith-like around the goal line, with 16 of those 23 TDs last year coming from inside the 10.
Jerry Jones can be knocked for many of his other draft moves this year (A second rounder on medical redshirt Jaylon Smith? And Dak “DUI” Prescott?), but Elliott looks like a safe, smart pick for a team that can turn things around quickly if Romo stays healthy.
2. Geek squad
Former Mets personnel director Paul DePodesta and the rest of the Browns’ new brain trust didn’t wait long to apply their analytics approach in Cleveland.
DePodesta & Co. repeatedly traded down to add picks and ended up drafting 14 players, including five wide receivers, headed by top pick Corey Coleman to help make up for the near-total dearth of playmakers at that spot.
Throw in the 10 undrafted free agents the Browns signed Sunday and a Friday trade for Dolphins cornerback Jamar Taylor, and Cleveland’s roster is now 25 players bigger than it was Wednesday.
That’s a ton of new faces. Rest assured the rest of the league will continue to keep a close eye on the DePodesta experiment.
3. Ain’t that a kick
Not only did the Buccaneers trade up in the second round to take Florida State kicker Roberto Aguayo, but three punters and a long snapper got drafted, too.
Aguayo is the most accurate kicker in college football history, converting 69 of his 78 field-goal attempts and all 198 of his extra-point tries, and is adept at the high, directional kickoffs that are likely to become common now that the NFL has moved the touchback starting point to the 25-yard line. So his selection isn’t entirely outlandish.
Even so, to see so many teams use draft picks — the most valuable currency in the sport now that rookie salaries are capped — on specialists and special-teamers who can easily be found in free agency was a shocker.
It was as if the entire league forgot about Jaguars general manager Gene Smith using a third-rounder in 2012 on a punter (Bryan Anger) not even on the team anymore and enabling the Seahawks to take some guy named Russell Wilson a few picks later.
4. Chip a beast
Chip Kelly might have changed addresses, but he’s still determined to keep everyone guessing.
Kelly and the 49ers have spent all offseason going back and forth with their affection for Colin Kaepernick and appeared on the verge of trading him to the Broncos.
If there were ever a team expected to take a quarterback in the first couple of rounds, San Francisco appeared to be it. Instead, the Niners confounded by waiting until the sixth round to take Louisiana Tech (by way of Florida) project Jeff Driskel, which means Kaepernick is now all but certain to be their starter.
Yeah, we can’t figure it out, either.
5. Raven flaw
The sudden conservatism of Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome was on display during the draft and looks like something forced on him.
Newsome is a renowned gambler with personnel moves and one of the best evaluators in league history, so it was shocking to see him pass on top-five talents Tunsil, the Ole Miss offensive tackle, because of the bizarre gas-mask bong video leak, and Jack, the UCLA linebacker, because of long-term worries about his knee.
Blame it on the Ray Rice debacle. Ever since that controversy engulfed the franchise, Newsome — or, more likely, owner Steve Bisciotti — is looking a lot more risk-averse.
Then again, we’ll see how long that lasts if the Ravens go 5-11 again instead of their usual spot in the playoffs.