Editor’s update: The draft is officially a wrap and Mr. Irrelevant is in. The Arizona Cardinals spent the 254th overall pick on UCLA tight end Caleb Wilson. This is the third straight season Mr. Irrelevant has been an offensive player. Dating back to 2000, that makes him the 12th such player to be selected with the final pick of the draft.
Mr. Irrelevant for 2019 NFL Draft cash in as offensive player
This is the third straight season an offensive player has been picked last in the draft.
Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
The 2019 NFL Draft is entering Day 3 and that means we are less than 12 hours away from Mr. Irrelevant!
The final pick of the draft each year is referred to as Mr. Irrelevant. There is a special guest announcer for the final pick, and that player is feted with a trip to Newport Beach for Irrelevant Week. The player gets a trip to Disneyland and a host of other events to “honor” him for being the final pick of the draft. Her even gets a trophy called the Lowsman, which depicts a player mid-fumble.
There is little rhyme or reason to who gets draft in that final spot — and frankly, that can apply for the seventh round as a whole. At the end of day three, the players a team is drafting are diamonds in the rough that usually will be filling special teams roles as rookies.
With that in mind, it’s time to consider what will be the final wager to hit during the draft. Offshore sportsbook Betonline.ag offered up a wager prior to the draft asking which of two options would hit for the Mr. Irrelevant pick. You could place a bet on the pick being a defensive player or punter, or you could bet on it being an offensive player or kicker. Both are installed at -110, which means you had to bet $110 two in $100.
If you attempted to do research on what side of the ball the position might be, offensive/kicker has had the slight edge in recent years. Dating back to 2000, there have been ten offensive players and one kicker selected with the final pick of the draft, and eight defensive players in that slot. The pick has never been a punter.
The past two years it has been an offensive player with Washington selecting wide receiver Trey Quinn in 2018 and Denver selecting quarterback Chad Kelly in 2017. They were positions of need, but the definition of need is a little looser by the end of the draft.
This year, the Arizona Cardinals hold the final pick allowing them to bookend their Kyler Murray pick. They have plenty of needs on both sides of the ball — as would any team that finished 3-13. It’s all guess-work when it comes to the pick, but the offense had more issues than the defense, so I’ll say they go offense with that last pick.
