NFL Draft results 2016: Cowboys, Jaguars roll dice on risky linebackers in second round
Jaylon Smith and Myles Jack didn’t have to wait long to hear their names called on Friday.
One of the biggest surprises of the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft was every team's unwillingness to roll the dice on the knee of UCLA linebacker Myles Jack, but it didn't take long on Friday for multiple teams to make risky selections.
After the Cleveland Browns and Tennessee Titans took two pass rushers with the first two picks of the second round, the Dallas Cowboys made possibly the riskiest selection of the entire draft by taking Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith at No. 34. Once considered a top-10 pick, concerns about the injury suffered by Smith in the 2016 Fiesta Bowl torpedoed his draft stock.
While it was a surprise to most that Jack fell out of the first round and into the lap of the Jacksonville Jaguars with the No. 36 pick, very few expected Smith to be a top-50 pick or even a second-day pick after news broke that his knee would keep him out of action for all of the 2016 season.
But the pair of talented linebackers needed just one team each to take a risk, and the Cowboys and Jaguars stepped up to the plate. Jacksonville even traded away a fifth-round pick to move up from No. 38 to No. 36 to make the selection.
It was the first of many trades in a second round that featured plenty of wheeling and dealing. The Chicago Bears managed to pick up two more fourth-round picks this year and a 2017 fourth-round pick by moving down in the draft order twice before grabbing Kansas State guard Cody Whitehair in the back half of the second round.
Other trades included the Buffalo Bills moving up for Alabama linebacker Reggie Ragland, the Green Bay Packers moving up for Indiana offensive tackle Jason Spriggs, and the Seattle Seahawks coming up to take defensive lineman Jarran Reed. All three players were projected by many, if not most, to be first-round selections.
Reed made himself popular with Seahawks fans right away, paying tribute to Marshawn Lynch with a bag of Skittles:
Near the end of the second round, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers traded away third- and fourth-round selections to acquire the second-round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs to take kicker Roberto Aguayo. The selection made the Florida State kicker the highest pick from his position to go in the NFL Draft since Mike Nugent went No. 47 overall in the 2005 NFL Draft.
Aguayo and the New York Jets’ selection of Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg were easily the two picks that drew the most ire from fans.
The second day of the 2016 NFL Draft will continue with the third round, and the final four rounds of the draft will take place on Saturday.
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