- Roger Goodell should’ve come out with Eminem to Without Me on in the background. Played it safe going with Not Afraid. Missed opportunity.
- Missed on the 2nd Pick Jayden Daniels instead of Drake Maye. Dammit, thought we were going 100% after hitting on Caleb Williams.
- I now despise Drake Maye with all my guts, a new mortal enemy.
- Chargers go OT with Joe Alt. Boring but right move. Giants pass on QB to take Nabers, fun pick for NY.
- Falcons make a shocking pick by going with Michael Penix Jr with the 8th pick. Kirk Cousins signed a 4-year deal, but Minnesota can get out of the contract after his 2nd year. Bit bizarre for a team that one would think is win-now, but if they think he’s their guy, then he’s their guy.
- The Jets make a smart trade with the Vikings by trading down 1 pick for multiple mid-rounds. JD then decides to take Olu. Didn’t think he’d be there and probably a smart long-term move, but I wanted Brock Bowers. The Jets gotta take offensive skill position guys from here on out or use the extra picks to trade up for one early in the 2nd Round.
- Knicks lost. Yanks lost. We didn’t get Bowers. Down Bad.
- Half-UAlbany alum, Jared Verse, is headed to Los Angeles. Go Danes.
- Phins go with Chop. *Insert Austin Powers Judo Chop GIF* Philly takes the top CB in Quinyon Mitchell out of Toledo, he is a baller. Jaguars go with Brian Thomas Jr., Sunshine just got a new drinking buddy to bring to Pete’s Tavern in Neptune.
- The Bills just gave the Chiefs the fastest WR in the draft. Phenonomenal trade by Buffalo. The Cowboys draft Tyler Guyton to one day replace Tyron Smith at tackle.
- Only pick I got correct from the latest 1st Round Mock aside from Caleb Williams was Graham Barton to the Bucs.
Let’s see if we can score a bit better in the…
2nd + 3rd Round Mock Draft
- Kicking off the 2nd Round, the Buffalo Bills select Troy Franklin. After trading out of the first round, Buffalo gets Josh Allen his Gabe Davis replacement. The ‘23 2nd Team All-American scored 23 receiving TDs the past 2 seasons and ran a 4.41 40-time. New England follows suit at WR and pairs Keon Coleman with Drake Maye. Arizona needs help at CB and Cooper DeJean after falling out of the 1st Round will have a major chip on his shoulder like all these guys who just missed out on a 5-year rookie deal. The Commanders grab a blindside tackle for Jayden Daniels and with their second 2nd Rounder go with Cole Bishop. They were horrendous in the secondary last year so he’ll start right away.
- Malachi Corley feels like the type of gritty WR that Jim Harbaugh can rationalize over taking in the 2nd Round. He’d immediately step in as their WR1 and offer a YAC type of WR that The Herb has never thrown to. Tennessee doubles down on tackles after selecting their LT JC Latham in the 1st, they draft their RT in Blake Fisher. Carolina after giving Bryce Young some speed at WR, provides the #1 Overall pick of ‘23 his long-term hiker.
- Green Bay is one of the younger teams in football and have very little holes on their roster. Edgerrin Cooper can pair alongside Quay Walker at linebacker. After not having a 1st Round pick, Houston sure up their O-line by adding the 2-time Big-12 O-Lineman of the Year in Cooper Beebe at guard. ATL keeps Kamari Lassiter in the state of Georgia and he can start their from Day 1. After taking Brock Bowers as the best player available in Round 1, the Raiders go more need-based with Johnny Newton as a sidekick to Maxx Crosby on the D-Line. New Orleans’ run defense was in the bottom 3rd in the NFL.
- T’Vondre Sweat can eat blockers and I’m sure a ton of jumbo shrimp. The Colts are fairly set at most of their position groups, but adding a Payton Wilson at inside linebacker could be their long-term replacement for Shaquille Leonard. After taking an offensive weapon for Daniel Jones to throw to in the 1st, they draft an interior offensive lineman so Dimes doesn’t get killed trying to throw to said offensive weapon. The Jaguars sure-up their defensive line by adding former All-Pro DT, Kris Jenkins, son aka known as “The Mutant” out of Michigan.
- With Joe Burrow likely to lose Tee Higgins because the Bengals can’t afford to pay both him and Ja’Marr Chase, Ladd McConkey could be Higgins replacement. He would join his Bulldog teammate, Amarius Mims, who the Bengals took in the 1st. After Philly addressed a need at CB with Quinyon Mitchell, I got them addressing their interior O-Line in the 2nd with Christian Haynes out of UConn and Sedrick Van Pran from Georgia. Haynes despite being from the basketball school, was an All-American, and Van Pran hiked the ball to Georgia’s last 2 National Championships. Pittsburgh adds an Ohio State DT. The Rams replace Old Tappan’s very own, Jordan Fuller, with Javon Bullard, as a ton of Georgia Bulldogs get taken in the 2nd Round.
- Cleveland makes their first selection and goes with Ruke Orhorhoro. Between him and former 2nd Rounder of ‘21. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, they’d have some very talented 2nd Rounders with tough names to pronounce. After drafting Chop in the 1st, Miami goes with McKinstry which will have McDonagh drinking the Phins Kool-Aid. Dallas doubles down at tackle after taking Tyler Guyton in the 1st with another Kingsley Suamataia. Guyton seems to be a bit more comfortable at RT, so Suamataia could compete for Dak’s blindside blocker job.
- Bralen Trice gives Tampa Bay a bit of some depth at edge and will compete with last year’s 3rd Rounder, Yaya Diaby, as their speed pass rusher. The Packers go defense again in the 2nd Round with Kamren Kinchens at Safety. Kinchens may lack elite speed (4.65 40-time), but his 11 INTs in the past 2 years should track well in CF for GB as follows the NFL footsteps of past Miami Hurricane DBs. Houston lands Cedric Gray, who will compete with former ‘Bama LBs Christian Harris and Henry To'oTo'o. They are all very fast young versatile linebackers. The Bills go interior line with Dominick Puni, who ain’t puny at 6’5” and 315 lbs.
- The Lions might grab a steal in the 2nd Round here with Chris Braswell. After landing Terrion Arnold in the 1st, they get another workhorse ‘Bama defender who broke out his junior season with 8 sacks and 3 forced fumbles opposite of Dallas Turner. The Niners get a steal in Braden Fiske. They always seem to have a dominant D-Line so he would fit the bill at DT. After taking Xavier Worthy in the 1st, KC lands an Ivy League left tackle. With rumors that the Chiefs will re-sign Donovan Smith, Kiran Amegadjie will compete with Wayna Morris for their lead swing tackle spot.
- Carolina gets an edge who can learn from playing with Jadeveon Clowney. Junior Colson will be a great story no matter where he gets drafted. The Michigan LBer wn the Lott IMPACT Award (Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community, Tenacity) and preserved to make it to the NFL after being an orphan in Haiti for 9 years after the passing of his father. After drafting a CB in Emmanuel Forbes who struggled due to lack of aggressiveness, Washington goes with more of a worker in Mike Sainristil. The Pats land Drake Maye a 2nd promising WR. (I’m having them take Coleman and Mitchell because this likely means they won’t tomorrow in the real draft.)
- Jim Harbaugh is able to look past that Cade Stover is from The Ohio State University because he plays TE with grit. The New York Football Giants land a homegrown Rutgers product from their own backyard in Max Melton. Marvin Harrison Jr. gets to compete against KAD in practice.
- The New York Jets get their own bullet. If this happens, we’ll be pissed off that they didn’t grab a pass catcher but at least they end up with Aaron Rodgers’ successor.
- The Ohio State LBer, Tommy Eichenberg, was the Big Ten LB of the Year. His name is close to Leighton Vander Esch and they need a young LB to compete with DeMarvion Overshown. Da Bears are loaded on offense and need some corners to guard them at practice. Tyler Nubin fills Denver’s loss of Justin Simmons at Safety. Blake Corum and the Raiders would be a pretty odd pick but have you seen their RB depth chart? With no more Josh Jacobs, they have Zamir White, Alexander Mattison, and Ameer Abudullah in the RB room.
- After going Paul-Bishop and Mike Sainristil, Washington adds to their D-Line room with Brandon Dorlus. The Falcons taking Johnny Wilson is almost too good to be true. They just love drafting tall athletic pass catchers and then not knowing how to use them. Maybe it’d be different with Cousins but Drake London, Kyle Pitts, and Johnny Wilson would have to set some type of record for height. The Bengals lost Joe Mixon this offseason and replace him with another versitile RB in Will Shipley. Giving Joe Burrow Ladd and this lad would do wonders for Cincinnati outside of Chase. Seattle could desperately use a starting center and Zach Frazier is a mountaineer who would fit in with Seattle’s mountainous vibe. The Colts take the #2 TE of this Draft class with Ja‘Tavion Sanders. Their current starter on the depth chart is Kylen Granson, who has never had more than 370 receiving yards in a season in his 3 year career.
- Leonard Taylor III is a DT who will have to deal with the pressure of having to replace Aaron Donald. That said, he’s grown up with the nickname LT and it got him this far. Roman Wilson from Michigan is not a flashy WR by any means but reminds me a bit of Hines Ward with his tough style of play. The Browns’ cut RB Jerome Ford and Nick Chubb is making a return from major surgery so Trey Benson or an RB looks like it’d be good insurance. TCU to Houston is about a 4 hour drive but on the brightside, Josh Newton won’t have to change license. I think the Cowboys draft their next workhorse RB and my pick would be Rockland County’s own, Audric Estime.
- I’m sticking with a theme that the Packers draft all defense on Day 2. They already have a loaded young WR core and drafted OT/OG with Jordan Morgan. Mehki Wingo and Maason Smith feel like very similar prospects so Green Bay will hope one will pan out. Zion Tupuola-Fetui is from Hawaii and is of Polyneian descent, similar to Vita Vea. ZTF and Bralen Trice would be a packaged deal down in TB. I only watched Mohamed Kamara play once this past season and it was in his 2 sack performance against Colorado last September. Kamara is originally from Newark, NJ, and had 13 sacks last season.
- TB already has 2 starting safeties in Antoine Winfield Jr. and Jordan Whitehead, but Calen Bullock could be brought into the fold for depth. He’ll just be 21 years old by the end of the month and although he may have had an up-and-down season at SC, Bullock has flashed elite traits during his highs. Jermaine Burton would add a different element to the Baltimore WR room. He would seemingly fit in with the Ravens culture of not flashy but tough. I got the Niners trying to loosen the workload of Chrisitan McCaffrey by taking Braelon Allen out of Wisconsin. Jacob Cowing would be a nice WR compliment to Troy Franklin if Buffalo follow Week to Week Notes’ advice at the start of Round 2. Cowing is more of a short-intermediate route runner.
- Jaheim Bell for the Jags could be eased into his role as a swiss army knife to start. He played TE and was sometimes used as a FB with even experience at taking handoffs. Bell will need seasoning and Evan Engram still has plenty left in tank. Beau Brade of Maryland would be depth for Cincinnati as Vonn Bell enters his 9th season on a 1 year deal. Kalen King struggled this past season, but prior to ‘23 was considered an elite CB prospect. Maybe the Steelers can fix his flaws and pair him up with Joey Porter Jr again. Another Penn State prospect, Curtis Jacobs, was hyped up prior to ‘23 and didn’t meet expectations. Jacobs still possesses great speed at LB and the Rams seem to take chances on guys like him with talent. Jonah Elliss’ father played in the NFL for 10 years, Luther Elliss. After only having 4 career sacks prior to ‘23, Elliss broke out with 12 this past season. He’s a borderline 3rd Round pick, but he’s got an elite spin move that should be Noted.
YouTube Rabbithole
Marc Scibilia - 90s US Version
Today’s tune on the final chapter of Week to Week Notes’ Sophomore Slump is 90s (U.S. Version) by Marc Scibilia. In my humble opinion, this song should be a much bigger hit than it is. Marc Scibilia has about 4 different versions of it on YouTube and each has less than 10k views. I think it does a great job of capturing how many 90s kids feel about today, but maybe I’m just projecting that it fits Sophomore Slump’s “in conclusion” well.
Marc Scibilia is from Buffalo, New York. His folk music is now based out of Nashville, Tennessee. He’s 37, so a bit older than me, I wasn’t bleaching my hair blonde for the Slim Shady era. When I lived in Westwood, I did have a bedroom at the top of the stairs. As the oldest, I sure did get grounded quite a bit as the guinea pig. In hindsight, some of it may have been warranted (when I got caught).
My dad’s on the cusp of a Baby Boomer and my mudder is firmly a Gen Xer, but as a child of the 90s, I remember growing up a ton in my Baby Boomer grandparents’ backyard. Scibilia uses the John F. Kennedy Jr. reference perfectly here. While the Kennedy family certainly has a history, JFK as president symbolized hope and progress in the future. Much like Pearl Harbor or 9/11, his assassination was a day that America stood still. It’s up there with the most prominent loss of innocence moments in the nation’s history. Back then, people still went to church every Sunday (Jesus saves) and everything was built in America. Americans innocently at the time must’ve thought that was how things were always going to be.
Sidenote: As someone who writes a fair bit about history, John F. Kennedy Jr. is someone that someday I’d love to do extensive research on. I’ll have to look past that he was a Boston guy, but the bootlegging bit and his father seem right up Week to Week Notes’ alley. I’m a bit too busy now, but if I can ever find the time. I’m sure Chat GPT or AI has already written a gazillion pieces on them by now, but as a living, breathing Irish American, one would think there are some things that a bot couldn’t comprehend. I mean like how Jackie Kennedy would take the boys to PJ Clarke’s for Saturday burgers and Caroline would later kicked out for drinking at the fine establishment at 17 years old. (Source: Pint&Pen&Paper Week 49 Vol I)
Even though this ain’t too popular of a tune, the chorus to me is iconic. For most of the 90s, I was just a young snot-nosed kid picking my boogers, but I find the 90s so nostalgic because of the concept of that era in time. Technology was rapidly advancing, but there was still an old-fashioned element where you’d have to get up off the couch and rewind your VCR movie before returning it late to Blockbuster. The internet was around but it was still making that crazy ass dial-up noise and you had to get off it if your mother was on the phone. People still used Yellow Books, had to know street names, and even owned maps. HBO had appointment TV Shows that you couldn’t miss and just binge years later. The culture wasn’t perfect by any means, people disagreed with one another and I’m sure there were plenty of assholes, but in general, it was much cooler than today. The cartoons for kids were fun, the commercials were funny, and everything didn’t have subliminal agendas behind them. Toys R Us was heaven. Nobody gave af about “followers & following” and the Book of Faces you’d own was photo albums of family & friends. People would read physical newspapers, & magazines, and write letters instead of text messages. I could go on and on. I’m not saying we don’t have it pretty good today, but it’s different.
In the ‘90s, my parents were apartment supers and they were lugging me around from place to place in New York & New Jersey. We didn’t settle in our hometown until the fall of ‘03. I’ll be honest if you ever find anything I type a bit witty, Pearl River should be sourced. There must be something in the water or the 47 pubs in a 3-block radius, but I owe my friends from PR that I grew up with and my family for all of this.
Sidenote: Not to veer off the theme of this tune, but the first girl I kissed does have a great ear for music and sings with a ton of confidence. She’s great, still one of the coolest girls I know, and I’m friends with her to this day. I guess not everybody has that, so I’m blessed.
Back to the tune, these lines seem to further indicate a loss of innocence with his first kiss having an ex-husband with kids. The wide-right kick is Scibilia remembering Scott Norwood’s missed Super Bowl XXV, which lost the Bills the game and gave the G-Men their 2nd Lombardi Trophy.
Things in life seldom go as planned. I’m just typing notes and playing around on Social Media like it’s my 90s Gameboy, so not to be overly dramatic, but there is a good quote by George M. Moore that goes with the chorus, “A winner is just a loser who tried one more time.” The tone behind the tune is certainly a bit melancholy but with some hope attached. The singer still thinks the best is yet to come, but also acknowledges that he was a child of the 90s so he’s already had it pretty good.
The bridge is also excellent because it reveals a guy stuck in 90s nostalgia trying to figure it out. Scibilia told Lightning 100 (100.1 Nashville Tennessee Radio), “This song is about finding out what really matters: winning, losing, or even just breaking even – it’s about the connections we have with the people that truly know us.”
Sophomore Slump has been a fun ride with some bumps along the way, but I might look back at this with the same nostalgia of the 90s. I get that 199.4% of people reading to this point are going to think wtf is this guy going on about this Sophomore Slump? As a writer, not going to lie, there is a part of me that’s like “Holy shit, have I already written my best Note? Can I make Year 3 better than Sophomore Slump?” These are just the thoughts that go through my head until I sit down and look forward to working on the next Note. Sure, there is a lot more work to do, but I’ve never had more confidence that I can do it. Plus, I’ve already got some fun stuff cooked up in the coming weeks for Year 3 so I’m hoping to ride a bit of momentum entering the summer. I love Week to Week Notes because it keeps the 90s kid in me.
In conclusion, I get overly nostalgic with endings so we’ll just end on a visual.