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Biggest Steal and Reach of Each Round of the 2019 NFL Draft

By Dillon Appleman

Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images /
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TEMPE, AZ – NOVEMBER 03: Punter Mitch Wishnowsky #33 of the Utah Utes punts the football during the second half of the college football game against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Sun Devil Stadium on November 3, 2018 in Tempe, Arizona. The Sun Devils defeated the 38-20. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
TEMPE, AZ – NOVEMBER 03: Punter Mitch Wishnowsky #33 of the Utah Utes punts the football during the second half of the college football game against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Sun Devil Stadium on November 3, 2018 in Tempe, Arizona. The Sun Devils defeated the 38-20. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

STEAL: New Orleans Saints – Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, S, Florida (Pick105)

There was a case for several safeties in this draft class to go in the first round and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson was absolutely one of them.

Going into the draft, he was the 49th rated player overall by Pro Football Focus.

He had proven to be one of the premier playmakers in college football in 2018, he played against elite competition in the SEC, he has good size and he showed off impressive athletic traits at the NFL combine.

All of this should add up to him being one of the first safeties off the board, right?

Well, the first round came to an end and Chauncey Gardner Johnson was not selected.

Nor was he taken in the second round.

Or the third round.

CGJ fell all the way into the fourth round, where the New Orleans Saints were happy to trade up and end his slide, by taking him at pick #105. He was the 9th safety taken off the board and I can’t for the life of me understand how that happened

CGJ has a versatile skillset that will allow the Saints to move him all over the field. He can play in either safety position, as well as slide into the slot as a nickel. This is easily one of the bigger 2019 NFL draft steals.

REACH: San Francisco 49ers – Mitch Wishnowsky, P, Utah (Pick 110)

This one is obvious.

You just don’t take a specialist in the first four rounds of the draft. Ever. Just never do it.

But John Lynch and company decided that they had to have punter Mitch Wishnowsky out of Utah at pick #110.

To put that into perspective, he was selected just after names like Hakeem Butler and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson and before names like Justice Hill and Riley Ridley.

He is now the highest drafted punter since the Jaguars famously took Bryan Anger over Russell Wilson in round three of the 2012 NFL Draft. How did that turn out?

Mitch better Wish-Nowsky that he has a similar impact as Seahawks punting phenom, Michael Dickson, or else this pick will be remembered as an early botch on the résumé’s of Lynch and Kyle Shanahan.

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