The story appears on

Page A7

April 30, 2016

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

Home » Sports » American Football

QB Goff goes to LA Rams with No. 1 pick

THE Los Angeles Rams selected quarterback Jared Goff with the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft on Thursday while a former candidate for the top selection tumbled down the order after a bizarre video was shared on his Twitter feed showing him smoking marijuana.

Goff started every game during his three college seasons at California, setting records with 977 completions, 12,220 yards passing and 96 touchdown passes. The Rams, back in Los Angeles for next season after relocating from St Louis, traded with Tennessee to get the pick.

“I’m taking it as an honor and something I’m going to have to prove them right, that they made the right decision,” Goff said.

The No. 2 selection for the Philadelphia Eagles was Carson Wentz, making it the second straight year that two quarterbacks were the first two selections.

Wentz led North Dakota State to their fifth consecutive FCS second-tier college championship in January. He passed for 1,651 yards and 17 TDs during his senior year that was shortened by a broken wrist.

After the top quarterbacks were off the board, the focus quickly turned to the slide by offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil, once thought to be a potential first overall selection. He fell all the way to Miami at 13 after a pair of damaging posts to his social media accounts.

Shortly before the draft began, a video was shared on Tunsil’s Twitter account which showed him smoking marijuana out of a bong/gas mask contraption. His Instagram account reportedly showed a text-message exchange indicating he took money from coaches at his college team Mississippi, something he acknowledged during his news conference after he was selected by the Dolphins.

“Somehow, somebody got in my photos and hacked my Twitter account and somebody hacked my Instagram account, so it’s crazy,” Tunsil said. “I can’t control that, man..”

Miami wasn’t turned off.

“He’s a smart kid,” general manager Chris Grier said. “He’s very football intelligent. This guy is one of those grinders. There’s no doubt this guy loves football, and football is very important to him.”

A third quarterback went in the first round when Denver moved up to No. 26 to take Paxton Lynch of Memphis, making him a possible successor for Peyton Manning with the Super Bowl champion Broncos.

Three of the top 10 picks were players from Ohio State, and five in all.

San Diego took defensive end Joey Bosa at No. 3 with the first real wildcard of the night, Dallas selected running back Ezekiel Elliott with the fourth pick, and cornerback Eli Apple went to the New York Giants at No. 10.




 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend