Who are WSU’s 2021 NFL Draft prospects?

Good morning, and welcome back sports! Kind of! While we’re slowly seeing a return of real live sporting competition - Bundesliga and NASCAR to name a couple - today will center on the future. The 2020 NFL Draft produced just one Washington State Cougars selection in Dezmon Patmon, but there is a real possibility that multiple Cougs could hear their names in 2021. That’s good, right? Wellllllllll...

The folks at Athlon took a peak ahead to the 2021 draft, examining the top 15 prospects from each conference. Initially, I didn’t think I’d see anyone from WSU on there, but a couple Cougs showed up. The author has Penei Sewell as the top Pac-12 prospect (he’s actually a candidate for the top selection), but incorrectly lists Sewell’s class. Anyway, as you peruse the list, you see Abraham Lucas in the top 10, and Max Borghi right behind at number 11.

I will admit that I thought it was cool to see two Cougars who are regarded that highly. That feeling lasted roughly .01 seconds, because seeing Borghi and Lucas drafted in 2021 means that they would be leaving WSU early. While that decision is obviously up to them, and while I would never begrudge them for doing so, I will fully acknowledge my overt selfishness when I unapologetically beg them PLEASE STAY GUYS PLEASE PRETTY PLEASE.

Outside of those two guys, do any other Cougs have decent draft prospects? Well, much of that depends on how the guys perform as seniors in 2020, but there is definitely some potential. Let’s have a look.

• Davontavean Martin, Renard Bell and Calvin Jackson Jr. - Man, the Cougs will be losing a good amount of receiver production after this season. All three of these guys are talented enough to stick in the NFL, for different reasons. Martin has good height and great athleticism, and it seems like he hasn’t reached his ceiling yet. Jackson is a great route-runner and has exceptional hands. The Nard Dog could be a perfect jitterbug slot receiver, ala Wes Welker. Right now, they’re all long shots to be drafted, in my opinion, but they all have the potential show up on teams’ draft boards with big final seasons.
• Josh Watson - Watson will have been a three-year starter by the time he departs, and earned Honorable Mention All-Conference as a Junior. Guards aren’t exactly a hot commodity in the early rounds, but teams often try to fill out offensive line depth in the latter part of day two and all of day three.
• Jahad Woods - Woods probably doesn’t have the size to play inside at the next level, but he seems to have the speed and quickness to man an outside spot. I don’t think Woods has a good shot to be drafted, barring a gigantic senior season. However, he’s the type of guy who could stick as a UDFA if he excels on special teams, and he is definitely capable of that.
• Oscar Draguicevich III - Ok, there’s almost no chance my man Oscar gets drafted. But he’s awesome and deserves a shot to make an NFL roster.

Football

Pac-12 Football: Top 15 2021 NFL Draft Prospects to Watch
Washington State's emergence as an offensive juggernaut last decade was built on the foundation of excellent line play.

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Canzano: Pac-12 vs. Pac-12 in football is a hopeful development - oregonlive.com
The Pac-12 is exploring all available options. That was evident on Monday in a scheduled webinar video conference featuring three of its head football coaches.

Dortmund Fan Since Forever

It was a seemingly interminable wait for this “since birth” Dortmund fan. Saturday, the world’s indisputably best soccer league, Bundesliga, resumed play. I could not have been more excited.

All of us life-long BVB fans gathered via Zoom to watch the proceedings together.

The game itself was a murder scene, with Dortmund playing the part of killer, winning 4-0. The 3:30 p.m. local start allowed me to get some yard work done, while the gang back in Washington was just starting their day. Regardless, it was a blast, though everyone was legitimately frightened at the early morning appearance of Preston’s mane.

Mighty Borussia Dortmund takes on VfL Wolfsburg next Saturday.

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We took a easy 4-0 victory over Schalke at home putting us at 54 points on the Bundesliga table.

This Week in Parenting

I’m writing the latter half of this article on the back patio, which wasn’t my original intent. However, while we were eating lunch out here, I told the boys I had to finish this before we could play catch. “You’re finishing your article out here. Period.” said the eight year-old. Well I guess that settles it. This was followed quickly by one kid accusing the other of, “hogging all the internet” when they were playing on their tablets.

On Saturday, I lined out their tasks for the day. One of them was to pull the weeds from a small, non-grassed patch on the side of our house. I told them they had to put in two hours, and they could either split them up, work both hours Saturday or both Sunday. To my utter shock and amazement, they chose to suck up both hours on Saturday. Usually they put such things off as long as possible, in hopes that something will happen that precludes their assigned task.

It took less than 30 minutes before they conspired, and presented their terms. “So dad. We’re thinking that you could pay us $10 an hour. Each.” “How about $10 per hour total?” This was met with scorn and derision. The little bastards drive a hard bargain, and I wanted to rid the bed of the weeds, so I relented before they could begin plotting a palace coup.

This comes on the heels of another end-around they (namely the eight year-old) ran a couple weeks ago. I found out that Fanatics was having a sale, and he decided to look over my shoulder as I was checking out things to buy. So of course this led to a list of requests.

As God is my witness, he spent more time and used more diligence on this list than he ever has on any school assignment. When I summarily denied all of the requests, he filed an appeal with Nana, and his demands were met without delay. Reminds me of when I was growing up. My grandma had a coffee mug that read, “When mom says no, ask grandma.” Some things never change.

Beer

Best beer I had this week: Found a 750ml bottle of Cuvée Clarise Wild Weasel Whisky Infused Belgian Strong Dark Ale the other day, and it was as good as always.

Regarding the article, I’ve been lucky enough to try more than half of those beers. As your self-appointed resident Belgian beer expert, you can find 10 better Trappist beers than Westmalle, such as Trappistes Rochefort 10. Rochefort 10 is one of the best beers I’ve ever had, and I get it every time I see it on the shelf. It’s just as good as Westvleteren XII in my opinion. Point is that the article mentions Rochefort 8, which is fine too, but not nearly as good as 10.

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From domestic to imported, not all of the best brews are impossible to find.

Non-Sports

The Great Antarctic Escape - Atlas Obscura
How Spanish scientists and soldiers made an epic journey home as the world locked down around them.