Oh boy, here we go. Everyone is primed for the Steelers to take Kenny Dark And Darker Gold  Pickett with the idea of him staying in Pittsburgh, but then the swerve comes. Not wanting to let Carolina make the decision for them, the Steelers send the 20th pick, their second rounder (No. 52), and a future 5th to the Vikings to move up and select Malik Willis. The only QB in this class with truly rare traits, Willis will be able to sit behind Mitch Trubisky for a year and adjust to the Madden NFL 24, learning the Steelers offense and more importantly, working on reading Madden NFL 24 defenses. When he’s ready Pittsburgh will get astounding big-play potential through the air, not dissimilar to what they had with Ben Roethlisberger, but paired with mobility in the pocket.

Panthers fans are screaming as Willis goes a pick earlier, but the war room breathes a sigh of relief. They didn’t want to have to justify taking Pickett over Willis to the fans, even if they liked the Pitt QB better. It’s absolutely not the right decision for Carolina, who seem hell-bent on trying to compete immediately, but with a second round pick they received in a trade they can look for an offensive tackle there. Questions will abound whether the Panthers got too cute in this process vs. staying and taking Charles Cross, and it’s a fair critique, but this team has been zeroed in on Pickett for a while and tried to hide their hand.

For a long time I’ve had this spot earmarked for Tyler Linderbaum, and truth be told I still love the idea of him heading to Baltimore. That said, I recognize that center just isn’t a position you can spend a Top 15 pick on — no matter how good the player is. Instead I have the Ravens getting back to their defensive roots, and take FSU’s Jermaine Johnson, who can thrive in the Ravens’ system. Johnson thrived as a transfer from Georgia to Florida State when he was able to work out of wider alignment than a traditional 4-3, and he’ll be even better standing up in the 3-4 where his speed can be showcased. There will be some learning to be done, but in a year or two this pick will be genius.

The Eagles manage to get a top 4-3 defensive end at a great value spot. Karlaftis could reasonably go anywhere from 10-15, so nabbing him here is great value. Philadelphia’s defense needs major work to take the next step, and getting the pass rusher here is the key to get that going. Karlaftis has great size, and natural pass rush traits. He’s not an A++ athlete, so his future could be on the strong side — but he’ll need to become a better run stopper to make that his home in the Madden NFL 24. Either way, he’ll be a long-term pass rush  cheap Darker Gold force, even if he’s perhaps better served being in a tandem.