The first round of the NFL Draft was yesterday, and the first 14 picks were all offensive players. This is a record number. Six quarterbacks were drafted in the first round, including the first three picks. Caleb Williams of USC went first to Chicago, who received this pick last year from the Carolina Panthers. Jayden Daniels of LSU went to the Washington Commanders with the second pick, and Drake Maye went to the New England Patriots at No. 3. Drake Maye will be under a lot of pressure trying to replace Tom Brady since the Patriots tried this already with Mac Jones and it has not worked out for him.
I was happy with what the Eagles did with their pick at 22. They selected a cornerback from University of Toledo named Quinyan Mitchell. He is supposed to be one of the best defensive players in the draft. Let's hope he fits what they were looking for.
Also, on the same day, the Eagles announced an extension for three years with receiver A.J. Brown. I hope A.J. and Jalen Hurts can get on the same page again and have a great season.
The 76ers won Game 3 last night in their first round playoff series against the New York Knicks. This was in thanks to a 50-point performance by Joel Embiid and 25 points from Tyrese Maxey, and they got some more help from the rest of the team. Overall a great performance by all the team. I’m not sure whether Joel can play as well as this for four more games considering he is still struggling some coming off a significant knee injury. I think the series is going to go to seven games because the Knicks are a good team as well.
The Phillies are currently playing good baseball. They won seven of the last nine games and their starting pitching staff has been extremely successful in the last two weeks. Another good thing is that the Washington Nationals and the Florida Marlins have gotten off to terrible starts, which means it's a three-team race for the division already. I hope the Phillies can ultimately win the division so they don’t have to play in the wild card series this year.
For the next week, the Phillies play six games on the West Coast against the Padres and Angels. I hope the Phillies can continue winning in these two series because these two teams are not that great. There's certainly no room to be complacent. Go Phillies!
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A 2002 Cape grad and 2007 UD grad, Lewes resident Sumner Spence is one of the Cape area's biggest sports fans. Although he’s used a wheelchair his entire life, he has lived vicariously through his sports-playing father, brother, and friends, who gave him his love of sports. He hopes to provide new and interesting perspectives on the sports stories and issues of the day. Email Sumner at sumspence@gmail.com.
