Drafts we liked, the stunning slide of Shedeur Sanders, and a stunning buzzer-beater

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The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.

Good morning! Your team’s late-round picks have a lot of character.

End of the Draft: Four draft classes, categorized

Congratulations to No. 1 pick Cam Ward, No. 257 pick Kobee Minor and the 255 players picked in between. The weekend had storylines galore for people in my industry to gorge on. The buzziest focused on two players who played for a slightly above-average Big 12 team last year: Colorado’s Travis Hunter went to the Jaguars after a blockbuster trade up to No. 2, and Shedeur Sanders sat around until the Browns picked him at No. 144 overall in the fifth round on Sunday. Why the wait? A limited QB market and a player who apparently misunderstood his leverage.

How’d all 32 teams do? Well, we don’t know, and this newsletter won’t say anything that you can use in draft court against Dane Brugler and The Athletic’s hard-working team. But as a college football media member who’s watched these gentlemen play for between three and seven (hi, Tyler Shough!) years, here are some thoughts on a few teams’ hauls:

• Like it: The Cardinals. Second-round Michigan corner Will Johnson, when he’s not hurt, is a stud. I think Arizona will get the 2023 national champ version, not the guy who was in and out of the lineup on a mediocre team last year. Ohio State linebacker Cody Simon (fourth round) did a bit of everything for a championship defense.
• Like it: The Panthers. Bryce Young is short, but Tetairoa McMillan is tall. Hence: QB height issues solved forever. The shiny new 6-foot-4 target out of Arizona will be a breath of fresh air for a third-year passer who needs help. I also like Nic Scourton, the second-round edge rusher and run-stopper from Texas A&M.
• Like it, sort of: The Browns. Midwestern excellence is on display with Michigan DT Mason Graham, Ohio State RB Quinshon Judkins and Bowling Green’s ultra-prolific pass-catching tight end (and actual Ohio native) Harold Fannin Jr. They grabbed two lottery-ticket QBs who will play on cheap contracts, Dillon Gabriel in the third round (a head-scratcher, I admit) and Sanders in the fifth. I’m not sure Sanders was ever poised to be a top-10 pick, but I’m not sure he wasn’t, and you may not be either if you’re up on the timeline. Generally I’m not a fan of owner picks, and this one reads like it belongs to Jimmy Haslam, but let’s see if the Browns found an inexpensive backup.
• Hmmm: The Falcons. No. 15 overall pick Jalon Walker, the Georgia EDGE, can play. (Any UGA defensive front player = good pick.) But I’m baffled by trading a legit ransom to move up for not-that-productive-in-college Tennessee EDGE James Pearce at No. 26. It wouldn’t be a proper draft weekend without the Falcons doing something perplexing. I appreciate these guys keeping us on our toes each April.

Navigate here (free!) to find mega-detailed draft trackers and guides for every club … or here for a complete list of this year’s winners and losers. You will not find better resources to quickly catch up on the whole weekend.

Other (free to you) odds and ends:

• Our lowest-graded first-round pick? Tampa Bay at a C-minus. “The grade below does not represent Emeka Egbuka’s skill level, but rather that the Buccaneers probably needed to go a different direction.” That direction? Defense. More first-round grading.
• “This is a Dan Campbell pick.” I am keen to watch any player who gets that label, as new Lions guard Tate Ratledge did in our second- and third-round grades.
• Are the Ravens running a kicker succession plan? Seems they’re exploring it. Baltimore just drafted a kicker for the first time ever, while the NFL investigates sexual misconduct allegations against Justin Tucker.
• Did you notice that a fourth-round pick, Texas edge rusher Barryn Sorrell, was still in the draft green room on Saturday afternoon? There’s a story there. Also, read Jayna Bardahl’s feature on what it’s like for prospects to sit around waiting.
• Sanders’ freefall dominated the conversation in Green Bay. The loudest voice at the table: Mel Kiper Jr., who called NFL front offices “clueless” when it comes to evaluating quarterbacks. Much more on Kiper’s series of outbursts here.

Are we done? Never. Here are the most memorable draft moments. And bookmark this best-player-available tracker, which covers undrafted free agent season.

News to Know

An unbelievable buzzer-beater

There were eight playoff games between the NBA and NHL last night. But we have to start in L.A., where Aaron Gordon had one of the most incredible buzzer-beaters you will ever see.

The Clippers had stormed back from 22 down to take their first lead of the game with 1:11 to play. Nikola Jokić, who had been unstoppable all afternoon, had the ball in his hands for the final possession of regulation. What happened next is indescribable, so watch the highlight here.

Did Gordon get it off in time?! You be the judge. Regardless, the Nuggets evened the series at two games apiece. What a finish. What a game. What a series this has been.

Plenty more playoff action across the board. Quickly:

Whew. More playoffs, please.

Wrexham’s historic rise

Wrexham AFC is just one step away from the Premier League. The Welsh club resided in the fifth tier of English soccer when Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought the team in 2020. Yesterday, it became the first club to ever earn back-to-back-to-back promotions all the way to the Championship. Read more on the incredible story.

More news:

What to Watch

📺 NHL: Jets at Blues, Game 4 | 1 p.m. ET on TBS

St. Louis responded with juice in Game 3 after failing to win a game in Winnipeg against the Presidents’ Trophy winners. The Blues will have to do that eventually, but their 7-2 romp Thursday was a jolt to see. They controlled the play, and Jordan Binnington backed them nicely in goal. He might need to personally steal a game once the Jets tighten back up.

📺 NBA: Knicks at Pistons, Game 4 | 1 p.m. ET on ABC

The Pistons dropped Game 3 at home despite winning the bench scoring margin 40-9. That’s forty to nine. Detroit needs a more efficient afternoon from Cade Cunningham and to slow down the scoring party for Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson, at least a little.

📺 NASCAR: Jack Link’s 500 | 3 p.m. ET on Fox

The Cup Series was off last week and now returns at Talladega Superspeedway. Some big news during the downtime: Spire Motorsports split with crew chief Rodney Childers, the second-winningest active crew chief in NASCAR and a man our reporters say is “regarded as one of the brightest minds in the garage.” Childers was running the crew for Justin Haley’s No. 7 team, which sits 23rd in points and still lacks a top-five finish.

Pulse Picks

Asli Pelit’s fascinating look at how NWSL players are taking advantage of improved fertility treatment options is essential reading.

Season 2 of “Andor.” Simply excellent TV. — Chris Branch

This $199 monitor available at Costco. A life-saver when my last one fried itself. – Alex Kirshner

I watched Dropout’s “Smartypants” series this week and got a huge kick out of the presentation on why we shouldn’t mess with the ocean. Huge validation for me. I’ve been arguing for years that what happens in the depths of the ocean is none of my business. Do evil whales eat the bones of dead fish and turn them into sand? I don’t know, but I’m not supposed to find out. The ocean is none of my business. Anyway, Dropout’s great. Best $5 I spend a month. — Patrick Iversen

You really can have fresh focaccia on the table tonight with just a few basic pantry ingredients— though that includes yeast — and literally 10 minutes of hands-on prep time (just leave enough time for rising). — Torrey Hart

Jayson Jenks’ Q&A with veteran MLB manager Joe Maddon features some relatable nuggets about leadership, creativity and criticism.

I’ve had Jon Lee Anderson’s “Che Guevara” on my bookshelf unread for about 20 years. Finally attacked it and demolished it in a matter of days. Properly fascinating. — Phil Hay

“Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary” is a useful gap-fill for music nerds. True taste-makers nerding out over Steely Dan studio sessions is illuminating, and Christopher Cross dropping acid to pen the background for every mall visit of my childhood is genuinely hilarious. — Chris Sprow

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Our pick-by-pick grades from Rounds 2 and 3 of the NFL Draft.

Most-read on the website yesterday: Jeff Howe’s story from yesterday morning on why Shedeur Sanders hadn’t been drafted yet.

Ticketing links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.

(Top photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)

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