The prank call phenomenon can, and does, happen after a player is drafted.
We reported on Sunday that one player received a phony phone call roughly 30 minutes after he’d been picked. He was told he’d been traded to another team.
It happened to more than one player.
Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty recently told FanSided.com that he received a prank call that he’d been traded to the Cowboys. He’s not the player we were referring to in our report.
That’s the other side of the problem the NFL has 12 months to fix. Even if it can keep players from getting prank calls before they’re picked, it will be hard to stop them from getting prank calls after the fact.
The only way to possibly keep that from happening will be to adopt our suggestion that they should have an Official NFL Draft Prospect Burner Phone partner.
Running back Ashton Jeanty wore No. 2 while putting up huge numbers at Boise State and he’ll be wearing the same number while trying to do the same thing for the Raiders.
The Raiders announced the jersey numbers for all of this year’s draft picks on Friday and Jeanty will remain in No. 2 for his rookie season in Las Vegas.
Kicker Daniel Carlson was No. 2 for the last five seasons, but will switch back to the No. 8 he wore for his first two seasons with the Raiders.
Second-round wideout Jack Bech will wear No. 18, third-round corner Darien Porter will wear No. 26, third-round guard Caleb Rogers is No. 76, third-round tackle Charles Grant is No. 60, fourth-round receiver Dont’e Thornton will be No. 10, fourth-round defensive lineman Tonka Hemingway will wear No. 97, sixth-round defensive tackle J.J. Pegues is No. 92, sixth-round wide receiver Tommy Mellott will be No. 19, sixth-round quarterback Cam Miller is No. 5, and seventh-round linebacker Cody Lindenberg will be No. 54.
The Raiders had left tackle Kolton Miller participate in its voluntary offseason program this week.
The team still has not seen Brock Bowers.
The second-year tight end remains in Georgia, finishing up his college degree, Vinny Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.
Bowers had a historic rookie season, breaking multiple NFL records and earning All-Pro honors. He set records for most receptions by a rookie tight end (112), most receiving yards by a rookie tight end (1,194) and most receptions by any rookie regardless of position in NFL history.
Bowers was the best tight end in the NFL in his first season.
The Raiders made an addition to their receiving corps on Thursday.
They announced the signing of free agent wide receiver Collin Johnson. No terms were included in the announcement.
Johnson was a 2020 fifth-round pick of the Jaguars and moved onto the Giants as a waiver claim the next year. He remained with the Giants through August of 2023 and spent the last two seasons with the Bears.
Johnson had two catches for 17 yards in Chicago, 11 catches for 105 yards with the Giants and 18 catches for 272 yards and two touchdowns for the Jaguars. He’s also been credited with six tackles on special teams.
For the first time ever, one player is among the favorites for a full-season award on both sides of the ball.
DraftKings has Jaguars receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter near the top of the list for both offensive and defensive rookie of the year.
On the offensive side, Hunter has +750 odds, behind only Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty (+200) and Titans quarterback Cam Ward (+230).
Defensively, Hunter’s +800 odds are second only to Giants edge rusher Abdul Carter, who is at +250.
Whether he becomes a true candidate for both depends on whether he plays both ways on a full-time basis. The Jaguars plan to start him off at receiver.
Still, they justified trading up from No. 5 to No. 2 by selling Hunter as a two-for-one pick. Which suggests that he’ll indeed be playing both ways.
Boosting his chances in the outcome of the ballots from the 50 voters selected by the Associated Press will be the attention that flows directly from his fame. People will be watching him more closely. People will be talking about him. The hype that can attract votes.
Of course, he’ll have to play well. For defensive players, stats can make a difference. Mainly, sacks and interceptions.
Regardless, bettors are willing to put their money on Hunter for both of these awards. It won’t be easy to win one. It will be very difficult — and unprecedented — to win both.
