JCONLINE.COM FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2022 3D With the 2022 preseason poised to hit high gear, pressure is about to ratchet up on players throughout the league. And while August is the proving ground for fading veterans, rookies who were drafted on Day 3, bottom-of-the- roster youngsters who ricochet around the country and undrafted free agents, even recent will feel the heat though, in most of their cases, for the next few months. One who received an unwanted (and temporary) reprieve was New York Jets O-lineman Mekhi Becton, the 11th over- all pick in 2020 who was already in the midst of a position switch (left tackle to right) and will now likely miss the entire 2022 campaign after another knee injury during camp practice. But while Becton may not face further pressure for another year, sever- al quarterbacks once regarded as even- tual faces of their franchise will be un- der intense scrutiny. Other former top- selections could be for their futures.
Quite a few players picked in Round 1 in 2019 are about to embark on a contract year, their teams already opt- ing against giving them lucrative guar- anteed options for the 2023 season. Here are 12 players taken in the round since 2018 who enter the 2022 season with plenty to prove: QBs Sam Darnold and Baker May- Carolina Panthers The most compelling quarterback battle of the summer is being waged by two of the top three selections of the 2018 draft, though neither Darnold (third overall to the Jets) nor overall to the Browns) remains with his original team. Each was initia- lly due a fully guaranteed $18.9 million in the year of his rookie contract, though accepted a $3.5 million pay cut he can earn it all back by hit- ting several incentives to facilitate his trade from Cleveland just one year after Darnold was dealt to Carolina. currently alternating training camps every other day, each hoping to earn the QB1 gig from embattled coach Matt Rhule while trying to parlay the op- portunity into major payday from the Panthers or another team in free agency next year. This could be the shot for one or both passers to establish himself as an NFL starter and limiting turn- overs and poor decision making will be crucial for and Darnold.
But having a playmaking duo of RB Chris- tian and WR DJ Moore should give each a chance to ex- cel. Darnold and the 2021 Panthers started 3-0 before losing to ham- string and ankle injuries that cost him 10 games. RB Saquon Barkley and QB Daniel Jones, New York Giants Once forecast as cornerstones for the G-Men, neither is signed beyond this season after New York punted 2023 option. Hobbled by an ankle injury last year after tearing an ACL in Sep- tember of 2020, Barkley, the No. 2 pick in 2018 between and Darnold, simply must prove he can be the game changer he was during his two sea- sons (combined 3,469 yards from scrimmage).
Over his past 15 games, Barkley has averaged 41.8 rushing yards and 3.5 per carry. For Jones, turnovers remain his bugaboo committed 49 in 38 NFL games yet his athleticism translates into an Eli Manning-plus skill set when he gets going. up to new head coach Brian Daboll, widely credited with unlocking Josh po- tential in to maximize strengths and limit his mistakes or else the Giants will be shopping for a re- placement in the QB Justin Fields, Chicago Bears With the relative exception of New Mac Jones, there will be am- ple attention focused on the starting quarterbacks taken in Round 1 a year ago. But of that group of Fields seems to have the highest barriers to success in 2022. trying to impress a new regime that tab him nor pro- vided resources to his sup- porting cast.
If as good as projected coming out of Ohio State, Fields will progress from a miserable rookie season and be under center when Chicago pre- sumably begins building up this roster in a year. But if 2022 is a train wreck, not inconceivable he could be headed for an early exit from the team that drafted him like recent QBs Paxton Lynch, Josh Rosen and Dwayne Haskins. LB Devin Bush, Pittsburgh Steelers the rare player coach Mike Tom- lin and former GM Kevin Colbert traded up to get, the duo moving up 10 slots into the 10th position of the 2019 draft for the Michigan star. But Bush pro- gressed from a solid rookie season and was derailed by an ACL tear in 2020. His option declined, audi- tioning for the Steelers and 31 other teams heading into free agency next year.
CB Okudah, Detroit Lions He was so highly regarded coming out of Ohio State in 2020 that Detroit picked him third overall. No cornerback in the common draft era (since 1967) has gone earlier. But Okudah has been high- ly while on the quar- terbacks have a 128.0 passer rating when targeting him and been available all that often, already missing 23 contests. Okudah be hard to miss in 2022. switched his jersey to No.
1 and could be the guy of- fenses go after given attempting to come back from a ruptured Achilles suf- fered in last opener. DE Clelin Ferrell, RB Josh Jacobs and Johnathan Abram, Las Vegas Raiders All three were picked in the round of former GM Mike in- augural draft three years ago. Remark- ably, the options for the entire trio were declined this spring by the Sil- ver and new management meaning the Raiders may not have the Round 1 players Mayock took be- tween 2019 and 2020 after cutting WR Henry Ruggs III and CB Damon Arnette last season. Ferrell, whose selection at No. 4 overall was a shock to most draft observers at the time, has been the big- gest bust, reduced to a rotational role and zero starts in 2021.
Jacobs, a Pro Bowler in 2020, has been productive, averaging nearly 1,300 yards and 10 TDs from scrimmage over his three sea- sons. But if the Raiders willing to bring him back for $8 million in 2023, good bet showcasing himself to the remainder of the league. LB Isaiah Simmons, Arizona Cardi- nals The eighth overall pick in 2020, his copious pre-draft buzz centered on his immense versatility at Clemson. Yet as I reported from that year's combine, sometimes being a jack of all trades means you might be master of none. Simmons has continued lining up all over the for the Cards, routinely de- ployed on the edge and slot in addition to his base backer duties yet hasn't re- motely approached the impact he had in college.
QB Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers already etched a place for him- self in NFL lore as the man who rekin- dled Aaron career. Of course, Love would like an opportunity and team to call his own, and prob- ably no longer a scenario where that oc- curs in Wisconsin. A pick in 2020, Love was inactive during his en- tire rookie season and hardly distin- guished himself during preseason or spot duty, including a forgettable Week 9 start at Kansas City, in 2021. But given recent history of sitting out preseason entirely, this month might be best chance to impress other teams looking for a low-risk quarter- back option or maybe even someone with more potential beyond 2022 than, say, Jimmy Garoppolo should an emer- gency arise. Brett Favre had an impres- sive list of understudies (Rodgers, Kurt Warner, Matt Hasselbeck, Mark Brunell, Aaron Brooks) who graduated to vary- ing degrees of stardom.
Maybe Love can start that kind of tree for Rodgers but he better not wait much longer to sprout. NFL 1st-round picks running out of chances Nate Davis USA TODAY Panthers quarterback Baker (6) watches Sam Darnold (14) take part in a drill during training camp at Wofford College on July 27. JIM TODAY SPORTS Warning: This story contains de- scriptions that some readers may disturbing. LOS ANGELES Kobe wid- ow Vanessa wept quietly and dabbed her eyes with tissue here Wednesday as she listened to her attorney describe a series of events that made the worst day of her life to the point that she continues to live in fear and terror over it more than two years later. This was Day 1 of her civil trial against Los Angeles County, a legal bat- tle more than two years in making after nine died in a helicopter crash in Janu- ary 2020, including Kobe Bryant, the beloved Los Angeles Lakers legend, and Gianna Bryant, their daughter.
Vanessa Bryant sat in the federal courtroom wearing a black mask and black suit, next to her attorney, Luis Li, who got right to the point in front the ju- ry of 10. 26, 2020, was and always will be the worst day of Vanessa Bry- Li told the jury. county did not cause the helicopter to crash But county employees exploited the ac- cident, took and shared pictures of Ko- and remains as souvenirs and betrayed the sacred trust we place in them. They poured salt in an unheal- able wound. When they did that, they violated the constitution.
That is why we are here, you are here, we are all here in federal court today, to try to right that And so it began Wednesday on an af- ternoon with graphic descriptions of the crash scene, a dueling version of events from each side and grief-stricken testimony from Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka, good friend and the witness to take the stand. The case was brought to trial by two lawsuits: one by Bryant and another by Chris Chester, a adviser who also was present in court after losing his wife and daughter in the same crash. Both accuse county and department employees of tak- ing and sharing photos of their loved remains at the crash scene with- out having a legitimate government rea- son for doing so. Both said they emotional distress because of it and are seeking damages to be determined at trial. But the county is back, say- ing the cases are not support- ed by evidence.
In turn, this has created two very accounts of what happened, as explained in opening statements by each side. The jury will have to decide which version to believe: Were the county responders mostly heroes who were doing their jobs at the crash scene, through fog and terrain to document the ac- cident with photos? That is how the outside counsel, Mira Hashmall, described it to the jury while acknowledging were One of those mistakes came two days after the crash, when a deputy trainee, Joey Cruz, showed gruesome crash photos to a bar- tender at a bar, leading a bar patron to a complaint with the de- partment later that night. a moment of weakness, he showed those Hashmall said. regrets Or were some these county employ- ees mostly villains who had no reason to take these photos except for their own amusem*nt and sick sense of humor, as suggested by Li and the attorney for Chester, Jerome Jackson? They suggested the photos could re- emerge somewhere online at any mo- ment to terrorize Chester and Bryant de- spite the assertions that they were never posted online and were de- leted forever at the suggestion of soon after the complaint came in. pictures are nowhere because of the of the Hashmall said, disputing the argument that the county improperly destroyed the evidence to cover up wrongdoing.
At issue is whether the photos were in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment right to control death images of their loved ones, as recognized by precedent in federal court. The county said the photos were not publicly disseminated under the standard required by law. Hashsmall said the never have even seen the photos and that there is no evidence of sharing of photos involv- ing several of the loved remains. Jackson, attorney, dis- agrees. He even told the jury had but to share graphic details about what happened to daughter and wife in the crash.
Such de- tails, he said, matched what deputy Douglas Johnson described in the photos he took. do this he said before describing how Mrs. Chester a severe vertical wound to her face and was cut in half at the waist with her vital organs found in the debris what they Jackson said. what they shared. what they laughed Jackson said Chester, 48, developed a drinking problem after the crash and that his fear of the photos reemerging haunts single one of his Chester still comforted himself to know that somewhere, that those were responsible for destroying his right to and who desecrated his loved will have to go to court one to day to ad- mit what they did and face justice for it, Jackson said.
is that Jackson told the jury is that After Li and Jackson each gave open- ing statements, Bryant hugged Chester in court. Later, after opening remarks for the county, she touched hands with Pelinka as he approached the witness stand to testify. Pelinka, wearing a blue suit and black T-shirt, quickly broke down under questioning from Li about his relation- ship with the Bryant family. He was godfather, as well as a close friend of Kobe and Vanessa. still my best Pelinka said through tears when asked about Kobe.
He said it was like having a superhero as your best He even said he returned to the crash site with Vanessa around June 2020 touch the soil where they (Kobe and Gianna) went to Li later questioned him about how the issue with the photos Bry- ant. He said so much more to the situation. Two other families who lost loved ones in the crash also suit over the photos but ended their lawsuits last year by agreeing to accept $2.5 million in combined settlements from the coun- ty. Both Bryant and Chester instead are taking their chances with a federal jury instead. Pelinka is expected to return to the stand Thursday in a trial that could stretch across two weeks or more.
Vanessa Bryant civil trial gets underway Brent Schrotenboer USA TODAY Vanessa Bryant speaks during the Hall of Fame induction of the late Kobe Bryant. DAVID BUTLER TODAY SPORTS.
