Monday Musings: Recapping the draft; Canes baseball red hot

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BUDDY!!!! Man, what a busy weekend with Miami Hurricanes happenings, and I’m FINALLY done with some crazy life stuff that’s pulled me away from my normal Monday Musings.

With the NFL Draft now behind us – and with the Miami Hurricanes’ baseball team doing the WWE Undertaker sit up move lately with some blistering play after a gross start – there is no shortage of stuff to talk about, so let’s get into it.

1) In case you missed it – and thanks to the networks’ outrageous obsession with Shedeur Sanders NOT getting picked until Saturday, some casual folks might have – Cam Ward was taken first overall in the NFL Draft by the Tennessee Titans.

I styled that last sentence for a particular reason. That’s EXACTLY why I worried about Cam going to Tennessee. If he had been taken first overall by the Giants, Steelers, Packers, 49ers, etc., we’re hearing ALL about it.

But being taken by a franchise without the juice of those big-name franchises helped render his selection to more of a public afterthought on the networks. And that is absolutely ridiculous and inexcusable to me. It’s insulting how little coverage his pick got. From no stars to the top overall pick. The ultimate underdog story. Cam won’t care, or at least publicly he’d say he doesn’t, but I will. That was the LEAST amount of coverage I’ve ever seen for a top pick.

2) Fortunately, one very prominent member of the Oilers/Titans franchise recognized Ward the following day: Warren Moon.

The Hall of Famer and Oilers legend walked into a press conference and handed Ward the #1 jersey. The Oilers/Titans had previously retired Moon’s number, but Warren graciously decided to unretire it for Ward. Have to love that.

3) I had my piece prewritten on Xavier Restrepo getting drafted. Man, did I jinx it, or something?

I have to say I’m floored he didn’t go somewhere. He’s a first-team All-American and a downright stud on the field. The 4.80 40 should NOT have been a deal breaker. Not when you watch his route running, quickness, and football speed. No way on God’s green earth are there 257 players more deserving of being drafted that X.

4) But hey, something things work out in the end, don’t they? He reached a free agent deal with the Titans.

Ward to Restrepo now has the potential to carry over onto NFL Sundays, and I’ll honestly be surprised if X doesn’t stick on that roster. Look for the duo to stay together this fall. Took longer than expected, but it ended up in a terrific situation for both.

5) A number of other Canes were drafted – Jalen Rivers to Cincy, Tyler Baron and Kiko Mauigoa to the Jets, and Andy Borregales to the Patriots – but the Seattle Seahawks now have my attention after taking Elijah Arroyo and Damien Martinez in the second and seventh rounds, respectively.

I particularly love the fit for Arroyo in that offense. The Seahawks don’t offer much in the way of receiving threats at the position – Noah Fant is their top tight end – so he should slot in as the top receiving option there immediately. The Seahawks also added Cooper Kupp to go with Jaxon Smith-Njigba, so there’s some strong options to draw the attention of opposing defenses even after the departures of Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf.

Martinez should have a solid shot to stick as the Seahawks’ RB3 behind Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet. After Travis Homer and DeeJay Dallas spent some time there, another Cane RB finds a home in Seattle.

6) Wow. What a turnaround by Canes baseball since I last penned one of these articles.

I’d been harsh on J.D. Arteaga previously, and I don’t apologize for that. It was warranted. But over the last several weeks, there haven’t been many hotter teams in the country than the Canes.

Since losing to FIU 10-2 to start the month, the Canes have series wins at Pitt (2-1), Duke (2-1), a ranked Georgia Tech (sweep), and at Boston College last weekend (sweep). They have vaulted from 2-7 in the ACC and all but out of things to now 12-9 in conference play and 27-18 overall.

D1 Baseball projects the Canes as in the NCAA Tournament right now as a 3 seed, which seemed completely impossible in March. And that was before this sweep of the Eagles last weekend, so surely their case is stronger now.

Miami will have a chance to make a very big statement this weekend, as a ranked NC State team comes to town. A series win there, and things are getting very real for Miami’s tournament, which is something that Arteaga badly needs right now in year two.

We’ll see if Miami is up to the task starting Friday night at the Light.

Go Canes!