Dominate the Super Bowl

"Rookie! Rookie! Rookie!"

On the TV screen, the live broadcast was abuzz with excitement.

However, the reactions of the other teams varied and they descended into chaos. A running back? The Kansas City Chiefs had unbelievably chosen a running back? Not a quarterback, but a running back? What kind of senseless, lavish move was this? Had the whole team at the Chiefs collectively taken mushrooms and not yet sobered up?

In the Chicago Bears' war room, there was dead silence.

A second ago, they had been preparing to pop champagne and celebrate securing their cornerstone quarterback.

The next second, the atmosphere of midsummer was plunged into the harsh winter cold, as if falling into an ice cellar, everyone frozen in place.

Ryan Pace stared blankly at the broadcast screen, his mind stopped working, he malfunctioned, even forgetting to curse, devoid of any thoughts:

Running back.

Had the Kansas City Chiefs been aiming to choose a running back from the start?

So, everyone thought the Kansas City Chiefs were foolish and extravagant, but in fact, it was the Chicago Bears who were really foolish and extravagant. They could have gotten a quarterback with the third pick they originally had, but they ended up paying a high price to snatch it from the Chiefs, footing the bill for Veach's madness.

Damn.

Pace stood there, disheveled in the wind, wanting a moment of peace.

In the Carolina Panthers' war room, there was a slight stir, but Rivera controlled the situation.

"Stay calm!"

Disappointed as he was, Rivera was prepared.

He hadn't expected the Kansas City Chiefs to barge in and disrupt the plan, but honestly, if it wasn't the Chiefs, the Jacksonville Jaguars would certainly have chosen Li Wei with the fourth pick; and the Carolina Panthers would never have traded up to get a running back with the third pick anyway.

Now what?

Missing out on Li Wei was extremely painful, painfully suffocating, but Rivera still regained his composure and decided to make full use of this opportunity to achieve his goal.

Turning around, Rivera looked at the team manager, "See? Kansas is ready to pay any price to pick a running back. I'll bet with you, next up Jacksonville will also choose a running back."

"If my prediction is correct, then when it's our turn, you follow my plan and pick a running back; but if I'm wrong, then I'll shut up, and we go according to your plan, okay?"

However.

Chicago Bears or Carolina Panthers, neither was the focus now. The focus was on the Jacksonville Jaguars—

because they had the fourth pick.

When the Kansas City Chiefs had made their choice, next up were the Jacksonville Jaguars, time started counting down.

Caldwell: Damn.

Bradley: Heartbroken.

To watch helplessly as Li Wei was snatched right before their eyes. The duck that was already cooked had flown away, just like that, they were so close yet so far from Li Wei.

Caldwell could barely believe it, "Damn. Damn damn damn!"

The entire war room was silent as a tomb.

But someone eventually had to speak, "We're on the clock."

Caldwell turned and roared back, "I know."

The feeling of defeat and fury was still waving away, but Caldwell forced himself to calm down.

"The backup plan." Every team prepares three to five plans, just to ensure they can deal with a situation like this.

But then a voice broke through, "Watson is still available."

Yes, Watson!

This year, among the rookie players, Watson was undoubtedly a hot topic. With the quarterback position, almost everyone believed he would be selected within the top three picks:

The Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, and Chicago Bears all needed a quarterback, and it was a foregone conclusion that Watson would be picked early.

However, the unexpected happened—no one chose him?

For a moment, it was unclear whether Li Wei being the third pick was more surprising, or Watson being completely overlooked was.

Caldwell was slightly tempted for half a second, "No, I won't be fooled. The Browns, 49ers, and Bears all passed on Watson. The Chieftain didn't trade up for Watson either. There must be something wrong with him; we can't pick him."

In fact, the shock and astonishment in the Little Green House was no less than in the team war rooms.

All eyes rustled towards Watson, feeling the stab of discomfort—

Watson could no longer control himself and, in a fit of anger, stormed out of his seat, his agent following him immediately.

Perhaps, the running backs were an exception.

The situation for running backs in the league was deteriorating, as evident from the draft, but this year, Li Wei broke the mold, becoming the first running back to be selected in the top three in five years, igniting hope among the other running backs, and subtly stirring up competition among them.

Who would be the next running back selected after Li Wei?

This was also a characteristic of the NFL, not only competing over draft picks, but also comparing the order of picks within the same position.

Just like with quarterbacks, Trubisky surpassing Watson to be the first quarterback picked caused other teams in need of a quarterback to scrutinize Watson more when they considered him again, creating a nightmare for Watson, one he desperately wanted to escape.

Fournette quietly stared at the big screen, from the NCAA to the Heisman Trophy and now to the draft, facing Li Wei, it was like experiencing three consecutive defeats.

Originally, Fournette thought the 2016 season would be his, but in reality, Li Wei showed up and everything turned upside down.

Then, Goodell's voice came from the live broadcast, temporarily calming the bustle and chaos in the Little Green House, and Watson also returned indoors.

The attention in the hall refocused on the screen.

"...Leonard Fournette, running back, Louisiana State University."

Watson: Damn!

Fournette then confidently rose to his feet, his gaze more resolute than ever: he would beat Li Wei, the next time they met.

In the end, the Jacksonville Jaguars fulfilled coach Bradley's wish by picking a running back, and Fournette became the second running back selected after Li Wei, finally making the discussions about running backs at this year's draft come to fruition—perhaps, this was the beginning of a change?

However, the surprises didn't stop there, but rather intensified because the teams with the top four picks all ignored Watson, completely messing up the subsequent plans.

The wide receiver from Clemson University, Mike Williams, was even selected before Watson, with the Chargers, who had moved from San Diego to Los Angeles, picking him at the seventh spot.

The Little Green House was filled with exclamations again.

One could only imagine how long and difficult this night would be for Watson.

The Carolina Panthers, in the eighth spot, picked up Stanford University running back Christian McCaffrey, which was a moderate surprise.

This meant that all three top running backs were selected before the tenth pick, also signifying that up until now, the most selected position was surprisingly the running back.

It was completely unexpected, entirely unexpected, before the draft began, nobody would've anticipated such a scenario.

Then, the stakes rose again, and another surprise came around.

This time, the Kansas City Chiefs stole the spotlight again, completing a three-way trade with the San Francisco 49ers and the Buffalo Bills, acquiring the tenth pick.

And Veach chose, "...Patrick Mahomes, quarterback..." Stay tuned to empire