Sometimes I wonder how these GM’s and executives get into powerful positions on these teams. The NFL Draft was as needlessly long, tedious, and boring as one could have expected, but even still, some of the moves these teams made were questionable to say the least.
I just don’t understand why teams feel the need to draft all their needs in a single draft.
The opening round of the NFL draft has come and gone, while aging us all three years along the way, and there were the usual suspects of winners, losers, and downright clown moves to come out of the First Round.
So, to start this off, let me just praise the three biggest winners to come out of the First Round in my humble, silly opinion: the Seattle Seahawks, the Baltimore Ravens, and the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Seahawks have really bucked their “we can’t draft” moniker of late as they absolutely nailed this draft.
Not only did they vastly improve their defensive backfield, which already was one of the better ones in the league with Top-15 stats (62.7% avg. opp. completion percentage, 3,595 total passing yards allowed, 211.5 avg. opp. passing yards/game, etc.) in key categories, by drafting the best defensive back in the class 5th overall in Illinois CB Devon Witherspoon, but they also radically improved their offense by picking up the best WR in the class 20th overall in Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
I don’t know how Smith-Njigba fell to 20th overall considering the teams above the Seahawks needs at wide out, but this was a brilliant steal as Pete Carroll can now pair Smith-Njigba with D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett for Geno Smith to throw to.
Anyways, the Eagles just keep getting better and better as even though they only drafted at 9th overall, the consensus 2nd or 3rd most talented player in the draft, Georgia’s DT Jalen Carter, fell to into their lap. Can you believe it? The team that just made it to the Super Bowl from the NFC and was only 3 points away from winning it just got the 2nd or 3rd best player in the draft.
The rich really do get richer in the NFL as with their 30th selection (really 31st, but Dolphins had pick revoked by league for tampering), the Eagles drafted reigning National Champion Georgia LB Nolan Smith. So, just to recap, the team that won the NFC and nearly won the Super Bowl just drafted two National Championship players for their already fantastic defense. Man, the NFC East is going to have a rough time with this Eagles roster.
And, wrapping up with the winner, I had to put the Ravens on this list after they reigned franchise QB Lamar Jackson to a 5-year, $260M contract with $185M guaranteed (the 3rd most in NFL history) and an annual average salary of $52M (the most in NFL history) hours before the draft started.
Resigning Jackson alone would have earned them this spot, so drafting Boston College WR Zay Flowers 23rd overall to create a receiving core of Odell Beckham Jr. Mark Andrews, Rashod Bateman, Nelson Agholor, and now Flowers was the icing on the cake for Baltimore.
Now, as for the two losers, it’s got to be the Jets and University of Kentucky QB Will Levis.
First off, the Jets really needed to draft a tackle with Aaron Rodgers now the starting QB of the organization as the current LT, Mekhi Becton, is just too injury prone and unreliable to be protecting Rodgers. So, with just one more pick left before their turn to draft and Georgia tackle Broderick Jones still on the board, can you guess what happens?
Yeah, the team above them, their archrival New England Patriots, hilariously decided to trade out of the 14th spot and down to the 17th position (where they wisely ended up taking CB Christian Gonzalez out of Oregon) with the Steelers…who also needed an offensive tackle.
Thus, in the blink of an eye, all the Jets plans of making a solid O-Line for Rodgers were blown up in their faces as they were forced to draft Iowa State LB Will McDonald IV with the Steelers taking Jones.
Now, with a name like Will McDonald IV, you just have to be a great player and I’m sure he will be, but this was just too funny for me not to include.
In Levis’ case, this guy was supposed to be drafted in the Top-10 and was Mel Kiper Jr.’s 2nd best QB available, but he fell out of the First round completely due a toe injury he suffered during the college season.
Now, trusting Mel Kiper Jr. and the draft odds for who’s getting drafted is about as wise as running into an electric fence covered in aluminum foil, but this was a definitely a shocker as many “draft experts” claimed Levis was the 3rd most talented QB in the draft and was easily one of the most promising prospects. So, for him to fall out of the First Round completely is a massive L.
So, without further ado, the team I thought had the biggest clown moment of the night has to be…the Houston Texans.
What was GM Nick Caserio thinking trading the 12th overall pick, the 33rd overall pick (2nd Round), their own 2024 1st round pick, and a 2024 3rd round pick to move back up to 3rd overall (after they already drafted 2nd overall) to take a linebacker?
Obviously, Alabama’s Will Anderson Jr. was one of the best players in the draft and arguable the best defensive player (Jalen Carter being the other option), but this is way too much draft stock to give up for a draft prospect not playing at the QB position.
Not only would the Texans have had the chance to draft Iowa LB Luke Van Ness (13th overall), Will McDonald IV (15th overall), Mississippi State CB Emmanuel Forbes (16th overall), Christian Gonzalez (17th overall), Iowa State LB Jack Campbell (19th overall), or University of Pittsburgh DT Calijah Kancey (19th overall) to shore up their many defensive woes at 12th overall, but they now don’t have their own 1st round pick next year.
Does Nick Caserio and the executives really believe picking up Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud at 2nd overall, Will Anderson Jr. at 3rd overall, and their offseason acquisitions (ex: Shaq Mason, Jimmie Ward, Dalton Shultz, Denzel Perryman, etc.) will turn this team into a contender? In the AFC?
This team finished 3-13-1 last year!
For the sake of Texans’ fans, I hope this move doesn’t backfire as much as I think it will, but losing a valuable 2024 1st round pick is a tough pill to swallow for a team still entrenched in the rebuilding process.
I’ll give more detailed opinions on some of these draft picks later, but I just had to get this article out before watching the 2nd and 3rd rounds ages me another 25 years.
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