NFC Draft Grades.
NFC Draft Grades.
NFC South:
Tampa Bay Buccaneers—
I Adopted The Bucs As My Surrogate Team After Tom Brady Joined The Franchise In 2020 So I’m Always Particularly interested in Their Draft. With Their First Round Pick, The Bucs Make A Luxury(Kind Of) With Emeka Egbuka, a Wide Receiver From Ohio State. Egbuka Always Played In The Shadow Of More Or Less Superior Talents At Ohio State and He’ll Return To That Role At Least Initial With The Bucs But The Opens The Bucs Offense To Limitless Possibilities and The Pick Alone Gets An A+ On Its Own. Mike Evans’s Future Aside Both Evans And Chris Godwin Missed last year And Egbuka Gives The Team Some Replacement Flexibility And Offensive flexibility. The Bucs' Passing Defense Struggled Last season After The loss Of Cornerback Carlton Davis(Trade), And The Slight Decline Of Jamel Dean And Antoine Winfield Jr. The Bucs Draft Two Corners Benjamin Morrison and Jacob Parrish In Both The 2nd and Third Rounds Both Possess Strong Pedigree In Pass Defense Especially Morrison In Man To Man Coverage. The Bucs then added two new pieces to their defensive line: Edge Rusher David Walker from Central Arkansas and Elijah Roberts from SMU—Tes Johnson from Oregon, a speed receiver in the seventh round. The Bucs Hit On Multiple Cylinders With this Draft Especially At Corner And Adding Emeka. The Bucs Didn’t address The Linebacker Issue.
Grade, A-.
Carolina Panthers—
After A Mulligan Season Managing A Roster He Didn’t Contruct Panthers Head Coach Dave Canales Gets His First Crack At “Earnestly” Building His Vision For The Future and Part Of His Assessment Starts With Weeding Out Bryce Young’s Faults and Upside. When A Team Wants To Evaluate They Gift Him A weapon. I’m Not A Tet McMillian Evangelist But The Panthers Need Help On The Outside And At Least Some Reliable Hands At The End Of Games. The Panthers Had Trouble With Their Pass Rush and Went Edge on To Back Picks With Nic Scourton From Texas A&M A Big Frame Hulkish Outside Rusher At 285 and Princely Umanmielen From Ole Miss The More Bendy Type. The Panthers Will Bet That At least One Of These types of Rushers Will Succeed In The League. Trevor Ettiene In The Fourth Round Adds More Depth To The Panthers' Staple Of Backs. Lathan Ransom's Safety From Ohio State And Cam Jackson's Nose Tackle From Florida Help Finish The Furnishing Of The Panthers New Defense. Mitchell Evans The Exciting Tight End From Notre Dame Lands In Open Tight End In Carolina As He Brings Excellent Blocking But Also Capable Hands. He’s Not Incredible Dynamic Or Shifty But He’s Great At Recognizing Spaces In Zone. Jimmy Horn Jr. The Small Turbo Receiver Out Of Colorado. The Panthers came away addressing a few of the team's major needs, including providing Bryce Young with several outside options.
Grade, A.
New Orleans Saints—
The Saints Resisted The Pull To Reach For A Quarterback Despite Shedeur Falling Instead Grabbing Kelvin Banks' Tackle Out Of Texas, My Favorite Tackle In The
Draft. If The Saints Decide To Last Year’s First Round Pick Taleise Fuaga Could Move Back To Right Tackle. In The Second Round, The Saints Go Tyler Shough A 26-year-old Old Quarterback From Louisville He’s Got Plenty of juice and Certainly Enters The League With Loads of Experience. In The Third, the Saints Dip Back In The Well Of Texas For Vernon Broughton's Defensive Tackle To Fit Next To Bryan Breese On The Defensive Front. The Saints Also Added To Their Defense with Jonas Sanker Safety From Virginia As The Secondary The Saints Soon Turnover To Younger Players. Danny Stutsman Linebacker From Oklahoma And Quincy Riley Corner From Louisville Deepen The Defensive Unit. Devin Neal Running Back Out Of Kansas In Sixth Round Could Prove the Steal Of The Draft as He Could Be In Line To Replace Alvin Kamara. Maliki Matavao Tight End From UCLA And Fadil Diggs Edge Of Syracuse. The Saints Had a Solid Draft and A lot Will Hinge On Drafting Tyler Shough Over Other Higher Touted Quarterbacks In This Draft But The Saints Look Prepared To Compete Once Again In The NFC South Albeit Behind The Bucs.
Grade, A.
Atlanta Falcons—
The Falcons Earned Censure For Trading Future Draft Capital To Get Back Into The First Round To Double Up On A Position Of News But If You Like A Guy Go After Him. With The 11th Overall Pick, The Falcons Drafted Jalon Walker Edge Rusher/Linebacker Out of Georgia. He’s Famously Better As A Pass Rusher Though He’s Built Like a Linebacker. The Falcons Traded Up From 46 To 26 Giving Up A First Rounder In The Process To Take James Pearce Jr Out Of Tennessee My Top Edge Rusher. The Falcons Now Have Two Star Caliber Edge Rushers And If One Hits They’re In Better Shape Than Last Year’s Defense. The Trade Left The Falcons Thin But Atlanta Picked Up Two Safety prospects Xavier Ward The Fourth Highest Rated Safety In The Draft In The Third and Billy Bowman A Smaller But More Instinctive Box Safety Who Has Plug Gaps In The Run Game In College. Jack Nelson is A Big Tackle Out Of Wisconsin who Could Be A Replacement/Depth Option Behind Jake Matthews The Long Time Falcons Tackle. The Thinness Of The Falcons Draft Will Hurt Their Overall Grade and While I Like The Picks Of Walker and Pearce Doubling Up when The Roster Had Holes Elsewhere, Even At Receiver, Remains Perplexing.
Grade, C+.
NFC West:
Los Angeles Rams—A Few Years Ago The Rams Went “All In” To Win The Super Bowl then Imploded Afterwards. A Rosters In Shambles and A Draft Stock Depleted Forced The Rams To invest Heavily In Scouting Leading To Several Day Two And Day Three Draft Steals and Giving Los Angeles The
Fortune To Trade Out Of The First Round. The Rams Hope To Start Piling Up More Day Two Steals Starting With Terrance Ferguson Tight End Oregon the Rams Need A New Option At Tight End After Tyler Higbee Struggled With Injuries, Missed Time And Flips into Age 32. The Rams Add Edge Josiah Stewart To Their Deep Unit of Edge He Has great Get Off and Ideal Length To Discard Blocks And Attack Passers. In The Fourth The Rams Draft Running back Jacquez Hunter A Smaller Back At 5’9 Who Projects To Feature On Special Teams. Defensive Tackle Ty Hamilton Adds Depth To The Rams Defensive Line Group and Linebacker Chris Paul Jr The Fourth Ranked Player At His Position Fell Into The Fifth Round At the Position Of Need For The Rams. The Rams Add Wide Receiver Konata Mumpfield From Pittsburgh To End Their Run In The Draft. If We Include The Trade That Netted The Rams a First Rounder In Next Year’s Draft The Rams Earn An “A” But Based On Players Alone I Think The Rams Addressed Two Positions Of Need In Tight End and Linebacker.
Grade, B-.
Arizona Cardinals—Will This Be The Season The Cardinals Rebuild Comes to A Close The Team Has Had Just A Season And a Half Of Competitive Ball With Kyler Murray And Hasn’t Made The Playoffs Since 2021. Gannon Defensive Minded Coaching Drafted Defensive Tackle Walter Nolan out Of Ole Miss. The Cardinals Didn’t Have Much Of A Defensive Identity Walter Nolan Gives The Cards An Interior and Exterior Force. In The Second Round, The Cardinal pick up The Steal Of The Draft If Everything Checks Out medically and That’s Will Johnson Cornerback Out Of Michigan. Johnson Had A Top Ten Grade By Many But Lingering Knee Issue Put Doubts on His Long-Term Future. Gannon Continued Building Out His Team’s Defense With Jordan Burch Edge Rusher Out Of Oregon in Third Round. On Day Three The Cards Added Two More Defensive Players This Time From Ohio State in Linebacker Cody Simon And Denzel Burke at Cornerback, Both Player Provide And Potentially Starter Impact At Both Positions. Hayden Conner Guard From Texas and Safety Koran Crawford From Nevada Could Prove themselves an Elite Value At The Position As a Bloomer In College. The Cardinals Roster Looks A Lot Better After The Draft.
Grade, B.
Seattle Seahawks— Think Everyone Correctly Mocked Grey Zabel To The Seahawks In The First Round. Seattle Could Have Chosen Any Of The Offensive Lineman Graded In The 18-32 Range But I Like Zabel’s Combination of traits And Versatility. The Seahawks Pick Up Hyper Athletic Safety Nick Emmanwori From South Carolina To Join Their Already Hyper Athletic Secondary. Elijah Arroyo At 50 The Explosive Tight End From Miami Arroyo Might Transform and Open Up The Seahawks Passing Offense. In the Third Round, The Seahawks drafted quarterback Jalen Milroe Who Somehow Didnt Get Drafted Til Pick 90. The Seahawks Will Look To Stash And Develop Milroe Behind Darnold. Seattle Also Felt Comfortable Enough Bypassing Other Needs and Options along The Offensive Line And pass Rush For Milroe. Seattle Got Great Value In The Fifth With defensive interior Rylie Mills from Notre Dame and one of My Favorite Players Wide Receiver Tory Horton From Colorado State. Horton Has Some Good tape but got Injured Last Season If He’s Healthy He’s A Solid outside Option Who Could Emerge As The Next Puka Nacua. In The Later Rounds Seattle Added More Tackle Depth with Bryce Cabel Due Out Of Kansas in The Sixth and Mason Richman Out Of Iowa In The Seventh Round. Damien Martinez running back from Miami In The sixth and Ricky White wide Receiver From UNLV Close Off Seattle’s Draft. Seattle Produced A Thick, Weighted Draft But Hit On Some Key Positions and Got Value on Day Three.
Grade, A.
San Fransisco 49ers—The 49ers Have Entered Into A Rebuilding Phase Of Sorts and That Rebuild Starts Defensively As The Niner's First Five Picks Starting With Myles Williams The High Upside Edge From Georgia. From There The Niners Shifted Their Interest To The Interior Of The Defensive Line Snagging Versatile Interior Defensive Lineman Alfred Collins Who stands A Freakish 6’5 weighs 320 Lbs and Can Line Up Anywhere From 0-5 Technique. In The Third Round, The Niners take Linebacker Nick Martin Out Of Oklahoma State and Safety Upton Stout Out Of Western Kentucky both Undersized Prospect Who Bring Speed To The Niners Defense. Cj West Adds Another Interior Force For Niners as The Niners Rebuild Their Interior. The 49ers Add Speed To Their Receivers With Jordan Watkins From Ole Miss To Join Their Receiver. Jordan James running Back Out of Oregon Adds Depth Behind Christian McCaffrey ON the Niner's Depth Chart. Safety Marques Sigle Who Ran The Fastest Forty By Any Safety In The Draft So Again The Niners Add Speed At A Position of Need. Kurtis Rourke Quarterback from Indiana, guard Connor Colby, and Wide Receiver Junior Bergen Round Out The Seventh Round. This Niners Draft Hinges On The Work They Did To Remodel The Defense Especially Along The Front, Where Robert Saleh Built A Stout Unit That Made The Super back in 2019. Can The Niners Resurface Into NFC Contention Based on the Work They Completed In This Draft?
GRADE, A.
NFC North
Minnesota Vikings--The Vikings Put Through a Very Short Draft Which Serves as An Extension Of The Teams Efforts In Free Agency. Donavan Jackson G/T Out Of Ohio State Joins The New Restructured Unit Upfront For Minnesota. Jackson Could Start At Tackle Based On Left Tackle Christian Darrisaw’s Recovery Timeline. The Vikings Could Have Drafted Josh Simmons At That Position, The More Touted Of The Two Ohio State Lineman To Fill The Darrian Role But Simmons Will Also Enter The New League Year Injured. TAI Felton Eide Receiver Out Of Maryland seems Like A Luxury Pick But The Vikings and. KEVIN O’Connell get a field opening While A Big Bodied Receiver Would Have Fit Better the Speed Of Felton, 1.51 10 Yard Split, 4.37 Can Unlock A Level Other Vikings Receivers Lack. Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins is A Massive Edge Prospect From Georgia who Stands 6’5 276 lbs On The edge. Linebacker Kobe King is In The Sixth Round and Tight End Gavin Bartholomew is Out Of Pittsburgh. The Vikings did address The Secondary, The Roster Still Lacks An “Elite” Edge Rusher At least Next To Jonathan Greenard. The Offense Could Use Some Depth Behind TJ Hockenson's Offense But Overall Im Not Mad At The Draft Consider What The Team Had To Work With Only Five Picks.
Grade, B-
Chicago Bears--The Bears may Have Had One Of My Favorite Drafts Considering They Picked My Favorite Pass Catcher In Colston Loveland the Tight End From Michigan. In Detroit, Ben Johnson Used His Tight Ends In So Many Uniques Including Splitting Them Out wide Where I Think Loveland Could Excel Regardless Of How Caleb Williams Progresses. Luther Burden III wide Receiver from Missouri He Ranked All Across The Board Of a Wide Receivers, Some Pegged Him Top Ten Others Top Two. If He Skills With The Ball In His and Deep Translates The Bears Hit Major. Later In The Second The Bears Grab Ozzy Trapilo The Massive Tackle From Boston College Who Could Bookend At Either Tackle Position Especially with Left Tackle Braxton Jones Coming Off Injury and Entering A Contract Year But He Could Push Darnell Wright At Right Tackle Immediately. Shemar Turner Defensive Tackle From Texas A&M Serves A Massive Need For The Bears Who Need A Young Interior Presence. Reuben Hyppolite At Linebacker and Zach Frazier at Cornerback Add Solid Athleticism, Speed, Range, and Depth At Key Defensive Positions. Zach Frazier Could Prove The Next University Of Texas San Antonio Guy Who Tested Great Athletically And Excelled At Corner In The League. Guard Luke Newman in the 6th Round Provide Depth And Another Solid Offensive Line Prospect Given How Tentative The Guards spots Remains Due To Both The Age Of The Acquired Joe Thuney and Injury History Of Jonah Jackson. Running back Kyle Monangai From Rutgers. The Bears and Ben Johnson Made a Solid Haul in This Draft.
Grade, A.
Detroit Lions—
The Lions Have A lot of Work Ahead Of Them To Hold Their Lead In the NFC North Especially Considering Nearly Every Other team Had A Great Draft. Tyleik Williams Defensive Tackle Out of Ohio State In The First Round. Most ranked As A Reach According To The Big Board But Detroit Needs Depth At that Position considering How Hard The Defense Slump With Alim McNeill Went Down. In The Second The Lion Grab Guard Tate Ratledge From Georgia Who Moves Right Into The Starting Right Guard Spot. Wide Receiver Isaac TeslaA A Big 6’4 Adds another Option Behind Tim Patrick On The Depth Chart At The Third Receiver. The Lions drafted Another Guard Miles Frazier A Top Three Guard On The board in The Fifth Round Followed By Edge Rusher Ahmed Hassannein Edge Rusher from Boise In The Sixth round. Two Georgia Players, Dan Jackson Safety and Wide Receiver Dominic Lovett Crystalized The Lions Draft. I’m Not Here To Predict Which Player Might Turn Out As Steals But The Lions Picked up Some Solid pass Protection Options In The Later Round and Yes They Reached The First Round Because Other Team Jump on Defensive Tackles Earlier Than Expected.
Grade, A.
Green Bay Packers—The Packers Had To Get A Wide Receiver In This Draft Class and Not Because They Didn’t Have One—They Have Many—But Because They Didn’t Have A “One” So They Draft Matthew Golden The Standout Wide Receiver Out Of Texas. Is Golden The One? Not Sure But He’s Fast, With Good Hands, and capable of Route Running. The Packers Have A lot Of Receivers However Who Fit That Exact Mold and I Dont Know How Large Of A Difference Golden Makes Right Now. In The Second Round, The Packers Snag Tackle Anthony Belton From NC State Reach According To The Board But The Packers Need The Depth. Wide Receiver Savion Williams Out Of TCU Fits The Bills Better At 6’5 He’s an Incredibly Twitchy and Versatile Wide Receiver Who can play in a Utility Guy Role Even Though He’s Not A “Pure” Wide Receiver. The Packers Add Loads Of Defense line Depth with Edge Rushers Barryn Sorrell(Texas), Collin Oliver(Oklahoma State University), and Defensive Tackle Warren Brinson(Georgia). I Think The Packers just Want To Strike Gold Somewhere With These Three Consider how many unproven Investments They’ve Made Along The Defensive Line(Lukas Van Ness, Deonte Wyatt Both 1st) In Recent Years That Haven’t Panned Out. The Pack finishes the Draft With Two seventh-rounders Micah Robinson Cornerback And Tackle Jonah Williams. The Packers Made Away with a Solid Haul of Players personally I Think Savion Williams Might Prove The Biggest Addition To The Team.
Grade, B-.
NFC East:
New York Giants—If Abdul Carter Lives Up to Half Of The Hype Offensive Game Plans Have A lot Of Pressure Coming Their Way From The Giant's Defensive Line And Front Four. The Giants Made The Wise But Aggressive Move of Trading Back Into The First Round To Take Jaxson Dart My Favorite Quarterback Of The Draft. Dart Gives The Team A True Franchise Future Because Pass Rushes Don’t Win Games, They Impact Them, But Passing Games And Offenses Do. Defensive Tackle Darius Alexander Will Play alongside the Rest Of The Giants' Rushers Up Front. Cam Skattebo The Running back From Arizona State Every Draft Analyst's Favorite Prospect The 5’10, 219 Poind Power Back Adds To A Still Evolving Giants Backfield. Marcus Mbow a Top 100 Player According To The Board fell To The Giants In The Fifth Round and He Could Prove A Day One Starter For The G-Men. Thomas Fidone II in The Seventh Round And Korie Black cornerback from Oklahoma State finished off The Giants’s Draft. The Giants Grab A Lot Of Top 100 Value In Later Rounds In This Draft But Dart Alone Will Determine The Strength Of This Draft For The Giants.
Grade, A.
Dallas Cowboys—The Cowboys Draft Flew All Across The Board Starting At 12th Overall Taking The Highest Rated Guard Tyler Booker But The 48th Player Overall But At A Position Of Need. The Pick Didn’t Age Any Better As The Next Two Top Guard Prospects Went In The Third and Fifth Rounds. Donavan Ezeriuaku The Sort Of Undersized Pass Rusher In The Second Round served As A Mass Picked He was inside The Top 20 But Fell To 44. Shavon Revel a Super Charged Athlete Whose Game Earned Rave Reviews From Draft Plaudits Who Hope He Recovers from An ACL Injury He Sustained At East Carolina. Jaydon Blue The Running Back From Texas In Fifth Round Who Could Challenge For Snaps and A Starting Spot With the Cowboys From The Drafts Day One. The Cowboys Also Add Shemar James At Lime backer At Serviceable Body At A Position Of NEED. Ajani Cornelius Tackle From Oregon an Experienced Tackle To Add To The Offensive Line. Jay Toia Defensive Tackle From UCLA To Add To The Interior, Running Back Phil Mafah From Clemson a Power Back And A Good Seventh Round Value. Tommy Akingbesote Defensive Tackle from Maryland. The Cowboys Added Depth At Key Positions But They Played The Board A Little Unbalanced Booker Could Prove He’s The Next Line Of Great Guards But 12th Feels a Little Rich. They Didn’t And A Receiver Or Tight End Both positions Of Need and Interest and The One Cornerback Won’t Play Right Away.
Grade, C.
Philadelphia Eagles—The Defending Super Bowl Champs Had a Clear Agenda To Retool Their Defense That Got Completely Plundered After The Super Bowl Win and The First five Picks Went To The Defense. With The 31st Pick The Eagles Trade One Spot Ahead To Take Jihaad Campbell The Number One Linebacker Off The Board. His Range And Fluidity Could Give The Eagles The Number One Linebacking Group In Football. In The Second Round, The Eagles Take Andrew Mukuba's Safety Out Of Texas Who Replaces CJ Gardner-Johnson In The Eagles' Defensive Secondary. Ty Robinson From Nebraska Joins The Eagles’s Front Four. In The Fifth Round The Eagles Draft Mac McWilliams Cornerback From University Of Central Florida. Georgia Linebacker Smael Mondon Jr. joins The Loaded Linebacker Group and A team Loaded With Bulldogs. Quarterback Kyle McCord a Highly Touted Quarterback Joins The Eagles In The Sixth and He’ll Serve As A Backup and Potential Future Trade Chip. Offensive Tackles Myles Hinton From Michigan And Cameron Williams From Texas In The Sixth Round. Williams Ranked As The Tenth Best Tackle According To ESPN’s Big Board So He’s A Massive Gain In The Sixth Round. Antwan Powell-Ryland Edge Rusher From Virginia Tech Finishes Off The Eagles. They made Just One Skill Position Pick In McCord Otherwise The Team Focused On Their Defense and Adding Value To Their Stout Offensive Line. I Still Think The Eagles Run a Bit Thin At Receiver With a Load Of Unproven Players Behind AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith And I’m A Touch Concern At Edge Where Again, A lot of Unproven Talent.
Grade, B+.
Washington Commanders—The Commanders Traded Away Most Of Their Draft Capital To Acquire Laremi Tunsil From The Texans But They Got Two Good Team Needs In The First and Second Rounds. Josh Conerly Jr. From Oregon Played Left But Project To Kick Into Guard With S cosmi Out For Perhaps The Season. He’s Also Insurance case the Commanders Can Hold On To Tunsil Beyond This Year. Trey Amos A Top Four Corner In This Draft Fell To The Commanders In The Second and The Commanders Have Failed At This Position a lot in Recent Years Even So Trading Draft Capital To Watch Veteran Marshon Lattimore Miss Time and Cooked For Most Of His Time With The Team Last Season. Hopefully, Amos Pans Out. Jaylin Lane A “Good” Receiver Out of Virginia Tech Stays At Home In The DMV and Joins a Growing Commanders Receiving Group. Kain Medrano Adds some youth To The commander line Backing Group and Jacory Croskey-Merritt Running back from Arizona Joins A Crowded Commander’s Backfield. The Commanders Didnt have Much To Work With Here and Maybe Making The NFC Championship Threw Them Out of the key trade-back position Being 29th Instead Of 24th-26th But I Like That They Got A Corner and While Guard would make More Sense 29th, Conerly Does Provide the Team some Future Flexibility.
Grade, B-
