Winners/Losers: It's hard to pick winners and losers a day after the draft. To get a true picture, this exercise should be done at least two years after the draft. But I think certain teams did well at first glance, and certain teams, well, didn't do so well.
Winners:
Browns - I like that they were aggressive in securing Richardson by moving up one spot. Some will say that it was too high for a running back. And I do agree, to a certain extent. But, as I've said before, complete backs like Richardson are more valuable. Everyone wants to talk about how this is a passing league, but many of these rookie backs have a hard time staying in on pass protection. Richardson can do everything you want your starting back to be doing. That's a rarity in today's NFL - there only a handful of these in my opinion. Plus they got, what they believe, is their franchise QB in Brandon Weeden. So I'd say it was a very nice haul and they didn't lose their all important 2nd and 3rd rd picks either.
Patriots - Usually you see the Pats move down and acquire picks for the future. But this time you saw them move up a couple spots to get the guys they wanted. This is a deep draft and teams picking in the late teens to early twenties got some great value. Chandler Jones and Dont'a Hightower will be two immediate starters within their front-7. Their defense just got much better. Belichick is such a genius at building a roster and always looking at things from the big picture, and this is the perfect example here. With the new rookie wage scale, draft picks are like currency. The more you have, the easier it will be to go get the player you want and teams won't have to worry about giving these players huge contracts like they did in the past. I just wonder, did the Hoodie add these draft picks the past few years in anticipation of this? The Pats had 9 picks in last years draft (5 in the first three rounds), and they had 10 picks in this year's draft before making some in-season trades and some yesterday to move up (5 in the first three rounds). They had two picks in the twenties yesterday, and two more today in the 2nd round - that's great value if you ask me.
Steals:
Riley Reiff, OT at 23rd overall to the Lions
David DeCastro, OG at 24th overall to the Steelers
Melvin Ingram, LB/DE at 18th overall to the Chargers
Losers:
Rams: The Rams missed out on Justin Blackmon early and then kept trading down and missing on their players eventually settling on Michael Brockers at #14. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a solid pick. But I do think they could've done much better with their haul of picks. They do have several 2nd round picks today, so all is not lost.
Seahawks: They had the pick of the litter of pass rushers at #15, and they picked a guy who will not be a full-time player and was rated by many as a second round pick. I understand some teams were in love with Bruce Irvin, but Coples, Ingram, McClellin, Jones etc were all available and likely safer selections with probably just as much upside (Coples especially).
Reaches:
Ryan Tannehill, QB at 8th overall to the Dolphins
Bruce Irvin, LB at 15th overall to the Seahawks
David Wilson, RB at 32nd overall to the Giants
Winners:
Browns - I like that they were aggressive in securing Richardson by moving up one spot. Some will say that it was too high for a running back. And I do agree, to a certain extent. But, as I've said before, complete backs like Richardson are more valuable. Everyone wants to talk about how this is a passing league, but many of these rookie backs have a hard time staying in on pass protection. Richardson can do everything you want your starting back to be doing. That's a rarity in today's NFL - there only a handful of these in my opinion. Plus they got, what they believe, is their franchise QB in Brandon Weeden. So I'd say it was a very nice haul and they didn't lose their all important 2nd and 3rd rd picks either.
Patriots - Usually you see the Pats move down and acquire picks for the future. But this time you saw them move up a couple spots to get the guys they wanted. This is a deep draft and teams picking in the late teens to early twenties got some great value. Chandler Jones and Dont'a Hightower will be two immediate starters within their front-7. Their defense just got much better. Belichick is such a genius at building a roster and always looking at things from the big picture, and this is the perfect example here. With the new rookie wage scale, draft picks are like currency. The more you have, the easier it will be to go get the player you want and teams won't have to worry about giving these players huge contracts like they did in the past. I just wonder, did the Hoodie add these draft picks the past few years in anticipation of this? The Pats had 9 picks in last years draft (5 in the first three rounds), and they had 10 picks in this year's draft before making some in-season trades and some yesterday to move up (5 in the first three rounds). They had two picks in the twenties yesterday, and two more today in the 2nd round - that's great value if you ask me.
Steals:
Riley Reiff, OT at 23rd overall to the Lions
David DeCastro, OG at 24th overall to the Steelers
Melvin Ingram, LB/DE at 18th overall to the Chargers
Losers:
Rams: The Rams missed out on Justin Blackmon early and then kept trading down and missing on their players eventually settling on Michael Brockers at #14. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a solid pick. But I do think they could've done much better with their haul of picks. They do have several 2nd round picks today, so all is not lost.
Seahawks: They had the pick of the litter of pass rushers at #15, and they picked a guy who will not be a full-time player and was rated by many as a second round pick. I understand some teams were in love with Bruce Irvin, but Coples, Ingram, McClellin, Jones etc were all available and likely safer selections with probably just as much upside (Coples especially).
Reaches:
Ryan Tannehill, QB at 8th overall to the Dolphins
Bruce Irvin, LB at 15th overall to the Seahawks
David Wilson, RB at 32nd overall to the Giants
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