1.) Houston Texans select JaDaveon Clowney (DE – S.
Carolina)
So after all the dust settles, the Texans end up taking the
guy who we all thought was the best player in this draft since, oh, October,
2012. That must have been a long 18 months for JaDaveon. Anyway, maybe his
consistency and work-ethic isn’t great. Maybe he was just saving himself from
injury knowing he was a lock top pick if he didn’t get injured. Whatever it
was, this is a good, but daring pick. This isn’t a real need for the Texans,
who already have the best defensive player in the NFL. Still, we have to assume
they didn’t think any QB was good enough this year at any value they had
(considering the top three are all off the board), so this is the best player.
It’s that simple.
Grade: A
2.) St. Louis Rams select Greg Robinson (T – Auburn)
Once again, we have to assume that the Rams are, for now, founded in their belief in Sam Bradford. If that's the case, this is the perfect pick. We don't really now how good Bradford is since he's never had even average protection. If Jake Long can come back from his ACL tear, this will be a great pair of Tackles for Bradford, which is sorely needed considering what division they play in. The Rams need to see what Bradford has to offer and this helps, and even if Bradford isn't the answer, whoever the next QB for the Rams will be will have good player protecting their blindside.
Grade: A-
3.) Jacksonville Jaguars select Blake Bortles (QB – Central Florida)
Well, this was an interesting pick. I give credit to the Jags, who are taking a long-term look at their rebuild and picking a guy who is a couple years away from a fully-finished player, which is good since the Jags themselves don't need a QB to play great in 2014 because the rest of that roster is a couple years away at best. My issue is that they probably could have traded down and gotten Bortles around 9 and essentially done the move the Browns ended up doing with Buffalo. This isn't great value, but the Jags got their guy.
Grade: B
4.) Buffalo Bills* select Sammy Watkins (WR – Clemson)
The Bills are the only team to really give away a major draft pick in a trade, giving up next year's 1st round pick to move up five spots. That's a lot to give up, especially for a team that would be lucky to go .500 next year. They probably gave up a pick in the 7-15 range next year. That all said, this is one of the best WR prospects to come out in a few years. He's a monster after-the-catch, he can be the Bills true #1 receiver for years. Giving up a lot will hurt their grade, but if they were the #4 from the beginning, this would be a great pick.
Grade: B-
5.) Oakland Raiders select Khalil Mack (LB – Buffalo)
The Raiders were the first of a few teams to get a guy they might not have thought possible due to the Jaguars picking Bortles. The Raiders get arguably the 2nd best prospect in the entire draft, a guy that can be their version of Von Miller. If he can be 75% as good as Von Miller, this is a great pick. The Raiders need these type of giant-impact players, something they haven't had apart from a few Nnamdi years in over a decade. Good, solid pick for a team that is starting to turn it around.
Grade: A
6.) Atlanta Falcons select Jake Matthews (T – Texas A&M)
I may be feeling more generous than normal, but I really think a lot of teams did well in drafting good players at good spots and filling needs. This isn't a perfect example because while it is a need, Matt Ryan has, other than last year, done a very good job without ever having a great O-Line. Matthews might help more in the running game, or be more important there. The Falcons probably would have loved to end up with Mack as they still don't really have any game changers in their front seven, but they still end up with a good player.
Grade: B
7.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers select Mike Evans (WR – Texas A&M)
This is the first pick I don't like. Mike Evans seems like a very good player, but he seems a little too similar to Vincent Jackson. Now, if Mike Evans is a player worthy of this pick, his career will last longer than Vincent Jackson's in Tampa, but they basically just got two players that are good at the exact same things. It could work, but I am skeptical. They still don't have any receivers that are good in the short areas.
Grade: B-
8.) Cleveland Browns select Justin Gilbert (CB – Okla.
State)
The Browns did get an extra 1st round pick, which makes this pick better, but them trading up from the 9th spot made no sense. I can't see the Vikings taking Gilbert. Anyway, I have no idea if Gilbert can be a good player, but he should play well across from Joe Haden. The Browns already have a good defense and they've made it stronger. This can be a very good unit if Gilbert lives up to the hype..
Grade: A-
9.) Minnesota Vikings select Anthony Barr (LB – UCLA)
I like this pick a lot. Anthony Barr is good value right here. He also fills a need. I am assuming they are either going to make him into a Von Miller role or move him up to DE, but either way he adds a pass rushing punch to a team sorely needed it. Mike Zimmer will love having this player that he can get creative with. They had no bigger need and they filled it with a good player.
Grade: A-
10.) Detroit Lions select Eric Ebron (TE – North Carolina)
Ebron is a good player, but did this really fill a need. There were good defensive players available for a team whose offense was already good enough to go to the playoffs. Detroit needs help in the back-seven defensively more than they needed another target who will be stealing targets away from other people because it isn't like the Lions can really pass more than they already do.
Grade: B-
11.) Tennessee Titans select Taylor Lewan (T – Michigan)
Maybe he is a good player, but where is Lewan going to play? They drafted a guard in the 1st round last year (Chance Wormack), signed a free agent guard to huge money before 2013 (Andy Levitre), and they have Michael Oher and Michael Roos at the tackle spots. Now, if Lewan is good enough to warrant the #11 pick, he should unseat Oher for now, but still, O-Line is one area that the Titans absolutely did not need.
Grade: C
12.) New York Giants select Odell Beckham (WR – LSU)
I like the pick for position, as the Giants lost Hakeem Nicks, and while Ruben Randle developed a bit last year, they could use another weapon for Eli Manning. They could have done the Giants thing and picked another D-Lineman (which is actually a need for the Giants), but they still addressed a need. My only quibble is that the history of LSU Wide Receivers is really bad, and the Giants aren't a team with a good history of draft WRs themselves.
Grade: B-
13.) St. Louis Rams select Aaron Donald (DT – Pittsburgh)
Love this pick. I'm a big proponent of making a strength into more of a strength. Outside of getting a Bradford replacement, the only other area of obvious need for the Rams is a linebacker, but this guy is a lot better value than any linebacker. Putting him on a line with Brockers, Quinn and Long is just scary. The Lions tried this a few years ago when they drafted Fairley, but their issue is their DT situation deteriorated. Long and Quinn (especially Quinn) are still in their primes. This should be a scary thing for any team in the NFC.
Grade: A
14.) Chicago Bears select Kyle Fuller (CB – Virginia Tech)
Another good need pick though this might be an overdraft. The Bears needed help on defense and Fuller comes from a good pedigree of corners, considering his family members that have played corner in the NFL. The Bears probably needed Tackle help more (man, wouldn't they have loved Donald), but getting a quality Cornerback is not a bad thing.
Grade: B
15.) Pittsburgh Steelers select Ryan Shazier (LB – Ohio State)
Some Steelers fans that I follow on Twitter hated this pick. One guy didn't like it because he thinks Shazier is too small, the other because the Steelers have bigger needs outside Linebacker. Both might be true, but the Steelers needed some more young talent on defense. It seems odd to say this, but the defense is the side that needed help. Now, they would have been better off with a d-back, especially a safety, but this pick is still a need.
Grade: B-
16.) Dallas Cowboys select Zack Martin (T – Notre Dame)
After all the madness of them maybe taking Manziel (which would have been a bad pick), they end up taking a good player. It's not really a position of need, but it does make the one real strength of the Cowboys (their O-Line) into even more of a strength. There are still massive problems with the Cowboys, but this is a nice pick.
Grade: B+
17.) Baltimore Ravens select CJ Mosley (LB – Alabama)
This is higher than I would have thought Mosley would go, and it isn't exactly a position of need considering how good Daryl Smith was last year. I guess to Ozzie Newsome, this was Best Player Available, and who am I to argue with Newsome's track record. Still, I will. I think D-Line is a bigger position of need for the Ravens right now with the talent they've lost there the last two seasons, and there were good players there available, or at least a trade back.
Grade: C+
18.) New York Jets select Calvin Pryor (S – Louisville)
I like this pick a lot. The Jets haven't had consistent safety play in the entirety of the Rex Ryan era, apart from like a half-season of good play from Jim Leonhard. Pryor can be really used well with Rex Ryan's defensive schemes. He's seems like a versatile player, and Rex will utilize as much of that versatility as humanly possible.
Grade: A-
19.) Miami Dolphins select Ja’Wuan James (T – Tennessee)
I have no idea if he is a good player or not, but the Dolphins absolutely needed to pick a o-lineman after the mess they went through last year. Ja'Wuan James should start instantly and for the Dolphins, and Ryan Tannehill's sake, I hope he does and plays well.
Grade:B
20.) New Orleans Saints select Brandin Cooks (WR – Oregon State)
Really like the idea of picking a WR for them. It's a position of need after losing Lance Moore and with Marques Colston seemingly a step slower than in his prime, and the uncertainty around Jimmy Graham's franchise tag. Cooks is really small, but can be an almost Sproles-like player for them but at the receiver position. A better comparison may be Randall Cobb. My only concern is injury issues for a guy that small playing the spot.
Grade: A-
21.) Green Bay Packers select Ha Ha Clinton-Dix (S – Alabama)
Love this pick for the Packers, who have needed an impact safety ever since Nick Collins had to prematurely retire. Also, this is an excellent time to mention what an inspired name that is. Clinton-Dix doesn't seem to have the coverage skills that Collins did, but he might give the Packers a bit more physicality in the secondary.
Grade: A
22.) Cleveland Browns select Johnny Manziel (QB – Texas A&M)
I guess this is a good pick? There's not a big history of people as short as Manziel playing well for a long time (and Russell Wilson is not history). I also have concerns over his ability to stay healthy at that size. Still, I applaud the Browns for trying to make something happen and going up and snagging a QB. This is the third time the Browns have taken a hopeful franchise QB with their 2nd pick of a 1st round (ironically, the 22nd pick each time). For the Browns sake, I hope Manziel is better than Brady Quinn or Brandon Weeden.
Grade: A-
23.) Kansas City Chiefs select Dee Ford (DE – Alabama)
I don't get this pick really. He might be a good player, but he's undersized and this isn't a position of need. It isn't really making a strength stronger either because it isn't like they can play three 3-4 OLBs at the same time. I guess this spells the end of either Houston or Hali's time in KC, but it is probably premature for that.
Grade: C
24.) Cincinnati Bengals select Darqueze Denard (CB –
Michigan State)
This is great value, since many people that Denard would go a lot higher than 24th, but the Bengals aren't filling an immediate need. They are full of corners, assuming Leon Hall returns close to 100% from his achilles injury. That said, this is good value, and Denard's career, if he plays well, will last far longer than some of the deeper corners they have now.
Grade: A-
25.) San Diego Chargers select Jason Verrett (CB – TCU)
Honestly, them picking any good defensive player would be a good grade. They have tons of holes on defense and no impact players outside of Eric Weddle and maybe Corey Liuget. I don't know much about Jason Verrett, but I like the idea of a longer corner.
Grade: B+
26.) Philadelphia Eagles select Marcus Smith (LB –
Louisville)
Many people had a 2-3 round grade on him, as this is the first clear overdraft so far. Now, sometimes these picks turn out OK (like Frederick for the Cowboys last year), but overdrafting at a non-impact position just seems strange. We don't really know how good of a talent evaluator the Kelly/Roseman team is, as their first draft hasn't given much yet, and this wasn't a good start to year 2.
Grade: C
27.) Arizona Cardinals select Deone Bucannon (S – Washington
State)
This also seemed to be an overdraft, though not as much as Smith, but I like the pick far more. The Cardinals have done an amazing job of filling their defense with talented, versatile players over the last three years, and Bucannon is another one. If Mathieu can come back healthy, they can have a scary secondary.
Grade: B+
28.) Carolina Panthers select Kelvin Benjamin (WR – Florida
State)
Them picking a WR was really obvious, but it is nice value and a perfect player for Cam, someone with a large catch radius and good hands that can work as a possession receiver, something that even with their 2013 WR corp was lacking. He can be a great red-zone target for Cam. Love the pick, the idea of filling that need straight out in the smartest way possible.
Grade: A
29.) New England Patriots select Dominique Easley (DT –
Florida)
People rave about his talent, how he can be dominant if he stay healthy. I have a few concerns. I don't doubt his talent, but I doubt the Patriots picking an injury prone player a year after having to deal with so many injuries on defense. Also, what is his position as he's too small to be the natural replacment for Vince Wilfork. For talent this is great, for durability? who knows.
Grade: B
30.) San Francisco 49ers select Jimmie Ward (S – No.
Illinois)
The 49ers don't have obvious needs, but Safety probably wasn't one of them, and this might be an overdraft as well. Their more pressing need in teh secondary is at corner. Also, I would have invested in a D-Lineman given the age they have there. Either way, my biggest problem with the pick is the overdraft.
Grade: B-
31.) Denver Broncos select Bradley Roby (CB – Ohio State)
They had to go defense, and while LB was a bigger need, this was the better value as there were no good LBs availabe. Roby has major character concerns, but for a team drafting to win for now that is less of a problem. Still, it would have been nice to get someone who might not have such character issues.
Grade: B
32.) Minnesota Vikings select Teddy Bridgewater (QB –
Louisville)
Love this pick. The Vikings got their QB, got him at a great value, and didn't even have to give up much. Personally, I think Bridgewater is the best QB in this class in terms of game management, post-play reactions and decision making. The Vikings could have an intriguing team as soon as 2015 if he turns out good.
Grade: A
