Wow, what a crazy first night of this year’s NFL Draft! It’s been exciting, with lots of trades, reaches, and steals! Let’s get started with the winners and losers:
Winners:
New York Jets
The Jets ended up with my #2 cornerback, one of my top wide receivers, and my #3 defensive end. How great of a first-round is that? The Jets loading up with Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson, and Jermaine Johnson II is a great start to the draft.
New York Giants
For both the Jets and the Giants, we’ll see how they work out, but the Giants killed it with both of their top 10 picks. At #5, they landed Kayvon Thibodeaux, who was my favorite edge rusher in this year’s draft. Then, they took Evan Neal, who I thought was the best offensive tackle in the draft. Both picks could be home runs for them, and I think they will be.
Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles may be the biggest winner of all. They traded one of their draft picks for star wide receiver A.J. Brown. And, to cap it off, they get my favorite for Defensive Rookie of the Year next year: Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis. That’s a huge win for them. Watch out NFC East: it just got slightly more competitive with those two additions.
Detroit Lions
This one is more of a toss-up, but I’ll stick with them being one of my winners. They get Aidan Hutchinson and Jameson Williams. However, with Williams’s ACL injury in the National Championship, it can end up being risky.
Losers:
New England Patriots
The Patriots filled up a need on the offensive side of the ball: the guard position. Like many others have said, Chattanooga guard Cole Strange seemed like a great fit for New England. However, I have a huge problem with this pick. Being a Patriots fan, I certainly overreacted as many others did on Twitter. However, the overreaction seemed necessary. Like many others, I looked at Cole Strange as a third-round draft pick. I like the kid, but this early is a far reach. Head coach and general manager Bill Belichick said that he believed Strange wouldn’t have fallen to them by their 54th overall pick in the second round, hence why he took him at 29. There are other major needs the Patriots have to address tonight and tomorrow: the cornerback depth is paper-thin, with no real stand-out talent. That could’ve changed had they drafted Washington’s Trent McDuffie with the 21st pick (they traded down to 29), or Clemson’s Andrew Booth Jr., who was my favorite prospect for the Patriots. The linebacker issue is a key problem too, and many (like myself) would’ve been fine with Georgia’s Nakobe Dean or Utah’s Devin Lloyd, who are my #1 and #2 linebackers respectively. I would’ve loved to have seen one of those positions filled up, opening up a chance for a reunion of Mac Jones and wide receiver John Metchie III, which would’ve been a match made in heaven. The Patriots have an important Day 2, as they don’t want the Bills to score seven-straight touchdown drives on them again.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Maybe it’ll work out, but maybe it won’t, but if you take away the rumors of Travon Walker going #1 to the Jaguars, this would’ve been a surprise for everyone. Aidan Hutchinson was rated as the consensus #1 overall prospect in the draft, with the stats and combine numbers to prove that. However, because of the great combine Travon Walker had, they leaned towards him. We’ll see how it works, but that wasn’t a great pick in my opinion. They had another pick, which they used on Devin Lloyd. That was a solid pick, but if you’re going to draft a linebacker, why not have Nakobe Dean, who’s Walker’s teammate as they led Georgia to the #1 defense in the country and a National Championship?
Tennessee Titans
Man, the Eagles fleeced the Titans. Trading away A.J. Brown for a rookie wide receiver had to hurt them, but what do I know? Treylon Burks seems like a terrific wide receiver, but there is the time necessary to develop. I would love to see them try to get rid of Ryan Tannehill after what was an abysmal 2021 season for him.
Steals of the Draft:
Kyle Hamilton, S, Notre Dame (picked 14th by Ravens)
Kyle Hamilton was my #2 defensive back, just behind Derek Stingley Jr., and he fell out of the top 10. Not too far out, but enough for me to call him a steal as of right now.
Jermaine Johnson II, EDGE, Florida State (picked 26th by Jets)
How did this guy nearly slide outside the first round? He was a fringe top 10 pick for me, and the #3 edge rusher in the draft. The Jets got an absolute steal here.
George Karlaftis, EDGE, Purdue, (picked 30th by Chiefs)
The same thing with Karlaftis, who I thought would not make it past the top 20 picks. The Chiefs waited and got a great edge rusher in the making just before the first round.
Biggest Reaches
Kenyon Green, G, Texas A&M (picked 15th by Texans)
The Texans got a great player in cornerback Derek Stingley Jr., but I don’t understand why the Texans go and take the #2 guard when the #1 guy is available (Zion Johnson). I get it, he’s a local guy, as Houston is the closest city to College Station, but the Texans had him at 37 if they waited, as I saw Green as a second-round pick.
Jahan Dotson, WR, Penn State (picked 16th by Commanders)
A lot of teams were higher on Dotson than I was, and analysts like Desmond Howard agreed. I saw Dotson as an early second-round pick, and that makes this a reach, despite what others have said. With Treylon Burks available, I’d take Burks over Dotson.
Cole Strange, G, Chattanooga (picked 29th by Patriots)
The Patriots don’t give a single you-know-what about your mock drafts or big boards. They go and take the guy they feel is the best player available for their team. Cole Strange is a great fit, don’t get me wrong, but he was a third-round guy taken in the first round. The Patriots better hope that Strange turns into the next Logan Mankins, who also was a reach in the 2005 NFL Draft, but later proved critics wrong.
Best Available:
Nakobe Dean, LB, Georgia
I was purely shocked not to see Nakobe Dean drafted on night 1. His talent and helping Georgia with a historic defense should’ve made him a first-round pick.
Andrew Booth Jr., CB, Clemson
I love Booth, I rated him as the #3 cornerback on my board. It’s not the biggest shock compared to Dean that he’s available on Day 2, but he’s a first-round talent.
Malik Willis, QB, Liberty
The best quarterback in the draft was not taken on night 1, with Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett being the only quarterback taken. Expect him to go early second round tonight, as there are a few teams in need of a quarterback.
Travis Jones, DT, UConn
Personally my third favorite defensive tackle in the draft, Jones wasn’t a surprise to be here on Day 2. Despite being on one of the worst teams in FBS, Jones made it work by boosting his draft stock at the Reese’s Senior Bowl.
David Ojabo, EDGE, Michigan
I loved Ojabo, as he was one of the key defensive pieces of the successful Michigan Wolverines last year. There was a lot of talk about him going into both the Big Ten Championship against Iowa, then again in the Orange Bowl against Georgia. He’ll be a great fit for most teams in the second round.
Kenneth Walker III, RB, Michigan State
I love Kenneth Walker III, and you can go back to my college football posts to see why. He is, in my mind, the best running back in the draft, with no doubt about it. I see him going Day 2, as I did expect no running backs to go last night.
John Metchie III, WR, Alabama
My personal favorite wide receiver, but not my highest rated one, Metchie shows a lot of upside, as he was a big contributor to Alabama’s 2020 national championship run. He tore his ACL and missed most of the 2021 season, but was back for the postseason games. Health-wise, he’s in better shape than his teammate Jameson Williams. He’ll be a stud in the NFL, is my guess.
George Pickens, WR, Georgia
Another wide receiver I loved until he missed most of the season with an injury was George Pickens. He stood out to me a lot in the 2020 season, especially in the Peach Bowl against Cincinnati.
Breece Hall, RB, Iowa State
To wrap up my list, I’ll go with one of my favorite Big 12 running backs this year. Breece Hall was a long-shot candidate for the Heisman Trophy pre-season but didn’t live up to the expectations I wanted to see from the season prior. Lots of draft analysts like Hall over Walker, but I disagree. Nonetheless, Hall will contend for a starting running back role at most franchises.
Calhoun's Corner 