Wow.
That’s all that I kept saying throughout the first round of the NFL draft. One of the craziest first rounds in recent memory became a tale of two drafts. The top 12 picks were total chaos, followed by some semblance of normality in the following 20.
Seven of the top 10 were offensive players in a draft that was supposed to be stacked with defensive prospects. After the top 10, things shifted the other way, with 16 of the final 22 picks being defensive players. Only six offensive players were taken after the top 10 (one quarterback in Deshaun Watson, three tight ends; Howard, Engram, and Njoku, and two linemen; Bolles and Ramczyk.)
Early Winners and Losers
Winners
San Francisco 49ers
How does a team turn the second overall pick into two first round picks and two top five talents? Easy; you fleece the Bears into giving up three picks to move one spot. Then turn around and take Solomon Thomas, the guy you wanted all along. Oh, and you also take one of those picks you just acquired to trade back into the end of the first to stop Reuben Foster’s slide down the draft board. GRADE — A+
Cleveland Browns
Yes! The Browns finally turned all of that draft capital into some real life NFL talent. They didn’t overcomplicate things and took the best player available at number one. Then they became the first team since the 2012 Vikings to have three first round picks by taking Jabril Peppers and David Njoku later in the round. Solid work on moving around to make sure they kept building while filling some serious needs. GRADE — A
Losers
Chicago Bears
You’re going to have a tough time spinning this as a positive for me. In 2012, a very similar trade happened between the Vikings and Browns, where Cleveland gave up 4th, 5th, and 7th round picks to move from 4 to 3 so they could draft Trent Richardson out of Alabama. Fast forward to last night and the Bears decide to give up a 3rd and 4th round pick this year and a 3rd rounder next year.
FLEECED.
Time will tell if Trubisky will pan out or flop like Richardson, but in the short term this is a bad look for a franchise and roster that needs lots of help. GRADE — F
Houston Texans
I am going to start off by saying that I am not a huge fan of Deshaun Watson. Like him as much as I can for a person I have never met, but I’m not sold on the football player. While he might be classified as a “winner”, so was Tim Tebow. The Texans now don’t have a pick in the first or second round next year, and if they regress at all from last year (news flash, they will) they’ve lost a chance to build their roster moving forward. GRADE — D-
Shugh’s Sweet Takes — Round 2 Preview
- With a deep pool of talent to choose from, look for some movement early in the second round as teams try to position themselves to grab quality talent at a much cheaper cost than trading in the first round.
- Someone is going to get a steal at running back this round. Joe Mixon, Dalvin Cook, Curtis Samuel, Alvin Kamara, and D’Onta Foreman could all conceivably come off the board in Round two.
- Two quarterback prospects remain who some had going at the tail end of the first round. It wouldn’t be a shock to see both Davis Webb and DeShone Kizer off the board within the first 10 picks of the round, and Josh Dobbs might sneak in as well.
- This is the deepest cornerback and safety class I’ve ever seen. It makes a lot more sense as to why teams were quicker to pull the trigger on offensive skill players early with all the depth that’s available now.
- What will Day One winners Cleveland and San Francisco do now that they’ve traded away some of their draft capital? Personally, I think both will stay aggressive and be active on the trade front throughout the later rounds.
Alan Shaw is a special contributor for theocho.ca, resident draft guru and self appointed Director of Scouting. He is currently slacking off in his role as official fact checker of The Ocho podcast. Follow Alan on Twitter at @a_shaw88.
