GAC - 1st round grades 2019 NFL draft

1) Cardinals - QB Kyler Murray - Grade A
They have a new coach, so decided to take the best QB in the draft to start their new regime since their new HC has had ties with murray going back to his high school days. It makes sense overall and taking the top QB is never a bad pick, but i can't give them an A+ since they drafted rosen 10th overall last year and using a 1st overall and 10th overall pick on QBs in back to back drafts is a waste. They will now have to trade rosen off for far less value. This year they could have had bosa or wiliiams which would help more or last year could have taken a difference maker.

2) Niners - EDGE Nick Bosa - Grade A+
The niners had a no lose situation. the top 2 players in this draft were bosa and williams. couldn't have gone wrong with either of them. Williams might have been better since they have buckner and ford off the edge already but bosa was too good to pass up. Their pass rush is going to be lethal with buckner, ford, and bosa now. all 3 should be 10+ sack guys

3) Jets - DT/DE Quinnen Williams - Grade A
As a fan, not quite happy with the pick since we had a bigger need at edge and josh allen was on the board. With that said, objectively speaking williams was considered the best player in this draft by many and at worse case, 2nd best behind bosa. A trade down didn't seem likely as the raiders didn't want a QB and took a player way too early. The giants also took a QB but one that was never going to be gone at pick 6 and the redskins got their QB at 15 without moving up anyway. Can't give the A+ due to not being a position of need but anytime you land a top 2 player at 3 it has to be at least an A

4) Raiders - EDGE Clelin Ferell - Grade D
The raiders needed a pass rush more then any team in the NFL, dead last with 13 in 2018 and no that is not a typo. 2nd worst was 30. that's a huge difference. to add perspective 11 players in the NFL had the same or more sacks then the raiders did as a team. Khalil mack who they traded away had only .5 sacks less then the raiders as a team. Josh allen fell right into their laps and they passed on him for a guy that would have been a mid to late 1st round pick instead. Too far of a reach but not an F due to filling a huge need

5) Bucs - LB Devin White - Grade A+
White was considered a top 5 pick and he went 5th overall so good slot there. he was also in the top 3 for BPA. Bucs had a major need to get a 3 down backer with speed who can go sideline to sideline and also cover kamara and mccafrey out of the backfield in their division. They landed their next derrick brooks. perfect pick here

6) Giants - QB Daniel Jones - Grade D
Like the raiders pick above, I can't give them an F since they needed a QB badly but jones was not worth a top 10 pick and likely would have been available with their 17th pick. They passed on a much needed edge rusher in allen (giants were 2nd to last in sacks and traded away their top pass rusher in vernon this offseason) so they could have replaced vernon and gotten allen as a steal. They could have also looked at trying to get rosen later for a bargain who is a better prospect. instead they took a poor mans eli at QB with all of his negatives but none of his positives. Really confused at this move. Worse off gettleman has said he expects jones to site for like 3 years. I feel bad for giants fans, they are the new browns

7) Jaguars - EDGE Josh Allen - Grade A
for the 2nd year in a row, a "josh allen" goes 7th overall. The Jags couldn't get this pick in fast enough after the raiders and giants both passed on him. They get an A for getting the BPA and for the value of getting a top 5 player at 7, but cna't give the A+ due to lack of need. Jax really needs to address their offense and they could have gone WR or LT here or tried to move down for a team wanting allen

8) Lions - TE TJ Hockenson - Grade B
Hockenson is considered a top 10 player in this class and the top TE, but the lions had bigger needs on defense after losing ansah and suh this offseason. They also had a hometown pick on the board with rashan gary (who would go 4 picks later) that would have been their perfect pick. instead they focus on offense which isn't their issue on a stacked offense and replace ebron who was good but not used right. so will they end up ruining hockensen like they did ebron? Love the kid, does fill a need (even though they signed a TE in FA) but wasn't an urgent need and they should have went defense

9) Bills - DE/DT Ed Oliver - Grade A+
Bills were another team who desperately needed a pass rush. Oliver was considered a top 5 talent by the time the draft came out and many thought the jets would take him at 3. Getting him at 9 and him being the BPA is a steal and they fill a need. Great pick here by buffalo

10) Steelers - LB Devin Bush - Grade A+
The steelers gave up quite a bit to move up here. Denver owned this pick and traded back to 20 with the steelers and got their 2nd rounder and a 3rd rounder in 2020 out of the deal. The steelers jump in front of the bengals and steal away bush. so it's a double whammy, not only do they get the player they love and fills a huge need for them, they steal him from a division rival. well done by pitt here. They aren't a team with many needs so giving up the extra pick doens't matter when you can land yourself 1 stud.

11) Bengals - OG/OT Jonah Williams - Grade C
I felt this was a bit early for williams. He's a good player and will be a good lineman but nobody is really sure where he will fit in the NFL (G or RT?) Bengals are a team with a ton of holes. Sweat, Metcalf, Gary, Haksins, Burns all could have been better picks. o-line is the least of their worries and dalton needs to be replaced, they need some WR help for green and the need a better defense.

12) Packers - DE/DT Rashan Gary - Grade B+
I love this pick here and the kid from Michigan now gets to torment the lions twice a year. I don't give it an A though because the packers spent this entire off-season loading up on defense but haven't done anything to help their 30 million dollar man in rodgers who is lacking on help around him.

13) Dolphins - DT Christian WIlkins - Grade A
Dolphins are a team with holes everywhere. They could have gotten a QB in haskins but may still swing a trade for rosen to address that. Wilkins is a solid pick in this range and fills a need so hard to complain

14) Falcons - G Chris Lindstrom - Grade D
I won't give them an F since it fills a need badly but they begin the run of reaches coming here. Lindstrom was a 2nd round talent with a ADP of 44. the falcons pick 45 in the 2nd round and worse case could have slid up in that round to get him and got better value here. Also if they wanted to reach for a OG cody ford is still out there and a late 1st round talent. this pick makes 0 sense.

15) Redskins - QB Dwayne Haskins - Grade A+
redskins get to sit at 15 and get the 2nd QB in the draft (thanks to the giants who passed on him at 6 for jones) Redskins needed a young QB badly. right now their QBs count 27 mil against the cap and all they have is keenum and mccoy. alex smith can't be cut (would be -22mil of cap space) and may never play again. Bonus point to haskins who gets to prove the giants wrong twice a year and make them regret taking jones over him

16) Panthers - EDGE Brian Burns - Grade A+
Perfect spot to take burns and fills a big need for the panthers as well. easy pick to make but got to give them credit for making it and not overthinking it.

 

17) Giants - DT Dexter Lawerence - Grade D
giants swing and miss again as gettlemen continues to prove he has no idea what he is doing. They trade away snacks for a 5th rounder and draft his replacement 17th overall a guy who was considers a late 1st/early2nd rounder. funny enough they traded back into the 1st round later on and could have gotten lawerence there. 2nd player they reached hard for in a row. giants have gotten rid of more probowlers then anyone over the past 2 years for no reason. collins, vernon, jpp, ODB, snacks. and instead of replacing them with more pro bowl talent, they are reaching for random players as gettleman has a history of doing

18) Vikings - OC Garett Bradbury - Grade A
Slight reach here as he was more of a late 1st round talent, but he is the best C in the draft and fills a major need and the vikings are a win now team with very few holes so this was a good reach.

19) Titans - DT Jeffrey Simmons - Grade A+
a great value pick here. a better DT then some picked before him that slipped due to a video from 2016 of him hitting a woman. That was 3 years ago and he paid for his mistake and the titans get great value here.

20) Broncos - TE Noah Fant - Grade A+
the broncos slide back 10 picks and get extra picks for that. They just traded for flacco and will now try to build around him with skill positions after trading away demarious thomas. Even after sliding back 10 picks no skill position players were taken so they didn't miss out on anything and grab fant in a good spot to pair him with last years 1st rounder sutton and long time stud sanders along with last years rookie phenom RB lindsey. denver is going to be a tough team and now has 2 2nd round picks as well. look for them to add a WR and CB with those picks

21) Packers - FS Darnell Savage - Grade F
packers get a big old F for this. they had the 30th pick which they acquired from NO at some point before the draft and traded that pick to move up 9 spots (gave up 2 4th rounders this year) to get the 3rd worst ranked player taken in the 1st round. Savage had an ADP of 75 and is a 3rd round talent. They didn't need to move up for him and even at 30 would have been a reach. not to mention again they go defense and don't help rodgers at all. this was just an awful overall job. not only that but there are 2 FS with 2nd round grades ahead of him.

22) Eagles - OT Andre Dillard - Grade A+
The eagles trade up 3 spots by giving up a 4th and 6th rounder in order to jump the texans and steal their pick. Dillard is a late 1st round talent so good value there. Taylor is slipping apaprently due to an injury but dillard is the 2nd best OT in the draft so great job by the eagles of filling a need and only moving up as much as they needed to , to steal their guy

23) Texans - OT Tytus Howard - Grade F
The texans got shocked by philly jumping them to steal their pick and apparently their back-up plan was to throw darts at a board and see who to pick randomly. Howard is the worst player taken in round 1 by far. I had him mocked to the jets late 3rd , early 4th round. even the 2nd round would have been too early for him. The texans needed o-line for sure but risner (early 2nd) and little (mid 2nd) McGary (late 2nd but was drafted in the 1st) and Cajuste (early 3rd) and edwards (mid 3rd) were all better choices. Not sure how you reach 2-3 rounds for the 6th best player at his position available. I like howard as a sleeper mid round pick but hate him as a 1st rounder.

24) Raiders - RB Josh Jacobs - Grade A+
Using one of the picks the raiders got for trading mack, they continue to stock pile offense. after improving their WRs by adding antonio brown and tyrell williams and improving the o-line with brown they decide to land their RB. lynch retired again and wans't very effective anyway. outside of him they had the old washed up doug martin and a couple of decent 3rd down backs like richard. the raiders grab the best RB in the draft in a good spot for his talent level. he's nowhere near a barkely level of talent but should be a day 1 starter and possible OROTY winner

25) Ravens - WR Marquise Brown - Grade A+
the ravens slid down 3 spots and got 2 extra picks. they were always going for WR and even at 25 they got their choice of who they wanted since nobody took a WR yet in the draft. MB becomes the 1st WR taken in this draft (and 1 of only 2 in the 1st round) and a solid pick. no WRs stood out but there were about 3-4 considered pretty similar talentwise and brown as one of them. he's also the cousin of antonio brown a WR who has tormented the ravens for the past 8 years. now balt got their guy to do it back to the steelers

26) Redskins - EDGE Montez Sweat - Grade A+
the redskins said they wanted an instant impact player in this draft but instead used their 1st pick on a much needed QB. they slid back into the 1st round via a trade though to land sweat who is a steal at 26. he was considered a top 10 pick but a mysterious possibly misdiagnosed heart condition caused him to fall and the redskins will benefit greatly from that. not only that but to move up from 46 to 26 it only cost them a 2020 2nd rounder. so they sued 2 2nd round picks to land a top 10 player. meanwhile the colts continue to stockpile 2nd round picks. they got 3 from the jets last year in a trade down and now 2 more from the skins in a trade down. including their own they have had 8 2nd round picks for 2018-2020 drafts so far

27) Raiders - SS Johnathan Abram - Grade D
Using a pick they got for trading amari cooper, the raiders take another huge reach here. It's a weak draft for SS with the top 3 being pretty similar and all mid 2nd round talents but oakland uses a late 1st to grab one of them. That's 2 reaches for them on the defensive side of the ball

28) Chargers - DT Jerry Tillary - Grade C
Value wise it's a solid pick. he's a better ranked prospect then Lawrence who the giants drafted at 17 so can't give a failing grade. however can't give a great grade. the chargers needed to replace the offensive talent they lost and help rivers in his final years. their D is already pretty stout but rivers needs people to throw to and they should have given him a WR here

29) Seahawks - DT LJ Collier - Grade F
seahawks finally make a pick in the 1st round after trading down with GB. this is the 1st rounder they got in the frank clark trade. instead of replacing the stud EDGE rusher in clark (which they could have done at 21 with sweat) or giving their 35 million dollar QB someone better to throw to they reach for a mid 3rd round DT and select the 2nd worst prospect in the 1st round which honestly doens't sound bad at 29 but in this case it is.

30) Giants - CB Deandre Baker - Grade B
the giants traded their 2nd rounder to move up 7 spots back into the 1st round (gave up a couple of late picks) and land baker. easily their best pick of the draft so far and their 3rd 1st rounder. baker is considered a late 1st rounder and the 3rd best CB in the draft (behind greedy and murphy) but all 3 are pretty close grade wise. Not sure why they needed to trade up as a good chance he woudl have been there 7 picks later since greedy and murphy are on the board, and not sure why theydidn't take greedy so i cna't give them an A, but it's a solid pick so a B sounds right

31) Falcons - OT Kaleb McGary - Grade D
The falcons trade up back into the 1st round to continue to fix their o-line. however like their earlier pick they take a massive reach in a late 2nd round prospect. Taylor, Little, and Risner and all much better prospects to take here. I don't understand trading up to take a huge reach. some GMs seem to always outsmart themselves

32) Patriots - WR N'Keal Harry - Grade A+
The pats are in desperate need of skill position help. outside of the old and aging edelman, they lack any reliable targets. they took a risk on gorden who is always suspended and now gronk has retired. not much for brady to throw to so TE or WR was the smart play here and they take one of the top ones on the board. Harry is an early 2nd round talent but a late 1st is pretty similar and the pats wouldn't get him if they didn't take him here. they also couldn't move back as rumors were if harry fell out of the 1st lots of teams would call up arizona to get the 1st pick and grab him so good value and smart pick


Overall winners
Redskins - landed their FQB without trading up at 15 and landed a top 10 talent and great EDGE guy in sweat who was amazing value at 26. easily the best draft of any team

Broncos - slid back 10 spots for extra picks and still got a player they likely would have taken at 10.

ravens - slid back 3 spots and still got their choice of WR and extra picks


Overall Losers
Raiders - traded away mack and cooper for 1st round picks and used them to reach for 2 players in ferell and abram. they could have had josh allen and greedy williams which would had ben an amazing draft along with with jacobs

Giants - over-drafted an under-talented low budget eli at 6 and then overdrafted a snacks replacement at 17 who they tarded for a 5th rounder, then gave up 2 extra picks to move up 7 spots to get a CB when the top 3 were still on the board and they could have got one without moving up.

Falcons - overdrafted 2 lineman and had to trade picks to move up for one of them

texans - got jumped and lost out on their OT choice then reached for a 3/4th round talent in the 1st

 

LMAO dat typo

 

i wanted to look back after 3 seasons on this draft and seems I was right. both GMs are no longer with the teams and all those picks pretty much failed to live up to where they were drafted

 

lol did wind up being pretty accurate in hindsight