Note: My grades are based on pick quality – value in slots, and addressing team needs. They do not factor in trades.
Arizona Cardinals: C+
I wouldn’t have traded a first-rounder for Hollywood Brown, but we’re not grading trades, here. In the slots they picked in, Arizona got solid value. The McBride pick was a bit of a surprise with Zach Ertz on the roster, but Kliff Kingsbury should be able to leverage McBride’s versatility to get him on the field early. EDGE was a huge need and the Cardinals attacked it with a pair of strong selections at the end of Round 3.
Atlanta Falcons: B+
Strong work by the Falcons this weekend. Atlanta kicked off the record-setting receiver run we saw in R1 in the 1.8 slot with Drake London, who I agreed was the best prospect at that position in the class. Sorely needed infusion to the league’s worst receiving corps – expect London to have a big rookie season. Liked the value on Ebiketie and Ridder at positions of need. Also appreciated that Atlanta refused to reach throughout.
Carolina Panthers: A
The Panthers entered the draft without much equity past the 1.6 slot. They managed to make lemonade in Las Vegas. We knew Carolina was leaning towards taking a tackle in R1 – but who could have guessed that Ikem Ekwonu, a top-5 overall prospect in the class and a local product, would fall to No. 6? I loved the dart throw on Matt Corral in R3 for a team that desperately needed a talent infusion in the QB room. While I don’t think Corral is a viable option to start immediately, I like his odds of turning into a quality starter down the line. I really liked the Day 3 plan. Why not roll the dice on Brandon Smith, Amare Barno, and Kalon Barnes‘ ridiculous physical packages (or Mays’ pedigree)?
Chicago Bears: C-
The Bears have one of the NFL’s worst rosters and lacked a Round 1 pick. But all the holes meant they had true freedom to stick to a BPA ethos throughout the weekend. No argument with the first two picks, solid secondary options in the slots they picked. I thought Velus Jones was an enormous reach in Round 3. With such a shoddy offensive line in front of Justin Fields, I was surprised the Bears didn’t pick a prospect at that position until Round 5. That said, Braxton Jones was a strong developmental stab at that point.
Dallas Cowboys: D+
If you’re going to assume risk in a transaction, you can’t extend yourself to do so. More so than anything, that was my issue with this class. I love Smith’s ability, but he’s a penalty machine who has a lot to work on. I had one of the highest grades on Williams in the industry… and Dallas reached over it on a Greg Hardy-like upside gamble. Clark’s career will be delayed — and it might even be in jeopardy — due to a spine injury.
Detroit Lions: A-
Fortune gifted Detroit with a pair of opportunities early and they seized each. The Lions capitalized on Jacksonville’s mistake in the top slot to keep local hero Aidan Hutchinson in the state of Michigan. Then, Detroit made a dramatic trade with a division rival to move up 20 slots to grab Jameson Williams right as receivers started flying off the board… at a price the Jimmy Johnson and Rich Hill charts suggested was a bargain. There weren’t any more fireworks in the class, but Detroit found good value in its slots and didn’t reach.
Green Bay Packers: B+
We knew one NFL team had become enamored with Quay Walker in the week lead-up to the draft because Walker’s odds to go in the first round went from more than 10-to-1 to 1-to-2 in mere days. It turned out that was the Packers. I hated the pick. Walker was outperformed in his own position group by Round 3 pick Channing Tindall last year. The rest of the class, however, was legitimately slick work from Brian Gutekunst. Swooping in to grab Watson was inspired, via a shocking trade with the archrival Vikings. As was stealing Tom, Enagbare, and Walker.
Los Angeles Rams: F
The Rams made a show in the lead-up to the NFL Combine that they would not be sending their GM and head coach. During the team’s Super Bowl celebration, GM Les Snead wore a shirt reading “[Expletive] them picks.” The Rams have shown there is more than one way to skin a cat. But their lack of scouting effort stuck out like a sore thumb this weekend. This is a non-athletic class with almost zero upside – I see a lot of summer cuts.
Minnesota Vikings: C+
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s first two picks were strong, and both targeted a leaking secondary crying out for help. Cine joins Harrison Smith in what will become the hardest-hitting safety duo in the NFL. After that, it was hit-and-miss. I’m confused by the Ingram pick. It felt like the Vikings reached for a prospect with a serious off-field concern in his past by at least a round, a prospect who doesn’t have the ceiling to justify the reach. The Asamoah pick was similarly odd. If you wanted to take an undersized linebacker, by all means. But why Asamoah over Nakobe Dean? Minnesota could have traded down half a round and still picked the latter.
New Orleans Saints: B-
I really liked what the Saints did on Thursday. I was surprised Olave didn’t get more love during the pre-draft process, but the Saints saw what I saw. Penning in New Orleans is one of the coolest fits in the draft – he’s Kyle Turley 2.0 but in a bigger package. I have to ding the grade, though, because I didn’t think the Saints did much with their final three selections in comparison to what they could have.
New York Giants: B+
What an incredible turn of events in the first round to walk away with both Thibodeaux and Neal. Both are former five-stars who more than lived up to the billing in college. To boot, they happened to plug the Giants’ two-biggest needs coming in. I wasn’t as big of a fan of the rest of the class. But it’s hard to argue too much with bringing in two guys that I believe will be NFL stars, both of whom address critical needs.
Philadelphia Eagles: B
I had zero problems with the Jordan Davis pick. Multiple teams in front of Philadelphia at least gave passing thoughts to taking him, and Davis almost assuredly would have been taken by Baltimore had the Eagles not pounced. Nakobe Dean was one of the draft’s biggest steals. The Eagles didn’t so much in the draft on Day 3, but spoiler alert: They were busy in the UDFA sweepstakes and came out with a haul. More on that in my upcoming UDFA class rankings.
San Francisco 49ers: D
The 49ers didn’t have much equity. We don’t penalize for that. But the 49ers did little of note in their slots. I was confused by the strategy, and by the picks themselves.
Seattle Seahawks: A
I wasn’t the biggest Cross fan in the industry, and Seattle took him top-10. Regardless, I love this class. The value Seattle squeezed out of its picks on Friday and Saturday is going to infuse a roster that needed a talent upgrade with exactly that. I was a little confused that the Seahawks didn’t take a QB, but I can’t argue with the players they brought to town.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: C-
I liked the values the Bucs got on Otton and McCollum on Day 3. And I understand why the Bucs paid a small premium for White, one of the two elite receiving backs in this class (the other one, James Cook, went off the board late-R2). Didn’t like the strategy in the other slots.
Washington Commanders: D-
I didn’t understand why the Commanders traded out of 1.11, bypassing the chance to take Chris Olave or Jameson Williams, to take Dotson at 1.16. You picked up two extra picks… and did what with them? The only pick of the entire bunch that I saw as a value was Howell… and I was one of the industry’s lowest on him.
Next page: AFC grades
Baltimore Ravens: A+
I loved the trade that netted a second first-rounder for Hollywood Brown… that’s not even included in this grade. The Ravens got outstanding value with each first-round pick, stopping Hamilton’s fall at 1.14 and then taking advantage of the NFL’s skittishness over Linderbaum’s arm length to get outstanding on PFF’s highest-ever graded center at 1.25. Baltimore then got Ojabo – a player mocked in the top-10 prior to his torn Achilles in the pre-draft process – at 2.45. Jones was an awesome value in R3. Faalele and Kolar were incredible values in R4. Death, taxes, and Baltimore destroying the NFL Draft.
Buffalo Bills: C
The Bills ended up with a few prospects I was a bullish on – Bernard especially – but reached in several slots. The best value pick in the Bills’ class was Shakir, who confusingly fell all the way to 5.148 amid a draft where receiver after receiver got pulled up the board.
Cincinnati Bengals: D
A weird draft that featured a series of reaches. In every slot, I felt there was a superior prospect (or several) at the position the Bengals took.
Cleveland Browns: C-
The Browns got awesome value with the Winfrey and Thomas picks. I think Winfrey is going to surprise folks at the next level. But I would have made different decisions in the other seven slots.
Denver Broncos: D+
Without a Round 1 pick because of the Russell Wilson trade, the Broncos hit it down the fairway in Round 2 with a pair of decent values at positions of need. But much more could have been done with the seven picks on Saturday. The Broncos used three of those picks on UDFA prospects, and another two right on the draftable line on my board.
Houston Texans: F
The Texans used a top-three pick on a corner who hasn’t played well since 2019 and is coming off a Lisfranc injury, a top-15 pick on a guard with below-average NFL athleticism, and the No. 44 pick on a non-explosive slot receiver coming off an ACL injury. I’m a big fan of Pitre and Pierce. But I can’t condone the rest of what Houston was up to this weekend. Sitting on a mountain of equity with a roster badly needing a grand slam draft, this was a missed opportunity.
Indianapolis Colts: B-
The Colts had a strong Day 2 – highlighted by stealing late-R1 talent Raimann amid the NFL’s concerns about his medicals – but had a strange Saturday, going totally off the grid with two of its four picks.
Jacksonville Jaguars: C
The Lloyd steal mitigated the value-loss I perceive for reaching on Walker at 1.1, and I’d say the same about the Muma steal mitigating the Fortner reach. I wasn’t a big fan of the three Day 3 picks, but they were all after No. 150.
Kansas City Chiefs: A
The Chiefs are so good at this. McDuffie was a top-10 talent on my board and others and a top-15 talent on most of the rest, and the Chiefs, who badly needed a corner, maneuvered to No. 21 to steal him when he began dropping due to the NFL’s concerns about his arm length. Karlaftis, Moore, and Chenal were all awesome picks. And I thought Kinnard may have been the biggest steal of Day 3… it reminded me of KC’s good fortune with offensive line in the last class when Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith were both acquired for ludicrous discounts after inexplicable drops.
Las Vegas Raiders: B
The Raiders had very little draft equity but held serve in the slots they selected, finding strong values. I’m surprised Las Vegas didn’t address LB and CB, but, to be fair, Parham was a good pick who is likely to start immediately, and the talent well at both of the aforementioned positions had really dried up once the Raiders were picking again on Day 3.
Los Angeles Chargers: B
The Chargers needed interior offensive line help more than anything coming into Draft Weekend and didn’t need to reach to emphatically address that, getting Johnson in an acceptable slot and stealing Salyer in the sixth round. I understand why the NFL was a little down on Spiller, but getting him at No. 123 is good value however you slice it.
Miami Dolphins: B-
The Dolphins had scant draft equity due to the Tyreek Hill trade but did a good job in the slots they picked in. I especially liked the pick that led off Miami’s draft, Channing Tindall. Tindall was a better player last year on Georgia’s national title team than Packers’ first-rounder Quay Walker.
New England Patriots: D-
I was one of the higher people in the industry on Strange, Thornton, and Harris… but still felt New England reached on the former two. There was a bunch more reaching with the other picks. And then a few oddities. I like Zappe… but why use the No. 137 on a QB a year after using a top-10 pick on one? I’m a fan of Harris… but why take two RB with the running back room you already have?
New York Jets: A+
Sensational weekend for the Jets. Sauce Gardner should not have been available to New York, but they were able to take advantage of Houston’s folly. Wilson was plucked off the board as the record-setting receiver run was starting, ensuring the Jets came out on the right side of that. Jermaine Johnson was highway robbery at 1.26. Breece Hall is the three-down bellcow Zach Wilson needed. The other picks were also strong values. After this draft, the Jets’ roster is beginning to look frisky… if Wilson can make a Year 2 leap.
Pittsburgh Steelers: D
I liked the Leal and Austin picks. But – even outside of the fact that I don’t love him as a prospect – the Steelers badly misread the room by taking Pickett in the top-20. Pickens is talented but has significant character concerns. The last three picks were airmailed.
Tennessee Titans: A-
Willis at 3.86 is one of my favorite singular picks of the past five years. The last time I disagreed with the NFL this strongly about an evaluation, the player was Lamar Jackson. Needing a year to develop, Willis found a good spot. The rest of the picks didn’t do a ton for me – nothing too egregious, but no excess value over slot. But I remain bullish that Willis will provide plenty of that if you’re willing to wait on him.