1st round picks: ranked !

In the grand scheme of things, although this is last on the list, I don't think this is a terrible pick. Was WR a team need? Eh, kind of, eventually they needed another guy to sort of replace an aging Mike Evans, but at least as for this season, They have 3 good recievers on the roster, and 2 of them under contract for awhile. I don't dislike Egbuka as a prospect, I think he is a fine slot reciever, but not super crazy about the Bucs taking him here, especially when they could have gotten Campbell, or Green.

After one of the best picks in the draft, the Falcons decided to move back into the first round to draft Pearce Jr. Is James Pearce Jr. a good player? Absolutley. Did they trade a future first round pick, and just draft an edge 11 picks ago? Yes. Pearce Jr. is going to be a productive pass rusher, and I can sort of get the idea of building your pass rush tandem. That being said, there were some really good players still on the board, at positions of need for the Falcons, and they double dipped. Could it work out if they get a talented reciever and corner later in the draft? Sure, but they also need to adress center on day 2, and now all of the sudden you have a lot of holes to fill on day 3.

In this process, I realized just how many holes this Dolphins roster actually has. Was defensive line the biggest need? I would say yes, they didn't really have talent or depth there. It's just that Grant is a reach at 13. I think you can't waste a top 15 draft selection on not a top 15 player, and it kind of feels like that's what the Dolphins did. If Grant is your guy, I think you certainly could have afforded to move back at least a handful of picks and still gotten him. Yes it was a position of need, but I think the value for pick 13 isn't terrific.

In a vacuum, and pretending that the Steelers QB room is stable, this is a phenomenal pick. Defensive line was a big need, and Harmon at 21 is tremendous value. However... Their QB room is atrocious. I get Sanders isn't the prettiest QB prospect of all time, but he was best case scenario for them. This is an incredibly deep defensive line class, and not a good QB class. Now, you are counting on a 41 year old statue of a quarterback to decide if he even wants to play the sport. I think this is a huge missed opportunity, and this is the type of decision you make if you are tanking.

This one is a little bit of a head scratcher in my opinion. I like Conerly Jr as a tackle prospect, and I like him in the first round. I really wish this was a receiver here though, or potentially Jihaad Campbell. Conerly Jr. fills a void, I get it, but it's just simply I think there were better picks to make at 29. Keep in mind, from here on out, I think all these picks are for the most part, a good pick.

The only thing I don't like about this pick, is that they chose Loveland over Warren. Not only because I think Warren is better, but at least for year 1, you have two receiving tight ends, rather than a blocking one and a receiving one. Other than that, I think considering 3 tackles were off the board, this is a solid pick, just could have been great if it was Warren.

I was a little dissapointed in this pick, but not that disappointed. Like I think it's a slight reach, when you probably need an edge rusher, and there were some edge rushers there. Williams is a great player, and he is going to be good on that defense, just maybe could have gone an edge like Green or Ezeiruaku.

This is one I didn't want to be too harsh on, because Nolen has the potential to be an elite player in the league for a very long time. Now, do I think there were better defensive players on the board? Yes, I think there were corners and edge rushers that could have been maybe a better fit or better value at least, but there is a chance that they saw Grant go at 13, and wanted to make sure they got their guy. In that case, this pick is alright.

I love Hampton, and I think the idea of pairing him up with Najee Harris is a really fun idea. But that is kind of where my praise ends, this feels like a fun pick, maybe not so much a resourceful pick. He is an elite weapon, but of all the skill positions, you probably needed receiver or tight end more, or going defense wouldn't have been bad here either. A lot of these picks grades/values are determined by how the rest of the said team's draft goes from here, so this pick can only go up in my book.

I think Barron is probably the best corner in this class. I think he is a great fit in Denver. I totally understand the thought process of trying to defend all these weapons in the AFC West. That being said... This team needed a weapon, and needed one pretty bad. I don't love their reciever core nor their runningback room. The runningbacks are deep, but not so much the receivers. I could really love it if this team wants to move up and get Burden in the second. That would be awesome.

I like this pick in the idea that they are going to develop Dart. I think that is smart, and is a good game plan to have for your future, to sit your young QB for a year. The only thing I didn't love, is how far they traded up for him. I think they didn't need to jump all the way up to 25 for him, so they gave up a decent amount of capital, for let's be real, QB3 in the class. Regardless, I do like the game plan.

Kelvin Banks at 9 is a good player at a good position of need. So why is this relatively low? Because I really think they should have tried to trade back from an organizational standpoint, unless this pick was QB, even then, you could have moved back obviously. There are too many team needs, and holding a top 10 pick is incredibly valuable, so there should have been some sort of move down here to get more draft picks.

We're now in the realm of picks that were just simply good. Maybe there was a different team need they could have addressed, or a slightly better player available,  but nonetheless, they are good picks. Jackson slides right into this offensive line. I would've loved maybe Emmanwori, but this is certainly a pick you can't complain about.

This pick fits the Bills defense really well. They needed secondary help, and he is a first round talent. I forgive passing on Johnson simply because Hairston is a better fit, although I also would've loved a Mike Green pick here.

Carolina could've gone 3 positions here: WR, CB, or EDGE. I think going WR is smart here because it is thinner than corner and edge rushers. McMillan can be the WR1 that Young desperately needs.

I don't think Cowboys fans will appreciate how good this pick is. To explain why I love this pick, would you rather: Have Golden, but a potentially bad offensive line, or get your Zach Martin replacement, and get a good WR2 on day 2? It's pretty obvious, right?

Part of me wishes they invested in the offensive line, but I also can't really fault them here. Williams is a freak, and he genuinely could be the next Aldon Smith on that defensive line. It is great value and a great player, and a phenomenal pick.

Really simple pick here, not much to really talk about. I love that they got a 5th round pick, and got the guy they realistically expected to be there for them anyways.

Once again, it is a shoe in pick, can't knock it, but can't really praise it either since it is the only logical pick.

This trend will continue for my next 3 spots on this ranking. These are all picks myself and many others mocked to these teams. for that reason, not much to say.

Simply a lay-up pick, this has been known by the whole league for months.

Once again, another lay-up pick. These aren't ranked as high as others, as some others had tremendous value.

This is the last of these lay-up picks in the top 10.

This first round pick is another saga in this movie of an off-season. Zabel is a plug and play guard, and it is great that he fell right in their lap.

Stewart is one of my favorite players in the class, and I love that he is a Bengal. It's great value, a position of need, and it puts their defense in a much better place. It is also a great scheme fit.

How and why would the league let the best off-ball linebacker go to the defending champs? Why let them have an elite talent in Campbell? They maybe didn't have to move up one spot for him, but this is problematic for the league if they want to dethrone the Eagles.

Genuinely, pulling off a maneuver to trade back, get a ton of draft assets, and still get a blue chip player, is nothing short of a masterclass. The only knock is they needed other positions more, but Graham is a blue chip player. Great pick.

May be a boring pick, but it is phenomenal value. Think: this guy could have the impact that Brock Bowers had last season. In my opinion, I thought if they were going to get Warren, they would've had to jump the Bears, or even move into the top 5. Warren is a top 5 player in the class, so it checks out that he is ranked number 5. Like I said, it is a little basic and not fun to rank this high, but this guy could be an all-pro, and he "fell".

Obviously, getting the best player in the entire draft warrants a high spot, but there is the trade. Did they give up a lot of assets to move up 3 spots. However, If this guy can actually play reciever and corner at a high level, you are making up for giving up your second round pick. They are addressing their two biggest needs with one pick, and honestly, that is the best way a 2-way player can possibly be drafted for the most value.

This pick doesn't necessarily scream one of the best picks in the first round, but I think this is a pick the league is going to regret when the Ravens have another potential all-pro positionless guy on defense. Was it a lay-up pick? Absolutley, but this would be like Jeanty falling to a playoff team that needs a running back.

It only took potentially the best wide reciever of the class to fall to Green Bay at 23 for them to finally cave. Even though I wouldn't have considered a wideout their biggest need, and would've loved if this was Will Johnson, but I really can't fault the value here. Golden has that potential top 10 reciever in the league potential, and that is huge for an offense that doesn't have a dependable weapon like that.

I went back and fourth on this, but ultimately decided that Atlanta taking Walker is the best pick of night 1, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, they finally drafted an edge rusher. After years of people begging, they finally did it (and did it again later in the night). It is also probably the best value pick of the whole night. This is a guy who could have comfortably been drafted 5th overall and no one bats an eye. Jalon Walker is instantly the guy on that Falcons defense, and that is absolutley huge for this team moving forward.