1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Jameis Winston, QB, Florida State
Grade: B
No surprise here. You’ve got him now, Bucs. Let’s see what happens.
2. Tennessee Titans – Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon
Grade: A+
Unlike Winston, there are no off-the-field worries with Mariota. The Titans stuck to their guns and listened to offers, but ultimately they decided to draft their franchise quarterback.
3. Jacksonville Jaguars – Dante Fowler Jr, OLB, Florida
Grade: A-
Fowler Jr was a top five talent, but the Jags left better players for them on the board.
4. Oakland Raiders – Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama
Grade: A-
Again, great pick, just not the best pick for them. They have holes on defense that they should have addressed.
5
. Washington Redskins – Brandon Scherff, OT, Iowa
Grade: B
Way too high for Scherff, who is probably better served as a guard but will have to play tackle for the Redskins. This is why you don’t get first round picks, Dan Snyder. You don’t know what to do with them.
6. New York Jets – Leonard Williams, DE/DT, USC
Grade: A+
Todd Bowles is living right to have Williams fall right in his lap like that. Unreal moment for the Jets, who already had a pretty terrific front seven.
7. Chicago Bears – Kevin White, WR, West Virginia
Grade: A
The Bears go all in with Jay Cutler. The missed out on Cooper, but get the second best wideout with White. I’m still surprised they didn’t go with Vic Beasley here with him falling right to them.
8. Atlanta Falcons – Vic Beasley, DE/OLB, Clemson
Grade: A+
Dan Quinn is converting the Falcons to a 4-3 defense, but Beasley can play in a 3-4 as well, so he’ll have plenty of options.
9. New York Giants – Ereck Flowers, OT, Miami
Grade: B
Early for Flowers I say and I like Andrus Peat a lot better.
10. St. Louis Rams – Todd Gurley, RB, Georgia
Grade: B
This isn’t a reach and Gurley is going to be a super star, but the Rams already had two starting caliber running backs on the roster in Tre Mason and Zac Stacy. Gurley is better than both, but maybe Peat would have made more sense here. If the Rams get TJ Clemmings in round two, this grade changes to an “A.”
11. Minnesota Vikings – Trae Waynes, CB, Michigan State
Grade: A
Waynes is a day-one starter and a real need for the Vikings in the pass-happy NFC North. They could have used a wide receiver and with the run on them in round one, they’ll have a tough time adding one later in the draft.
12. Cleveland Browns – Danny Shelton, DT, Washington
Grade: B
The Browns battled their own crazy urges to make safe, solid picks in this draft, beginning with Shelton. They should have been a little more interesting and taken DeVante Parker here, because they could have still gotten a good defensive tackle at 19 and had Parker at wide receiver. Now, they’ll have to dig for one later in the draft.
13. New Orleans Saints – Andrus Peat, OT, Stanford
Grade: A+
Peat is my favorite offensive tackle in this draft and the Saints had to make no effort at all to land him.
14. Miami Dolphins – DeVante Parker, WR, Louisville
Grade: A
The Dolphins added Kevin Stills, Greg Jennings, Jordan Cameron and now DeVante Parker. Bill Lazor has some toys to play with now.
15. San Diego Chargers – (trade with 49ers) Melvin Gordon, RB, Wisconsin
Grade: A
The Chargers missed out on Todd Gurley and didn’t want to take any chances on Gordon, so they jumped the Texans to get him.
16. Houston Texans – Kevin Johnson, CB, Wake Forest
Grade: B+
The Texans need help at defensive back, but mostly at safety. They rolled the dice and will have to look for one in Round Two or later. They really need to get a quarterback.
17. San Francisco 49ers – (trade with Chargers) Arik Armstead, DE, Oregon
Grade: B
The last time the 49ers reached like this, they ended up with Aldon Smith. And if he wasn’t insane, that would have been a great pick. Armstead can produce that same way without ending up in GitMo.
18. Kansas City Chiefs – Marcus Peters, CB, Washington
Grade: B+
The Chiefs thought Peters was the best corner in the draft so they didn’t screw around. If Peters can keep his off-the-field problems at bay, they might be right.
19. Cleveland Browns – (from Buffalo) Cameron Erving, C/G, Florida State
Grade: B
The Browns second pick was just as solid and boring as their first. They missed out on Parker and could have had Malcolm Brown or Eddie Goldman here.
20. Philadelphia Eagles – Nelson Agholor, WR, USC
Grade: B-
Once the draft started rolling, I had a feeling Agholor would sneak into the first round. The Eagles needed defensive help, especially on the back end more.
21. Cincinnati Bengals – Cedric Ogbuehi, OT, Texas A&M
Grade: C
A full-on project for the Bengals that won’t even be healthy before the season starts. You need to look for potential starters in Round One. Ogbuehi won’t contribute until late in the year at best.
22. Pittsburgh Steelers – Alvin Dupree, DE/OLB, Kentucky
Grade: B+
A great pick, but just like the Rams with Gurley, the Steelers had other more pressing needs and guys that could fill them on the board.
23. Denver Broncos – (trade with Lions) Shane Ray, DE/OLB, Missouri
Grade: C+
Ray got busted for pot a week ago and goes to a state with legal marijuana? I hope you know what you’re doing, John Elway.
24. Arizona Cardinals – D.J. Humphries, OT, Florida
Grade: B
The Cardinals are trying to keep Carson Palmer alive, so Humphries is a good choice here.
25. Carolina Panthers – Shaq Thompson, OLB/S, Washington
Grade: D
Thompson had a third round grade on some boards and was nowhere near the first round on any of them. The Panthers blew it with this pick and could have landed Thompson late in the second round and added a real starter here.
26. Baltimore Ravens – Breshad Perriman, WR, UCF
Grade: B+
My first correct pick since the first two, so I’m pretty proud of this one.
27. Dallas Cowboys – Byron Jones, CB, UConn
Grade: A
One of the best athletes and most exciting players in this draft and the Cowboys didn’t have to give up anything to get him.
28. Detroit Lions – Laken Tomlinson, G, Duke
Grade: D
Another guy who had no business going in the first round. The Lions should have traded down and if they couldn’t, take a defensive tackle here, then trade up to get Tomlinson in the second round, if they even had to.
29. Indianapolis Colts – Phillip Dorsett, WR, Miami
Grade: C+
The Colts need help on defense and already have two tremendous wideouts already on the roster. Dorsett will be a weapon, but they should have added a player on the defensive line.
30. Green Bay Packers – Damarious Randall, S, Arizona State
Grade: C
Green Bay adds a safety to go with Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, but Randall was in no danger of getting picked in this round so he could have been nabbed later.
31. New Orleans Saints – (from Seattle) Stephone Anthony, ILB, Clemson
Grade: D
A waste of a pick at this spot. Anthony had a third round grade at best and Eric Kendricks and Benardrick McKinney were on the board.
32. New England Patriots – Malcolm Brown, DT, Texas
Grade: A
An elite tackle falls right to the Patriots, giving them the opportunity to actually make a pick and not trade down. Vince Wilfork is gone. Now he won’t be missed.
If you’re keeping track, I got three out 32 picks right. The same number I had last year, so at least I’m staying consistent.
