Now that we’ve reached the end of my NFL Draft Grades, you’ve probably noticed I’ve not given too many terrible grades. I’ve given one “D” and a handful of “Cs,” but most of the teams got a “B” grade and I’ll explain why.
Firstly, anybody tossing out consistent bad grades is just full of shit. None of us know how any of this is going to play out. All of our grades come from our perceptions of these guys as college players and no one, especially not me, looked at all the tape and reviewed all the players in this draft. The legit fact is, there are going to be undrafted free agents better than about a third of the first-rounders taken in this draft. There’s going to be a sixth round pick that might turn out to be the best guy at his position in the NFL.
Antonio Brown was a sixth round pick in the same draft Dez Bryant and Demaryius Thomas went in the first round, Golden Tate in the second and Emmanuel Sanders and Eric Decker in the third and he’s better than all of them. There were a shitload of other wideouts taken in that draft ahead of Brown and they’re no longer in the league. You can’t even give the Steelers all the credit for seeing Brown’s talents because they’re the team that took Sanders (a good NFL wide receiver) three rounds before Brown.
You just don’t know how a player with NFL talent, especially raw NFL talent, is going to respond to pro coaching. One of those guys taken ahead of Brown, Arrelious Benn (taken high in the second round) , is still in the league. He’s caught 64 passes for 978 yards and six touchdowns in his entire career. Brown does that kind of work in half a season. Did anybody expect that when he was drafted?
So with that in mind, I’m an easy grader.
San Francisco 49ers
The Haul: Round 1: Solomon Thomas, DE, Stanford, Round 1: Reuben Foster, LB, Alabama, Round 3: Ahkello Witherspoon, CB, Colorado, Round 3: C.J. Beathard, QB, Iowa, Round 4: Joe Williams, RB, Utah, Round 5: George Kittle, TE, Iowa, Round 5: Trent Taylor, WR, Louisiana Tech, Round 6: D.J. Jones, DT, Ole Miss, Round 6: Pita Taumoepenu, OLB, Utah, Round 7: Adrian Colbert, CB, Miami
Grade: B+
The 49ers were handed the keys to this draft by the Chicago Bears and, I’ve got to say, didn’t do a lot with it. Thomas and Foster are both day one starters and outstanding picks. I’ve said many times that Foster is probably the best defensive player in this entire draft and to grab him with a trade into the bottom of the first round for your second round pick and a late rounder is a pretty sweet deal.
Looking at this draft, it’s easy to see where the 49ers went wrong. They picked for need instead of the best player available. Sometimes that’s not a bad strategy, but San Francisco has so many gaping holes on this team and should be in a full rebuild mode. Taking the actual best player available would have been the better option. C.J. Beathard, who I like a lot, was a real reach with their compensatory pick in the third round. Not only would Beathard probably be available later, there were plenty of other quarterbacks to choose from at that point.
With all that being said, the 49ers at least have the bodies now, especially at corner, with which to build something.
Seattle Seahawks
The Haul: Round 2: Malik McDowell, DT, Michigan State, Round 2: Ethan Pocic, Center, LSU, Round 3: Shaquill Griffin, CB, Central Florida, Round 3: Delano Hill, Safety, Michigan, Round 3: Nazair Jones, DT, UNC, Round 3: Amara Darboh, WR, Michigan, Round 4: Tedric Thompson, Safety, Colorado, Round 6: Michael Tyson, Safety, Cincinnati, Round 6: Justin Senior, OT, Mississippi State, Round 7: David Moore, WR, East Central, Round 7: Christopher Carson, RB, Oklahoma State
Grade: B+
The Seahawks, like the Green Bay Packers, managed to trade out of the first round and still end up with a first round talent. In Seattle’s case, it’s Malik McDowell who was an absolute highway robbery to get in the second round. In any other year, Pocic probably would have sneaked into the first round too, so getting him late in the second is damn fine board work.
Seattle usually works the draft pretty well, finding quality players that other teams miss. The pick that makes this draft, to me, is Darboh in the third round. He is a potential first-year starter if called into service, but will definitely find a role in the offense early.
Arizona Cardinals
The Haul: Round 1: Haasan Reddick, OLB, Temple, Round 2: Budda Baker, Safety, Washington, Round 3: Chad Williams, WR, Grambling State, Round 4: Dorian Johnson, OG, Pittsburgh, Round 5: Will Holden, OT, Vanderbilt, Round 5: T.J. Logan, RB, UNC, Round 6: Rudy Ford, Safety, Auburn
Grade: B
I honestly don’t know what kind of long game Bruce Arians is playing, but to specifically avoid drafting a quarterback again, when he had a shot at everyone except Deshuan Watson, Patrick Mahomnes and Mitchell Trubisky, is kind of insane. Carson Palmer is basically year-to-year and though the team has won with Drew Stanton before, how can he keep rolling the dice when they’ve only made the playoffs once in the last three seasons?
Now, that being said, Arizona got two stars in the first two rounds. I think Chad Williams was a reach in the third and there were better wideouts on the board, but the kid has speed and a lot of exciting tools. Arians even got himself an offensive toy to play with in T.J. Logan in round five. Holden is a potential starter down the road at right tackle.
Los Angeles Rams
The Haul: Round 2: Gerald Everett, TE, South Alabama, Round 3: Cooper Kupp, WR, Eastern Washington, Round 3: John Johnson, Safety, Boston College, Round 4: Josh Reynolds, WR, Texas A&M, Round 4: Samson Ebukam, OLB, Eastern Washington, Round 6: Tanzel Smart, DT, Tulane, Round 6: Sam Rogers, FB, Virginia Tech, Round 7: Ejuan Price, DE, Pittsburgh
Grade: C+
Part of this grade isn’t the current Rams regime’s fault. Trading away this year’s first round pick for Jared Goff last season might still pay off now that Sean McVay is the head coach, but giving up what would have been a No. 5 pick this season and basically Deshaun Watson (if you didn’t already have a quarterback) grades this draft down.
Gerald Everett was the No. 2 tight end on plenty of boards, so that’s a solid second round pick and he’ll probably start immediately. Kupp is a player a lot of scouts were enamored with. I didn’t care much for his tape in comparisons with other receivers and didn’t have him in my Top 10. Apparently when McVay met him he was impressed with his intelligence and football knowledge. If he becomes a taller, more physical Julian Edelman, he’ll be worth every bit of a third round pick.
My favorite pick of this entire Rams draft though is Josh Reynolds in the fourth. I completely whiffed on this kid in my pre-draft scouting. He looks like every bit like a No. 1 outside wide receiver and could very well be the Antonio Brown of this draft.
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