Just a quick primer before we get into the AFC South Draft Grades. If you haven’t checked out the other draft summaries, here’s my quick guide. To get at least a “B,” an NFL team must select Day One starters with their first and second round picks. Projects count against your grade because there’s no guarantee those guys will ever develop into professional players. This is why the term “draft bust” was invented.
An NFL starter is an elite player, which is why selecting at least two is worth a B, regardless of how else a team’s draft falls. It’s stealing guys in later rounds that end up in the starting line up that boost the grades up into “A” territory.
Houston Texans
The haul: Justin Reid, Safety, Stanford (Round 3, Pick 68), Martinas Rankin, Center, Mississippi State (Round 3, Pick 80), Jordan Akins, TE, Central Florida (Round 3, Pick 98), Keke Coutee, WR, Texas Tech (Round 4, Pick 103), Duke Ejiofor, DE, Wake Forest (Round 6, Pick 211), Jordan Thomas, TE, Mississippi State (Round 6, Pick 211), Peter Kalambayi, OLB, Stanford (Round 6, Pick 214), Jermaine Kelly, CB, San Jose State (Round 7, Pick 222)
Grade: C-
With no first or second round picks to make, the deck was stacked against the Texans on getting above a “C.” Still, Houston didn’t do too bad with its picks. Reid is a Day One starter that I can’t believe was available in the third round. Rankin could eventually end up in the starting line up too, but not for a while and maybe not for a season. The rest of this draft looks like back ups, role players and bodies.
Indianapolis Colts
The haul: Quenton Nelson, OG, Notre Dame, Darius Leonard, OLB, South Carolina State (Round 2, Pick 36), Braden Smith, OG, Auburn (round 2, Pick 37), Kemoko Turay, OLB, Rutgers (Round 2, Pick 52), Tyquan Lewis, DE, Ohio State (Round 2, Pick 64), Nyheim Hines, RB, N.C. State (Round 4, Pick 104), Daurice Fountain, WR, Northern Iowa (Round 5, Pick 159), Jordan Wilkins, RB, Ole Miss (Round 5, Pick 169), Deon Cain, WR, Clemson (Round 6, Pick 185), Matthew Adams, LB, Houston (Round 7, Pick 221), Zaire Franklin, LB, Syracuse (Round 7, Pick 235)
Grade: D+
This is an absolutely terrible draft from the Colts. Nelson was a no-brainer pick in the first and one they had to make to keep Andrew Luck upright. What drags the grade down is not one, not two, but three project picks taken in the second round. I can’t see a single one of the players taken by Indy in Round Two starting or playing significant snaps this season. All have potential, obviously, but I don’t grade on my (or a GM’s) imagination. Until the guy puts it on the field, it’s all pretend. With so many picks, the Colts did absolutely nothing interesting until taking Deon Cain in the sixth. He could end up starting before the year’s out opposite T.Y. Hilton, especially with the garbage Indianapolis has on the roster at that position.
Jacksonville Jaguars
The haul: Taven Bryan, DT, Florida (Round 1, Pick 29), D.J. Chark, WR, LSU (Round 2, Pick 61), Ronnie Harrison, Safety, Alabama (Round 3, Pick 93), Will Richardson, OT, N.C. State (Round 4, Pick 129), Tanner Lee, QB, Nebraska (Round 6, Pick 203), Leon Jacobs, DE, Wisconsin (round 7, Pick 230), Logan Cooke, Punter, Mississippi State (Round 7, Pick 247)
Grade: B+
Bryan falling all the way to 29 shocked me, but the Jaguars made sure he wouldn’t get any further than that. Chark is an interesting prospect, but like I said earlier, I don’t reward “projects” taken in the first or second rounds, even a guy that runs a 4.34 40. What boosts this grade up to “B+” territory is landing Ronnie Harrison in the third, a crazy value pick that should start the opening game. I also like Will Richardson at offensive tackle a lot. I don’t think he’s so much a project, but a guy that could be starting at one of the tackle spots before year’s end.
Tennessee Titans
The haul: Rashaan Evans, OLB, Alabama (Round 1, Pick 22), Harold Landry, OLB, Boston College (Round 2, Pick 41), Dane Cuikshank, Safety, Arizona (Round 5, Pick 152), Luke Falk, QB, Washington State (Round 6, Pick 199)
Grade: B
The Titans show exactly how a “B” draft grade is acquired. Outside the first two rounds, they had only two more picks and did absolutely nothing of interest with them. In the first two rounds, however, Tennessee absolutely killed it. Evans and Landry are both potential superstars and perfect fits in the Titans’ 3-4. It didn’t matter if they flushed their final picks. They aced the first two.
