Draft grade shoutouts … We’ve had a couple or so days to chew over what transpired during the just completed draft and while as a general rule we don’t really like grading drafts the week of – its just too subjective and of course the real proof will when we get to see what’s actually in the pudding 2-3 years down the road – at least on paper, several teams did kind of jump out at us as we reviewed each team’s full picks starting with Seattle. The Seahawks got a really good prospect in versatile offensive lineman Grey Zabel in the first, got two very athletic prospects in the 2nd in S Nic Emmanwori and TE Elijah Arroyo, and then came away with a QB with as much pure physical talent as any in this year’s draft in Jalen Milroe in the third. The Seahawks also had an impressive 3rd day haul of 7 picks that included WRs Tory Horton and Ricky White, RB Damien Martinez, OT Bryce Cabeldue and DT Rylie Mills.
Meanwhile, other drafts that we liked in no particular order:
- Arizona got a rising star in DT Walter Nolen in the first and a potential top ten talent, if healthy, in the 2nd in CB Will Johnson, while DE Jordan Burch was a value pick in the 3rd and the Cards got 4 potentially useful players on Saturday.
- We thought New England could have traded down and still gotten a quality OT in the first, but they had a really good haul on the second day including RB Tre’veyon Henderson in the 2nd and WR Kyle Williams and C Jared Wilson in the 3rd. The Patriots also got rising DT Josh Farmer in the 4th and the best kicker in the draft in the 6th in Andres Borregales.
- The NY Jets got an underrated prospect in OT Armand Membou with the 7th pick overall and then cleaned up on Friday taking TE Mason Taylor in the 2nd and CB Az Thomas in the 3rd. They also had solid 3rd days picks including S Malachi Moore and speedy WR Arian Smith.
- Philadelphia always seems to find a way to get special players – or they find a way to the Eagles – and this year it was star LB Jihaad Campbell, a top 15-20 prospect who slipped to the end of the opening round because of injury concerns. The Eagles also got a solid player in S Andrew Mukuba in the 2nd and really cleaned up on the 3rd day adding 8 picks in rounds 4 thru 6 including athletic DT Ty Robinson in the 4th, QB Kyle McCord and DE Antwuan Rowell-Ryland, who led the country in sacks this past fall, in the 6th, along with LB Smael Mondon, the requisite former Georgia Bulldog for the Eagles in the 5th.
- We tend to be a little biased here, but we would be remiss if we didn’t include the NY Giants, who also had an outstanding draft. Indeed, a pretty good case can be made DE Abdul Carter, taken with the 3rd pick overall, was THE best player in the draft period. The Giants got another athletic defensive lineman in the 3rd in Darius Alexander, a RB – Cam Skattebo – with the potential to make Giants fans forget what’s his name in the 4th, and a very versatile G/T in the 5th in Marcus Mbow, who was actually the #1 remaining guy on our Big Board at the time. The Giants then wrapped up the day with a couple of intriguing sleeper types in TE Thomas Fidone and CB Korie Black in the 7th. That’s a pretty good draft even without factoring in QB Jaxson Dart whom the Giants traded back up into the opening to nab with the 25th pick; needless to say QBs taken that late are longshots, but Dart has the tools and the time to at least have a shot.
