The grades are in … The one thing we have learned in this business is that you really can’t grade a draft until at least deep into its first year of play in the NFL and that it may actually take several seasons. And that was confirmed big-time last year, for example, when Detroit’s draft was generally being panned and it did was produce a handful of pro bowlers that helped out mightily in getting the Lions to their first conference championship game in over three decades. That said, those at a higher pay grade than ours here and here and here and here have taken at a shot of giving out preliminary grades to last weekend’s picks, but they don’t mean a whole heckuva lot. We will say, though, that we did particularly like what several teams did this past weekend including Arizona, Philadelphia, Chicago, Jacksonville and the LA Rams; however, give us a shout back sometime around November 1st and we’ll talk more!
The other thing we also advise readers is that when it is time to actually evaluate team’s 2024 drafts, don’t conflate grades. The grades today are simply who made good picks based on the consensus of where those players were rated on boards around the league. On the other hand, the grades 2-3 years down the road will be based on which players actually worked out or didn’t. And there really isn’t much connection between the two. Good picks bust and bad picks turn into stars and how that works in reality is 98% luck and the rest is pure chance.
