With the draft coming to an end we’ve all had time to reflect on the events of the past few days and curse under our breaths at how poorly our favorite teams did.
This was a deep draft and a difficult one to screw up. That didn’t stop some teams and it never does. But what came as a surprise is how the script seemed to flip. Teams you’d expect to do better seemed to whiff all through the draft while perennial bottom feeders nearly rebuilt their teams.
I’m going through and gradeing everybody’s draft haul in alphabetical order. As always, you are welcome.
Arizona Cardinals
The haul: Robert Nkemdiche, DT, Ole Miss – Round one, Brandon Williams, CB, Texas A&M – Round three, Evan Boehm, Center, Missouri – Round four, Marqui Christian, Safety, Midwestern State – Round 5, Cole Toner, OT – Harvard, Harlan Miller, CB – Southeastern Louisiana
Nkemdiche falling to the Cardinals at No. 30 could make their whole draft. If anyone can save him from being devoured by a pet puma it’s probably Bruce Arians. They made solid, base-hit picks for most of the draft, but Boehm in the fourth round and Toner in the fifth will be major additions that should show up on the field before the end of the year. The head scratcher in this crew is Maqui Christian, who was completely off my radar so to see his name show up in the fifth round, of all places, was a legit surprise. Getting Brandon Williams in round three could end up feeling like a steal in a couple of years.
Grade: B
Atlanta Falcons
The haul: Keanu Neal, Safety, Florida – Round one, Deion Jones, OLB, LSU – Round two, Austin Hooper, TE, Stanford – Round three, De’Vondre Campbell, OLB, Minnesota – Round four, Wed Schweitzer, OG, San Jose State – Round six, Devin Fuller, WR, UCLA – Round seven
There was a run on safeties in this draft thanks to so many ex-Seahawks coaches landed all over the league. Falcons coach Dan Quinn tried to get his man with Neal and reall, he’s the key to the eventual success of the entire draft. If he doesn’t turn into a star, he’ll be an overpaid reach. Jones was a great pick in round two, fits a need and should work his way into the starting line up quickly. My favorite pick of this bunch is Hooper in the third. If all he turns into is Coby Fleenor he’ll be a real contributor on offense on a team that needs to get a tight in the offensive mix.
Grade: C
Baltimore Ravens
The haul: Ronnie Stanley, OT, Notre Dame – Round one, Kamalea Correa, DE/OLB, Boise State – Round two, Bronson Kaufusi, DE, BYU – Round three, Tavon Young, CB, Temple – Round four, Chris Moore, WR, Cincinnati – Round four, Alex Lewis, OT, Nebraska – Round four, Willie Henry, DT, Michigan – Round four, Kenneth Dixon, RB, Louisiana Tech – Round four, Matt Judon, DE, Grand Valley State – Round five, Keenan Reynolds, RB, Navy – Round six, Maurice Canady, CB, Virginia – Round six
There’s a reason that the Ravens’ braintrust is considered one of the best in the league and when you see this draft, there’s no question as to why they have that reputation. While they made news by removing Laremy Tunsil off their board after a video surfaced of him smoking pot in a gas mask bong, Stanley isn’t a bad consolation prize. Stanley was actually rated higher on some teams’ boards before somebody tried to sabotage Tunsil’s draft day. Correa in the second round had first-round draft grades too. In the fourth, where the Ravens had about 117 picks, they nabbed one of my favorite players in this draft, Kenneth Dixon, who should turn into a real star in the Ravens system. And if you want a story that will make your day, google everything you can find about Keenan Reynolds out of Navy. He may not be able to play for the Ravens this season, but in two years they’ll literally have a warrior on the team.
Grade: A
Next: The Bills, Panthers and Bears
“Want to give your comments about this article? You can either leave them here or you can join us on the Get More Sports Forum and talk about this article and many more! Brag about your favorite team, argue about an athlete’s performance or tell us about a game you saw. Join a new community of sports fans who live and breathe sports and sports entertainment. It’s free! Join now!”
