All the cards have been turned in. All the tears cried, the hugs hugged and the uncles have all put in their pitch to become new financial advisers. Yes, the 2018 NFL Draft officially wrapped up and, as we always do, it’s time to put some arbitrary grades on each team’s draft selections.
We start, as we always do, with the AFC East.
Buffalo Bills
The haul: Josh Allen, QB, Wyoming (Round 1, Pick 7), Tremaine Edmunds, ILB, Virginia Tech (Round 1, Pick 16), Harrison Phillips, DT, Stanford (Round 3, Pick 96), Taron Johnson, CB, Weber State (Round 4, Pick 121), Siran Neal, Safety, Jacksonville State (Round 5, Pick 154), Wyatt Teller, OG, Virginia Tech (Round 5, Pick 166), Ray-Ray McCloud, WR, Clemson (Round 6, Pick 187), Austin Proehl, WR, North Carolina (Round 7, Pick 255)
Grade: A-
I’ve gone on record that I don’t like Josh Allen as a first rounder or a potential franchise quarterback. I’m apparently in the minority. Allen was high on plenty of team’s draft boards and the Bills didn’t have to do anything to crazy on draft day to land him. I love the Edmunds pick with their second first-round selection. He was one of my favorite players in this draft. Phillips has tons of upside as a third rounder and looks like a starter to me. Lastly, I love the Austin Proehl pick in the seventh. His dad, Ricky, was the unsung hero of the then St. Louis Rams’ Greatest Show on Turf. With Allen, Edmunds and Phillips, Buffalo landed three starters and may have found another with Ray-Ray McCloud in the sixth.
Miami Dolphins
The haul: Minkah Fitzpatrick, Safety, Alabama (Round 1, Pick 11), Mike Gesicki, TE, Penn State (Round 2, Pick 42), Jerome Baker, OLB, Ohio State (Round 3, Pick 73), Durham Smythe, TE, Notre Dame (Round 4, Pick 123), Kelen Ballaqe, RB, Arizona State (Round 4, Pick 131), Cornell Armstrong, CB, Southern Miss (Round 6, Pick 209), Quentin Poling, LB, Ohio (Round 7, Pick 227), Jason Saunders, Kicker, New Mexico (Round 7, Pick 229)
Grade: B-
The goal for every team on draft day has to be to add sure-fire starters with their first and second round picks and try to steal one with the later selections. Miami aced the first part of that goal. Fitzpatrick and Gesicki are both Day One starters and Fitzpatrick is a potential superstar. The rest of their draft doesn’t excite me and I’m curious why Saunders was such a value as a seventh rounder when he likely would have been available as an undrafted free agent.
New England Patriots
The haul: Isaiah Wynn, OT, Georgia (Round 1, Pick 23), Sony Michel, RB, Georgia (Round 1, Pick 31), Duke Dawson, CB, Florida (Round 2, Pick 56), Ja’Whaun Bentley, ILB, Purdue (Round 5, Pick 143), Christian Sam, ILB, Arizona State (Round 6, Pick 178), Braxton Berrios, WR, Miami (Round 6, Pick 210), Danny Etling, QB, LSU (Round 7, Pick 219), Keion Corssen, CB, Western Carolina (Round 7, Pick 243), Ryan Izzo, TE, Florida State (Round 7, Pick 250)
Grade: B-
As other teams reach and pray, the Patriots just keep on being the Patriots and this draft is the perfect example of that playing out. For the first time in a long while, New England didn’t trade out of the first round. Instead, they took their starting left tackle and new starting running back in the first and landed their starting nickle corner in the second. I’m not sure why New England waited around so long to take a QB and I doubt Etling will turn into anything other than a back up. And maybe not one with a long career.
New York Jets
The haul: Sam Darnold, QB, USC (Round 1, Pick 3), Nathan Shepherd, DT, Fort Hays State (Round 3, Pick 72), Chris Herndon, TE, Miami (Round 4, Pick 107), Parry Nickerson, CB, Tulane (Round 6, Pick 179), Foley Fatukasi, DT, UConn (Round 6, Pick 180), Trenton Cannon, RB, Virginia State (Round 6, Pick 204)
Grade: C+
Darnold was the No. 2 quarterback on my rankings and, as you know if you’ve been following along through the draft process, ranking QBs is something I’m pretty good at. What keeps the Jets from getting any higher than a C+ is the lack of standout picks down the line. All these guys look like role players, depth and back ups to me.
