Biggest Winners: New York Jets
Saying the Jets won the draft has basically become a recurring bit at this point. Through some combination of bad coaching and their immense institutional stink they'll probably fuck up the careers of many of the players I'm praising them for selecting, but as I sit here on April 27th, 2026, I can't deny how smitten I am with their draft haul. Trading away a pair of cornerstone players in Quinnen Williams and Sauce Gardner in the middle of last season gave them the space to aggressively add players to help serve as the foundation for their latest rebuilding effort and they used their stockpile of picks brilliantly. Their trio of 1st round picks (David Bailey, Kenyon Sadiq, Omar Cooper Jr.) should all be in line to start Week 1 as long they don't get hurt or completely eat shit during camp, D'Angelo Ponds is a feisty slot corner who should bring some much-needed toughness and ball skills to a porous secondary that pulled off the astonishing feat of nabbing 0 INT's last season, Darrell Jackson Jr. has an enticing strength/size combo that could allow him to emerge as a valuable depth piece in their overhauled interior defensive line room and lastly, they wisely opted to select a clear developmental QB prospect on Day 3 in Cade Klubnik instead of pushing their chips in to select a boom-or-bust prospect in Ty Simpson in Round 1.
Honorable Mentions: Carolina Panthers, Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens
Biggest Losers: Jacksonville Jaguars
Swinging a deal for Travis Hunter last year put the Jaguars in a bit of a precarious position in this year's draft as they didn't make a pick until the bottom of the 2nd round and I feel like they really mismanaged the relatively limited capital they did have. Using their initial pick on an unpolished 25-year-old tight end in Nate Boerkircher who was widely projected as a 4th or 5th round pick when they could've grabbed a potential starting inside linebacker in Anthony Hill Jr. instead was a total head-scratcher and things didn't get much better when they reached for nose tackle Albert Regis and safety Jalen Huskey in the 3rd round. Their wacky dart throw mentality carried into Day 3 when they selected Duke edge rusher Wesley Williams, another raw tight end in Tanner Koziol and projected UDFA C.J. Williams-who was ranked the #82 WR in The Athletic writer Dane Brugler's aptly named colossal draft guide The Beast. If not for the selection of hard-nosed guard Emmanuel Pregnon and hyperathletic wide receiver/return specialist Josh Cameron, I'd having nothing good to say about the Jags class at all.
Dishonorable Mentions: Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots
Best Value Pick: Dillon Thieneman to the Bears (25th overall)
Some great luck with the board allowed the Bears to add an incredibly exciting young player to their safety room that has plenty of vacancies following a mass exodus of vets that suited up for them in 2025 via free agency last month without having to move up from #25. Thieneman has the range and versatility to handle a variety of different assignments (box safety, single high safety, slot corner, etc.) and his nose for the ball should really endear him to DC Dennis Allen.
Honorable Mentions: Omar Cooper Jr. to the Jets (30th overall), Emmanuel McNeil-Warren to the Browns (58th overall), Kayden McDonald to the Texans (36th overall)
Worst Value Pick: Peter Woods to the Chiefs (29th overall)
I really like how the Chiefs attacked this draft with one big exception. Finding an interior defensive line piece to pair with Chris Jones was a big need for KC, I just don't think Woods has a strong shot of thriving in the NFL. He's coming off a very underwhelming final season at Clemson where the explosiveness that made him a projected top 10 pick at this time last year didn't show up very often and unless that special level of burst magically returns now that he's exited the presence of Dabo Swinney, his run game deficiencies and light arsenal of pass rushing moves are going to cause him to struggle to make a meaningful impact at this level.
Dishonorable Mentions: Caleb Banks to the Vikings (18th overall), Jadarian Price to the Seahawks (32nd overall), Nate Boerkircher to the Jaguars (56th overall)
Draft Grades:(https://www.nfl.com/news/2026-nfl-draft-final-snap-grades-for-every-team)
Arizona Cardinals: B
Atlanta Falcons: B
Baltimore Ravens: A-
Buffalo Bills: B+
Carolina Panthers: A
Chicago Bears: B+
Cincinnati Bengals: B
Cleveland Browns: A-
Dallas Cowboys: B+
Denver Broncos: B+
Detroit Lions: B+
Green Bay Packers: B
Houston Texans: B
Indianapolis Colts: B
Jacksonville Jaguars: C-
Kansas City Chiefs: A-
Las Vegas Raiders: B+
Los Angeles Chargers: B
Los Angeles Rams: B-
Miami Dolphins: B
Minnesota Vikings: B-
New England Patriots: B-
New Orleans Saints: B+
New York Giants: B
New York Jets: A
Philadelphia Eagles: B+
Pittsburgh Steelers: B+
San Francisco 49ers: B
Seattle Seahawks: B-
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: A-
Tennessee Titans: B+
Washington Commanders: B
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