Biggest Winners: Denver Broncos
Despite their struggles in 2017, it was pretty apparent that the Broncos were a team that needed to be retooled, not rebuilt and John Elway's moves in the draft reflected that line of thinking. Elway's strategy was a nice combination of addressing needs (running back Royce Freeman, inside linebacker Josey Jewell, tight end Troy Fumagalli) and adding depth/youth at their position of strengths (edge rusher Bradley Chubb, wide receivers Cortland Sutton and DaeSean Hamilton, cornerback Isaac Yiadom)-all while consistently getting good value throughout the draft. He also deserves credit for not feeling pressured to take a quarterback with the 5th overall pick, despite their abundance of woes at the position over the past 2 seasons. Free agent acquisition Case Keenum deserves a shot to prove his solid 2017 season with the Vikings wasn't a fluke and a well-rounded front 7 player like Chubb is a surer bet to help them get back on track after a miserable 5-11 2017 campaign than any of the QB's remaining on the board would've been.
Honorable Mentions: Green Bay Packers, New York Giants, Chicago Bears
Biggest Losers: Buffalo Bills
The Bills shocked the football world in 2017 by clinching their 1st playoff berth in 18 years. In his inaugural draft as the front office's shot caller, GM Brandon Beane did everything in his power to ensure it will be another 18 before they get back. While they made a couple of nice value picks (defensive tackle Harrison Phillips, guard Wyatt Teller) in the middle rounds, the rest of their draft was a head-scratching clusterfuck. Beane kicked things off with a bang by trading ahead of 3 teams that have their quarterback situations for at least the immediate future nailed down (Bears, 49ers, Raiders) to take 1x 2nd Team All-Mountain West selection Josh Allen, who surely won't be the next Jamarcus Russell or Josh Freeman, 7th overall. Naturally, he followed up that baffling move by using the team's other 1st round pick to trade up to #16 and take another wildly unpolished prospect in Virginia Tech inside linebacker Tremaine Edmunds. Day 3 didn't offer much solace from this unnecessary dice roll extravaganza as they spent most of their remaining resources on defensive backs from D1-A schools (Taron Johnson, Siran Neal) and receivers (Ray-Ray McCloud,Austin Proehl) who slipped through the cracks at ACC powerhouse programs. Those beautiful degenerate bastards in Bills Mafia deserve better than this and if I were a diehard fan of this seemingly cursed organization, I'd be livid with these drastic, poorly thought-out moves.
Dishonorable Mentions: San Francisco 49ers, Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders
Best Value Pick: Derwin James, safety (Selected 17th overall by the Los Angeles Chargers)
As I mentioned in my Mock Draft piece last week, every year has a player that slides for no legitimate reason at all. In 2018, that man was Derwin James. The Florida State product has the versatility, instincts and coverage skills to potentially be a godsend for a Chargers secondary that is a playmaking safety away from being an elite unit.
Honorable Mentions: Josh Jackson, cornerback (Selected 45th overall by the Green Bay Packers), Connor Williams, tackle/guard (Selected 50th overall by the Dallas Cowboys), Will Hernandez, guard (Selected 34th overall by the New York Giants)
Worst Value Pick: Josh Allen, quarterback (Selected 7th overall by the Buffalo Bills)
Spending a top 10 pick on a quarterback that boasts as many on-field red flags as Allen is downright reckless. If you look past his ability to throw a ball 10,000 yards through the air, you'd see a guy that struggled with accuracy, decisionmaking and consistency at the University of Wyoming, which isn't exactly a powerhouse in the world of college football. I'll be stunned if the contingent of Bills fans that were calling for Tyrod Taylor's head over the last few seasons aren't wishing he was still under center by mid-October when Allen has repeatedly skied the ball over the heads of his receivers and yacked all over his cleats in crunchtime situations.
Dishonorable Mentions: Kolton Miller, tackle (Selected 15th overall by the Oakland Raiders), Tremaine Edmunds, inside linebacker (Selected 16th overall by the Buffalo Bills), Terrell Edmunds, safety (Selected 30th overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers)
10 Biggest Sleepers:
1.Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, edge rusher (Selected 160th overall by the Los Angeles Rams)
2.Tyrell Crosby, tackle/guard (Selected 153rd overall by the Detroit Lions)
3.Josey Jewell, inside linebacker (Selected 106th overall by the Denver Broncos)
4.Nick Nelson, cornerback (Selected 110th overall by the Oakland Raiders)
5.Equanemious St.Brown, wide receiver (Selected 207th overall by the Green Bay Packers)
6.Duke Ejiofor, edge rusher (Selected 177th overall by the Houston Texans)
7.Tim Settle, defensive tackle (Selected 163rd overall by the Washington Redskins)
8.Wyatt Teller, guard (Selected 166th overall by the Buffalo Bills)
9.Parry Nickerson, cornerback (Selected 179th overall by the New York Jets)
10.DeShon Elliott, safety (Selected 190th overall by the Baltimore Ravens)
10 Biggest Potential Busts:
1.Josh Allen, quarterback (Selected 7th overall by the Buffalo Bills)
2.Tremaine Edmunds, inside linebacker (Selected 16th overall by the Buffalo Bills)
3.Terrell Edmunds, safety (Selected 30th overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers)
4.Kolton Miller, tackle (Selected 15th overall by the Oakland Raiders)
5.Hayden Hurst, tight end (Selected 25th overall by the Baltimore Ravens)
6.Dante Pettis, wide receiver (Selected 44th overall by the San Francisco 49ers)
7.Darius Leonard, linebacker (Selected 36th overall by the Indianapolis Colts)
8.Breeland Speaks, edge rusher (Selected 46th overall by the Kansas City Chiefs)
9.Christian Kirk, wide receiver (Selected 47th overall by the Arizona Cardinals)
10.Duke Dawson, cornerback (Selected 56th overall by the New England Patriots)
Overall Grades:
(Full draft classes can be found here: www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000930225/article/2018-nfl-draft-final-quicksnap-grades-for-all-32-teams)
Arizona Cardinals: B
Atlanta Falcons: B
Baltimore Ravens: B+
Buffalo Bills: D+
Carolina Panthers: B
Chicago Bears: A-
Cincinnati Bengals: B+
Cleveland Browns: B+
Dallas Cowboys: B+
Denver Broncos: A
Detroit Lions: B
Green Bay Packers: A
Houston Texans: B+
Indianapolis Colts: B-
Jacksonville Jaguars: B+
Kansas City Chiefs: C+
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: A-
New York Jets: B
Oakland Raiders: C+
Philadelphia Eagles: B
Pittsburgh Steelers: B
San Francisco 49ers: C
Seattle Seahawks: B
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: B+
Tennessee Titans: B
Washington Redskins: B
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