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Friday, May 1, 2015

NFL Draft 1st Rd Grades

Not the most exciting draft but there were some interesting choices and picks that told us a lot more about what teams think.
First Round

1) Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Jameis Winston, QB, Florida State | No surprise here, I think Jameis can start day 1 and I have no qualms about it. Grade: A

2) Tennessee Titans | Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon | I think Mariota can be a franchise quarterback and it appears the Titans are in agreement. Personally I think Mariota would be greatly helped by a year at the 2 spot on the depth chart to cleam up some technical things but going number might limit that. Grade: A


3) Jacksonville Jaguars Dante Fowler Jr, Edge, Florida | Right slot, wrong team but a predictable pick Fowler was the highest rated Edge player on most boards. I'm not as high on him as most but I don't think it's an outrageous pick. Grade: C+

4) Oakland Raiders | Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama | I would have taken Leonard Williams or Vic Beasley to build my defense around with Mack, that being said I think Cooper gives Carr a steady and talented young option on the outside. Grade: B-


5) Washington Redskins | | Brandon Scherff, OL, Iowa | I like Scherff, he's a hard nosed lineman with good power conversion and technique. I had Scherff going to the Redskins in a trade a mock back but I think five is a little high for a player who might be forced to move inside. Grade: C+


6) New York Jets | Leonard Williams, DL, USC | If not for later incidents I might have declared this the best value pick of the round, but all things considered it was a great value. The only negative is I'm not sure where he fits in along the line. Grade: A-

7) Chicago Bears | Kevin White, WR, West Virginia | With Cooper going to Oakland, and Williams headed to the Jets one pick before the Bears went with Kevin White out of West Virginia. White gives the Bears a replacement for Marshall who can stretch the field vertically and will pair up well with Jeffery. Grade: A


8) Atlanta Falcons | Vic Beasley, Edge, Clemson | Another pick where I got the slot right but the team wrong. Beasley is my favorite Edge player in the draft and will be an immediate improvement over everything the Falcons have on the roster. Dan Quinn got himself an asset. Grade: A

9) New York Giants | Ereck Flowers, OT, Miami (FL) | I hate this pick, Eli is losing mobility and well... this. Grade: D


10) St. Louis Rams | Todd Gurley, RB, Georgia | The Rams shocked everyone by taking Gurley here when they needed line help, receiver help and DB help. Gurley joins Tre Mason from last year and Zac Stacy (already requested a trade.). I love Gurley and think he's the only back worth a first round pick but I'm just not sold on the Rams picking him for a myriad of reasons. Grade: C+


11) Minnesota Vikings | Trae Waynes , CB, Michigan State | The Vikings hit an area of need at CB with the pick of Trae Waynes. That being said I think Peters is a better talent, Parker (WR) would have been a bigger impact and Waynes is gonna need a lot of work. All that being said Zimmer is a hell of a defensive coach and that's at least a ray of hope for Vikings fans. Grade: C

12) Cleveland Browns | Danny Shelton, NT, Washington | Shelton is a big body who does a good job of clogging up the middle. Shelton needs to be more consistent with his burst and disruption but he should slot into a rotation with Phil Taylor early at worst and should be a building block for that defense. Grade: B-


13) New Orleans Saints | Andrus Peat, OT, Stanford | I hit this one on the head and that's awesome. I was in Draft Town for the first round and this pick surprised a bunch of people. I think Peat challenges Terron Armstead for the LT job and the two will pair up as bookends for the end of the Brees era. Grade: B+


14) Miami Dolphins | DeVante Parker, WR, Louisville | Parker slides a few picks farther than I thought he would. Parker is a very good receiver who missed time last season with injuries. Parker should pair well with the current arrangement of Dolphins receivers and if they want they can ease him in with the talent on the field. Grade: A-


Trade: San Diego trades up to 15 from San Francisco for 17, 117 and a 2016 5th round pick. | San Diego felt like they needed to jump the Texans for the player they wanted but it was a steep price to pay. SF moves down a couple picks, gets a fifth this year and next and still got their guy. Grades: SD C+ | SF B+
15) San Diego Chargers (From San Francisco) | Melvin Gordon, RB, Wisconsin | I like Melvin Gordon having watched him at Wisconsin every week, the man can play. That being said, Gordon doesn't have the burst to be the playmaker that is needed and his vision misses too often. That all being said I think Gordon is a starter for the Chargers for the next 4-5 years and a consistently good threat. Grade: C+

16) Houston Texans | Kevin Johnson, CB, Wake Forest | The Texans were in an interesting position, the top two backs off the board, Bud Dupree and Marcus Peters still there and they went with Kevin Johnson. Johnson may be the most pro-ready corner in this draft even if he lacks a touch of the athleticism. Johnson is a solid pick but noone is gonna go ga ga over it. Grade: B-


17) San Francisco 49ers (From San Diego) | Arik Armstead, DL, Oregon | Armstead was down my big board a bit coming into the draft but he's a 6'7" 5 tech with good body control and if there's a player type San Fran can mold it should be him. Justin Smith isn't long for the NFL and has been contemplating retirement which means Armstead is a good value and need pick for the 49ers. Grade: B+


18) Kansas City Chiefs | Marcus Peters, CB, Washington | Peters has off the field issues including his dismissal from the Washington program last year for an incident with a coach. That all being said Peters is probably the best corner in the draft and the most athletic of the top guys. Peters will need to show he can conform to a team environment but he's in a good place to showcase his talent. Grade: B+

19) Cleveland Browns (From Buffalo) | Cameron Erving, C, Florida State | Cleveland must have takent Mack seriously this offseason and have drafted his replacemtn. Erving was the best center in the draft and at worst should be the sixth lineman this year before taking over at C. Grade: A-

20) Philadelphia Eagles | Nelson Agholor, WR, USC | This one pissed off every Eagles fan around me and I'd feel bad if they didn't act like assholes. I don't mind the pick, I was higher on Agholor than most. I think he's a consistent catcher with better than average athleticism and feel for the game. I also think you can get similar on day 2. Grade: C+

21) Cincinnati Bengals | Cedric Ogbuehi, OT, Texas A&M | Ogbuehi was high on most boards coming into the year but a shaky start at LT and then injury put him farther down the boards. Ogbuehi put up his best film when he played RT so I assume he was drafted to replace Andre Smith and we killed that pick too. Grade: C

22) Pittsburgh Steelers | Bud Dupree, Edge, Kentucky | Dupree fell on boards for whatever reason. I don't have much bad to say other than the Steelers got a top 10 talent, at least athlete, at 22. Grade: A-

Trade: Denver trades up to 23 from Detroit for 28, 143, a 2016 5th round pick and Manny Ramirez. | Denver wanted to get a piece for their defense so they moved up 5 spots, but they gave up a bunch. Three picks like the Chargers but also Manny Ramirez a starter from last year. It all adds up to a pretty big price to pay. Grades: DEN D | DET A

23) Denver Broncos (From Detroit) | Shane Ray, Edge, Missouri | I said I wouldn't be all that harsh on whomever drafted Shane Ray but that was before the Broncos shipped a shit ton to Detroit for the right to pick him. We've addressed Ray's issues before and I don't doubt the Broncos like him but... yeah, that's a lot to give up. Grade: D

24) Arizona Cardinals | D.J. Humphries, OT, Florida | Humprhies was talked about in the top 15 discussion but slipped to here. I wasn't as high on him but I can see what other see in him and where we were in the draft you got a pretty wide range of players with similar grades. Grade: B-

25) Carolina Panthers | Shaq Thompson, OBLB, Washington | One of the surprises of the draft, the linebacking corps should be pretty scary but the DBs leave something to be desired and the offensive line is pretty meh. Grade: C+

26) Baltimore Ravens | Breshad Perriman, WR, UCF | What can I say good value, perfect Torrey replacement and the only way it could have been better is if they traded down. Grade: A-

27) Dallas Cowboys | Byron Jones, CB, UCONN | Clear need, an athletic freak, but needs to stay healthy and be put in the proper position to succeed at the next level. Grade: B

28) Detroit Lions (From Denver) | Laken Tomlinson, OG, Duke | Tomlinson was the best guard in the draft and the Lions had a need on the interior of their offensive line but with talent like Malcolm Brown out there I'm not sure that this was the value or player they should have drafted. He does seem like a great human being however. Grade: C+

29) Indianapolis Colts | Phillip Dorsett, WR, Miami (FL) | I have mixed opinions I like Dorsett but every pick between now and the Patriots is skewed because you passed on the second best DT in the draft. Dorsett should be a nice addition but may be a bit redundant. Grade: C

30) Green Bay Packers | Damarious Randall, S, Arizona State | I trust Ted but, really!?!? that was the decision. Randall seems likea Micah Hyde redux and that's a useful player but Guilon and Raji are on one year contracts. That means Malcolm Brown would have been both useful and great value.

31) New Orleans Saints (From Seattle) | Stephone Anthony, ILB, Clemson | Second pick, didn't really need inside d-line help, but Anthony probably would have been available in the second. Grade: C

32) New England Patriots | Malcolm Brown, DT, Texas | Fucking Pats have one of the 15-20 best prospects in the draft at the end of the first round of a shallow draft. FUCK. Grade: A+


Much less movement round 1, will have second round info up before it begins.

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