2020 NFL Draft - Draft Recaps - 1st Round Recap

Alright, round 1 reactions and to be honest it wasn’t all that wild of a night.

Pick 1 – Cincinnati Bengals – Joe Burrow, QB, LSU – Grade: A

No surprise here, Cincinnati takes QB1. Burrow is more dynamic than Andy Dalton and should be able to properly utilize the Bengals weapons much more efficiently.

Pick 2 – Washington Redskins – Chase Young, Edge, Ohio State – Grade: A

Pick 3 – Detroit Lions – Jeff Okudah, CB, Ohio State – Grade: A

A pair of Ohio State defenders back to back and they’re good, solid, predictable picks. Young continues a run of insane talent drafted to Washington in the last half decade and Okudah is going to step in day one to fill a huge need for the Lions.

Pick 4 – New York Giants – Andrew Thomas, OT, Georgia – Grade: C-

I don’t hate Andrew Thomas but he was my OT6 but the Giants get a good, solid player and a three year starter in the SEC.

Pick 5 – Miami Dolphins – Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Alabama – Grade: A

Pick 6 – Los Angeles Chargers – Justin Herbert, QB, Oregon – Grade: B-

A pair of QBs go in the order they should, but no the order many expected throughout draft week. The Dolphins get a great lefty, with health concerns but astronomical upside, and the Chargers get an inconsistent but supremely gifted passer who isn’t without his own risk.

Pick 7 – Carolina Panthers – Derrick Brown, INT, Auburn – Grade: A-

I got this one right in my mock and seems to be so on brand for Hurney it hurts.

Pick 8 – Arizona Cardinals – Isaiah Simmons, OBLB, Clemson – Grade: A+

The Cards get what’s possibly the best player in the draft, and certainly the most versatile defensive player. Adding talent to that defense is always good.

Pick 9 – Jacksonville Jaguars – C.J. Henderson, CB, Miami (FL) – Grade: A-

Henderson was my CB2, and he’s a ball hawk who plays fast and aggressive. He should be the bookend to a great tandem but unfortunately Jacksonville has bungled what could have been a golden age.

Pick 10 – Cleveland Browns – Jedrick Wills Jr, OT, Alabama – Grade: A

Pick 11 – New York Jets – Mekhi Becton, OT, Louisville – Grade: A+

My top two tackles go back to back here with Cleveland finally getting their replacement for Joe Thomas with Wills who has great feet, and hands and should be able to slot in right away and help that line. Becton is a dancing bear personified and is a great addition to a Jets team that needs to keep the ghosts at bay. (Sorry Sam)

Pick 12 – Las Vegas Raiders – Henry Ruggs III, WR, Alabama – Grade: B

He’s my WR3 and would have preferred Jeudy and Lamb but Ruggs is a fine pick.

Trade: Tampa Bay gets 13 & 245, San Francisco gets 14 & 117 Grades: TB: C+, SF: A-

Pick 13 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers from San Francisco from Indianapolis – Tristan Wirfs, OT, Iowa – Grade: A

Tampa Bay gets a new bookend to keep Touchdown Tom clean and to protect the QB they’ll have to pick next season.

Pick 14 – San Francisco 49ers from Tampa Bay – Javon Kinlaw, INT, South Carolina – Grade: A

Kinlaw is a great upside grab here. Yes, there are injury concerns with Kinlaw but the 9ers get their Buckner replacement.

Pick 15 – Denver Broncos – Jerry Jeudy, WR, Alabama – Grade: A+

The top two receivers fell to the middle of the round and Denver now has a pair of receivers to help Lock transition into the starting role and the future of the Broncos.

Pick 16 – Atlanta Falcons – A.J. Terrell, CB, Clemson – Grade: B+

Much like the Ruggs pick, Terrell isn’t a bad player, but I would have preferred Igbinoghene and you could have talked me into Gladney.

Pick 17 – Dallas Cowboys – CeeDee Lamb, WR, Oklahoma – Grade: A

This does’t get an A+ only because WR certainly wasn’t a need and Cooper and Gallup are firmly entrenched.

Pick 18 – Miami Dolphins from Pittsburgh – Austin Jackson, OT, USC – Grade: A-

Miami replaces Tunsil whom they traded to Houston last season and get a young, talented, and raw prospect from USC.

Pick 19 – Las Vegas Raiders from Chicago – Damon Arnette, CB, Ohio State – Grade: C

The first major surprise of the night. Unlike Thomas at 4, Arnette wasn’t talked about in round 1 and certainly wasn’t most people’s top cornerback available. Arnette isn’t a bad player by any means, and should help improve and solidify a Raiders secondary that has seen a number of young investments under Gruden and Mayock.

Pick 20 – Jacksonville Jaguars from Los Angeles (N) – K’Lavon Chasson, Edge, LSU – Grade: B

They need an edge with Ngokue almost certainly not signing his tag or returning. Always great to make picks because you so bungled your handling of players that a draft steal refuses to play for you at the end of his contract.

Pick 21 – Philadelphia Eagles – Jalen Reagor, WR, TCU – Grade: C+

Pick 22 – Minnesota Vikings from Buffalo – Justin Jefferson, WR, LSU – Grade: C+

I don’t hate either receiver or pick, I just had multiple receivers above them, and think they’re perfectly adequate picks.

Trade: Los Angeles (A) gets 23, New Engalnd gets 37 & 71 Grades: LAC: C, NE: A

Pick 23 – Los Angeles Chargers from New England – Kenneth Murray, OBLB, Oklahoma – Grade: A+

Murray is an instinctive linebacker that would have been the top player in many draft classes. He adds another weapon to a defense that now has Bosa up front, Murray at LB, and Derwin James on the backend that should be able to flow and lay a wallop on opposing offenses.

Pick 24 – New Orleans Saints – Cesar Ruiz, OC, Michigan – Grade: C-

Ruiz is a good player, but not my top center and seems both weirdly a short-term pick and giving the adjustment time usually associated with center a multi-year pick that may not see immediate dividends for Brees, et. al.

Trade: San Francisco gets 25, Minnesota gets 31, 117, & 176 Grades: SF: C, MIN: A

Pick 25 – San Francisco 49ers from Minnesota – Brandon Aiyuk, WR, Arizona State – Grade: A

Trade: Green Bay gets 26, Miami gets 30 & 136 Grades: GB: C+, MIN: A-

Pick 26 – Green Bay Packers from Miami from Houston – Jordan Love, QB, Utah State – Grade: C+

Oooooh boy this was not a popular move, it looks towards the future as the Packers are in a good place to take advantage of the end of Rodgers career, it gave up a not insignificant pick, and doesn’t immediately help the team. Then there’s the very real boom bust potential of Love and you have a risky move that doesn’t do much to help a QB that hasn’t received the benefits of a first-round skill player pick. Although Packer fans should be happy about one thing… the new front office is clearly willing to make bolder moves and bigger swings than the end of the Ted Thompson era.

Pick 27 – Seattle Seahawks – Jordyn Brooks, OBLB, Texas Tech – Grade: C-

Pick 28 – Baltimore Ravens – Patrick Queen, OBLB, LSU – Grade: A+

The Brooks grade is what it is because Queen was still on the board. I trust Carroll, et. al. in Seattle but Queen was by far a better player in my eyes when compared to Brooks even if both are a similar mold of player.

Pick 29 – Tennessee Titans – Isaiah Wilson, OT, Georgia – Grade: C

Wilson is fine, but he was the second-best tackle on his team, and Josh Jones has so much more to give a team in my opinions.

Pick 30 – Miami Dolphins from Green Bay – Noah Igbinoghene, CB, Auburn – Grade: A+

I love this pick. Yes, the Dolphins have a ton of talent in the secondary, but Igbinoghene is strong in press and routinely performed against top competition at Auburn.

Pick 31 – Minnesota Vikings from San Francisco  – Jeff Gladney, CB, TCU - Grade: A

Minnesota gets much needed corner help from Galdney after the departures in free agency that have left much of there stalwart defenses in new area codes.

Pick 32 – Kansas City Chiefs – Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB, LSU – Grade: B-

I really like Edwards-Helaire as a player out of the backfield and in this Andy Reid offense, but I would have liked Swift or Taylor more. That said you draft the guys you like and I trust Reid to make the right decisions for all the obvious reasons.

So it wasn’t the wildest first round we’ve ever seen, even the big surprises weren’t that big, although the Love pick gets pretty close. I have 12 top 32 players left on my big board (update this afternoon) but that’s not unusually high and as always there is still a ton of talent left heading into day 2.