Winners and losers from around the NFL on Day 1 of the draft

Let’s take a look back at how teams around the league fared on day 1 of the NFL Draft

It’s hard to believe that NFL Draft is not only upon us but the first day is already in the books. We’re going to take a moment to identify winners and losers from yesterday’s opening round because, well, we saw some really solid selections but also some head-scratchers (to put it lightly).

Here are your “losers” and “winners” from the 1st round:

Losers

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New York Giants

Dave Gettleman is calling the shots now in New York and, well, it’s safe to say that things are off to a rocky start. This offseason has provided the NYG fanbase with the opportunity to see the front office trade away arguably the best receiver in the league (while in his prime, mind you), took a $20 million cap hit in the process, and then selected Duke quarterback Daniel Jones with the 6th overall pick.

That’s a way to do things.

The Giants had a couple of other selections in the first round (Dexter Lawrence, DT, #17 and Deandre Baker, CB, #30) which may pan out but, if we’re being honest, this league is driven by quarterbacks. To make such a questionable selection that high when you still had the likes of Dwayne Haskins on the board (more on him later) and Drew Lock falling to round 2…it kind of just makes you wonder what New York is doing.

Grade: C-

Atlanta Falcons

Another collection of questionable picks in the first round for a team who could have honestly done better. The Falcons filled some on both the offensive and defensive lines by drafting Chris Lindstrom (OG, #14) and Kaleb McGary (DT, #31) – problem is, though, that they left some seemingly better talent on the board. Cody Ford and Jawaan Taylor could have both been had by Atlanta and would have been upgrades over Lindstrom and McGary.

Obviously these prospects could develop into fine players but, as things stand now, it’s a swing and a miss for the Falcons.

Grade: D+

Arizona Cardinals

When it comes to drafting in the NFL there is a balance between drafting for need and drafting the best-available player. If things go well then both of those things will line up and the player you select will fill a need and, hopefully, will be the best player available on your board when it comes to your selection.

Arizona, having the 1st overall pick in the NFL Draft, picked a player who may turn out to be fine but it’s hard to stop thinking about what could have been. Again, this a quarterback driven league so I understand the importance of getting “your guy” and, so, it appears as though new head coach Kliff Kingsbury has his in Kyler Murray. The thing is this is now the second year in a row the Cardinals have picked a quarterback in the top 10 of the draft. I’ve been watching Oklahoma football since I was a kid (Boomer Sooner) but, I’ve got to be honest: I never thought Murray was worthy of the first overall pick.

Time will tell, but this one is iffy at best. And now they have to flip second year quarterback Josh Rosen for some value, which means that last year’s draft is now a bust.

Grade: C

Winners

Washington

Talk about a day! There was talk of Washington trading up to #5 overall to snag Dwayne Haskins based on the idea that everyone thought that could have been an option for the Giants at #6. Not only did New York pass over him, but so did 10 other teams. Haskins fell to #15 which means that Jay Gruden got his guy and they didn’t even have to trade away draft assets to do it. Major victory right there. Also, trading back into the end of the first round to select highly-talented EDGE rusher Montez Sweat (#26 overall) definitely helps bolster what seems to now be a team on the rise.

It’s going to be fun to see Haskins stick it to the Giants for the next decade or so.

Grade: A

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New York Jets

Much like San Francisco, there was talk that the Jets would have been interested in trading back in the draft. They didn’t, though, and that should be alright because they selected arguably the best player in the draft in defensive lineman Quinnen Williams out of Alabama. He could’ve gone #1 overall and nobody would’ve batted an eye.

He now joins the ranks of an up-and-coming team looking to make its mark in a division that, outside of New England, is wide open.

Grade: A+

Denver Broncos

John Elway drafted for the present by not selecting a quarterback at #10 overall. Personally I don’t think drafting quarterbacks in the first round has really suited him well. Instead, swapping their 1st rounder with Pittsburgh’s (#20 overall) also netted them a 2nd round pick this year and a 3rd round pick next year. Denver then, again, passed on a quarterback at #20 and went with one of the best receiving tight ends in the draft, Noah Fant.

And guess what? Drew Lock is still available. So is Ryan Finley. I’d say Denver did a swell job in, like I said, drafting for the present but still giving themselves options to build for the future.

Grade: A-

What are your thoughts after day 1 of the NFL Draft? Did we leave anyone out? Let us know in the comments below!