ROUND | PICK | TEAM | NOTES |
1 | 1 | Houston Texans – Jadeveon Clowney DE SCU | Was considered the consensus top player. Physically gifted. No surprises here. |
1 | 2 | St. Louis – Greg Robinson OL AUB | (From Washington RG3 Trade) Raw talent with huge upside. Can start at guard then move to tackle. Such a big man to be wearing a little bow tie. |
1 | 3 | Jacksonville – Blake Bortles QB CFU | First Shocker of the night. Bortles was expected to go in the early first round but was never really linked to Jags. They better hope he isn’t the next Gabbert. |
1 | 4 | Buffalo – Sammy Watkins WR CLEM | (Traded with Cleveland. Gave them 2015 1st rnd pick and 2015 4th round pick.) Top WR in draft. Can play inside or outside. Great after the catch. Hope he brought some warm clothes, he isn’t in the sun anymore |
1 | 5 | Oakland – Khalil Mack LB BUFF | Extremely talented player that some thought could go #1 overall. Tough to gauge because he played in the MAC. However, his biggest game came against powerhouse OSU. |
1 | 6 | Atlanta – Jake Matthews OL TA&M | Very big and strong. Comes from a long line of talented NFL players. Much needed help protecting Matty ICE. |
1 | 7 | Tampa Bay – Mike Evans WR TA&M | Huge WR that was just a tiny bit behind Watkins as the best WR in the draft. Can go up and get the ball better than any WR in draft. Is represented by Cash Moneys’ own Birdman “ka-ka”. |
1 | 8 | Cleveland – Justin Gilbert CB OKST | (Traded with Buffalo then with Minny) Picked up one of the best and most physical cover corners to pair up with Joe Haden. Resisted the urge to draft a QB. Had fans scratching their heads trading twice. |
1 | 9 | Minnesota – Anthony Barr DE UCLA | (Traded with CLE) Can be very good in the right system and if he plays hard every down. |
1 | 10 | Detroit – Eric Ebron TE UNC | Best TE in the draft. Can stretch the field. Will be tough covering him and Megatron. Got Engaged earlier in day at the Empire State building, so a pretty solid day for Ebron. Wonder if he went to Jared’s? |
1 | 11 | Tennessee – Taylor Lewan OL UM | Interesting pick. One of the 3 best tackles in the draft. Not sure there was need for this pick. |
1 | 12 | New York Giants – Odell Beckham WR LSU | Fast riser in the draft. Can do it all. Also a talented returner. Looked to be rocking same hairstyle as former teammate the Honey Badger. |
1 | 13 | St. Louis – Aaron Donald DL PITT | Lot of intrigue surrounding pick but played it safe taking a beast of a player. St. Louis’ D-line looks scary. |
1 | 14 | Chicago – Kyle Fuller CB VT | Solid pickup. Will help the Bears secondary on the backside. Try to create more turnovers like the mid 2000’s. |
1 | 15 | Pittsburgh – Ryan Shazier LB OSU | Very athletic LB that can be moved all over the field. Pitt always seems to draft well on the D-side. |
1 | 16 | Dallas – Zach Martin OL ND | A new Jerry Jones? With the chance to take Johnny Football, Jones shocked everyone by taking someone of actual need instead of making money. Martin can play all positions and is very good off the snap. |
1 | 17 | Baltimore – CJ Mosley LB BAMA | Bama breads NFL players. The Ravens are looking for the Next Ray Lewis. Seemed like a perfect fit for both. |
1 | 18 | New York Jets – Calvin Pryor S LOU | Sexy Rexy couldn’t resist taking a defensive player. Could have gone WR but realizes he needs to stop the Patriots passing attack. |
1 | 19 | Miami – Ja’Wuan James OL TENN | This player may have been a bit of a reach, but was a position of need. After the bullying scandal the Dolphins were without several starting lineman. |
1 | 20 | New Orleans – Brandin Cooks WR OSU | (Traded with Arizona) After losing Sproles and a couple other WR’s it was time for Peyton and Brees to reload on offense. Cooks was the fastest player at the combine winning a $100,000. |
1 | 21 | Green Bay – Ha Ha Clinton-Dix S BAMA | Great player. Best Name in the draft hands down. Interesting suit. |
1 | 22 | Cleveland – Johnny Manziel QB TA&M | (Traded with Philly) This was the story of the night. Johnny Football looks to save the Browns suffering franchise. Either way he’s going to fill the stadium. Let the circus begin. |
1 | 23 | Kansas City – Dee Ford DE AUB | Helps solidify an already improving KC defense. Was a hot name early in the process, but fell off later down the line. |
1 | 24 | Cincinnati – Darqueze Dennard CB MSU | Some thought he was a top 10 pick. Could be a steal for the Bengals. Very talented DB. |
1 | 25 | San Diego – Jasin Verret CB TCU | Having to play DEN twice a year, the Chargers realized they needed to buff up their secondary. |
1 | 26 | Philly – Marcus Smith DE LOU | (Traded with Cle)With Chip Kelly you never have to really worry about the offense, it’s his D that needs the work. So it’s no surprise they went D with pick. |
1 | 27 | Arizona – Deone Bucannon S WSU | (Traded with Saints) Arizona picked up a hard-hitting safety to go along with a loaded secondary. |
1 | 28 | Carolina – Kelvin Benjamin WR FSU | Big WR with talent but hasn’t always shown full potential. Fills a huge need left by the tiny Steve Smith. |
1 | 29 | New England – Dominique Easley DE Florida | You never really know what Bill Belechick is thinking when he drafts, but it usually works out. Talent, effort and versatility. |
1 | 30 | San Francisco – Jimmy Ward S | The 49ers are already a scary team. Not many holes. Fills a need in the secondary. |
1 | 31 | Denver – Bradley Roby CB OSU | Offense is already like a video game, so they decided to stick with the theme they had during free agency and went with Defense. Roby had a bad year but is very talented when he’s on his game. |
1 | 32 | Minnesota – Teddy Bridgewater QB | (Traded with Seattle)Fearing they’d lose out on the QB they wanted with HOU picking first in the second round, Minny traded back into round 1 to get their QB of the future. Once considered the top player in the draft, he took a nosedive after a horrendous pro day. If the glove fits, wear it! |
Quick Hits
*Most crying from grown men since the ending of Armageddon
*No hot girlfriends/wives in the greenroom this year
*Odell Beckham Jr. had the hottest date and it was his mom, a former track star
*Draftees got to come out to music of their choice this year, was like the Now CD of Rap
*Two QBs, Manziel/Bridgewater got to do the Aaron Rodgers slide down the draft board
*Bowties were in full effect
*Khalil Mack’s suit looked liked Eddy Murphy’s leather suits in the 80’s
*Ray Lewis loves to preach, but it’s the same sermon every time
*Mel Kiper and Jon Gruden disagreed on just about every pick
*Chris Berman has worn the same suit and tie for 20 years
Winners
*Cleveland has to be considered the big winner, which is weird to say but even weirder to hear. They came away with arguably the best CB in the draft, the best and most exciting QB in the draft, and also a 2015 1st and 4th rounder. I’d say the new regime is off to a great start
*St. Louis had two picks in the first round and they didn’t disappoint. They picked up the best OL in the draft and the best interior DL. St. Louis has had a good 3 years in the draft thanks to the RG3 trade.
*The top-heavy teams all seem to just get better. With fewer holes to fill, they get to pick based on need and luxury.
Losers
*Jacksonville has to be considered a loser because I’m not sure of the value of their pick. They obviously needed a QB but many think Bortles is a project, so they may have to stick with a sub-par starter for another year or two before he’s ready.
*Tennessee had several needs but OL was not one of them. Lewan is very athletic and will be good, but isn’t really room for him at the moment.
*Marqise Lee, WR out of USC, who to me is going to be a huge steal in the second round. He had a down year but that was more because of a rocky season at the QB position and amidst a coaching change.
Post by Kevin G. – Kevin@smellthegrindstone.com
Keviin is a Dad, so that takes up 99.3% of his time. Follow him on twitter.